Page 125 of Hail Marry
I hold her gaze, searching those beautiful brown eyes that have become a fixture in my life. I look at those eyes more than any other single thing, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. “I think we should do it.”
“Me too.” She smiles slightly. “We started this thing being bold. Let’s end it the same way.”
I smile, and we lean in for a slow, soft kiss. I pull back and look intently at her. “Whatever happens today, nothing can change things between us.”
She nods, covering my hand on her cheek with hers.
We’ve decided to tell immigration the truth. It’s risky. Really risky. But we both feel better about doing that than trying to lie our way through this maze anymore.
“Luca and Victoria Callahan?” the secretary says. “They’re ready for you.”
Preston jogs up just then and signals for us to lead the way.
My heart thumps as I take hold of Tori’s hand again, and we make our way into the interview room.
There are two people seated behind the table, neither of them familiar. Both have folders open in front of them with an array of papers inside. They greet us with the same calm, emotionless voices as the officer from our last interview, and Preston introduces himself as our counsel.
He takes a seat just to my side and shoots us an encouraging smile.
“Thank you for being here, Mr. and Mrs. Callahan,” says the man on the left. “We’ll begin by asking you some questions together, at which point, we will have Mr. Callahan exit while we ask Mrs. Callahan questions, and then vice versa.”
Tori and I look at each other, and she gives a subtle smile and nod, letting me know she’s still on board with telling them the truth.
“If that’s all clear,” the man continues, “we’ll get started.” He looks at us for confirmation.
“It’s clear, sir,” I say.
“Great, then let’s go ahead with the first question.” He looks to the other officer, who shifts his glasses and fixes his gaze on us.
“How did you two meet?” he asks.
Tori smiles with a hint of nostalgia. “By chance. Happy chance. I was walking back to work after grabbing lunch, but I had my headphones in and didn’t look both ways when the walk signal went on. I stepped into the street just as a semi was about to blow through the red light. Luca grabbed me out of harm’s way. And forced me to the hospital.” She looks at me with a little twinkle in her eyes.
Her grip and her voice have relaxed now, and I breathe deeply, trying to match her energy.
Both officers scribble down notes. “Who proposed, and how did it happen?”
My chest clenches, but Tori holds my gaze.
“I did,” she says without taking her eyes from mine.
The officer on the left’s head comes up, his brows raised just a hint. “Can you describe how that happened for us?”
Tori smiles like she’s remembering that day at her house when she made the suggestion. It’s crazy to think back to it, to how insane the idea was and what strangers we were to each other. And yet, even then, I knew on some level that Tori was special.
“I kind of twisted his arm,” she says, turning back to the officers. “Which is pretty impressive, since you can see how big his arms are.”
“My arm didn’t require twisting.”
Tori cocks a brow at me.
I take in a breath. It’s now or never. “The truth, officers, is that we agreed to get married that day for my sake.”
“And mine,” Tori hurries to say.
They look thoroughly confused.
“I was bored,” she says. “Bored with myself, really. And I was so grateful to Luca for saving my life—for giving me a second chance to do life right.”
