Leroy squinted his good eye, showing several missing teeth when he smiled. “What poor bastard are you getting one over on this time?”
“I’m not getting one over on anyone. I’m doing my job.”
“What else? That’s all you know how to do. You’ve always been married to your work.”
“That’s not true…”
“No family, no hobbies, no friends…”
“You’re my family, and I see you every day.” She pushed her hair out of her eye.
“When’s the last time you saw Dad? Called Mom?”
“Leroy…”
“Is he even the guilty party? The guy whose heart you’re eventually going to tear to shreds? Or is he just some innocent bystander you’re using to close this thing?”
“Does it matter?”
“Not to you. Never that.” He laughed again. “You have a job to do right?”
“Oh, fun. Here comes the lecture from the ex-con.”
Leroy chuckled.
“You have no idea what it’s like to be a woman in my field, Leroy.”
“Oh, fun. Here comes the lecture from the scorned woman.”
“You have no idea,” Jessica continued, “how it feels to know you’ll always have to be ten times better, ten times stronger, and ten times smarter just to get half the…” Jessica stopped herself, glaring off into the distance when she realized he was pissing her off on purpose.
“Emotion.” Leroy nodded. “That’s what I like to see, sis. Sometimes I seriously wonder if you even have a heart beating under your ribs. My money would be on no if I hadn’t seen the damn thing firsthand myself.”
Jessica sighed, hating being reminded of the open-heart surgery she’d undergone at five years old. Her family had been allowed to watch from an elevated room while the operation that saved her life had taken place. Leroy always vowed he would never forget it.
“Did you take your beta blocker today?” His face grew serious.
“Yes, Leroy. Jesus, you sound just like Chet. I’m a grown woman. I know how to take care of myself.” She didn’t mention to Leroy that her heart had been acting up lately. It would only worry him. She also hadn’t mentioned it to Harper. He knew that her heart had almost cost her a spot at the FBI Training Academy five years earlier. She’d passed their extensive medical exam by the skin of her teeth, having to blow through three different cardiologists before they finally concluded her condition wouldn’t interfere with her job responsibilities. Harper would only get antsy if she revealed her heart was starting to give her trouble, so she kept her lips sealed.
“This guy you’re using?” Leroy laughed. “Toss him a couple blockers, too. He’ll definitely need them by the time you’re finished with him.”
“As sweet as it is that you’re worried about the feelings of my mark more than you’re worried about me, your own sister, you have nothing to be worried about. Leo Romanovsky could stand to get taken down a peg or two. Just like someone else I know.”
She shoved him, matching his laugh before making her way down the narrow alley, the click of her heels echoing off the brick walls.
***
“Hey Sarah,” Zoey said, greeting one of Leo’s girls as she stepped into his apartment later that evening, using the copy of his key that had been on her ring for years.
“Hey, Zoey.” Sarah waved, cake batter dripping down the wooden spoon in her hand, wearing nothing but an apron. Her red hair raced past the tie around her waist and brushed her bare ass.
Zoey dropped her purse on the entryway table, smirking. “Doing a little naked baking, I see?”
“Carrot cake.” Sarah smiled.
“Leo’s favorite. He must have a hot date tonight.”
“One day he’ll realize we’re the only ones for him.” Sarah winked.
Zoey grinned. Leo’s apartment was always a party. Drinks, drugs, and naked women everywhere. The family liked to call them his “orphans.” Leo’s orphans always went white-hot with jealousy when he showed real interest in a girl. God forbid he actually went so far as to take a girl on a date. Whenever that occurred, his orphans spiraled into mommy mode, hence the carrot cake. Zoey always wanted to remind the orphans that they had nothing to worry about. A man like Leo was not built for monogamy. Not even when he wanted to be.
Zoey moved into the living room, meeting Leo’s eyes in the reflection of the giant floor mirror he was frowning into. He gave her a distracted nod before making a disgusted sound and snatching another tie from the pile that was strewn over the lounge chair next to him.
Zoey circled the living room couch where Gary was watching basketball.
“Hey Gar.” She plopped down next to him, resting her head on the back of the cushions. “Who’s Leo going out with tonight? He looks more nervous than I’ve ever seen him, and Sarah is baking. All signs point to a hot date.”
Gary met her eyes. “Ashley Williams.”
She chortled. “You’re kidding.”
“Mere days after we finished giving a sexual harassment seminar—one that we set up especially for him.”
“Come on, Gar. You know Leo. Setting up a meeting that deemed Ashley off limits is the worst thing you could’ve done. Now Leo will die before he stops going after her. He’ll, literally, have to die.”
“I can hear you,” Leo said, tossing a yellow tie over his shoulder before swiping up a new one.
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty.” Gary turned away from the television and joined Zoey, watching Leo hold up a blue tie to his button-down shirt that, along with his black slacks, had been ironed crisp by one of his concubines. He chucked the tie across the room with a cringe.
“Why do I have so many shitty ties? Why don’t I have any clothes?”
“You have more clothes than every woman in Manhattan. Combined,” Gary said.
“You know, Leo, from what I could tell, Ashley doesn’t even seem like a suit and tie kind of girl.”
Leo gave Zoey baffled eyes in the mirror, wrapping a red polkadot tie around his neck. “I want to look nice for her.”
“You always look nice. You’re gorgeous by nature.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Thanks, sis.”
Gary leaned over and pressed his ear to Zoey’s stomach. She grinned at his shaggy head before looking back to Leo.
“She seems more like a go with the flow kind of girl to me,” she said. "Super chill. Super casual.”
“She doesn’t seem that way to me,” Leo said. “Have you seen the way she dresses? She’s girly. High end. She’s going to expect the same from me.”
“Just because a girl puts on a dress and heels doesn’t make her ‘girly.’ Did you see her take down that guy in the lounge the other night? When she thought he was disrespecting Ang?”
Gary’s head shot up from Zoey’s stomach, eyes wide.
“Yes!” He beamed, hand still on her belly. “How sick was that?”
“How hot was that?” Leo added.
“That’s my point,” Zoey said. “She’s not girly. She’s chill as fuck. She’s actually kind of dry and sarcastic. If you make this a high-end kind of night, her inner cynic will mock it. She’s not going to be comfortable, and will assume you’re not the guy for her.” Zoey motioned to him. “Show her who you really are. Show her that you’re easygoing too. Don’t put on some big production.”
Even as doubt flashed across Leo’s eyes, he removed the tie from around his neck. When he tossed it, he didn’t reach for another.
“I think you might be right.” He bit the corner of his lip. “A chick who has no problem putting her stiletto into some dude’s esophagus? No way is she going to fall for a bunch of flash.” He looked down at his clothes. “Fuck, I gotta change.”
Zoey watched him jet out of the living room, sidestepping an orphan Zoey didn’t recognize.
“Just be you!” she called after him, receiving a half-hearted wave over his shoulder before he disappeared into his bedroom.
Her eyes went back to Gary,
who was still caressing her belly, frowning at her. “Do you really think the baby should be here? Surrounded by Leo’s harem of women? This isn’t the most child friendly place.”
Zoey pouted. “But I like it here.”
“Who doesn’t?”
They both waved to a brunette who greeted them with a blinding smile on her way to the balcony. She was wearing a red bikini, probably on her way to the Jacuzzi.
“But still…” Gary lifted a shoulder..
“You’re here more than you’re at your own apartment. Why can’t the rest of us be?”
“If you knew how much time your future husband used to spend here, you might not champion this place so hard.”
“Are you telling me Val used to be a manwhore?” Zoey gasped. “I’m shocked.” Her face fell. “You think I don’t know who I’m marrying? I know who I’m marrying, sir. Thank you. Valentin Romanovsky is a changed man. A good man.”
“He is a good man.”
“I guess I can see where you’re coming from though.” She leaned back against the pillows. “There’s just something about Leo’s place that’s so… honest, and free, and open. It’s so real. Plus, him and Val have the same eyes, and I like looking at him when Val is having one of his moods. It’s oddly soothing for me.” She searched Gary’s green irises, unable to help her smile. “Leo’s eyes never get cloudy and dark like Val’s do sometimes.”
“Give him a break.”
Her mouth fell. “Since when do you champion Val?”
He leaned forward on his knees, breaking their eye contact. “He’s really going through it these days. With Reggie King down his neck, Novsky on the skids… He’s got a lot on his shoulders, that’s all.”
“Way to make me feel like some colossal asshole.” Her pout deepened. “I know he works his fingers black and blue. I know that.”
Gary faced her. “Can we not talk about Val?”
She grinned. “You were fine talking about the baby a minute ago, but not about Val? You do know that the baby is Val’s right?”
He sat back and re-placed his hand on her stomach. “That’s different. It’s not the baby’s fault it’s about to be born into the weirdest family alive. The baby didn’t choose this life.” Gary took a deep breath, sensing the shift, eyes falling to her stomach. “Are you thirsty? Hungry?”
“You just want an excuse to go into the kitchen with naked Sarah.”
“God forbid I worry about whether my nephew is hungry or thirsty.”
“Niece.”
“Hard pass. Nephew.”
“Why are you Romanovskys so obsessed with boys?”
“Boys are better?”
“Your niece and I are not hungry or thirsty. However, I will lie and say that we are so you can go join your favorite red headed lass in the kitchen.”
Gary sighed. “Did you make it to your dress fitting the other day?”
Zoey’s eyes lit up. “Why, yes. What a great man of honor you are. Thank you for asking. Yes, I did make it to the fitting, and it’s official!”
Gary waited. When nothing came, he held his hands out. “What’s official?”
“Never buy a slinky wedding gown when you’re twelve weeks pregnant, and expect it to look the same when you’re sixteen weeks pregnant. It’s official that I’m an idiot for falling in love with a wedding dress that is going to broadcast my pregnancy like flashing lights in Vegas.”
“Why not postpone the wedding until you’ve had the baby?”
“Don’t let Val hear you say that. He’s already pressing me to push up the wedding date. He’s been talking about eloping. At first I thought he was joking, but…” She waited for Gary’s eyes to meet hers. “I don’t think he is.”
Gary watched her for a long while, but didn’t respond.
“Why is he in such a hurry?” Zoey asked.
Leo came breezing into the room wearing tapered dark-wash jeans, rolled at the ankle, a fitted long-sleeved heather-gray shirt, and pointed heather-gray suede shoes. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, showing his tattoos. He came to a stop in the middle of the room and held out his arms.
“Yep.” Zoey jumped from the couch and made her way over to Leo, unbuttoning a few more buttons at the neckline of his shirt. “Simple. Effective.” She brushed her hands along his collar. “You are an alarmingly good-looking man, Leo. It’s actually alarming. You never have to do too much.” She gripped his arms. “Trust me on this. Ashley will appreciate this look way more than a suit and tie. And, you’ll be able to dance in this outfit.” Zoey broke out into their signature dance move, one they’d made up in high school, eliciting a groan from Gary.
A smile breaking his face, Leo joined in, and a dance battle emerged as each of them busted their corniest moves. Humming a beat, Leo twisted his body into a combo of the Harlem Shake, The Roach, and The Sprinkler, only stopping when Zoey hit him with The Robot and he was laughing too hard to continue. He bent over at the waist, taking her wrists in his hands as he struggled to catch his breath.
“You never could move like me,” Zoey teased, pushing him. “Get outta here. You can’t keep up, baby. That’s the white boy in you. You don’t know nothing ‘bout this, son!”
“You guys are lame,” Gary said, frowning from the couch.
Leo’s eyes shone, and he grinned when she went back to adjusting his shirt collar.
“I think I really might like this girl, sis,” Leo said.
Zoey smiled. “I think you really like all the girls.”
“True. But this one…”
“Is smart enough to give you a good chase,” Zoey finished. “But eventually, she’s going to stop running. They always do. And then you’ll get bored. The name Leo is so perfect for you, you’re like a leopard. The second they run, you come alive. But once you’ve got them under your claws, you’re over it. Sure, you’ll still eat them alive, because they just taste so damn good, but you’ll be bored to death the whole time.”
“You have me all figured out.” Breathing deep, he insisted, “This one’s different.”
“Sure. Until the next one runs by.” Zoey patted his shoulders. “A Leo never changes its spots.”
***
“What’s going on with you lately?” Roman asked, later that night, as he and Angie walked arm in arm down the hallway of his apartment building. He didn’t miss the way her eyes darted around, how fast she was moving—almost pulling him—to make it to his door, or the death grip she had on his arm. “I’m serious. Took me an hour to convince you to leave the house, and you haven’t stopped looking over your shoulder for one second. What’s happening?”
Angie’s eyes raced around the hallway. “I just thought someone was behind us. That’s all.”
“It’s a private building, Mama,” he soothed. “You know people have to move mountains just to get past our doorman.”
“Who’s eighty-five years old.” She clawed her nails into his arm. “Can we please just hurry?”
“What are you afraid of, Angie? I’m serious.”
She opened her mouth to answer, and then clapped it shut.
“What aren’t you saying?” he asked.
She tugged his arm once more, speeding toward the door.
Roman sighed as they came to the door, fingering through his keys. She wasn’t going to tell him what had her acting so paranoid, and he wouldn’t push her. She still didn’t know that he’d stolen Val’s mug shot from her Zoey file. He wouldn’t press her to tell him her secrets when he was harboring plenty of his own.
Angie danced from one foot to the other. “Hurry, hurry…”
The more she danced, the angrier he got. He knew it was Victor King that had left her in this state, and he hated that his own secrets wouldn’t allow him to talk to her about it. It took everything he had not to admit to her, right then, that he knew everything, and that she could talk to him. He couldn’t. Was it because he didn’t trust her? How could he love a woman as much as he loved Angie, and not trust her? His thoughts mad
e the keys tremble in his hold, causing him to miss the lock.
Her fingers dug into his arm. “Open the damn door.”
Worried she would draw blood, Roman pushed open the door of his apartment and let her scamper in before him. He followed her in, staying close enough to smell her shampoo, wanting her to know he was right behind her. That he always would be.
When she stopped dead in her tracks in his foyer, Roman was too close to catch himself before he collided into her, taking her arms in his hands when his weight almost sent her tumbling to the floor.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded, steadying her before coming up next to her. The steel door of his apartment slammed shut behind them just as he caught sight of her horrified face. “I’m serious, Angie. What is wrong? Talk to me.” Please just tell me your truth so I can tell you mine, his mind and heart screamed.
Still looking forward with eyes wide as saucers, unable to meet his gaze, Angie clapped a hand over her mouth just in time to muffle a horrified scream. She turned her face into Roman’s chest.
He cradled the back of her head, frowning as his eyes flew to his living room.
His gaze zoomed to the staircase in the corner, face falling when he caught sight of a body hanging from the railing.
Red welts had formed at the man’s neck where a wire had been wrapped several times, digging in to his pale skin. His head hung lifelessly as his body swung back and forth, making the foam seeping out of his mouth drip down to the concrete floor on the first level.
For a moment, Roman was frozen.
The sound of Angie sobbing stunned him back to the present.
Taking her arm in a furious grip, his heartbeat went into overdrive as he pulled her crying body with him to the kitchen island. He swept a blade from the knife block, the largest blade, before dragging her with him to the stairwell.
It wasn’t until they made it to the stairs that Angie found her footing. When they came closer to the body that was rocking left and right, she clutched Roman’s sweater in a death grip. They raced up the loft stairs two at a time, and she kept a hold of him as they staggered onto the second story. Roman went to his knees where the wire had been tied to the railing, and Angie did too, her sobs intensifying when Roman cut the wire and the body thudded to the first floor.
Loving Leo (The Romanovsky Brothers Book 3) Page 12
