Then he reached for Anthony’s discarded leftovers, not bothering to get a fresh fork, because…brothers.
“Guess I should be thankful the paparazzi and tourists weren’t around for that part of my career, huh?” Luc asked with a wan smile, trying to lighten the mood.
Luc stopped chewing and narrowed his eyes on Anthony’s face. His brother had suddenly stopped making eye contact and was making a big deal out of washing his water glass.
Not having Anthony’s power of silent inquisition, he went for the regular, verbal kind. “What’s up?”
“Huh?”
Luc speared the last remaining piece of penne and studied his brother. “Don’t huh me. You got all weird when I mentioned the media.”
Luc’s fork dropped loudly to the counter as he stood up straighter. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t tell Ava Sims about Shayna Taylor.”
“No!” His brother looked uncharacteristically expressive, and the expression was pissed. “Fuck you.”
Luc relaxed only slightly. “Nonna? Did she tell Ava?”
“Christ, Luca…We’re your family. We’re here to protect you, not throw your most painful memories out to a hot reporter.”
“Then why’d you go weird?”
“I didn’t,” Anthony said, shoving past and using his shoulder to jar Luc’s. “You’re the one being weird. I’m going to bed.”
Luc watched his brother head to the bedroom. “Hey, Anth.”
His brother paused, turned his chin almost to his shoulder, although he didn’t look back all the way.
“Thanks. For listening.”
Anthony held up his hand in a silent you’re welcome, before slipping back into his bedroom to spoon his overnight guest.
Luc stood for a long while in the dark, the sharpness of his dream fading into the usual shadows of his mind, even as his instincts hummed that that episode in his life wasn’t over yet.
Not by a long shot.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
This is bullshit,” Luc said, running two hands through his hair. “You’ve already seen the video. Everyone’s seen the video. What’s the point of reenacting something when you can watch the real deal?”
Ava’s chest expanded slightly in what Luc now knew was her don’t lose your shit internal pep talk to herself. “So we can have dinner together, but we can’t just walk and talk along the river’s edge in Battery Park?”
Sawyer turned and gave Luc an incredulous look. “Sharing meals? Like, you guys split a candy bar from the candy machine, or…”
“It wasn’t like that,” Ava snapped.
Only because you won’t let it be, he wanted to snap back. Still, keeping things platonic had been his idea too. Sort of.
But fuck. That kiss.
“Can’t you have a stand-in go through the motions?” he asked. “You know, a body double, or some shit like that.”
“Great idea, Officer, that’ll make for really compelling television. Here, folks, we have a random person off the street pretending to be a—”
She broke off suddenly and gave him a look. “You know why I stopped just then? That’s a million people changing the channel.”
He shrugged. “Not my problem.”
Ava rolled her eyes to the sky as though dealing with a petulant child. He knew he was being difficult, but that was tough shit.
Just because he had some seriously raunchy fantasies about this woman didn’t mean he was going to become her lackey.
As a woman, he wanted her. As a news reporter, she was more a pain in his ass than ever.
If he went through with this, it would make his “heroic” actions seem manufactured and calculating, and the last thing he needed was people thinking that he was the type of cop that over-thought things.
Overthinking led to tragic circumstances.
He knew that better than anyone, and no way was he going to sell himself out on national television.
“It’s not like I’m asking you to jump into the river, Luc,” Ava said, her voice slightly softer. “Just talk us through what happened that day.”