Page 61 of For Better or for Ransom

Was Luke asking a twice-divorced woman her thoughts on marriage? Her go-to answer after the second divorce had been, “Never again. Just don’t. It’s not worth it.” But thinking about it now. Sol wasn’t sure if it was that Luke was shirtless and that always made her brain work less sharply, or that they were in Mallorca and she tended to just be carefree and happy on islands, or that she was most definitely tipsy, or what the hell. But she was—open to maybe considering it?

Oh god. She was hopeless.

She coughed, cleared her throat. “Is this a general question about what I think about the institution or do you mean between two specific people?” It never hurt to double-check.

He grinned in that way that made her brain even mushier. “Specifically between you and me, cara.”

As much as she just wanted to tell him: “Whatever you want.” And just make love already, she owed him the truth. “To be honest, I’m scared shitless of domesticity.”

He blinked several times, as if he wasn’t expecting that answer. “We’re already living together. What do you think would be different—more domestic?”

She was the one to rake nervously at her hair now, absolutely aware that his warm, brown eyes hadn’t left her face for one second. “You have a point and it’s true that I was terrified things would change for the worse, for the mundane, for the boring, with us living together. And they haven’t. But what if you just stop hugging me lazily first thing when we wake up in the morning, or looking at me as if I’m the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen?”

The grin was more mischievous than ever. “You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“You see, I don’t want to lose that!”

“Precisely. You won’t.”

She pinned him in place with her eyes. “So you’re telling me, marry you and you’re going to keep looking at me that way?”

“Yes. But I was hoping you’d be the one to tell me to marry you. Not the other way around.” The smile deepened.

Luke really knew her.

In hindsight, Sol would have proposed then and there. And start with the celebrations already. But they were most regrettably interrupted.

34

Luke

Right when he thought Sol was going to propose. And when he was already mulling over the possibility of having to tell her he couldn’t accept—she was quite drunk and clearly not of sound mind to make that kind of decision—someone knocked noisily on the door.

“Luke! Sol! Really sorry to bother or interrupt you or whatever! But this is urgent!” Divya’s voice came out rushed and tight.

He gave Sol one last thorough look—he hoped this wasn’t his lost opportunity to get that bloody title. He went to quickly put a T-shirt back on, and opened the door.

“What?” he barked at Divya even if he hadn’t intended to do so.

She raised her hands in the air. “Don’t hate me, mate! I’m just trying to be thorough here. Can I come in?”

He sighed. Took a step backward to let Divya in.

The detective went to the bed and sat next to where Sol had parked herself. “Again, sorry for the intrusion,” she said, awkwardly. “Believe me when I tell you I had other, more pleasurable, plans for tonight. But then Moon cancelled our call.”

Sol raised an eyebrow in Luke’s direction, as if telling him: “See? I told you the other night they weren’t just chatting on the phone.”

Luke, who was still standing in the middle of the room, wasn’t feeling like having a long conversation with Divya at present. “You just said this was urgent.”

“Bloody hell, mate. I was just explaining what happened and how I got here! The thing is, I was in my room, alone, thinking about what you told Sol this evening. All right?”

Oh my god! He needed Divya to be much quicker than that.

“What did I tell her?”

“That we were knackered and wanted to properly nourish and hydrate. That things would be different if we sensed Leonardo was in danger. But since we didn’t believe that—because we thought the chap had simply escaped his relationship and his job—we could just eat and sleep. The thing is though…” Divya kept looking back and forth between Luke and Sol. And he was starting to be less infuriated and more curious about whatever she wanted to tell them. “The more I think about it, the more I believe Leonardo didn’t leave. He was taken.”

Luke glanced up, exhausted. “Haven’t we gone over this several times already? We know it’s a stretch to assume that he left voluntarily, but all the evidence at the moment points to that.”