Laura’s feet sank into the carpet as she crossed the living room in haste to get to the door. She didn’t know why she rushed. Her heart was beating a bit fast, probably because she expected only one person to be behind the door at this hour.

So, without asking who it was, Laura pulled the door open.

Leaning against the door frame was Luca with his head tilted back, resting on the post. The stretch of his neck made his Adam’s apple stand out prominently, the first thing Laura noticed.

He was dressed in a forest-green jacket, dark enough to look black in shadows, but the green popped where the light hit the shoulders. Underneath was a brown shirt, and a pair of black jeans rolled down to his feet.

Also, a strange briefcase bag rested by his feet.

Luca looked tired but in a cool way. He didn’t say anything at first, but he slowly stood erect and faced the open door.

Laura noticed he had a neutrally warm expression on his face, which was a good sign, because it meant everything was in control.

Even though he looked like he’d walked straight off a magazine cover, Laura made sure not to stare. She gave Luca a small, controlled smile the moment their eyes met, then stepped back into the living area, giving him plenty of space to enter.

"Welcome back," she said.

Luca had a degree in patience, so he certainly didn’t move immediately. He stayed where he was for a moment longer as if deciding whether to enter the room or stay half in the night.

But Laura knew he had paused to give her some sort of attention. His smile said it all.

Pointing his thumb over his shoulder, Luca asked why she wasn’t back there with the others eating the four-storey $1450 alcohol cake Mallow had "accidentally" ordered.

Looking past Luca’s shoulder, Laura could see the rest of the team. They looked like silhouettes enjoying themselves in the golden haze of the penthouse, tossing their heads back in laughter, and teasing one another.

Laura realized again just how large the suite really was. It was basically a mansion in the sky, fitting up to ten people comfortably and still feeling like there was enough room for everyone to have their own private corner. It was big enough that the party at the other end felt like it was happening in a different building.

She looked back at Luca, whose eyes were still on her, waiting for an answer.

There was no big, complicated answer. Some people just didn’t fancy noise and sugar. Hence, Laura simply told Luca that she wasn’t really feeling like that tonight.

That had always been her preference, so Luca nodded with his brows. In fact, he would have been surprised if he had come back and seen her with a mouth stuffed with cake and booze. Laura was pretty consistent in who she is.

Without another word, Luca stepped into the living area with the briefcase in his hand. As he walked, he noticed there was no sign of Martin anywhere.

"Is he asleep?" He assumed the obvious.

"Yes," Laura answered.

"In there?" Luca added, nodding toward the slightly open bedroom door.

"Yes."

Setting his bag down, Luca walked over to the doorway, stopped there, and admired the view of a small, sleeping figure tucked into the giant white bed.

’What happened, chap? I thought we promised you’d wait long enough for me to come back.’

A faint smile lingered on his face as he shook his head.

’Sleep tight.’

Luca finally turned away from the doorway and served himself a glass from the water dispenser. Then, he picked up his briefcase again and headed toward the library, with Laura tagging along behind him in the quiet.

The library was the quietest part of the penthouse. The walls were covered in cherry wood panels, with shelves that went from the floor all the way to the ceiling, and a rolling brass ladder attached to a rail at the top. It appeared to have been designed to maximise height space, and not much for width. Only two leather wingback chairs face each other with a single reading table.

Most of the books were hardcover collector editions with neutral content like encyclopaedia, poetry, gazetteers, or popular works like Harry Potter and A Game of Thrones.

Luca walked forward and stopped by the reading table where several books were open beside a glass of water, their pages illuminated by a lamp. Curious, he turned their backs and checked their titles.

"Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvino, "The Two Towers" by J.R.R Tolkien, and "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran.

Luca had thought these books were just used for decoration, but it seemed Laura had been diving into some pretty heavy stuff.

"You’ve been busy. Are you actually reading all of these?"

"Yes."

Luca ran a finger over the spine of Calvino’s work, scanned its pages, then shook his head in a way that showed he was genuinely impressed.

"Good selection," he said. "You don’t pick things lightly. Most people come to a place like this to forget who they are. You’re the only person I’ve met who seems to be using it to find herself."

Laura nodded.

But the words sounded much heavier to her as they resounded, leaving her face heating up. More and more until her cheeks flushed red without control, but luckily, Luca had diverted his attention to his briefcase again, making the moment less awkward.

"Mind if I use the table?"

Laura had been in a bit of a trance.

"Oh–yes of course."

She helped Luca clear the table by gathering her books and stacking them to the side, transforming it into a workspace. Then, she watched as he lifted the distressed leather satchel with two golden buckles onto the table.

The sound of the zipper opening was loud as Luca started offloading the contents, and surprisingly, it wasn’t even a laptop, any kind of device, or even personal items.

It was a mess of things.

Newspaper clippings, documents, manila folders, photographs, pen, pencil, marker, and even a map of the world.

One by one, Luca spread them on the table, his expression serious now as he removed his jacket.