Chapter 47
Luke
Ibooked a flight for me back to London for tonight,” Divya told Sol and Luke the moment they arrived back at their hotel in Palma. “I need to finish packing and head straight to the airport.”
“You’re leaving?” Without Sol and him?
“I miss Moon.” Divya shrugged. “Do me a favor, you two, and stay here for a couple more days before returning to London. I’m sure Luke can handle being away for a little bit longer…”
“Can I?”
Sol laced her arm through one of his, getting closer to his body. “He will.”
Divya gave Sol a conspiratorial smile. “Good.”
“And the offer still stands, by the way,” Sol told Divya.
“You and Moon are more than welcome to spend a few days in our apartment in Barcelona.” Sol touched Luke’s arm when saying “our apartment.” Luke wasn’t sure if it had been that their latest stay there had been longer and he’d finally warmed up to the place, or what, but he made a noise in agreement, and extended the invitation to Divya and Moon to go to their place in Barcelona.
For some reason, the rooftop flat felt a little more like their home, not only Sol’s, now.
“I may take you up on that offer.” Divya smiled. “I know the pair of you have probably got loads of more important stuff to get sorted, but once you’ve decided on a wedding date and all that, could you talk about Sol’s future involvement in the agency?”
“I promise to broach the subject.” Luke also wanted Sol working with them in a more involved or official capacity. But Sol would probably be cross when he brought up his nonnegotiable conditions for it if it was to happen.
“Give her anything she asks. I’m willing to change the name of the agency,” Divya said, in all seriousness.
“Change the name?” Sol exclaimed by his side. “That won’t be necessary. You two remember I still intend to work as a journalist, right? That would be too much of a conflict of interest. But I’m happy to help anytime you need me.”
“Yeah, we need something a bit more specific than that,” Divya said. “Can we make you an official expert consultant of the agency?”
That sounded like a fitting enough title for her. Luke turned to see Sol’s face. She seemed to be arguing with herself in perfect silence about what to answer.
Sol
Was Sol being too ambitious? And trying to do simply too much?
She was still working as a journalist, trying to launch her author career, and now she was offered a perfectly good position at a detective's agency where she really liked the two founding partners. From the moment she’d met Luke, Sol had just assumed sleuthing was an exciting hobby for her—and a way to meet Luke and spend more time with him.
But what if she also liked investigating?
What if deciphering mystery puzzles was more a calling or even a second (or third) career opportunity for her?
Judging by how much she’d enjoyed this last case, even when she’d been genuinely concerned about Leonardo’s wellbeing, it was clear to Sol that she needed to start accepting that investigating may not just be a fun pastime for her, but a vocation.
Plus, it would lend her some cachet when she finally chose to publish that book of hers.
She made a mental note to find a date for that sooner rather than later.
She smiled at the two expectant detectives in front of her. “I’d love to become the official expert consultant for the Bakshi & Contadino Agency.”
“Right, we need to figure out what that implies. I don’t want to argue about fieldwork with you.
The way I see it, you consult from home.
No more overnight adventures in fancy villas lurking with kidnappers.
” Luke’s tone brooked no argument. Sol still slanted her eyes at him.
“I’ll still probably want you to take some self-defense classes to be extra cautious. ”
She blinked at her future husband, letting go of his arm that she’d been holding and placing her hands at her hips. “Gee, Luca, you sure know how to woo a girl. Shouldn’t this be a conversation? It sounded as if you were telling me what to do.”
He raked a hand through his hair, exhaled in exasperation. “We can talk about it all you want. Those are my conditions if you want to be part of the agency.”
“So that we’re clear,” Divya said. “Those are his conditions. Not mine.”
“Oh, I know.” Sol’s eyes had been fixed on Luke’s but she moved them to address Divya. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out. Now go. I don’t want you to miss your plane. And please hug Moon for us.”
Divya gave Sol and Luke one hurried hug and went up to her room.
Once they were alone in the lobby of the hotel, Luke said: “Fancy a passeggiata?”
She arched an eyebrow at him. He threw his hands in the air. “I promise not to tell you what to do again. And we can leave the whole involvement with the Bakshi & Contadino Agency for another day.”
She smiled at him, laced her arm through his, one more time. “See, that sounded much more reasonable. I really don’t feel like fighting with you right now. Let’s go for that walk then, caro.”
She had never called him that before, Luca being her preferred term of endearment for him. But if she was going to be married to an Italian, she could start talking the language, right?
···
They’d been walking through the cobblestone streets of the city for a few minutes, Sol still holding Luke’s arm. She was trying to think of something clever to say and tease him when he said: “There’s something I’ve been trying to tell you for the last few streets.”
Why did he sound hesitant? He was always so self-assured.
“Oh—kay,” Sol said. Now she was hesitant as well. “This is not about the agency again, right?”
He shook his head. “Look, I know I’m not the best detective in London.” He was the best-looking one. And Sol still had no clue what that was all about. “But Divya is. And I realized and told her: ‘I want to be in business with you.’ And, for some inexplicable reason, she agreed.”
“Not sure what you’re trying to tell me…”
Luke sighed. “I’m probably not the smartest, or the best listener, or the most fun to be around.
I’m not even the sexiest person you’ve ever met.
” She frowned. He definitely was. All of those things.
“But I can see that you’re that and more and I’m crazy about you.
If, for some inexplicable reason, you want to be in a romantic business with me, I’ll absolutely take you. ”
Sol furrowed her brow. “Romantic business?”
“That sounded better in my head. Sorry, cara, I’m bad. But I feel I can’t ask you to marry me because you’re the one who was supposed to do that…”
“Just ask me already!”
He smiled, stopping in the middle of the street and facing her, the magic lighting of sunset starting to paint the sky in the most dramatic colors, the beach on the horizon. “Will you marry me then, cara?”
Sol returned the smile. “Sí.”
He grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her. He’d always been a purposeful kisser. She’d always thought his pillowy lips were skilled and his tongue simply mischievous. But that kiss was somehow different. Searing. More thorough.
“I think I’m about to faint,” she said when he released her lips.
He gave her yet another smile. “I had a surprise for you. I was going to do it this evening after our walk. I chose it yesterday. But maybe you’d like to come with me?”
She scrunched her nose. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He laughed. “I know.”
“You’ve already proposed in the middle of the street on an island with the perfect lighting and background. I don’t know what else you could be plotting…”
“Come and see then.”