“You realized what?” Luca asks.
“It’s too late now.” Another tear falls down my cheek.
“Tell me…” Luca reaches out and wipes the tear away from my cheek with his thumb.
“It won’t change anything.”
“You don’t know that,” he says almost on a whisper as he stands.
“Are you happy, Luca?” So I can look at him properly, I also stand.
“I don’t know.” He rakes his hand through his hair, his head shakes slowly.
“Before today… were you happy?”
“I thought I was, but…”
Shaking my head, I state, “I could never regret you, Luca.”
“Lilly…” I see the pain etched across his features.
“My life is here helping people… your life is there helping people.”
The door to the room opens and in walks a beautiful younger woman. She looks familiar with her long black hair and chocolate eyes. “We have to go.” Those chocolate eyes are jumping between the two of us, and they are full of concern.
“I hope that has cleared things up, Your Highness.” Trying to be professional, even though I know I look anything but, Luca looks at me, and I notice the anguish behind his eyes.
“Luca, we have to go.” The woman’s a little more forceful this time.
Luca turns on his heels and rushes out the door.
The woman frowns, then turns and follows after him.
27
Luca
“Are you okay after seeing her again?” Natalia asks as we take the car back to Rome.
Lilly didn’t message me. Rob did. Her damn ex.
Lilly was alone with her ex, and he made her cry.
Fuck! I should’ve been there. I should have protected her from him like I promised her I would.
That little fucker.
He fucked with what Lilly and I had. He couldn’t cope with the fact she didn’t want him, that she wanted someone else, so he made it so she couldn’t have me either.
“Fuck.” Punching the seat in front of me, I breathe heavily through my nose.
“Luca!” Natalia screams, her eyes widening at my angry outburst.
“Lilly didn’t send the messages, Nat.”
My sister shakes her head, a little confused over my train of thought.
“Who… sent it, then?” I hear the hesitation in her voice. I am sure she thinks I’m losing it.
“Her ex was there the night they were sent to me. That’s why she didn’t pick up my first phone calls. She said they had gotten into a fight. He made her cry, and she went to the bathroom. Upon her return, she noticed him playing with her phone, but Lilly had no idea he’d sent anything.”
“Oh, Luca…” Natalia reaches out and grabs my hand.
“She said she tried to call me after he left. That she wanted to tell me something, but then…”
Fuck! I punch the seat again.
“Luca, calm down,” my sister chastises me.
“I blocked Lilly, then fucked someone else when she was at home waiting for me to call her back, hoping that I still felt the same way as her.” My eyes close as I try to reign in my anger. “She still loved me, Natalia. I know that’s what she was calling to tell me. Now I have fucked it the hell up. I’ve fucked up so much.” Damn my fucking ego right to hell.
“No, her ex fucked you both over. This isn’t your fault,” she tries to reassure me.
“We’d be together now if…”
“I know.” Natalie’s squeezes my hand. “You can’t change the past, brother, but you can rewrite the future.”
Damn, when did my sister get so wise?
“She told me her life is here, and mine is there.”
“From what we heard today, she’s a brilliant doctor.”
Everyone around the clinic spoke so highly about her. I hated hearing it at the time. Hated that everyone could love her except for me.
“She’s doing good work,” Natalia states.
“So, you’re saying what? That I should leave her be?” My sister’s face softens.
“I think you have had a shock today.” Natalia smiles at me. “That has changed the way you have been feeling for the past year.”
I have hated Lilly for so long, and now? Now what? I find out my hate is all based on a lie.
“I think you need to let this whole situation sink in before you do anything else.”
“It’s hard when, for the first time, my heart has started beating again.”
Natalia lays her head on my shoulder. “You have waited this long. What’s a little longer?”
Maybe she’s right.
“First things first, I’m going to deal with Lilly’s ex first.”
Natalia simply chuckles.
Luca: I’ve dealt with Rob.
Lilly: Please tell me he is still alive?
Lilly: Luca!!
Chuckling to myself as I tease her, I type out another message.
Luca: Yes, he’s alive. But he might not be after I sent his girlfriend copies of all the messages he’s sent to other women.
Lilly: What a dick! Will he never learn?
Luca: Doesn’t look like it.
Lilly: Why are men such idiots?
Luca: Not all men.
Lilly: All men have an idiot buried inside of them. Just have to wait for the right situation and out they come.
Luca: You’re probably right.
Lilly: Thanks for unblocking me to share this good news.
Yep. I’m officially an idiot, and that was my biggest idiotic moment of all time.
How do I apologize for the misunderstanding?
Luca: You know I’m sorry about that.
Lilly: I know you are. It was one giant mess.
Luca: I wanted to kill him for what he did to us.
Lilly: It’s hard to not think what could have been.
Oh good, I’m not alone in thinking this way.
This is a good start.
Luca: Doesn’t mean it can’t be again.
Just say the word Lilly.
The silence that came after that text message was deafening.
A couple of days later came the perfect opportunity for me to text Lilly again as she’d just moved to Albania for her promotion. I’m proud of her, and it had nothing to do with me
