Telling Thea

Luca parked two streets from Thea’s house, close enough that Hattie could walk it in under a minute, far enough that nobody looking out of a window would see a car they might recognise idling at the kerb.

“You don’t have to wait,” Hattie said, hand already on the door. “You could go back to Corvo. I’ll get the tube.”

“I’m not going back to Corvo.” He kept his voice level, though nothing else about the last ten minutes had managed to stay that way. “I’m going to sit in this car and think about food I’m not cooking until you come back and tell me how it went. That’s the whole of my plan. It’s not a good plan, but it’s mine.”

She looked at him for a moment, the particular stillness she gave a decision before she trusted it, and then leaned across and kissed him once, brief…