Daring in the City

by Jo Leigh

“I just... Your family is so close and so warm, I find it hard to believe they wouldn’t want you to be happy.”

  “I’m not unhappy. It means a lot to me to make my contribution to the family business. It’s the right thing to do.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I just hate that you’re passing up the chance to work on something you’re so passionate about.” She studied him for a few seconds and then smiled. “I should warn you that once I’m rich enough to buy a house, you’re the first person I’m calling.”

  He smiled back. “Good.”

  “So you’ll give me a discount?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He exhaled, glad that they’d regained their equilibrium. Although he wasn’t sure how he felt about telling her the truth. In some respects it had been a relief. It would have been even better if he could have explained the Paladino Trust. Every one of the Paladinos had a duty to uphold the principles of the Trust, but every year the makeup of Little Italy changed and made it harder and harder to abide by all of its rules.

  “So, Wes, huh?” he said, shifting to yet another uncomfortable topic.

  Her expression plummeted. “Yeah. Wes.”

  “Is this the first time he’s gotten in touch?”

  She nodded. “I’m not sure what to make of it. I mean, it would be nice if he wanted to give me back the money he took, but I’m not holding my breath.”

  “You want to talk about it?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. I need to think. The last thing I want is to be caught off guard again. I think I’ll be satisfied just to hear his reasons for being so shitty, but I don’t know.”

  Luca nodded and started for his room. “I’m going to go change. But if you need someone to listen...”

  She closed the gap between them and put her hand on his cheek. “Thank you. For being here, for confiding in me. Trusting me.”

  He kissed her, holding her arms, wanting much more than just this. But he also wanted this thing with Wes to be over. For all Luca knew, Wes might have all her money, and if that was true, who knew how long she’d stick around.

  When they finally parted, he could see her hesitation, but she squared her shoulders. “I’m dying to get out of these heels,” she said. “And to find out what that asshat wants.”

  Admiring her for once again facing the problem head-on, Luca watched her climb the stairs to her room. Even if Wes pissed her off, or disappointed her again, Luca still had that surprise up his sleeve. An affordable apartment ten minutes from his place would go a long way toward cheering her up. Or so he hoped.

  17

  BAREFOOT, IN HER most comfortable sweats and T-shirt, April sat cross-legged on the mattress and closed her eyes. She’d cleared her mind, putting aside the dinner, work, her desire for a chocolate bar and especially Luca so she could concentrate on what she wanted from Wes.

  Of course she wanted her money. But she may only have one crack at talking to him and she wanted it to count.

  He had to know that what he did was vile. That there was simply no excuse for leaving her in such a precarious, horrible position. Even if they’d only known each other for a day, his actions would have been despicable. So while laying out the precise ways she could verbally retaliate gave her a modicum of satisfaction, she was quite sure slinging missives at him would only put him on the defensive.

  What did she know about Wes? That he was insecure, for one thing. While he’d been good at coding and was generally very tech savvy, he’d occasionally let slip how much he envied April’s business sense and her ability to think quickly on her feet. And sometimes that made Wes feel small. Which wasn’t her fault, but it might’ve played a part in his bailing out.

  In retrospect, she hadn’t really understood how immature Wes was.

  Now that she’d gotten to see what kind of man Luca was, the difference between them was glaring. Wes was still a boy, even at twenty-six.

  Thinking about Luca made her want to go downstairs and talk to him about the phone call, but she held back. This was her problem. One she had to figure out on her own. But after she’d finished talking to Wes? Knowing Luca would be there for her made everything easier.

  She picked up her cell phone and took a deep breath. The likelihood of Wes returning all her money was slim. Did she want to get the police involved?

  That option had been chasing around in her head for the past half hour. It wasn’t something she could push aside and think about later. If she wanted to press charges, she’d have to watch her tone. Find out where he was staying.

  The phone rang once. “April,” he said, his voice tight. Nervous. “I didn’t know if you would call back.”

  “Of course I would. I want my money.”

  “Whoa, okay. Straight to business, huh?”

  “Jesus, Wes.”

  “No, no. You’re right. I owe you an apology.”

  “Yes, you do. You also owe me several thousand dollars. My entire savings. Or has that slipped your mind?”

  He sighed, and while she wanted to reach through the phone and grab him by the throat, she forced herself to calm down.

  “I know I went about it the wrong way, but I didn’t actually steal your money.”

  “And yet all the money I’d saved for the business vanished from the joint account.”

  “Well, yes, but—”

  “You stole my money, Wes.”

  “Can we not use the word steal?”

  April rubbed her eye. And she’d wanted to go into business with this idiot. “Go on.”

  “Okay. I didn’t just take the money, I invested it.”

  “In what? A trip to Atlantic City with your college buddies?”

  “No. Will you listen? Please? I invested it in a start-up. I knew the principles involved. I knew they had an outside source of funds and a heavy hitter ready to step in for 40 percent equity. It was a sure thing.”

  “Great, so you’ll pay me back tomorrow? With interest?”

  “Shit, April, come on. Give me a chance, huh?”

  “I don’t see any reason why I should. I take it the sure thing had a sudden, shocking setback?”

  “Okay, yeah. But the money is still in play. And it’s going to pay off, I swear. We can double our stake.”

  The money wasn’t gone? She hadn’t expected that. But it was still hard to hold back. She didn’t give a damn about doubling anything, but she’d be a fool not to try to recover some of the money. Just so she could pay Luca back, if nothing else. “You had no right to do that without consulting me. Or to abandon me like you did. At the very least, you could have told me before I left St. Louis.”

  “I know,” he said. “That’s why I already bought a ticket to go back. I want to see you in person. Explain everything. Work out a way to make this right.”

  Make this right?

  She was speechless at first. Speechless and embarrassed. How could she have fallen for a guy this stupid? He didn’t even get that she would never trust him again. He was a thief and a coward, who had left her at a stranger’s apartment with four squares of toilet paper.

  “I’m not in St. Louis,” she said, immediately regretting it. She should’ve let him make the trip for nothing, though she didn’t want him talking to her parents.

  “Where are you?”

  “Unless you have my money, I have no desire to see you.” She was shocked at how calm she was being. His stupid voice, his stupider excuses, hadn’t sent her into a screaming rage. But she needed to choose her words more carefully. Let him have a little hope. Until he returned every penny.

  “You’re right,” he said. “I did this all wrong. But I swear to God I was trying to help. I thought we could double our money and then we’d have some real juice to start the business. I wanted to surprise you, April. You’d done most
of the work and I thought I could—Look, this would be better in person. Are you still in New York?”

  “Yes,” she said, not thrilled to tell him that much.

  “You kept a little money aside, didn’t you?” Wes chuckled. “I knew if anyone could take care of herself, it would be you. And look. Here you are, still in the city. Where are you staying?”

  As if her having the common sense to keep some of her savings for an emergency was an excuse for his behavior? God, maybe she should invite him over right now so she could slap him until her hands were raw. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Come on, April. I miss you.”

  She could only go so far with the maybe I can forgive you act. It wasn’t that she was afraid of the idiot, but she didn’t want him to know where she was.

  “I swear to God, April,” Wes said. “I’ll make good on this.”

  “I hope so,” she said and left it at that.

  After several long seconds of silence, Wes asked, “Are you still in Little Italy?”

  April swallowed. “Call me when you have the money and we’ll talk again.”

  She disconnected, knowing that wasn’t the best way to end the conversation. Not if she wanted him to come through. But it was the best she could do.

  She fell back, her head hitting the pillow, her arms fanning out to either side of the mattress. What a day. The stumble at dinner, the talk with Luca then Wes...

  Now she really wanted a beer and to see Luca. But definitely not in that order.

  Sadly, he wasn’t downstairs, at least not where she could see him. She debated going to his bedroom, but since he had no door to knock on, it didn’t seem right. Instead, she got a beer from the fridge and wrote it down in the little notebook that she kept by the microwave. Luca had teased her about keeping track of everything she used, but it was only fair. She grinned, thinking about the day she’d brought home bagels and he’d started his own page. Such a goofball.

  She plopped down on his recliner and sighed as she visualized all her worries floating away. If she’d had the energy, she would have meditated properly, but at the moment beer and good thoughts were about as much as she could handle.

  Footsteps came from the hall, and she couldn’t help but smile, even though she didn’t open her eyes. Until Luca lifted her whole body off the chair so he could steal her seat. Which he instantly atoned for by settling her on his lap.

  She wrapped her arms around him and let him kiss her. There were few things in the whole world she liked better. His hands were warm and gentle on her back, and he seemed pleased when he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  “You,” he said, pulling away just enough so they could look at each other without going cross-eyed, “look whipped. Gorgeous. Happy. But whipped.”

  “I am. Whipped, I mean. And happy. And I’m glad you think I’m gorgeous.”

  His grin was like a balm to her soul. “How’d it go?”

  “It was hard, especially when I had to be semi-nice to him,” she said, and Luca’s brows shot up. “Well, if you count refraining from cussing or yelling as being nice. I have to be civil if I have any hope of getting my money back.”

  “Okay.”

  “He’s still a jerkface but the money isn’t gone, or so he claims. He says he invested it.”

  Luca’s troubled frown deepened. “And you’re okay with that?”

  “Hell, no.” She smoothed the small crinkle between his brows. “But honestly, I thought the money was long gone. That I wouldn’t recover a dime of it. But I’m willing to see how this plays out. Do you know how happy it would make me to be able to pay you back?”

  “Jesus, don’t be nice to that asshat on my account.”

  April swept back the stubborn lock of hair that always gravitated to his forehead. “He was whiny and apologetic. So it was fun letting him grovel.”

  Luca still looked awfully serious. “I don’t care about the money. I hope you know that.”

  “I care. I care a lot, and it bothers me.”

  His frustration was clear in the hard set of his jaw. “I wish you’d just forget about it.”

  She leaned back to stare at him. “Luca.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  She hated the shift in mood, but she was glad he’d realized she wouldn’t accept a free ride. “Aww,” she said lightly, telling him all was forgiven. “Here I thought you came out here to try to get in my pants.”

  “Of course I’m trying to get in your pants,” he said with a short laugh. “I also—”

  She kissed him, just in case he was about to say something she wouldn’t like, but then the kiss became more heated than she’d planned. When she had to breathe again, she whispered, “Lucky for you, I’m a sure thing.”

  He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. “May I finish what I was about to say?”

  “Only if it’s something good.”

  “Tony found you an apartment not far from here.”

  April blinked. “Would you repeat that, please?”

  Luca grinned. “It’s a sublet, just a small one-bedroom. And get this, it’s on Hester Street only a ten-minute walk from here.”

  “Wait a minute. This just happened?”

  “Tony told me about it right before dinner. He knows the building manager and mentioned you were looking for a place. The guy who has the lease is working out of the country but doesn’t want to let the place go because of the price deal.”

  April hadn’t moved a muscle except to cross her fingers. “How much?”

  “How does $450 a month sound?”

  “Honest to God?” she whispered.

  He nodded.

  “Oh, my... When can I see it? Can we go there now? Is there a subway stop on Hester?”

  Luca laughed. “Take a few breaths, okay?”

  She tried to calm down but her heart, her pulse, everything was racing. If this turned out to be a dream she’d be so pissed. “When can I see it?”

  “Monday afternoon. I’ll get the key after work.”

  “Really? No sooner?” She bit her lip at her thoughtless ingratitude. “Monday will be great.”

  “There’s some furniture the guy left, but I wouldn’t get too excited about it.”

  Too late. She let out a happy shriek. “You know, I can pick up the key on Monday if that’s easier.”

  “The management office is close to the job I’m working.”

  Once again, Luca had stepped up. He was her friend, her hero, her lover...

  She threw her arms around his neck so he couldn’t see the tears beginning to fill her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  * * *

  APRIL HUGGED HIM so tight Luca felt like a million bucks. No ridiculous hours on the commuter train. No sleepless nights for him, worrying about her. She could work on getting her business going without having to sweat so much over money. Yeah, it would have been better if he could have told her the truth, but given that he wasn’t able to explain the whole story, he felt damn good. He wanted her to flourish in New York. And it didn’t hurt that they could see each other as often as they liked.

  “How about your room tonight?” she asked as she pulled back. “Just for a change.”

  Luca grinned. “Good idea.” He had the better mattress, so of course they’d been sleeping in his room exclusively. He was about to lift her up, but she slid off his lap.

  “I have to run upstairs for a sec. I’ll meet you in there, okay?”

  “Sure,” he said, noticing a trace of tears in her eyes. “Take your time.”

  After waiting until she was halfway up the stairs, Luca got up and grabbed a couple of water bottles. Happy as he was for her, he was going to miss having her at the apartment. The ridiculous office-slash-bedroom was still far too small to be o
f much use as anything but a home for the bed, but as soon as he remodeled upstairs they could have moved into his master suite. They would’ve both had plenty of room and closet space and...

  Except it wasn’t about that. April needed to know she could stand on her own.

  April had beaten him to the room. She was taking off her clothes as he walked in, sending her T-shirt flying into the corner. His mouth watered at the sight of her breasts, jiggling softly as she stripped out of her sweats and panties. Damn, she was gorgeous.

  “You going to stand there ogling me, or are you going to participate in this little party?”

  His shirt was off before she had the covers pulled down, and everything else followed quickly, leaving him with an erection that needed tending. Every inch of her turned him on. Her knees, her shoulders. She’d cast a spell on him, and he wasn’t complaining.

  For some reason she was still standing at the end of the bed, which was too far away. So he climbed onto the mattress and crawled over to her. He wasn’t sure why she was laughing. “What?” he asked, looking up.

  “Nothing. Everything. You make me smile.”

  That wasn’t what he’d been going for. He rose up on his knees, put his arm around her waist and held her steady as he nuzzled her neck, kissing her at the curve of her shoulder, leaving his mark behind. God, he hadn’t done anything like that in years.

  “Did you just give me a hickey?”

  He leaned back, grinning.

  She shook her head. “You’re insane. But I like that in a man.” She pushed him back using both hands, and he let her, falling sideways so he wouldn’t break any parts as she climbed in next to him. Eventually, he stretched out, maneuvering his head to a pillow while April straddled his hips.

  “Oh, really?”

  She bit her lower lip and leaned over him while stretching out, her breasts a tantalizing inch away from his lips. He captured one ripe nipple between his teeth, making her jump. She didn’t object, so he continued, using a mix of tongue and suction to make her squirm.

  Her hands ended up on either side of his head, balancing herself while he switched to the other nipple. It was a bounty of riches, but when he pushed up with his hips, he found he wasn’t angled the way he wanted to be.