Done with this conversation, I started walking toward the door and he followed. "You're wrong, Veda. Luca is angry, and whatever your intentions were, he feels like you betrayed him. But I know him better than he knows himself sometimes. He won't come after you. So please, call if you need us. He'd never forgive me if anything happened to you, no matter what you think or what he says."
He stared at me so hard I finally gave in. "I promise," I told him. And I meant it. Despite the fact he'd sent me straight to Luca tonight, I knew Enzo was right. Alone, I was no match for a man like Mario. Or even one of his thugs. I didn't have the trust in Luca that Enzo had, but I knew he truly believed what he said. "Thanks again for making sure I got home."
He glanced around the kitchen and then back at me. "This isn't your home." Moving past me, he opened the door and walked out into the hallway.
Closing the door and locking it, I went to the window and watched until I saw him get into his car and pull away, trying not to think about his parting comment. I knew what he was insinuating, but it wasn't true.
No matter what I may have begun to secretly hope for once upon a time.
Double checking the locks on the front door, I went to go find Sammy. Maddie must've been on the phone earlier. I only heard the television in her room as I walked by.
I found my best friend sitting up in bed, her laptop on her legs with an open book beside her and a few more spread out on the bed. "Hey," I said.
She looked up. There was a pen between her teeth. She spit it out into her hand as soon as she saw me in the doorway. "Hey. How'd things go with the parents?"
"As expected." I decided not to tell her about my possible stalker. For one, I didn't want to worry her. And second, since they sped away, I didn't know for sure someone had actually been following me. Maybe it was just a strange coincidence, and I'd gotten all worked up over nothing.
"Did you get a new job?"
Distracted by my own thoughts, I plopped down on the bed beside her, crossing my ankles and grabbing a decorative pillow to hug. "Huh?"
"The shirt. That's a strip club."
I looked down, moving the pillow so I could see. I'd completely forgotten about the shirt. "Oh." I laughed. "No." Hoping she'd drop it, I asked, "Whatcha working on?"
She narrowed her eyes at me, and then blew out a breath and launched into a diatribe about how hard her Calculus class was and how she was going to have to spend the rest of her life in the tutoring lab if she wanted to have any chance at all of passing.
"I have faith in you," I told her.
She stared at me, and then she closed her laptop and set it aside, leaning back against the headboard. "You saw your hot gangster dude."
"What? No." I plucked at the corner of the pillow.
"Don't you lie to me, V. I know you did."
"Why the hell would you think that?"
"Because you smell like him. You smell like a man. A really good smelling man. And you smell like sex."
"Oh my god, Sammy. Stop!" I threw down the pillow and jumped off the bed.
She wasn't fazed by my dramatics. "It's true, isn't it?"
I swung around, my mouth open to deny it. But then I snapped it shut again.
I sat down on the end of the bed, far away from her damn bloodhound nose. "Yeah. It's true."
"I thought you were at your parents'?"
"I was."
"Then how the hell did you end up fucking the guy who threatened to kill you?" She leaned over, eyeing my shirt again. "At a strip club, I take it."
I turned to face her. "I guess I should've told you this right away."
"Told me what?"
Holding up my hand to stop her questions before they started, I told her the truth. "I think someone followed me out of my parents' neighborhood."
"Followed how?"
"In a car. I was about to head back here when I noticed there was a black car behind me that seemed to come out of nowhere. I took a sudden turn, and it still followed me. So I freaked out and called E-" I caught myself just in time. Sammy was my best friend, and I'd known her most of my life, but the less she knew, the better. So, no names. "I called one of his men and he had me drive to the club. He met me outside, and the car kept going." I pulled my hair over one shoulder, too nervous to keep my hands still. "It might have been nothing. A coincidence. But I didn't know what else to do. And when I got there, he was there. And... things happened."
"Well, being that you came home in a different shirt you left in, I would say some very interesting things happened." Crossing her legs beneath her, she leaned forward. "But again. Why the hell didn't you just go to the cops?"
"I told you why."
She sighed heavily. "I just don't get why you're protecting this guy, Veda."
Yeah, well, that made two of us.
"It's not like you could ever have a life with him."
The truth, said out loud like that, hit me hard, and my voice was sullen when I said, "I never said I wanted one."
Sammy turned on the bed so she was facing me. She picked my hand up in hers. "V, I think it would be a good idea if you talked to someone."
I frowned. "I am. I'm talking to you."
She shook her head, her long braids cascading over her shoulders. "No. I mean like, professionally. I think you might be having feelings where you shouldn't. Through no fault of your own," she was quick to add.
I pulled my hand from hers. She was probably right. But that didn't mean I
was going to do it. I'd be fine. I was fine. And my feelings weren't some consequence of emotional trauma.
"You've been through a lot of shit the last few months, and I just think it would be a good idea. I mean, the guy fucking kidnapped you, Veda. And you're over here all heart eyes for him. There's a name for that."
"Stockholm Syndrome," I answered flatly.
Quietly, she said, "I just think it might be a good idea. You know, when you get settled somewhere."
My eyes shot to hers. "Yeah," I told her after a pause. "I'll think about it."
Sammy gave me a small smile. "Good. That's good."
Getting up from the bed, I grabbed my pajamas and went into the bathroom to wash Luca's smell from me, ignoring the tears of loss that burned my eyes and mixed with the water from the shower.