Dark Heart (Dark Heart 1)

I start taking bigger breaths, because my lungs feel too tight.

“Here’s what I’m asking for in return.” He hands me a bag of ice, and I grip the Ziploc bag as pain sears my shoulder. “I want you to go away from Red Hook. As soon as you can, you find yourself a place near the university and start the work of splitting from your family. I’ll provide a stipend for your mom and brother. You cut your contact with Anthony Diamond and anyone who is in contact with him. Stop doing those things he asks you. Focus on your studies. Keep your honor, Luca. Get your degree, and if you love my daughter and she loves you, I’ll pay for a big wedding and help you find a foothold.”

I can’t breathe. “Why?” I manage.

His hand clasps my unhurt shoulder. “I think you’re a good kid, but I don’t want my daughter near a man who’s beholden to the Tony Diamonds of this world. If you can’t look into your own eyes in the mirror, stay away from Elise. I’ve got ways of knowing. Do you understand?”

I nod.

“And treat her well. You don’t have to be her boyfriend. I’ll still pay your mother’s rent and you’ll pursue your education. But you have to treat her kindly at all times. Even if the nature of your relationship changes. Do we have an understanding?”

I nod as my eyes sting.

“You’re going to go and say goodbye to her and I’ll have someone drive you to an ER. Elise needs her sleep.”

I nod again.Chapter Twenty-OneEliseMy dad has Mercer bring Luca back to our house when they finish at the ER. Unbeknownst to me, he sleeps in one of the guest rooms from four-thirty till a little after nine, when my dad’s doctor checks on him and then my mother leads him to the kitchen to surprise me at the breakfast table.

He looks sleepy, with his hair mussed and his left arm in a black sling. As he comes closer, I see a thin strip of what looks like white tape to the left of his eye, ringed by a bruise.

“Hi…” I stand up, coming to stop right in front of him.

My mom leans around him. “We didn’t want you sneaking in on him. He needed rest.”

Last night, my dad came into my room after Mercer and Luca left, and we had a long talk—so I knew my parents had made a U-turn on my relationship, and this morning, Mom had told me he was out of the ER and doing well. But I didn’t realize he was at our house.

“How do you feel?”

His eyes look slightly glassy. I see his Adam’s apple bob before he murmurs, “Better.”

“I’ll leave you two to breakfast,” my mom says.

“Thank you,” Luca tells her.

She waves and smiles as she leaves.

I pull a chair out for him and watch as he sits carefully. About ten feet away, behind the counter, Raya is whipping up my favorite breakfast.

I run my socked foot up Luca’s leg—which I notice is bare; he came into the kitchen wearing one of my dad’s undershirts and a pair of his gym shorts—and his foot rubs mine in return.

“Are you really okay?” I ask softly.

He smiles. “Better than okay.”

He looks tired, though, heavy-lidded.

“What did they tell you at the hospital?”

“Just the collar bone. It’ll be fine.”

“How long will it take to heal?”

“It should be fast.”

“What about your—” I gesture to his head.

His fingertip traces the thin strip of tape. “Butterfly bandage.” He gives me a little smirk.

“Does anything hurt?”

His free hand toys with the sling’s strap, and I feel like he’s avoiding my eyes as he says, “Your family’s doctor made me take a pain pill.”

“That’s good. Really good.”

His free hand reaches for mine, and I thread my fingers through his.

He squeezes my hand as Raya serves us homemade waffles topped by fruit and her special whipped cream, plus a heaping plate of vegan sausage. Every time Luca’s eyes meet mine, his lips twist into this tentative smile, which makes my heart ache.

All these months, I doubted both my parents, but it turns out they both want me to be happy. My mom told me this morning she and Dad will let me see Luca some this summer, if he treats me well and stays away from “trouble”—which made me want to roll my eyes.

He’s like the best guy. I can’t even think of what kind of trouble he would get in.

I rub his foot with mine again, and he smiles. He doesn’t eat a lot, and I can see some strain around his eyes, but after breakfast, before he goes to get a shower and put on some clean clothes my mom had delivered, he pulls me against him in the hall and kisses my hair.

“I love you.”