Dreadnought (Nemesis #1)(38)

No!

She somehow managed to nod, silently hoping she could pull this off.

Lucca handed over the phone to her after dialing.

Holding her cell phone that she hadn’t touched in weeks up to her ear felt almost foreign. She listened to the ringing, waiting for Elle to pick up while taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Finally, the phone was answered on one of the last possible rings with a sweet and happy voice she hadn’t heard in far too long.

“Hello!”

She felt ghost tears wanting to fall from her eyes. It was indescribable how happy she was.

“Chloe …?” The excitement in Elle’s voice started to fade.

Chloe was too afraid to speak; afraid her voice would betray her and alarm Elle.

She felt her hair move and looked over to see Lucca twirling a strand. Staring and feeling the repetitive motion begin to soothe her, she calmed enough to speak.

“Hey, Elle.”

“I’m so happy you called me, Chloe. I’ve missed you so much.” Elle was now getting emotional on the other end.

Focusing on his hand twirling her hair, she kept it together. “I know. I’ve missed you, too. I still do.”

Elle sniffled before laughing it off. “How are you? How’s school? Tell me everything!”

“It’s going okay,” she told her, not wanting to oversell it. “It’s just different, I guess, and you’re not here with me, but I’m doing good. School is keeping me pretty busy.”

“Is everyone treating you nicely?” Elle asked. It was what she was obviously worried about the most.

Chloe pulled her eyes up to Lucca’s face. “Yes, no one is picking on me or calling me a freak here.”

“Oh, thank God.” A weight seemed to lift off her friend. “I was so worried about that.”

“Now it’s your turn to tell me everything. How’s college?”

Chloe listened to Elle tell her everything she had missed and what college life was like for her. She expected Lucca to take the phone away, as he had said only a few minutes, but he didn’t, seeming content with listening to her voice and playing with her hair. Strangely, she found it kind of nice.

“How’s California? Is the weather as nice as it seems?” Elle asked after she caught her up on all her life events.

“Yeah, it’s … um … sunny. The weather is great.” I hope. Not wanting to push her luck for much longer, she decided it was time to wrap it up. “Well, I have an early morning tomorrow—”

“Aren’t you three hours behind? It’s not that late there, I don’t think.” Elle sounded like she was checking the clock on her phone to see what time it was.

Quickly, she tried to think. “Uh … yeah, but I have an assignment to still finish.”

“Oh. Okay. I understand.”

“I’ve really missed you, Elle. It was good to hear your voice again.”

“Me, too. Thank you for calling me. I’ve worried about you so much.” The emotions seemed to come back to her friend.

Chloe bit her lip. “Don’t worry about me. I’m doing good.”

“Promise?”

Pausing, she found it again hard to answer, until Lucca lightly tugged on her strand of hair. “Promise.”

“Okay, I’ll let you get your work done now. Bye, Chloe.” It was obvious how hard it was for her best friend to say good-bye, and she found it equally as hard.

“Bye, Elle.”

She pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the call. It really sucked having to give it back to Lucca, but she was grateful for the time he had given her.

Blue-green eyes slowly started to travel down her scar, making her remember that a debt was to be paid.

“Come closer, darlin’,” Lucca’s voice was dark and melodic.

Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him widen his legs, giving her room to move between them.

Following the voice, she did as he commanded, knowing exactly how he wanted her positioned by instinct alone. Chloe was on her knees now, in front of him, as close to his legs as she could get without touching them. Closing her eyes, her lashes fell to her cheeks, waiting …

Lucca moved his hand, hovering his fingertips over the top of the scar that graced the right side of her face. When the cold, light fingertips touched the top of her scar, she went deathly still.

No one had ever touched her scars. Never had she let anyone touch something that was so personal to her. Now, here she was, letting the most dangerous and frightening man she had ever met touch something that had been given to her by a man just like him.

He ran his fingers ever so gently down her scar that ran from just above her eyebrow until it disappeared right below it. Then he ran it even gentler over her closed eyelid, making it feel as if it was just the wind touching her. When he reached the continuation of her scar right under her lower lashes, he paused.

“Look at me, Chloe.”

Opening her eyes, she looked into his blue-green ones that were gradually beginning to look more green, transfixing her, along with his voice, his presence, his icy yet soft touch.

“I’ve waited for this very moment.” Moving his fingertips, he began again slowly smoothing down her scar. “Dreamed about this moment for the longest eight months of my life. Ever since I first saw you in that shop, looking at the music box.”