Chapter Twenty-Six

“So,” Luca begins. “I take it you like the place.”

I clear my throat before speaking. “It’s absolutely beautiful and breathtaking,” I say. I won’t lie about this. He can probably see it in my expression and demeanor. “It’s truly remarkable what they’ve done to this place.”

“It took a lot of work,” he tells me. “But Hiroshi managed to breathe life into his project. He had a vision and believed in it. That’s something I respect and admire.”

I say nothing to this.

I don’t need to look at the time to know that it’s probably around ten thirty. It’s too early to have lunch, and I’m not hungry. There are menus in a basket beside the table, and I wonder if this is how things work or whether Luca told his friend that he didn’t want to be disturbed.

It’s strange, sitting across from him.

I say, “It’s too early for lunch.”

“I thought we could talk for a while,” he says, confirming my suspicions. “It’s not everyday that I get to sit across from Laura Walsh. This is my only chance to get to kno