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Please, be real, I thought.

For the first time in my life, let someone love me through to the bone.

Even if it was this psychopathic killer.

Who was I kidding . . . especially then.

I grinned at Luca, letting myself enjoy the last few hours we had together.

Either way, tonight I was springing Dario free of his prison, and if Luca was involved in his capture, it would be confirmed by his twin. If he wasn’t, Dario would still be home, ready to resume his rightful place at my side.

And Luca would be relegated once more to the shadow life, appearing in my life only as often as a crescent moon.

I took my husband to an arcade.

Luca’s mouth dropped when we walked up to the neon sign for Headquarters Beercade, his incredulity so apparent I threw my head back to laugh from my belly.

“You were robbed of a real adolescence,” I explained as I pulled the door open and the scent of nachos and yeasty beer poured out on the cool air. “I figured this was as good a place as any to recapture some of your youth, old man. Think you can take me at Pac-Man?”

Luca stared at me for a long moment as I led us to a high-top table, shedding my light jacket and rolling up the sleeves of my blousy dress, something working behind his eyes. Before I could turn to the wall of noisy games, he was tugging me into his arms, so I fell against his chest, hands clamping on my hips.

“I think this feeling,” he said slowly, like someone trying to find words in a foreign language, “is happiness. I can’t be sure, it’s been so long.”

I pressed my hand over his heart and drummed my fingers to the rhythm of his pulse I could feel through the thinness of his black tee.

“Good,” I whispered, rocking to the toes of my high heels to kiss his slightly dimpled, square chin. “That’s the objective.”

His arms spasmed around me as he bent to take my mouth in a real kiss, one that was too obscene for the public venue.

I didn’t care.

This could very well be the last time I had him like this, so I threw myself into it.

When we finally parted, we were both panting slightly.

“The ultimate winner of every game gets free rein on the games we play in bed tonight,” Luca threw down, a wicked glint in his pale eyes.

“Have you ever played an arcade game in your life?” I asked, laughter rich in my voice, already imagining the ways I would take my fill of him later.

“Never,” he said flippantly, arrogantly. “But I’m a natural, you’ll see.”

Unfortunately, I did.

Luca trounced me at the two-person shooter games, which shouldn’t have been a surprise, and when I diverted us to the driving games and even the ball toss, I expected to take him easily.

I didn’t win one game.

It was infuriating as much as it was attractive, especially the smug, tiny grin that played over his hard mouth the entire two hours we spent there. By the time we had to go, Luca had an armload of tickets he used to trade in for a giant plushy shaped like a cartoon ghost.

“It’s only fitting,” he whispered into my ear as he pressed the soft weight into my arms. “Now, even when I can’t be in bed with you, you can sleep with your arms around me.”

I swallowed thickly, knowing that time would come sooner than he expected.

After, I dragged him to a movie at the Music Box Theatre, which was funky and historic and always played old cult classics.

“What’s your favorite movie snack?” I asked at the concession, my arm around his back, my side pressed tight to his front.

Luca blinked at the offerings. “I’ve never been to the movies.”