Actress Aimee Herald announces divorce from civilian husband.
Anyway… What it can mean when someone changes the subject.
Sario took his order and sat down near the door of a coffee shop right across the street from Paolo's office. Wrapping both hands around the cold cup of iced coffee, he stared out the window as he listened to Luca converse with the secretary.
"I'm here to meet with Senator Paolo. I should have an appointment on the books."
"Name?" the secretary asked.
"Holt," Luca responded swiftly.
There was a pause and then the secretary said, "This way please, sir. The senator is expecting you."
Sario exhaled shakily and forced himself to sip his drink. Why had he been so nervous about a conversation with a secretary? There had been no threat involved. It was the next conversation that he should be nervous about.
"You can head straight into the office," the secretary instructed Luca. "Just shut the door behind yourself."
Sario heard Luca take a deep breath and then open a door.
As the door clicked shut, Paolo's voice filled Sario's ear. "I'm so glad Holt Enterprises has finally agreed to work with me." Then there was a long silence before Paolo said, "Augustine Marlowe. So you're alive."
Luca did not even hesitate for a second. "What else would I be?"
"I don't know, dead? In that last video of you, there was enough blood to safely assume death."
"Well, I'm clearly not dead."
"I can see that." There was a creak of an office chair leaning back. "Can I safely assume you don't have my child?"
"There's no child, Paolo."
"You can't gaslight me," Paolo sneered. "I got you pregnant, tested you myself, and watched your stomach swell with it. By the time that traitor guard took you, you were well past six months. No one would've given you an abortion. I know there's a child."
"It died." Luca said it so calmly, like he had not been sobbing and screaming when he had told Sario about it. "Why do you think there was so much blood in that video? Your fucking child died before it ever saw the light of day!" Now he was less calm.
"Calm down," Sario whispered into the lid of his cup, his heart pounding so hard he could feel it in his fingertips.
"Well, that's a disappointment," Paolo said, completely unfazed by Luca's swearing and raised tone. There was another creak from the chair. "I would've liked a child from your body."
Sario nearly gagged. Who the fuck did this guy think he was, talking to Luca like that?
A harsh inhale sounded sharply in the earpiece, and then Luca snapped, "Get your hands off me!"
Sario's heart lurched into his throat. Paolo was touching Luca. His Luca.
Paolo chuckled and apparently complied. "Fine. But you loved it before."
"I hated it!" Luca spat. "I tried to kill myself! Don't act like you don't remember! And don't think I don't know that the others tried it too!"
Paolo sighed heavily, as if disappointed. "Of course they did. All seven of you were depressed messes after you came to live with us."
Sario had to consciously relax his hand before he crushed his cup.
Luca's reply was full of dangerous sarcasm. "And why do you think that was, senator?"
There was an awkward silence. Then Paolo's voice, low and threatening, said, "Why are you here? Do you want compensation or something?"
Luca laughed bitterly. "As if anything you could give me would compensate for the horrors I went through."
After another silence, Paolo spoke again, his tone almost nonchalant. "I see. You're working for the police now."
Sario shot up from his chair instantly, chucking his half-finished coffee into the trash on his way out of the shop.
"Sario!" Laurel hissed in his ear. "What are you doing?"
"He's going to hurt Luca," Sario gritted out as he crossed the street with quick strides.
Meanwhile, Luca was laughing at Paolo's accusation. "The police? I didn't even graduate high school! Last I checked, they didn't hire people without at least a GED. How the hell would I work for them?"
Sario pushed the door to Paolo's office building open as Paolo replied too calmly, "You're the only one alive and free and the one most closely connected to me. Why wouldn't they use you to get dirt on me?"
"I'm not wearing a wire, if that's what you're accusing me of," Luca snapped back.
Sario approached the secretary's desk and smiled apologetically. "Could you point me to the restrooms please? I've got a meeting in ten minutes."
The secretary smiled back at him. "It'll be down that hall on your left," she replied, pointing him in the right direction.
"Thank you." Sario headed down the hall, adrenaline coursing through his system in nauseous waves.
"I don't care." Paolo sounded utterly unapologetic, like the bastard Sario knew him to be. There was the sound of something metal being pulled out. "No matter the reason you're here, you deserve this."
"Laurel, where's the office?" Sario whispered desperately.
Fortunately, Laurel seemed to be on his side now. "Take a right. It'll be the door at the end. Sario," she added hurriedly, "don't do anything stupid. He could have a gun."
A thud resounded through the earpiece, an almost deafening sound, followed by a scream of pain. Luca.
Fuck caution. Sario threw open Paolo's office door just in time to see the senator smash a metal bat straight into Luca's stomach, sending him crumpling to the ground.
Paolo turned toward Sario, surprised by the sudden intrusion.
Sario felt his heart inexplicably settle into a steady rhythm as he stepped in front of his husband. "You motherfucking son of a bitch." He barely recognized his own voice, almost scared by its deadliness. "You're going to regret ever being born." Some deep, vengeful part of him was in charge now, and that part needed Paolo to die. Slowly. Painfully.
He only came back to himself when some of the police officers from Laurel's team hauled him away from Paolo's brutally beaten body. He dragged deep breaths into his lungs, forcing his eyes away so he could calm himself. But then his eyes fell on Luca, who was curled into a fetal position on the floor with Laurel and her partner Olcayra hovering nervously over him. He pulled away from the officers holding him back from Paolo and hurried to Luca's side. How could he have left his husband alone and in pain? He knelt down and skimmed his hand across Luca's shoulders. "Luca?" he whispered. "Can you look at me? Please?"
Luca's eyes opened, and they were hazy with pain. "Sario…" He lifted one of his hands from cradling his stomach and reached out to touch Sario's face with shaking fingertips. "Thank you." Then his eyes rolled back and his whole body went limp.
Sario caught Luca's hand before it hit the floor. "Luca?" He looked up at Laurel with fear shooting through his heart. "He's still alive, right? Right?" He could hear the panic in his voice, which only added to his anxiety.
Laurel knelt and pressed two fingers to Luca's neck. "He has a heartbeat." She tipped the back of her hand toward Luca's face. "And he's breathing. He probably passed out from shock or pain."
"The paramedics will be here soon," Olcayra added. "They'll take him to the hospital just in case."
Sario nodded and exhaled shakily. He held Luca's hand tightly until the paramedics showed up and then reluctantly let go. "Can you take him to Falville University Hospital?" he asked one of the paramedics, who nodded in answer. After watching Luca get shut into the ambulance, he waited to leave until he saw Paolo handcuffed and pushed into the back of a police car.
Laurel and Olcayra dropped him off at the hospital, and both women wished him and Luca well.
Sario got a nurse to show him to the room Luca had been placed in and then sat in the chair beside the bed, gently taking the hand without the IV taped to it. He watched Luca's closed eyes for signs of life beyond the pulse fluttering beneath his fingers.
The door opened, and Noah came in. "Hey, Chloe came to get me when she heard you guys were here." He pushed the door shut behind himself with his heel. "We really need to stop meeting like this."
Sario glared. "This isn't funny, Noah!"
Noah moved to check Luca's file. "Good. Get angry. It'll stop you from panicking." Of course Noah had made him mad on purpose.
Sario dragged in a deep breath through his nose. "It's not serious, is it? He'll be okay?"
Noah washed his hands, dried them, and then pushed Luca's shirt up. His expression did not give away what he thought of the two thick bruises across Luca's abdomen, but his eyes grew concerned. "Looks like they put him on some pain meds, so he shouldn't be in too much pain." He ran his hand across Luca's stomach, probably checking for obvious signs of internal damage. "I don't see anything wrong from the outside, but I'll want to get an ultrasound just to be sure." He pulled Luca's shirt back down, washed his hands again, and started typing on his tablet.
With a quiet groan, Luca opened his eyes, his gaze instantly snapping to Sario like the two of them were magnets of opposite polarities. His fingers tightened around Sario's hand. He had to be so scared and in so much shock from everything that had happened. Thankfully, he did not attempt to apologize. That would have ripped Sario's heart to pieces.
"Hey," Sario said softly. "Do you feel okay?" It was a stupid question, but he needed the answer.
Luca smiled weakly. "I'm okay." His gaze drifted over to Noah. "I'm probably real fucked up now, aren't I?"
Noah turned. "I hope not. We'll find out." He stepped out of the room and came back in a few minutes with an ultrasound machine, which he set up with a calm born out of experience. "You're on meds, but I'll try to be gentle."
"That's why I feel floaty?" Luca mumbled, his eyes finding Sario again.
Noah chuckled as he tore open a gel packet and spread its contents over the wand. "Yeah."
Luca frowned, looking like he was trying to fight through the medicated fog. "Isn't it dangerous?"
Noah pushed Luca's shirt up again. "Dangerous? Why do you think it'd be dangerous?"
Luca's frown deepened into something near a scowl. "Because I used to be an addict."
Sario had never hated that term more in his life. He supposed it was true, but he hated anyone thinking of his husband as an addict.
Noah paused. "They're not particularly strong pain meds. Just enough to keep you comfortable for now. You'll be off them soon, as long as nothing's wrong, so no worries. Sorry," he apologized when Luca inhaled sharply at the cold gel hitting his stomach. Noah squinted at the black and white picture on the monitor for several minutes and then smiled. "I think you're okay. I'm seeing some inflammation, but no internal bleeding or damage."
Sario's heart launched up into his throat. "But isn't inflammation bad? Like an infection?"
"Not always. It's just some swelling, which is to be expected after blunt-force trauma. Like, you know, if you sprain your ankle, it swells up. It's just typical signs of bruising," Noah reassured them, still looking at the monitor. "Nothing serious." Then his brow furrowed, and he leaned closer to the screen. "That's not—" he muttered before he quickly cut himself off. "I'd like to wait for some of the swelling to go down and take another look just in case." He handed Sario a few paper towels and started typing up notes while Sario carefully wiped the oily gel from Luca's stomach, and then he cracked a couple instant ice packs and handed them to Sario as well.
Sario laid the ice packs over Luca's bruises and then kissed his knuckles, smiling at Luca's little surprised smile.
Noah finished typing and turned back to them. "Oh, by the way, Darius asked me to tell you both that Rowan's here."
"What?" Luca half sat up, his free hand holding the ice packs. "Why? Is he okay?"
Noah's expression hovered halfway in between a smile and a grimace. "Yeah, he's okay. He's giving birth, and he's super high on pain meds. Apparently that was part of his conditions for keeping the baby." He flushed. "I shouldn't have said that."
Luca lay back down, but with a smirk on his lips. "Oh, no, keep the gossip coming. I need the distraction."
Noah sighed defeatedly and plopped down onto the rolling stool by the counter. "Fine." He propped his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. "Rowan and Darius haven't exactly had the picture-perfect love all the tabloids claim they do. They met in…kind of a bad way."
Luca raised an eyebrow.
Noah bit his lip. "Um, well, let's just say Rowan ended up pregnant with Aiden."
"And then somehow ended up as Darius' assistant?"
Now it was Noah who raised his eyebrow. "How'd you know that?"
"Darius had me investigate. You know, with my hacky skills." Luca wiggled his fingers playfully.
Noah rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I should've guessed that. Anyways, Rowan's dad was a piece of shit and he made Rowan do a whole bunch of shitty stuff by holding Aiden's wellbeing over his head. When Aiden was born, apparently Rowan's dad didn't let him have any pain meds."
Sario felt his heart clench. His sweet brother-in-law had gone through that? Yes, Rowan was a devil in angel's clothing at times, at least according to Darius and Noah, but how had Rowan ever loved Aiden after all that suffering? And how the fuck had he agreed to have another baby after that torture?
Noah sighed heavily like he had heard Sario's thoughts. "Yeah, I wouldn't ever want to even think about having another kid after that. I mean, it was kind of a surprise, but I'm a little surprised he kept it." He shrugged. "Well, we're here now."
"And the ridiculous amount of meds was his compromise?" Luca looked rather amused at the whole situation, a look Sario was not used to seeing on him. He huffed out a sigh. "Honestly, I'd do the same. But we really should go up and see him once we're done here. Darius can't be good company."
Sario snorted out a laugh, as did Noah.
Luca grinned and flipped one of the ice packs over.
Noah stood up. "If they're not cold anymore, give them to me. It looks like the swelling has gone down anyway." He tossed the warm ice packs onto the counter and re-examined Luca's stomach using both his hands and the ultrasound machine. His face remained neutral, but he bit his lip for a moment, which was Noah's equivalent of a silent fuck. He grabbed a small device out of his pocket. "Small poke," he warned, taking Luca's hand. "Real quick blood test." He pricked Luca's finger, wrapped a bandaid around the small wound, and then stared at the device until results loaded and scrolled through the list. He blinked at the tiny screen. "Why is it always me?" he muttered. "No, fuck this. Here," he said, thrusting the device into Luca's hands.
Luca lifted the device to eye level with an expression of mixed confusion and fear. His eyes ran across and down the screen until they fixed on something that made him freeze and drop the device.
Sario snatched it off the bed. What the—
Impossible.
Completely impossible.
So impossible it would seem like a dream if it was not real.
Luca was fucking pregnant.