"Something makes sense now actually," Vee continued. "The first time we met, I brought the pizza to your office, no one would touch the pizza. The receptionist said if something was wrong with it, then I get to die alone. That's how I ended up in your office…"
Luca exhaled slowly, memories flashing vividly in his mind—the brash woman entering his office with that fiery courage and naivety, unaware of the undercurrents swirling around him, of the shadows in which he thrived. She had been fearless then, fearless still.
"First of all, I didn't order that pizza, Marco did," Luca replied. "Which is why for a while, you called me Marco. And second, you interrupted a very…" He paused, looking for the right words when she abruptly threw a pillow at his face.
"Jackass!" she shouted.
"Hey, you did!" he laughed, catching the next pillow mid-flight, seizing the opportunity to press closer, to invade the space she always allowed him.
