Lost My Mind

Chapter 9

Luca knew that Rome could be mean. He knew that. She'd been mean ever since Adria died. Especially towards him. But this was a whole new level of cruelty.
She wished you were dead.
The thought was spiraling in Luca's head. Over and over and over again.
She wished you were dead. She wished you were dead. She wished you were dead. She wished-
Luca slammed his apartment door shut. The noise temporarily paused the broken record in his head. But the song just kept playing.
Dead. She wished you were dead. She wished you were dead.
Luca texted V a quick 911 message before tossing his phone on the couch and stomping into the kitchen. He grabbed the vodka from the bar cart, pouring himself a glass over ice. He didn't bother with the soda. He tossed the drink back with the practiced ease only a habitual drinker had.
By the time V arrived at his doorstep, Luca had repeated the process three times. On top of the two drinks he'd had at the restaurant, he was starting to feel the warm buzz. He must have had a heavy hand when pouring. The anger he felt at lunch was started to dissipate. He was left feeling hollow, like the shell of the man he had become after he'd failed to save Adria.
She wished you were dead. She wished you were dead. She-
V banging on his door, loud enough to disturb hi neighbors two floors down, disrupted his thoughts. Luca threw the door open, not greeting his friend as he turned back around and returned to the kitchen. V dutifully followed behind him.
"So I take it lunch didn't go well?"
Luca grunted in response. Lunch with Rome never went well. But Luca continued to go because her father had made it perfectly clear that he would make Luca's life even more of hell if he skipped out. That and Luca was still madly in love with her.
She wished he was dead.
"You wanna drink?" Luca offered, already bringing down an extra glass and pouring vodka into both. He added plenty of soda to V's before handing it to her.
"If it was that bad that you can't bear to drink alone, Rome must have said something especially terrible," V observed, politely taking a small sip of the drink before setting it back on the counter.
Luca stared at the ice floating in his drink. The words were caught in his throat. They kept running through his head, but he wasn't sure he could say them out loud.
She wished he was dead.
"If you don't tell me, you're going to have to continue to wallow in your emotions all alone," V sighed, trying to catch his eyes. Luca's head remained down. "I can't help unless I know what she said, Luca."
"She-" Luca cleared his throat. He couldn't help the tears welling his eyes, the lump in his throat making it harder to speak. In crowds, at parties surrounded by people who weren't really his friends, Luca hid his emotions with ease. Even around Rome, he was usually able to keep them in check. He rarely cried in front of anyone other than V. He didn't give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him broken down. But V had always been there for him, and he needed someone to help him pick up the pieces.
"She wished I was dead."
V was silent for a moment, processing his words. Luca spared a glance up at her, seeing the sadness fill her eyes as she realized just what Rome had said to Luca. What that meant for the mates.
She wished he was dead.
V stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Luca's waist and squeezing him tight. In addition to being the only one allowed to see him break down, V was the only one allowed to hug him. Luca wrapped his arms around her too, feeling the tears slipping down his cheeks as he hid his face in her shoulder. They stayed like that in the kitchen for a few minutes, simply holding each other as Luca cried.
She wanted him dead. Rome wanted him dead. His mate wanted him dead.
Another realization hit him as they stood there:
It was truly over.