“How are things downstairs?” Riley takes a few sips of her water.
I let out a long breath. “Calming down. The ‘post mission’ stuff is done. Mathew is sending people to bed to sleep in shifts. We’ve not really gotten much out of the guys yet, but that’s only a matter of time.” Getting everything and everyone settled was more important in the short term. Plus, it’s only useful to start asking questions if you know what you want to ask, asking them just random things won’t get us anywhere.
“Good.” Then she gives me an awkward smile. “Is Caleb still angry?”
“He isn’t. He wasn’t angry before either. You were putting yourself and other people in danger and he was trying to keep everything together. He was trying to keep everyone safe.” I hold out one of the sandwiches to Riley. “Do you know where Luca is? He wasn’t with Jorge and I’ve not seen him in a few hours.”
He’s hopefully just asleep somewhere, but I would still like to know where, keep the pack together and all of that. Make sure he’s okay and not feeling like crap all alone in some dark corner.
Riley puts a finger to her lips as she puts the sandwich to the side, her eyes glittering in the low light. Then she lifts the blankets next to her slightly, revealing Luca, fast asleep, curled up on top of and around a bunch of our clothes.
I stare, barely able to believe what I’m seeing. I thought she just had a lot of pillows in her ‘pile’ but I had no idea that she had a whole person under there. Now it makes sense why she’s keeping her voice so quiet and why she’s staying so still, she’s trying to let him sleep.
She carefully lowers the blankets again, making sure not to disturb Luca too much. “He was here when I came back. And he fell asleep while I was working.” She smiles sadly. “No matter how much they messed with his head, he can’t deny his instincts, he can’t be away from his pack now we’ve found him.”
I wipe at my eyes, overwhelmed with emotion, and probably from exhaustion. Luca looked so cute, so sweet, asleep against Riley. Like he finally felt safe enough to fully relax, possibly for the first time in years...
Luca lets out a soft sound and moves around under the blankets, making me break out in a smile. He’s so cute. I can’t keep my eyes off where he’s hiding, not wanting to leave him alone. I don’t care if I can see him or even touch him, being near him is good enough.
“If you would like to take a nap, grab some more pillows and make yourself a little nest there.” Riley lets her warm rose pheromones flood around us, comforting, soothing.
“But... What if my pheromones disturb him?” I don’t want to disturb Luca when he’s finally resting.
“He’s under the blankets with me, he’s mainly getting my pheromones, he won’t get much of yours if you’re not under here with us.” She says it in a calm way that makes it feel like she’s making a lot of sense.
“I guess I could do that.” I guess I can take a nap, or maybe even just get comfortable here until I get back to work.
I grab a couple more pillows from Riley’s bed and make a bigger ‘nest’ right outside her closet. It’s just big enough for me to curl up on, I can’t stretch out, but I don’t care, I’ll take anything right now. I don’t grab a blanket, the heat of the day is bad enough, I don’t need to boil myself alive.
Settling down in the pillows, I look at Riley, who’s eating a sandwich and reading something on her tablet, already back to work. Taking deep breaths, trying to let go of some of the tension in my body, I’m about to close my eyes when I spot movement at the edge of the blankets, Luca’s hand crawling out from under it, moving in my direction.
I stare at his hand and then at Riley, who looks surprised too, before softly smiling.
“Vera?” Luca’s voice is muffled, but hearing him say my name makes my heart race all the same.
“I’m here.” I push my pillows closer and then put my hand over Luca’s. “I’m right here.”
He weaves his fingers through mine, rubbing his thumb over my hand, before his grip relaxes. I think he’s back to sleep already.
My heart hammers in my chest, tears in my eyes, as I stare at Riley, not able to fully believe what’s going on. Luca is holding my hand!
I try to get comfortable in the pillows without moving my hand too much, not wanting to break this little connection between us.
This is...
Luca, who can’t be near me without having a panic attack from my pheromones, is holding my hand.
We’re touching!
The small gesture, the small proof of trust, breaks something inside me and my tears won’t stop anymore.
All the tension and stress leaves me as the tears and the sobs keep coming, as I quietly break down, no longer able to keep it all inside.
My phone buzzes, waking me up, and I look at the lit screen in front of me. It’s Nathan.
I blink, trying to stretch, when I notice that Luca is still holding onto my hand. Oh, right. That happened. A bright feeling flutters in my chest as I softly squeeze Luca’s hand, happy he hasn’t let go yet.
Then I look up more and notice that Riley is asleep, curled up on her side, her face finally relaxed.
