Chapter 7 - This Time, She Opened the Door
Six months later, Chloe was standing beside the same black Audi.
Rain fell softly over Manhattan.
Luca leaned against the driver’s door in a tailored black suit, his open collar revealing the familiar ink along the left side of his neck.
Chloe held up the keys.
“You’re not driving.”
Luca frowned.
“My car.”
“My birthday.”
“My insurance.”
“Your choice.”
He stared at her.
She smiled.
“That phrase sounds familiar.”
Luca surrendered the keys.
“You’re impossible.”
“You like impossible.”
“Unfortunately.”
Their relationship had not happened overnight.
Chloe had refused that.
So had Luca.
She rented her own apartment.
Built her own bookkeeping consultancy.
Mia went back to college.
Chloe testified when prosecutors requested it and refused every interview that tried to turn her escape into entertainment.
Luca never asked her to move in.
Never demanded her location.
Never decided whom she could see.
Sometimes his world frightened her.
Sometimes her independence frustrated him.
They argued.
Frequently.
But the arguments ended with choices, not commands.
That evening, they were driving to dinner when Chloe pulled into the alley behind the nightclub.
Luca looked around.
“Why are we here?”
She turned off the engine.
“This is where I met you.”
“I remember.”
“I was hiding down there.”
“I remember that too.”
“You looked into the mirror like you’d found a raccoon in your back seat.”
“You were considerably angrier than a raccoon.”
“I was terrified.”
His expression softened.
“I know.”
Chloe looked at the rain running down the windshield.
“That night, when you locked those doors, I thought I’d escaped one dangerous man and trapped myself with another.”
Luca said nothing.
“I hated you for about twenty minutes.”
“Only twenty?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Thank you.”
She smiled.
Then became serious.
“But when we reached your building, you unlocked them.”
“Yes.”
“You could have kept me there.”
“No.”
“You could have used the files.”
“No.”
“You could have made my choices for me.”
Luca turned toward her.
“Chloe—”
“I know.”
She reached across the console and took his tattooed hand.
“That’s why I’m still here.”
Luca studied her face.
“Still here?”
She reached into her coat pocket.
His eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing?”
Chloe placed a key in his palm.
Luca looked at it.
Then at her.
“What is this?”
“My apartment.”
He didn’t speak.
“You’ve given me your key twice,” she said. “You never asked for mine.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“I know.”
“That’s why you’re giving it to me?”
“That’s part of it.”
Luca closed his fingers around the key.
“And the other part?”
Chloe smiled.
“I love you.”
For once, Luca Moretti had absolutely nothing to say.
Chloe laughed.
“Oh, this is incredible.”
“Give me a second.”
“You? Speechless?”
“I said give me a second.”
She laughed harder.
Luca leaned closer.
“I love you too.”
Her laughter faded into a smile.
“You do?”
“For a while.”
“How long?”
“Remember when you told Vincent D’Angelo you were nobody’s girl?”
“Yes.”
“Approximately then.”
“That was months ago.”
“I’m patient.”
“No. You’re emotionally constipated.”
Luca stared at her.
“Romantic.”
“You chose me.”
“No.”
His answer surprised her.
Luca squeezed her hand.
“You chose me.”
Chloe’s eyes softened.
“Okay.”
A knock suddenly hit the passenger window.
Chloe jumped.
Luca turned.
Marco stood outside in the rain holding an umbrella, visibly annoyed.
Chloe lowered the window.
“What?”
Marco looked at them.
“You two know there’s a restaurant full of people waiting for you?”
Luca checked his watch.
“We’re late.”
“Forty minutes.”
Chloe grinned.
“Tell them the mafia boss got kidnapped.”
Marco looked at Luca.
“By her?”
Luca nodded gravely.
“Terrifying woman.”
Chloe shoved his shoulder.
Marco walked away muttering.
Luca opened his door.
Chloe grabbed his sleeve.
“Wait.”
He looked back.
“What?”
She pointed at the lock controls.
“Remember the first night?”
“Yes.”
“You looked at me through that mirror and locked every door.”
“You immediately yelled at me.”
“I had reasonable concerns.”
“You were hiding in my car.”
“I was having a difficult evening.”
Luca smiled.
Chloe reached across him and pressed the button.
Click.
The doors unlocked.
She looked at him.
“This is better.”
Luca nodded.
“Much.”
They stepped out together.
Six months earlier, Chloe Bennett had climbed into that Audi because she had nowhere else to go.
She had been barefoot, bleeding, terrified, and convinced that survival meant finding the next place to hide.
Now she stood in the same rain with her own apartment, her own business, her sister safe, and her future finally belonging to her.
Luca held out his hand.
He didn’t pull her toward him.
He simply waited.
Chloe looked at his hand.
Then took it.
“Dinner?” he asked.
“Dinner.”
They started toward the restaurant.
Behind them, the black Audi sat beneath the streetlights.
Unlocked.
And this time, Chloe wasn’t looking for somewhere to escape.
She had already found something better.
May you like
A life where every door could open.
And someone who would never stand in the way when she chose to walk through it.
