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Niko looks down. “I’m sorry.” He sucks in a breath. “If you love him, you can go?—”
“No.” I hold my finger up in his face. “You don’t give me permission. I make this decision. You can be happy for me. You can support me. But you don’t give me permission.”
Elena’s lips twitch upward. “She seems quite grown up and able to make her own decisions.”
“It doesn’t change that she needs protection. Whether with me or Luca, she needs?—”
“I’m sure Luca will take care of it.”
Yeah, if he hasn’t run off. I can hardly blame him. The Leone family is nuts.
“Except he’s missing,” I say.
“I left him only thirty or forty minutes ago,” Niko says. “He got a call. He said he needed to arrange to return to Italy.”
My heart drops. Luca has given up on me. Every ounce of energy in me fades. I’m so tired.
“I swear, Aria, I didn’t hurt him.”
I turn to leave. “I’m going back to the hotel.”
“Why don’t you stay here?” Elena offers.
“I can’t.” I need to figure out my next step. If Luca has given up on me, where do I go from here?
My phone pings with a notification. I pull it from my purse, disinterested in what it might tell me.
How’s your Italian?
I stare at the message, confused. And then it hits me. “I’ve got to go.” With renewed energy, I head to Niko’s front door.
“Let me go with you,” Niko says.
“No.” I exit his penthouse and poke the button to the elevator.
“I’m not joking about protection, Aria.”
“Fine. Give me Danny or Marco. They know where I’m going.”
Niko shakes his head. “I want to see him. That text is from Luca, right?”
I roll my eyes. “God, will you ever give it up?”
“I want to give my blessing.”
Tears well in my eyes. Finally, he’s coming around.
He gives a small shrug. “And promise to kill him if he hurts you.”
I shake my head. “You’re warped.”
Moments later, we’re in a car heading to the bookstore. My heart is beating a million miles a minute. What will I find there? A love note? A Dear Jane letter?
“Can you tell me what we’re doing?” Niko asks. His voice is tentative, as if he knows he’s treading on thin ice.
“A bookstore. Luca used to leave me notes there.”
His jaw tightens and he looks out the window.
