Chapter 39
CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE
ANNIE
"Are you sure you're going to be okay here alone?" My mom leans over the table so that she can push my hair behind my ear.
"Of course." The idea of being in Luca's house alone is eerie but he already let her take the morning off to stay home with me. He has meetings this afternoon and she should be there to help him. "Besides, you can't leave your poor boss to get his own lunch. He'd probably regress to eating salad again without you there."
My mom shudders. She's pretty much cut Luca off from eating plain salads for lunch since she started working for him. Her diet is... more eclectic.
"You're right," she pushes out of her seat, "I better go upstairs and get ready."
I blink at her and drop my gaze to her outfit. The burgundy mock turtleneck and black pants are more professional than anything I've seen her wear to the office yet. "What's wrong with what you have on?"
"Seriously?" Her eyes widen in horror.
"No you're right, that outfit wouldn't be appropriate for work." I fight back a grin as her expression relaxes and she breathes out a sigh of relief. Her sense of proper attire is a far cry from mine but her clothes don't seem to bother Luca. I'm glad she's comfortable wearing what makes her happy.
The doorbell chimes, interrupting before she can comment again. We both groan at the same time. Answering the door is something we—like most people—completely loathe.
Mom grimaces before shouting, "Uhh... not it!"
"Hey!"
She takes off sprinting for the stairs before I'm even up from my seat.
"That's not fair!" I call after her. "I don't live here!"
"Me either," I can faintly here her call back from upstairs before she slams a door closed, leaving me no choice but to either face the person at the door or ignore the fact that they're ringing the doorbell again.
Considering I don't know what kind of people usually knock at Luca's house, I feel bad leaving the door unanswered. He opened his home to me, I guess the least I can do is play housekeeper long enough to greet the unexpected guest.
I still drag my feet as I head for the door, glaring at the stairs as I pass them.
As I reach the door, the person on the other side begins to knock impatiently. I take a deep breath and try to put my manners on as I open the door with a forced smile.
A blonde woman with puffy lips and teased hair waits on the other side. She frowns when we make eye contact and then looks down with a pout to pick imaginary lint off of her navy sweater. Her glasses slide down her nose. I can't help but think they make her look like a porn star playing a librarian. I feel bad for having the thought based only on the way she looks. I'm sure she's a perfectly nice woman.
"Why are you here?" she asks, her voice disgusted.
Maybe not perfectly nice, then.
Before I can answer she asks, "Where's Luca? Are you just fucking the whole family now?"
"Excuse me?" I nearly choke at her insinuation. Luca is old enough to be my father.
"First you steal Miles out from under me just when I set my sights on him. Now you're here. Is Elias Duffy going to be next on your list? Because if so, you should know you'll be fucking my sloppy seconds, and I leave things very sloppy."
I'm not sure she should be bragging about that.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I tell her honestly. I'm pretty sure Elias Duffy is Miles' dad. I've never met the man and based on Miles' lack of relationship with him, I doubt I ever will. I also would never sleep with Luca even if he wasn't entangled with my mom.
I'm pretty sure the two of them slept in the same bed last night after I reassured my mom that I didn't need a slumber party with her.
The woman has the nerve to stomp her heeled boot. "I finally took my chance at upgrading from Senior to Junior and then you had to come along and ruin everything. I only needed a little time to convince Miles to give me a shot. He would have caved the same way Elias did eventually."
"Just to be clear, you're saying you were with Miles' dad and then wanted to move on to Miles?" I squint my eyes at her, trying to understand the insane logic that led her to this plan... And to tell me about it so forthright now.
I don't think she's mentally stable.
The woman huffs. "I'm Brynne ."
"Okay..." I trail off when she glares at me so intensely that I realize she assumed I would recognize her by name. However long she spent with Miles' dad, she didn't make enough impact for him to mention her. He told me stories about a few of his dad's exes but I don't recall hearing the name Brynne before.
"Unbelievable."
She took the words right out of my mouth.
"Well, where is the uncle? Luca is the only branch left on the family tree that I find interesting." She peers around me into the house as if he'll appear for her.
I pull the door behind me so that she can't see as freely into the home. I'm not even sure how she managed to get past the gate to the house. I don't see a car anywhere which leads me to wonder if she's crazy enough to have climbed the fence.
"Luca is at work," I answer with as much patience as I can muster up for her.
She scoffs. "Then why is his car parked right there?" She turns to point to the silver SUV in the circle of the driveway.
"Why do you know that's his car?" I'm getting so weirded out by this. This woman seems to be escalating to the level of stalker with this level of obsession. Though not a good enough stalker to realize that Luca owns more than one car and can easily afford to leave one behind for the day.
He left the SUV for my mom to drive so that she could leave me our Jeep. I don't think telling Brynne that would be a good idea, though. My mom doesn't own a bunny to boil or anything, but I still don't want to take my chances with her turning into the heroine of a Lifetime special feature.
"Just tell him I'm here!" she snaps.
"He's at work," I tell her again. I can only hope he happens to check the front door security camera and see this psycho at his door. Maybe he'll send the police or something... Though I thought I already dealt with them enough for one week after yesterday's endless stream of questions.
"Then why are you here?" She's very demanding for someone who has no business being on Luca's doorstep.
In light of my newfound sense of wanting to have a backbone, I let myself get a dig in. "Oh, my mom lives with Luca." I do my best to imitate my grandmother's practiced smile which has a way of making you feel like she's inherently better than you.
I'm not sure how effective the smile is, but Brynne's lower lip wobbles. "But..."
I shrug and take a step backward into the house. I can't believe my mom left me to be the one to deal with this woman.
"Sorry, looks like no one in this family is interested," I tell her confidently. "Maybe try the retired doctor across the street."
With those parting words, I quickly take another step back and then slam the door right in her face. I can faintly hear her screaming outside the door. I take a deep breath and stroll further away until she's out of earshot.
My short interaction with Brynne was enough to be exhausting.
Her words still rattle in my brain, though. I might not have known who she was but she recognized me.
She went after Miles and blames me for getting in the way of her target. Miles and I didn't start fake dating that long ago...
He spent more time posting photos of us on social media than I did. I figured the rumor mill on campus would handle Cameron and I knew my mom would inevitably blab all kinds of things to Luca about Miles and me. So was Miles posting to social media for Brynne's sake?
And more importantly, is the fact that she's moved on to her next target the reason I haven't heard from him since yesterday?
Everything is so confusing. Things have been confusing since the moment I met Miles and now here we are, living like strangers after he helped save me yesterday. I can't understand how we got here or what I did wrong.
All I know is that I let myself get in too deep with Miles. Now I can't bear the idea of facing him and being rejected if all of this is over between us.
Miles helped me grow into a better version of myself. The least I can do is let him fade away without getting emotional and chasing after him. I don't want to be that girl. I can feel my resolve strengthen with a decision made. Now that Professor Parks is dealt with, I can go back to focusing on my classes the way I always meant to.
"Who was at the door?" My mom asks, descending the stairs while pulling her hair up into a high ponytail.
"The family stalker, apparently." I ignore my mom's confused expression to ask, "Hey, do you think Luca would be willing to get my stuff back for me from Miles' apartment? I think I might stay here with you all a while longer."
Her eyebrows arch. "Are you sure, kid?"
I know she has to have a million more questions. She takes mercy on me by not asking any of them. I'm not ready to talk about Miles—or the mistake I made by falling for him.