Cara’s POV
“Tell me why I decided to do this again,” Cecelia asked as we ducked behind a blue sedan.
We had been watching Luca for the past thirty minutes, yet he hadn’t done anything apart from sipping overly priced coffee.
I glanced behind me.
“Because we are curious, and we need to be sure.”
“It doesn’t look like he’s expecting anyone. Could I have been wrong?” She asked again and I could hear guilt in her voice.
Even I was beginning to think this was fruitless. Tailing him wasn’t easy, especially since it’s something he was a pro at. We had to be extra careful to avoid being caught.
Now it seemed like we had been suspicious of him for no reason.
“You said you were sure?”
Cecelia nodded, then added, “Although I’m not so sure anymore.”
I sighed heavily, already feeling drained.
“Why don’t we wait a few minutes more, and if there’s nothing to see, we can leave? There’s no harm in that, right?”
Personally, I found it hard to believe our suspicions, but this was the first time I was doing something fun since Adonis slipped into a coma, so why not see it to the end?
With how tired I was, it still felt exciting to be out of the house for something other than the doctor’s appointment.
“Look.”
She called, pulling me out of my thoughts to see Luca packing up his things. It seemed like he was getting ready to leave.
I didn’t know when an involuntary snort escaped me.
Does he actually leave home twice a week just to drink coffee?
“We need to get out of here before he comes out, or he’ll see us,” Cecelia advised.
Still bent, we shuffled away, much further to the back, only stopping when we weren’t going to be seen.
Luca walked out of the restaurant, heading towards his car, and for someone who just lost a four-year relationship, he looked too carefree and well.
Of course, I didn’t point that out to Cecelia. The goal was to help her feel better, not worse.
We waited eagerly as he approached his car, ready to disregard our suspicions and head back home when just before he reached, he suddenly turned to the side and began walking down another path.
My eyebrow shot up.
Maybe he wasn’t in the clear yet.
He continued on the straight path until he reached a black car with dark-tinted windows. It looked somehow familiar, although I couldn’t recall why.
“Cara?” Cecelia gripped my hand tightly. “Cara where’s he going now?”
I pried my lips apart from the grim thin line it was in,
“Let’s just wait and see.”
So we waited. He received a call on his phone for a few minutes, after which he darted his eyes around and, when he was sure he wasn’t being watched, entered the car.
My gaze narrowed in on the car, but we still waited. Minutes turned into an hour, and finally, he came out just when we thought that was as far as we were going to get on our spy mission for the day. There was nothing to worry about-
Until his partner stepped out.
My hand went to my mouth in shock; an exclamation that had gotten stuck in my head due to Luca’s regular repetition flew out from my lips.
“Mio Dio (my God)…”
“Isn’t that-” Cecelia swallowed, probably unable to get the word out like me. “Isn’t that Tina?” She spat incredulously.
We watched them smile and exchange a few words, and then Luca did what neither of us expected-pulled her in for a hug and placed a deep kiss on her lips.
Tina even dared to giggle and flush like it was normal.
I ran a hand through my hair, stunned.
What was the meaning of this? Why would she do such a thing? I, for one, never knew her to be that kind of a person.
She had stopped visiting for a few months now, claiming it had to do with work, but recently, she became unreachable.
Was this why she’d been avoiding my calls?
How could-
“Cecelia? Psht,” I whispered-yelled, my assessment being cut short as Cecelia stormed off to them. “Come back. Let’s thread with-
“Luca?”
There goes my thorough investigation.
With his hands still wrapped around her, he looked ahead, in the direction of the voice.
I ticked my tongue in the corner of my mouth, coming out of hiding since our cover had been blown.
Luca scoffed.
“You’re following me about now, Cece?”
“Cece?” Tina spun around, and our eyes came in contact. “Oh. It’s you guys?”
My jaw dropped.
“You guys?”
Who was this woman? She didn’t even have the decency to look remorseful. Had this always been her true nature?
“This is the highest order of betrayal, Tina. Why would you do this?” She moved to speak, but I held up my hand in silence. “Don’t bother. I’m most disappointed in you, Luca. How could you do this? In times like this? If this is your coping mechanism, then you had better find a new one because cheating on your fiance shouldn’t even be an option.
“It’s not cheating when you’re not together.” He replied,
“Luca!”
I eyed him with a disgusted look. At first, it was looking like a possible derailment from reality due to trauma, but now it was becoming real.
“Are you seriously following through with that? You’re going to leave Cece?”
Luca avoided my gaze.
“I’m not doing this with either of you. Especially out here in the open. If you have nothing more to say, we’ll be taking our leave.” He pulled open the car door.
Tina gave us one last look of mockery before getting into the car, which Luca promptly slammed shut before walking away.
Beside me, Cecelia choked back a sob at the sight, making me wonder what I had missed. Where could it have gone wrong?
With all that was going on, Luca wasn’t the type to abandon his duties for something as shallow as this.
My eyes trailed behind him, hoping to get a subtle sign that showed this was all part of a plan, but he just got into his car and drove off like nothing significant happened.
I glanced back at Tina, who was blaring her car horn at us to get out of the way.
Anger flared up within me.
If Luca wasn’t going to give us answers. She would.
So with a mischievous curl of my lips, I walked over to the fire extinguisher placed by a pole, instructing,
“Cece, remain in front of the car.”
“What are you doing?”
Her curiosity flowed to me through her tears. Picking it up, I walked back to the car, straight to the driver’s window.
“Getting answers.”
Then it went flying.
“Get your cheating a** out of there, Augustina Brooks.”