Chapter 3

Bianca's little tricks were painfully obvious. It was just that they no longer bothered me.

She took a few sharp steps toward me, fire simmering behind her eyes.

Then in the next instant, she suddenly toppled backward and hit the floor hard.

Loud enough to bring people running.

She burst into tears, eyes red:

"I quit!"

"Just because Don bought me a car, Ava called me shameless, said I've got a filthy mind, said I'm trying to sleep my way up through him!"

"How could I ever do that?"

She was sobbing loudly.

Luca came striding in.

"What's going on?"

Bianca sat on the floor, biting her lip, as if she'd suffered the greatest injustice in the world.

"I know she can't stand the sight of me, but I'm just doing my job for you."

"If I'd known she'd get this upset, I wouldn't have come today."

Luca pulled her to her feet, expression pained, brow knitted tight.

"If someone hurts you, you say so. No one's asking you to bear it in silence."

He was speaking like reason itself. But in this moment, no matter how you heard it, it sounded like a love letter.

Just not one addressed to me.

Bianca lowered her head, voice hoarse:

"It's just because she's the future Donna. Otherwise I'd have already talked back to her."

Luca sighed helplessly:

"So what if she's the future Donna? You can talk back to her all the same."

He looked at me. His eyes were cold.

"Apologize to Bianca."

I raised an eyebrow. My meaning was clear.

Bianca, playing the good sport, spoke up:

"I don't need her apology. How about she washes my car instead?"

Luca agreed without a moment's hesitation. "Of course."

I stood up. "Luca, that's enough."

His voice dropped: "Enough with the scene, all right? Do it for me. Let this one go."

"I'll wash it with you." He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door, unyielding.

There it sat—that black Spark I'd wanted so badly.

He picked up the hose and shoved it into my hand.

Bianca stood off to the side, giving orders.

"Here. And there. Everything needs to be spotless."

I didn't move.

Then Bianca suddenly snatched the hose out of my hand.

As if she'd lost her grip on it—she aimed it straight at me.

The pressurized water hit my face dead on.

She burst out laughing, as though it were all a great game.

"Ava, forget the car—let's have a water fight!"

The jet kept slamming into my face. My skin burned, raw. It felt like the blood was going to push right up through it.

My eyes stung fiercely from the water. I blinked helplessly, again and again.

But Luca just stood there smiling at Bianca.

He didn't see anything wrong with it.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I strode forward and wrenched the hose out of her hand.

I was about to turn it on her.

Luca stepped in front of her instantly.

In the space of a breath, he was soaked.

He and I stood there, locked eye to eye.

After a long moment, he said:

"Are you satisfied now?"

"I always knew you were this vindictive."

The hose slipped from my hand.

I don't know what a wreck I must have looked.

Hair, clothes—all drenched. My eyes were so blurred I couldn't see.

But none of that,

hurt as much as him calling me vindictive.

Once, he'd told me I was the softest-hearted person in the world.

He never wanted me to suffer any slight from anyone else. So he was always teaching me: don't swallow things, don't let them eat you up inside.

And now.

The one hurting me, over and over,

was him.

I just stood there, silent, watching him.

Only then did he seem to notice the state I was in.

But all he did was frown.

"Why didn't you get out of the way?"

My face was blotched with welts from the water.

I wiped a hand across my cheek, taking the tears with the water. I didn't want him to see them.

"The pressure was that strong—I thought it was going to blind me. How was I supposed to dodge?"

He looked at my eyes. They were bloodshot.

Something tender flickered in his expression. He started to come toward me.

But Bianca caught his arm.

"I didn't mean it. I just wanted to try and smooth things over with Ava. I had no idea the pressure was that high."

Luca paused a moment.

"All right. Let's just let it go. It's over."

"You're more mature than Bianca. You should be the bigger person."

One breezy sentence.

Leaving me nothing to do but slink away like this.