Chapter 57

VEDA

The ride into the city was unusually silent. I sat in the backseat of a blacked-out SUV, as far from Luca as I could get. One of the guys that took me from my sister's condo drove, his eyes constantly scanning the area around us and his gun lying on the seat beside him. It was the first thing I’d noticed when Luca had opened the door for me and I’d climbed into the vehicle.

"Go ahead and try," he'd told me when I froze halfway into the car. "I dare you."

Gauging the time it would take me to reach over the armrest and grab it and my odds of reaching it before either of them stopped me, I sat down in my seat and pulled the seatbelt across my lap. I could try it, but I wouldn't succeed, so why waste the energy. I refused to look at him as he shut the door and climbed in beside me. Lacing my fingers together in my lap, I turned to look out the window.

And that was how I’d remained the entire ride.

It gave me some time to think, though, now that I'd been forcibly pulled from my cocoon of self-pity and grief. Watching the scenery roll by as we made our way from the hill country to the city proper of Austin, the reality of what my life was now settled like a weight in my chest, and I came to accept the fact that there was no way I was getting away from this man beside me. He was going to use me for his game of revenge, and when he was finished, when I had no use to him anymore, he was going to kill me. I had no doubt about it.

Unless...

Unless there was a way to change his mind.

From the short time I'd been there in his house, there were a few things I'd noticed. The most important being that Luca had very few people in his inner circle. But the people he considered his, he treated well, and if what Lisa told me was true, he would do anything for them. So, my new plan was simple. So simple, I didn't know why I hadn't thought of it until now.

Instead of fighting to get away from him, I would fight my way into his inner circle. And hopefully once I got in there, he would want to keep me. It wasn’t the life I’d planned, or one that I wanted, but it could be worse. And it was better than not being alive at all.

But I had to do it carefully. Luca wasn't stupid. If I suddenly changed my attitude toward him, he would definitely suspect something was off. My change of heart had to seem natural. So, as hard as it would be, I needed to push down my fear and anger and get to know him. Let him get to know me.

Let him fall in love with me.

It sounded arrogant, even to myself, but it was my only chance. I already knew he was attracted to me physically. And he seemed to enjoy what my father had always lovingly called my "spirited" personality, as long as I didn't push it too far. Or maybe because I did. Maybe there weren't many people who had the balls to get in his face, and that was why he liked it. Perhaps he needed a bit of a challenge in his life.

But I had to do this carefully. So very, very carefully.

We pulled over near some bougie stores on 2nd Street. I hopped out of the SUV before Luca could come around to help me, and nearly got run over by a bicycle in my haste.

I’d barely jumped out of the way before Luca had a hand wrapped around my arm and was pulling me onto the sidewalk. "Wait for me next time," he growled.

"I'm perfectly capable of getting out of a car by myself," I spit right back at him. "I'm not a child."

"Then stop acting like one. You could’ve been seriously hurt.”

“Well,” I drawled. “We can’t have that, now can we? Because that would totally fuck up everything. For you.”

We stared each other down until people started to walk slower, throwing curious looks our way as they passed us. When he noticed, Luca gave me a tight smile, offering me his arm like the gentlemen I knew he was anything but. "Shall we?"

Reluctantly, I laid my hand in the bend of his elbow, bracing myself for the tingle that always rippled through me whenever I touched him.

"What would you like to look at first?" he asked me as we strolled along the sidewalk.

I almost told him I didn't care, but then I remembered my plan, and I took a deep breath. He was making an effort to be decent. The least I could do was to do the same. "It irks me that you have to buy me clothes," I admitted honestly.

He looked at me, a shock of surprise in his blue eyes. "Don't do that, amore. I can more than afford to buy you a few things, so you'll be more comfortable. I would’ve done it weeks ago if you hadn’t locked yourself in that room.”

"I'd be more comfortable if I was in my own home with my own things."

The weight of his stare was heavy on my face, and then he faced forward again. "I understand that," he said quietly, to my surprise, "but it's not going to happen."

I waited for him to say more. To say he was sorry. Or that he'd changed his mind. Stupid, hopeful things.

He didn't.

"How about in here?" he asked.

Looking at the window display, I saw a few items that looked like they were right up my alley. "I'll make you a deal," I told him, turning to look up at him.

He cocked his head, waiting, his eyes resting on my mouth for a moment before they rose to meet my own.

"I'll let you buy me stuff now, on the condition that I'll pay you back for it. Someday."

He started to shake his head, "That’s—”

"Stop," I said, holding up my hand before he could say anything else. Like how I would never have the chance to pay him back because I was never going back to my old life. "Just give me this one. Please.”

His eyes narrowed, but he surprised me again. "Okay."

"You agree?"

He gave me a nod.

I felt like I'd just taken a step toward my plan, small as it was, and I smiled. "Then let's go shopping."

His eyes traveled over every inch of my face, but I must've been pretty convincing, for the tension left his jaw. "After you," he told me.

Walking into the shop with Luca on my heels, I immediately went to the sales rack, as was my habit.

"You don't have to do that, Veda. Cost is no object."

"Shouldn't you be calling me Nicole?" I kept my eyes on the clothes in front of me, not daring to look at him as I pulled out a summer dress that was blush pink and laced down the back. Very much my sister's style. I blinked away tears as I imagined her in it.

He was quiet for so long I wondered if I'd already pushed it too far. Finally, he said, "No. Not here." And that was the extent of his explanation. "Try that on," he ordered.

I’d been about to put the dress back on the rack. Instead, I held it up and looked at it again. "This?"

He nodded.

"But I have nowhere to wear it."

"You will. Soon. There's a party I'd like to take you to."

"What party?" My stomach slightly nauseous, I laid the dress over my arm and continued to look through the racks as though it didn’t bother me at all that I would be taking on the identity of my dead sister “soon.”

"A birthday party for someone in my family. And I need you to go with me." I could tell he expected me to argue with him.