21. Ava’s Question #2
Bianca stood in the middle of the ballroom, texting while three florists conducted what appeared to be a very elegant hostage negotiation behind her.
"You're late," she said.
I checked the time. "I'm four minutes early."
"Then they're making the day feel longer."
She jerked her chin toward the terrace, and I followed her away from the noise of ladders, clattering vases, and someone testing the same six seconds of music on repeat.
Outside, the bay flashed beneath the hot sun. Bianca set her phone on a cocktail table and studied me with the expression she usually reserved for crooked centerpieces.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm deciding how much preamble you need."
"None."
"Good." She folded her arms. "I want to offer you a full-time position."
For a second, all I heard was the muted bass from inside.
"With you?"
"With my company, yes. Event coordinator to start. Mentorship under me, client meetings, vendor management, and enough responsibility to make you regret impressing me."
My pulse kicked hard. "You're serious."
"I don't make jokes about payroll."
I laughed, but it came out thin. "What about Ava?"
"The schedule has flexibility. Some nights and weekends are unavoidable, but you'd have advance notice. Remote planning when possible." Bianca paused. "I know your situation is complicated."
"My situation."
"Luca. Ava. The fact that you currently live where you work and sleep with the man who owns the resort hosting half our events."
Heat rushed into my face. I stared at her, attempting innocence and probably landing somewhere closer to panic.
Bianca's mouth curved. "Please. You're both far less discreet than you think."
"That isn't why I want this."
"I know."
Her answer came too quickly.
Bianca glanced toward the ballroom. "I was hard on you because I needed to know that."
I frowned. "You could've asked."
"People lie when the truth matters." Her gaze returned to mine. "I needed to see whether you showed up when Luca wasn't watching. Whether you cared about the work when there was no applause and no shirtless retired fighter nearby."
"That happened once."
"More than once."
Despite myself, I smiled.
Then she stepped closer, her tone losing its edge. "You're good, Riley. Not because of him. You see what people need before they say it. You keep moving when everything goes wrong. That can't be taught."
The praise touched something tender.
"What if I say yes?"
"Then we build a schedule that works, and I teach you everything I know."
My phone felt heavy in my bag. Ava's red X flashed through my mind. Luca's promise to talk. Maddie telling me not to disappear inside someone else's life.
For the first time, staying didn't look like surrendering one future for another.
It looked possible.
"I need some time," I said.
Bianca nodded. "Take it."
Then she handed me a tablet. "But while you're thinking, fix the florist disaster. Consider it an audition you've already passed."
Ava fell asleep before Luca came home.
She had fought it for nearly an hour, asking for water, then another story, then whether sharks slept with their eyes open. By the time her breathing finally evened out, I was sitting beside her with one hand trapped beneath her cheek.
The night-light cast soft blue waves across the walls.
I should have slipped free and gone downstairs. Luca and I still needed to talk. Bianca's offer sat unanswered in my phone, along with every possibility it had opened.
Instead, I stayed.
Ava's fingers curled loosely around mine. Her face looked younger in sleep, the careful watchfulness gone from her forehead.
"I got offered a job today," I whispered.
She didn't stir.
"It's a real one. The kind I wanted before I knew how much you could come to matter to me."
My throat tightened around the last words.
I brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. "You weren't supposed to become part of the decision."
But she had.
So had Luca. So had breakfasts at the island and camp drop-offs and bedtime questions that somehow mattered more than every plan I had made before them.
The door creaked behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder, but the hallway looked empty. The house settled quietly around us.
Ava shifted, pressing her cheek deeper into my palm.
"I don't know exactly what happens after camp," I told her. "And I don't want to promise something just because I'm scared of disappointing you."
Her breathing stayed slow and steady.
I looked toward the calendar on her dresser, where she had copied the same red X onto a smaller page. Even asleep, she had made sure the ending remained visible.
My chest ached.
"But I'll try my best to stay."
The words felt too small for what they meant.
I wasn't promising forever or pretending love could solve everything. I was promising effort. Honesty. A plan.
I bent and kissed her temple.
When I finally eased my hand free and stood, Luca was in the hallway. He leaned against the wall outside her door, still dressed in the clothes he had worn that morning. His tie hung loose, and exhaustion sharpened every line of his face.
Neither of us spoke.
From where he stood, there was no chance he had missed me. His gaze moved from Ava to me, and something in his expression shifted.
Loving them wasn't the question anymore. Building a life that worked for all three of us was.
Luca pushed away from the wall.
He stopped in front of me, close enough that the heat of him reached me before his hand did. His fingers settled lightly against my jaw, giving me every chance to step back.
I didn't.
His mouth touched mine with none of the hunger that usually burned through us. The kiss was slow. Careful. Almost painfully tender.
For one dangerous second, I let myself lean into it.
Let myself imagine that tenderness could become certainty. That wanting each other badly enough could answer every question waiting outside Ava's room.
Then Luca rested his forehead against mine.
"Riley—"
I pressed my fingers to his chest before he could finish.
"Not tonight."
His eyes closed briefly, but he nodded.
I slipped past him and walked to my room before desire could soften the edges of everything I still needed to decide.
Behind my closed door, I leaned against the wood and tried to breathe.
I loved them.
I wanted the career Bianca had placed within reach.
And for the first time, neither choice felt survivable without costing me the other.