Chapter 1Home again
Luna couldn’t believe she was back.
Once upon a time, she wouldn’t have been able to breathe in this city without breaking. Every street corner had a memory. Every sunset felt like a question she wasn’t ready to answer. She left with one suitcase and a heart full of sharp edges. She swore she’d never return.
But she had to come back.
Her elder brother Antony was getting married in a month. She couldn’t miss it. Not for anything. Not even for the ghosts that lived here. Because no matter what happened, no matter how much the past burned, she still loved her family. Blood was blood. And Antony was the one person who never stopped calling, even when she stopped answering.
Anthony said he’d be picking her up from the airport. “Right at arrivals, Lu. You won’t miss me.”
But she didn’t see him anywhere.
The terminal was chaos. Suitcases rolling, families hugging, announcements crackling overhead. Luna stood with her carry-on gripped tight, scanning the crowd. Her heart was doing that stupid, traitorous thing where it hoped for one face and dreaded another.
Then someone tapped her shoulder from behind.
She turned around slowly, bracing herself.
It was Antony. Taller than she remembered. Lean muscle stretched under a black tee, the kind of strength that didn’t need to shout. He looked older, steadier. The boy who used to tease her was gone. In his place was a man who smiled at her like no time had passed at all.
“Baby sis,” he said, pulling her into a hug that smelled like home and laundry detergent. “You actually came.”
She opened her mouth to answer. But the words died in her throat.
Because it wasn’t Antony who had her attention.
It was the man standing half a step behind him, hands in his pockets like he owned the place.
Simon Moon.
Antony’s best friend since they were kids. The boy who knew all her secrets and kept the worst one. She knew it was impossible, but some foolish part of her had hoped he wouldn’t be here. Hoped he’d be anywhere but this airport. Anywhere but in her line of sight.
If the last time she saw him he was handsome, now he was breathtaking.
Same sharp jaw. Same dark eyes that saw too much. But time had carved him differently. Broader shoulders. A quiet confidence that hadn’t been there at eighteen. His hair was shorter, messier, like he’d run a hand through it on the drive here. He wasn’t looking at her yet. He was watching Antony hug her, that familiar half-smile on his face.
The smile that used to mean "I see you, Luna Rome. "
The smile that broke her.
Thirty days. One wedding house. Best man and maid of honor.
She closed her eyes for half a second. I wouldn’t believe it if you told me.
Then Simon’s voice, low and infuriatingly calm, cut through the noise, "Good to see you again, Luna"
