Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
JEMMA
In the cab, I burst into tears.
I’m embarrassed. I feel betrayed. The pain in my chest won’t stop aching.
I’ve told him things—personal things I haven’t told anyone. I swallow down the lump that’s restricting my throat.
None of this was real. Everything was a lie. I knew this was too good to be true. This is real life, not some silly rom-com where everything works out perfectly in the end. I can get over him keeping his family issues from me, but this is a whole new level of fucked up.
I need my best friend right now—I need Gretchen. She’ll know what to say. She’ll help me make sense of this whole thing.
I slide my phone from my black clutch resting on my lap. With shaking hands, I text the one person I trust most in the world, praying for a quick response.
Jemma: I need you! NOW!!!
Gretchen: I’m walking to the subway RN. What’s going on?
Jemma: You’re not going to believe this . . .
Gretchen: Type faster. You’re worrying me.
Jemma: Luca works for the company Foster & Sons hired to fire me. He’s a hatchet man, Gretch! He’s known who I am this entire time!!!!!!!!
Gretchen: OMG. How is that even possible?
Gretchen: Where are you right now?
Jemma: I’m in a cab heading back to Luca’s apartment.
I left him on the street. He was trying to explain himself.
I couldn’t listen. I had to leave. I’m going to pack.
Then I’m taking a cab to the airport. I don’t care if I have to sleep there until I can get a flight home.
I just can’t be here with him. He’s a big, fat liar.
I’m waiting for Gretchen’s response when my phone starts vibrating in my already shaking hand. I quickly accept the call, yanking the phone toward my ear. The cabbie stares at me with curious eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Gretchen!” I exclaim, tears erupting from me like a volcano.
“You’re not going to the airport!” she demands.
My jaw drops. “Of course I am. He lied to me.”
A burst of laughter echoes through my phone.
“Hello, Gretch?”
More laughter.
My heart sinks. “Are you really laughing right now?”
“Yes! This is the best thing I’ve ever heard.”
“What’s wrong with you? He knew who I was, Gretchen! The whole time!”
“He’s the reason you’re in Paris. Don’t you see that? Luca is the one who set you on this path to finding yourself, even if he didn’t know it. Nothing is accidental. Divine fate is always working its magic.”
“You sound a little too woo-woo for me right now. I just need you to tell me I’m not crazy. And it’s okay for me to go home. I tried. I really did.”
Muffled sounds roar into my ear as a sharp screech pulsates through the phone. I immediately recognize the familiar sounds of the subway. I should be home with Gretchen. Not here on this silly trip.
“I can’t do that,” she says sternly.
My breath gets caught in my throat.
“Jemma, I need you to take a few deep breaths and listen. Okay.”
I nod, even though she can’t see me.
She continues, “Everything that happened the day you got let go from Foster & Sons led you to Paris. And to him. Didn’t you say you ran into him at the airport?
Like, literally ran into the very man that caused you to lose your job—the very gorgeous man that set this whole thing into motion.
If that’s not fate, I don’t know what is. ”
My mind drifts to the elf man, the seat fiasco, and the paper in my carry-on. It seems too serendipitous to be real. This kind of stuff happens in the movies. Not real life.
Gretchen clears her throat. “Are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m still here,” I whimper.
“I didn’t mean to laugh, but I can’t help but think that this is exactly what was supposed to happen. I told you everything happens for a reason. This was all part of a bigger plan. He picked your faceless name from an employee list, right?
“Uh huh.”
“You can’t be mad at him for doing his job,” she says.
“But when we collided into each other at the airport, he called me Jemma with a J as he handed my ticket back to me. He knew who I was at that very moment. I thought he was being rude, but he was putting the pieces together. He recognized the name and then me. He was in the conference room, Gretchen. He was there. Then somehow, he was in my seat. On the plane. He was everywhere.”
“Fate,” she interrupts.
“Whatever it is, it was cruel. It all makes sense now. He felt bad, so he was trying to play Mr. Nice Guy.”
“And then you got scammed,” she reminds me. “And who came to your rescue?”
“I only called him because I found his phone number on a piece of paper from when we collided. He was the only person I knew here.”
“Fate!” She’s practically screaming the word at me. “Can’t you believe just for a minute that he liked you, and that’s why he offered his place to stay? I doubt he would have done that for Sally if she were the one he had run into.”
I huff, slinking further into my seat.
“Jemma, you’ve been sending me photos all week. I’ve never seen you so happy. You seemed like your old self again.” She clears her throat. “Correction, you’re better than your old self. A new Jemma.”
“But he lied, Gretchen.” I sniffle. “How can I get over that?”
The cab yanks to the right, coming to a stop. I pass the driver my card with tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Luca brought something out in you, Jem. This trip would never have happened if he hadn’t set things in motion. I think this is the most romantic story I’ve ever heard.”
The driver passes me my card, and as I’m tucking it into my wallet, he swings the door open for me.
“For what it’s worth, I believe in second chances,” the driver says, with sympathy coating his vibrant teal eyes.
“Plus, it sounds like someone up there wants you together.” A small smile tugs at the corner of his lips as he tilts his head back, eyes tracing an invisible line to the clouds.
I nod, offering a half-grin.
“See? Even that guy knows it, Jemma,” Gretchen says, pulling me back to our conversation. “So, what are you going to do?” she presses.
“I don’t know. Everything is an absolute mess,” I respond. “He’s a liar. I wish he could understand how much he hurt me. I trusted him.”
“Jemma, I’m so sorry.”
My body tightens. The words I hear don’t belong to the lecturing voice coming through the phone. I shift on my feet in one quick motion, spinning around, my tulle skirt flapping in the wintery breeze.
“Is that Luca?” Gretchen shouts in my ear.
The gorgeous specimen of a man who first caught my attention at the airport is standing on the sidewalk, tears building in his frosty blue eyes, making them shimmer under the night sky. He takes a shy step forward, arm reaching toward me.
I pull back, unsure.
“I didn’t expect to fall in love.” The words fall softly from his mouth.
My hand with my phone drops heavy to my side, weighing like an anchor, tethering me to his revelation.
“Y-you love me?” I stammer, my emotions whirling.
“Of course I do. I know I should have told you everything from the start. I wanted to. I really did, but things got out of hand. There was never a good time. I was falling for you hard and knew if I told you, you’d react—well, like this.
” He softly chuckles. “I know it’s no excuse, but everything with my dad and my sister had my head all out of sorts.
But one thing I do know is that I love you, Jemma Jones. ”
“She loves you too.” I hear Gretchen screeching from the device that’s gripped tightly in my right hand.
I drag the phone back to my mouth. “I’m going to have to call you back, Gretch.” I don’t wait for a response before hanging up and slipping my phone into my purse.
“So, you love me?” I taunt.
A wide grin cracks over Luca’s stupidly handsome face. “You know I do.”
“But you lied to me,” my voice wobbles.
He takes a step closer, reaching for my hands.
He clutches them tightly. “I can never regret what I did because it brought us together, but I’ll spend forever making it up to you if that’s what it takes.
” He pulls me tight against his chest. “I’ve waited my whole life to find you, Jemma.
You’re my person, and I think the universe knew that.
We were bound to find each other one way or another. You can’t deny that.”
Hot tears roll down my cold cheeks.
Luca reaches up, runs his finger under my eye, wiping them away. “I never meant to hurt you. You must believe that.”
I study his frosty blue eyes, the eyes that captured me the moment we met. He’s telling the truth.
“I love you, Jemma with a J,” he whispers into my ear, his breath warm against my skin. “I love how brave, funny, and smart you are. I love that you fidget when you’re nervous. I love how stubborn you can be. I love everything about you.”
A joyful smile breaks across my face, sending a warmth to my heart. “Je t’aime aussi, Luca. I love you too.”