“I didn’t realize your dad had passed,” I said softly, not wanting to cause him any more pain than necessary.

Joseph looked at me and said two words. “Nine eleven.”

He didn’t need to say anything else. Those words had said it all, and my heart broke for him. Everything about that day had been devastating, even when you didn’t know anyone personally affected by it.

When the elevator bounced to a stop at the ground level, I had no idea what we were going to do next. I wasn’t sure that Joseph even wanted to go through with our arrangement anymore, especially now that his mom knew we were lying. And if I was being honest, the things she’d said scared me a little. I wasn’t ready for my life to turn upside down, especially for someone who would eventually leave me to deal with it all on my own because none of this was even real.

Joseph walked ahead of me, still holding my hand, as we exited the building, and the chilled air hit us.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He stopped walking and turned around to face me, his blue eyes appearing as dark as the night. “I don’t know. Are you?”

“I’m a little rattled,” I admitted, and he grinned.

I already loved seeing that grin ... being the one who put it on his face. Literally a day into this arrangement with him, and I was already attached.

“Me too. But ...” he started to say before looking around. The streets weren’t empty, and people definitely recognized who he was as they walked past. “Want to go somewhere and talk, or do you want me to take you home?”

“Go somewhere,” I said without taking a breath. I wasn’t ready for this night to end. I probably never would be.

“I’ll be right back.” He dropped my hand and headed toward where the car was still parked, his driver inside. He leaned in through the driver’s window before coming back in my direction, his hand extended toward me, waiting for me to grab it.

He was most likely going to take me somewhere public, so he could fake dump me and assure himself that I wouldn’t make a scene. And that was when my heart cracked inside my chest a little, letting me know that it didn’t want to be dumped. Fake or not. My heart and I liked being with him. Even though he still owed us an apology for that night years ago.

“It’s right over here,” he said as we walked down an alley toward a small restaurant I’d never been to before.

He pulled open the door and let me go in first before taking the lead again. We walked between the tables and chairs and straight into the back, through the kitchen. I had no idea what was happening, but when we reached a set of stairs that went down, I realized that was where we were heading. Down.