57. Luca
LUCA
I’ve been trying to delay my boss, but he is getting increasingly impatient with me.
I haven’t been giving him updates like he requested, and honestly, I don’t plan to start.
It’s not uncommon to go dark while on a mission, but it is uncommon for me.
I need to figure out a way to tell Ro what is going on and keep her safe.
Part of me feels like I need to talk to Dante and have a real conversation about each other and our connection to Ro.
I was holding that out as my last resort, but it looks like it might be time to pull the fail-safe and lay all my cards on the table.
I know he works for Angelo. What I can’t figure out is why Angelo would send Dante, of all people, for her. There has to be something I’m missing.
Dante is not known in our circles for being gentle when it comes to his…
assignments, we’ll say. He’s not called the “Reaper” by mistake.
You rarely ever see him until it’s already too late, so the fact that Ro is still alive definitely raises several questions about why Dante is the one to deal with Ro.
The last thing I need is for my team to take matters into their own hands and cause more harm than good.
I told them I would be able to do this job, especially because of the history with Ro, not in spite of our shared past, and I wasn’t lying when I made that statement.
Now, though, things have changed for me.
Ro is mine to protect, and she has been mine to protect since she sat next to me in class all those years ago.
Just because she didn’t see me doesn’t mean I wasn’t there keeping an eye on her all these years we’ve been apart.
Eighteen Months Ago
Wow, Rose looks beautiful today. She is wearing a deep burgundy skirt suit paired with her classic black patent-leather Louboutin heels that add several inches to her height.
Her chocolate-brown hair is in soft curls that bounce with every step, and she is wearing large black Gucci sunglasses.
Her Louis Vuitton laptop bag is slung over one shoulder, and her coffee is in her opposite hand, while her phone is clutched in the other as she glances down to check the time for the fourth time since I’ve been watching her.
Today, like most days, I wish I could go up to her and talk to her, but I can’t.
Not yet at least. At least I know she is consistent with her morning routine and always starts the day off with a coffee.
I can generally gauge her mood by her order, and this morning is no different.
Watching her walk out of Rise & Grind, one of her favorite coffee shops near her loft, I see she likely has a long day of client meetings if the size of her iced caramel macchiato is any indication.
She doesn’t look very rested either, which means this is probably her initial meeting with a new client.
She tends to stay up far too late the night before meetings like this to go over everything she has prepared, as if she would forget something.
Rose is so talented, and her ideas are wasted on the clients of Franklin & Sons if you ask me.
Being in the custom design world myself, I know the type of clients Franklin & Sons works with, and although they tend to have unlimited budgets, their tastes are definitely lacking in…
well, taste. That is one of the reasons why I refuse to work with anyone from Franklin & Sons on my projects.
The other reason is to avoid any potential overlap with Rose.
The last thing I need is for us to cross paths again before everything I have planned is in place. Soon, Ro. Very soon.