Smoke Road

by Toby Neal

  Chapter Thirty

  Luca

  Luca made his way through the fence and onto the dirt track road where he had a perfect view of the sun slipping below the horizon. Lowering to his knees, he gave a muffled cry of pain as his wound stretched and the stitches pulled.

  He wound the rosary around his wrist and fed the beads through his fingers.

  Dear God, thank you for my life, for this incredible woman, and for the love you’ve created between us.

  He confessed to sleeping with her again. It was a sin even though it felt so right. His eyes closed, the beads slipped between his fingers as he said his Hail Mary’s. Luca suddenly felt a presence in front of him; he opened his eyes and jerked back.

  There was a man silhouetted against the setting sun.

  “Luca. It’s me.”

  He recognized the voice, recognized his brother’s frame. But it was impossible. “Nando?”

  “Hey, bro.”

  “But you’re...”

  “You’re the one who’s acting like an idiot.”

  “What?”

  “You’ve got the most amazing woman in there.” Nando looked over his shoulder at the setting sun. The light caught his profile—straight, elegant nose, strong chin, the same long lashes as Luca. “Well, second most amazing.” Nando smiled. “Sorry, but my Avital is the best.”

  Luca laughed, the sound catching in his throat, transforming into a sob.

  “But in there,” Nando pointed at the barn, to where Nani slept. “That’s the woman for you.”

  “I know that.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  “I asked her to marry me. She won’t. She has some history...” . . .”

  “We all have history,” Nando’s voice was low.

  “What can I do, Nando? How can I be with her, make her an honest woman, if she won’t marry me?”

  “Honest woman?” Nando laughed, bending at his waist and resting his hands on his knees, his body vibrating. Luca felt the sound in his chest—this was the last time he was going to hear Nando’s laugh. “You think you’re going to make her an honest woman. Bro! She is an honest woman!”

  Something cracked in Luca’s center: a rib separating? His heart splitting? Something happened that was at once a wound and an opening.

  Nando was right, of course he was.

  Nani was honest. She was brave and smart and fierce and honest. She wasn’t a sneaky liar—and neither was their mother. Luca reached down to rub at his wound, a habitual movement that brought lightning shocks of pain across his vision.

  He sat up, displacing Nani.

  It had been a dream. His rosary was wrapped around his hand, and he’d dug it into his thigh, bringing fresh blood to the surface of the gauze wrapping.

  Nani stirred and sat up, looking down at his leg. She frowned. “I hurt you.” She jumped up and hurried to the medical supply bag.

  She was naked, her skin soft, glowing caramel in the light filtering through the barn boards. Her bruises were beginning to fade, the cuts scabbed over and healing. She came back and squatted next to him. Luca reached out and ran a hand from her lower back around the curve of her ass—so smooth, so strong.

  “I love you, Nani.”

  She smiled but kept her eyes on his leg. “Don’t try to sweet-talk me into riding you again. Obviously you need more time to heal.”

  “I need more of you. I need...” It wasn’t all about him. What did Nani need? She was unwrapping the gauze but paused to glance up at him.

  “What?”

  “All I want is you.”

  She opened her mouth to speak but Luca continued, wanting to make sure she understood that he wasn’t proposing again. “I know you don’t want to get married, and I understand you have your reasons. My faith, my pact with God, makes me want to marry you—so badly. The way I grew up, in a family with two devoted parents united in their faith, makes me want that for my own family.” Nani tried to say something but he put up a hand. “Please, let me finish. I need to be clear. I don’t have to marry you. I just...” he struggled to find the words. “You need to know that I want to marry you because I want to be with you forever...” he faltered. Nani’s mouth was open, her eyes welling with tears. “But I don’t need to marry you. All I need is you by my side. I don’t want to ask you for anything you don’t want to give.” Luca reached out and took her hand, kissing her palm, her wrist. “Just please be with me.”

  “I will,” Nani whispered, her voice low but clear—honest and true, as if making a vow.

  She moved into his arms or maybe he gathered her up into them, it didn’t matter. They were together, and would be for as long as they had left. What God intended in marriage—faith, trust, love—they had all those things.

  “Thank you,” Nani breathed into his neck. “My ex...” . . . .” she sniffled, and Luca rubbed her back and kissed her head, small touches to let her know he was listening, that he cared, and that she could tell him anything. “He was older than me and controlling. I barely made it out of that marriage with my true self intact.” She looked up at him, her eyes wet, pleading for understanding.

  Luca nodded. “I get it. I promise to never try to change you or control you.” A smile tugged at his lips. “Well, sometimes I’ll try to control you.” He grinned, and she slapped his chest before dipping her head back onto it, resting her cheek against his heart.

  “It beats only for you

  My honest, true, Nani, you

  Hold me tight forever”

  “Is that a haiku?”

  “Yes,” he kissed her head. “I write poetry. Bad poetry.”

  Nani giggled, the sound stirring him, making him want her again. “You’re a poet,” she rested against his chest. “A beautiful warrior poet who wants to marry me.”

  “That’s not all I want to do to you.” His hand cupped her breast, fingers sliding toward her nipple, squeezing it gently, eliciting a moan from her.

  “I have to change your dressing.”

  “Can we strike a deal?” he asked, his other hand caressing her behind, following the curve, and gripping her so tight that she gasped.

  “What kind of deal?” She hissed.

  “I let you finish dressing my wound and then you let me taste you again.”

  “You can’t.” She was panting now.

  “I can if you’re on top.” Luca licked his lips and showed his teeth playfully. Nani laughed, and he captured her mouth, tasting her laugh, still unable to find the words to describe it. Luca looked forward to trying for the rest of his life, however long that might be.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Luca

  “I’m nervous about meeting your family,” Nani confessed. Luca held the wheel gently as they drove on a dirt road out of the village of North Fork, traveling through meadows surrounded by steep, jagged, majestic mountains. A cement block wall topped with razor wire appeared on their left.

  Luca squeezed Nani’s thigh and she placed her hand over his. “They’re going to love you.” He glanced over at her. Nani’s face was almost clear of bruising, just a bit of yellow on her left cheekbone still showed. There were newer bruises on her hips with five finger marks on each. Luca grinned thinking about them, knowing that she loved the way he marked her as much as he did. There was a perfect bite mark on his pec, right over his heart; he’d come so hard when she left it, that just thinking about her teeth against his skin was making him hard again.

  Their road trip west was blessedly smooth—but two people with training, supplies, Peaches, and AKs had a bit of an advantage, even in the chaos that covered the countryside. Their adventures exploring each other had taken most of his attention.

  Luca needed to get those thoughts under control before he saw his family.

  “Are you ready to talk to your mom?”

  Luca nodded even as his gut tightened. He owed his mother an apology—Nani had helped him realize that. He’d spent decades thinking she’d betrayed his father and by ext
ension her family, when really she’d been attacked. And Luca had done nothing to stop it.

  “Hey,” Nani squeezed his hand again. “You were a kid. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I grew up into an idiot.”

  “I prefer ass, but that’s just semantics.”

  “I prefer your ass.”

  Nani laughed and Luca felt the tension leave him; he loved that sound.

  They reached a high metal gate with a camera mounted over a speaker and keypad. Luca rolled down his window and pressed the bell button. Moments later a scream of delight came through the speaker. “Luca! Oh my God!” The gate began to roll open on its hinges, and Luca grinned over at Nani.

  “That’s my sister, Lucy.”

  “She seems excited that you’re here.” Nani’s mouth twitched.

  Luca drove through the open gate and headed toward the small log cabin at the top of the knoll with a second layer of fencing and a gate surrounding it. Fields of potato, alfalfa, and corn, yellowing with the onset of fall, stretched away inside the perimeter. A pond and windmill gave the land a feeling of peace and plenty.

  Lucy and his mother, Ana, flew out of the house and greeted them in the driveway. Lucy was a younger version of his mother—same height, same heart-shaped face, hazel eyes, and thick dark curls, though Ana’s hair was now streaked with silver, and Lucy’s shone jet black in the bright sun.

  His mother yanked open Luca’s door and he turned to embrace her, barely having time to get the truck into park. She began to cry, her head on his shoulder. “My son! Oh Luca, you’re alive. And you’re here! I was so worried.” She kissed both his cheeks.

  Luca’s eyes burned as he inhaled her familiar scent: basil, sautéed onions, and roasted tomatoes.

  “Shh, Mama, it’s okay, I’m okay.”

  Ana stepped back, her small hands on his shoulders. Her gaze ran over him, stopping at his leg. “You’re hurt,” she gasped.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Lucy shouldered in, pushing Ana to the side and hugging Luca. “I’m so happy you’re here. My biggest big bro.” Tears ran down her face.

  Luca managed to get out of the truck, wrapping an arm around each of them. “There’s someone I need you to meet.” Nani appeared from her side, holding his crutch.

  Ana grinned. “You brought a girl.”

  “A woman, Ma. This is Nani, my girlfriend. Nani, this is my Moms, Ana, and my sister, Lucy.”

  “It’s wonderful to meet you both,” Nani smiled sweetly.

  Lucy ran forward and hugged her with Ana right behind. “Oh, and she takes such good care of you,” Ana noticed, new tears running down her cheeks. “Bringing you a crutch.” She broke out into sobs again. “I’m just so happy you’re home and alive. You can’t understand what I’ve been through.”

  Luca nodded, knowing he needed to tell her the truth. “Ma, I owe you an apology.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes bright with tears. “For what? All I ever wanted is for you to be happy and I can tell you are.” She looked at Nani. “I can tell by the way you look at her—you’re in love.”

  Luca’s face heated. “Yeah, we are.”

  Lucy laughed. “Everyone is in love these days.”

  “Everyone? Who’s here?” Luca’s stomach churned, knowing that Nando would not be inside, wouldn’t be helping Mama in the kitchen, wouldn’t be teasing Luca about Nani.

  “No one at the moment, everyone else is in town. But come inside, we’ll tell you everything.” Lucy grabbed Nani’s arm and pulled her toward the house. Ana started to follow but Luca took her hand.

  “Ma, wait. I need to say something.”

  She turned and looked up at him, her hazel eyes golden and shiny. She appeared older, her black hair slashed with more thick streaks of silver, and dark circles under her eyes. He could see that she’d been worrying, and Nando’s death had taken a toll.

  “At Pops’ funeral.” Her brows dipped and she frowned. “I saw you with his partner.” Ana’s cheeks flared red and she turned away, covering them with her hands. “I thought you were being...I thought you were with him, I didn’t realize that he was taking advantage. I’m sorry.”

  Ana nodded but didn’t speak.

  “I should have stopped him.”

  “Nonsense. You were just a boy. Anyway,” she waved a hand, pushing the memory away. “That was a long time ago, Luca. It doesn’t matter now. I handled it.”

  Luca felt bad for bringing up old wounds but he needed to finish, to clear the air and get the past behind them.

  “I held it against you—I thought you’d betrayed Pops and our family.”

  Ana’s gaze flew to his face. “That’s what it was. I thought you just missed Paulie.”

  “I did miss him. I missed Pops so much that it made me blind. I turned him into a hero and you into an enemy, and I’m deeply sorry.” The years he’d wasted, running away to the Army as soon as he was old enough, calling only on holidays, never showing his mother the respect she deserved. “Ma, you were the best mother anyone could ask for. You did an amazing job without Pops, and I want you to know I admire and love you.”

  Ana’s eyes filled with tears again and she reached out to him. He picked her up, hugging her tightly. “I love you, my Luca, my firstborn. Thank you for being honest with me.”

  Luca set Ana back on the ground, his own cheeks wet. The stone of anger and regret he’d carried in his chest for decades was finally gone, crushed by love.

  Ana took his arm, linking hers through it. “Let’s go inside. I’ve got a tray of eggplant parm, and you need some meat on your bones.”

  Luca laughed. Some things never changed.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  POSTLOGUE

  Two months later:

  Nani woke in her and Luca’s room in the underground complex of the Haven. She stretched alongside Luca’s bulk, in no hurry to leave the warm nest of tangled sheets that smelled so good—of love. Of passion. Of them.

  She snuggled into her special spot against Luca as he snored lightly, throwing off heat like a bear, so good to curl up against in the cool depths of the earth.

  The bomb shelter was surprisingly comfortable. JT, taller than Luca, with Ana’s hazel eyes, had welcomed them with open arms and his scientist fiancée, Elizabeth, at his side. They’d cleared out one of the many underground rooms and furnished it with homemade pieces that JT and Roan, his best friend, whipped up in the wood shop attached to the barn. Nani loved their cozy, well-ventilated suite. Even though it had no windows, it was a safe, warm burrow.

  The Lucianos were all amazingly capable: full of intelligence, hard work, and heart. Nani rested her head on Luca, playing with his chest hair, tracing the tattoos on his pecs. His father’s name, Paul Luciano, in small script, along with his birth and death dates, had been there for a decade. Recently Luca had added Nani’s name in elegant script circling around his nipple.

  Roan Winters, an enigmatic fixture at the Haven, had done the tattoo with a porcupine needle and homemade ink. She stroked her name, still raised and irritated: Haunani Ilima Kagawa.

  Her wolf always needed to make a ceremony of changes that mattered to him. She understood that about him now. Her Japanese heritage shared that need, and the fact that he composed haiku poetry...well, if she hadn’t already been in love with him, that would have sealed the deal.

  She gave his chest hair a little tug and he woke, coming fully awake and ready for action in the way of men who’ve seen combat, his arm tightening around her almost painfully. “What is it?”

  “Nothing. Just happy to be here. With you.” Nani traced the tattoo with her finger. “And thinking maybe there’s some room here for another name after mine.”

  The room was illuminated by a small LED nightlight plugged in by the door. Luca shifted to sit up, keeping his arm around her and her butt cheek in his hand—she never had any doubt what part of her body was his favorite.

  Nani cleared her throat. “I love you. I love it here. I l
ove your family. And...I would like to be part of it, officially. Luca Luciano, will you marry me?”

  Luca groaned and clenched her tight. “Dear God, woman, what you do to me.”

  She needed to see his face more clearly. Nani turned on the lamp beside the bed, sitting up to face him, drawing the sheet around her. “Is that a yes?”

  “Of course it is.” Luca drew her into his arms. “I’ve waited and prayed for this day.”

  “You’ve shown me that you won’t try to control me, that you respect my choices and needs—and that you want me anyway. I’ll let you have me.”

  “I’m honored.” Luca drew her in for a kiss. Luca’s kiss was so sweet, so soul-consuming, that it made her believe in heaven again.

  Nani sat up and pushed her rapidly growing, tufty hair behind her ears. Luca frowned. “What’s the matter? There’s something else, isn’t there?”

  “Well, yeah.” She bit her lip as his black brows drew together. He was getting better at giving her the benefit of the doubt, but this was tricky. “So we’re engaged now.” Nani swallowed, her lips trembling, her eyes on Luca’s face. “You know my age. It never occurred to me I could get pregnant so easily...but I missed my period, and I found a pregnancy test in town. It must have happened right away; I think I’m more than eight weeks along.” She touched a hand to her slim waist. This was a secret dream come true for her, but would it be for him?

  The color drained from Luca’s face. His eyes were stark, intense, and so gold Nani thought of angels. Then he grabbed her close, tipped back his head and let out a bellow. “Hallelujah! We’re getting married and having a baby!”

  Nani laughed and covered her face with her hands in mortification as he kissed her head and face. Then he rolled her onto her back and kissed her belly, and shouted “Hallelujah!” again.

  Luca jumped out of bed and pulled on his pants. He strode to the door and yanked it open. With Peaches barking next to him, he hollered the news out into the hallway. Even through the soundproofing, which Nani had come to appreciate about their accommodations, she heard the exclamations of his family rousted from their sleep by Luca’s happy shouting.