Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty Six
Roberto
The elevator doors slide shut, and we’re alone. For a beat, it’s just the fan in the ceiling and the soft clunk of the car moving.
“Thank you for being here,” I say. “For bringing Cat.”
“No need to thank me,” she answers sharply.
My jaw ticks. “Noted.”
She exhales, shoulders easing. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. Caterina’s thanked me like fifty times already.”
“It’s fine,” I say. I stare at the floor numbers. “She leans on people she trusts.”
Olivia looks down at her shoes and gives a small nod. The car dings for one, and we step out.
The donor center is down a short hall. A handful of people stand in a loose line, clipboards out. We take our place at the end. I can feel the distance she’s holding carefully.
I want to say something about last night. I want to pull her in and let her breathe against me until the tightness leaves her shoulders. I want a hundred things I can’t have.
So I reach for something small.
“Non-work question,” I say. “First concert you ever went to.”
Her mouth splits into a grin. “Hannah Montana. I was eight. My aunt took me. I wore platform sneakers and almost broke my ankle on the stairs.”
I huff a quiet laugh. “Worth the risk, I presume. Mine was Springsteen. Antonio made us go. Said it was education.”
“Did you like it?”
“I loved it. We had come from Italy only a couple of years before, and my English was still pretty broken. Watching him up there, it just felt like America, you know?”
The line shuffles forward. A nurse takes out forms and directs us to another line. We lean against the wall.
“Another one,” I say, keeping my voice low. “Favorite thing to cook when you don’t want to think.”
“Grilled cheese,” she says without looking up. “American cheese and too much butter in the pan.” She glances at me. “You?”
“Cacio e pepe. One pan, three ingredients.”
“Fancy,” she says, almost smiling.
Pens scratch. We step up. The intake tech checks IDs, prints labels, points us to two seats side by side. We sit.
She looks at me for a second, something soft moving through her face, then away again. I want to say something.
Before I can, a tech waves her over. Another waves me over. We stand and walk to opposite sides of the room.