Chapter 2
772 Words
CHAPTER TWO
THE MAN WITH TOO MANY SECRETS
Lina knew she had made a terrible decision somewhere between the airport and Victor's apartment.
Not because she regretted choosing him.
No.
She regretted choosing him without first asking one very important question.
“Victor?”
He glanced at her from the driver's seat. “Hmm?”
“Are you actually a normal person?”
His eyebrows pulled together.
Lina waited.
Victor looked back at the road. “What kind of question is that?”
“A very serious one.”
“I believe I'm normal.”
“That's exactly what a suspicious person would say.”
A tiny smile tugged at his mouth.
Lina caught it.
“Don't laugh. I'm homeless now.”
“You have a home.”
“I've been disowned.”
“You have me.”
She stared at him.
Victor kept driving as though he hadn't just dropped something dangerously sweet into the conversation.
Lina slowly looked out the window.
“That's annoyingly romantic.”
“I wasn't trying to be.”
“That's worse.”
His quiet laugh filled the car.
It was one of those rare sounds Lina loved more than she wanted to admit.
She leaned her head against the seat and watched the unfamiliar city slide past.
For the first time, it hit her.
She was actually leaving.
Her old life was behind her.
Her father.
Her bedroom.
Her mother's worried face.
Everything.
Lina's smile faded.
Victor noticed.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
Then shook her head.
“Maybe.”
He didn't push.
That was one thing she appreciated about him. Victor could be infuriatingly private, but he never forced her to talk when she wasn't ready.
After a moment, his hand briefly found hers on the center console.
Lina intertwined their fingers.
“Your family will come around,” he said.
“You don't know my father.”
Victor's expression changed slightly.
“No. I don't.”
There was something strange about his answer.
Lina turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Victor.”
He sighed.
“Your father doesn't trust me.”
“Clearly.”
“He has his reasons.”
Lina stared at him.
That was the second time someone had said that today.
“Do you?”
Victor glanced at her.
“Do I what?”
“Have reasons I should know about?”
For a few seconds, only the sound of the road filled the car.
Then Victor looked forward again.
“Yes.”
Lina's stomach dipped.
“What kind of reasons?”
“Complicated ones.”
She groaned.
“That's not an answer.”
“I know.”
“Victor Leonardo, if you expect me to move across the world with you while you answer every question like a politician, we're going to have problems.”
His mouth curved.
“Already?”
“I'm serious.”
“So am I.”
He squeezed her hand once before letting go.
“You'll know what you need to know.”
Lina narrowed her eyes.
“That sentence made me trust you approximately twelve percent less.”
“That's unfortunate.”
“Very.”
But she smiled anyway.
When they finally reached the apartment, Lina stepped out and stared upward.
It wasn't an apartment.
It was a building that looked like it had its own security budget.
She turned slowly toward Victor.
“Victor.”
“Hmm?”
“Who exactly are you?”
For the first time that day, his smile disappeared.
A black SUV stopped behind them.
Two men stepped out.
Both immediately looked toward Victor.
Neither spoke.
Victor's expression hardened for half a second before returning to normal.
Lina noticed.
Of course she noticed.
Victor took her suitcase from the trunk.
“Come on.”
She didn't move.
“Those men.”
“My security.”
“Why do you need security?”
“Because I'm important.”
Lina stared at him.
“Wow.”
“What?”
“That was the most arrogant answer I've ever heard.”
Victor's mouth twitched.
“Wasn't wrong.”
She rolled her eyes and followed him inside.
She didn't know what Victor was hiding.
Not yet.
But as the elevator doors closed and his reflection appeared beside hers, Lina made herself a quiet promise.
She wasn't going to be the girlfriend who knew nothing about the man she loved.
If Victor had secrets, fine.
She'd give him time.
But eventually, she was going to find out what they were.
Even if she had to annoy the truth out of him one question at a time.
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