by Bethany-Kris
His fingers dug into the soft skin of her thighs, pushing her legs open even wider as her hips rolled against his mouth. Her fingers tangled into his hair, determined to hold him right there until she came apart. It was his heady groan that really did it for her, though. The way he sounded his approval of the taste of her loudly, and often. With every flick of his tongue beating against her clit, she came a little closer to that edge.
And then all at once, with the slide of his fingers into her clenching pussy, she came undone. Her shout of his name echoed in the alleyway. She was pretty fucking sure her knees buckled, too, but he was right there to catch her before she could fall.
Not that it made much difference.
He stood fast, turned her around, and put her hands to the wall. She heard him shifting behind her, dropping his pants, and rustling foil before she felt his fingers sliding between her thighs again with his latex-covered cock pressing against her wetness, too. He slid his length against her sex, over and over. Until she was backing into him to try and get more.
“Fucking crazy,” she heard him mutter. “You make me crazy, Lucia.”
Him, too.
He did that for her, too.
He gave her no warning as he pushed inside. One hard, long thrust that sent her flying up on her toes. His words were a dark whisper in her ear as he pounded into her from behind, relentless and rough. The sounds of their fucking echoed. Skin on skin, his gruff words, and her gasping cries.
Harder, and more, and please.
It all slipped from her lips so easily. Too easily. She couldn’t get enough. It didn’t matter that it was dirty, or that she’d be sore in the morning. She just wanted more of him.
“What are you fucking doing to me, huh?” he asked, his fingers squeezing the back of her neck hard enough to leave bruises behind. “What, Lucia?”
What was she doing to him?
What was he doing to her?
This wasn’t her.
This girl in this alley.
This recklessness …
These feelings making her do stupid things …
All of him.
This wasn’t her.
Or it hadn’t been.
God knew she liked this version of her a lot better. She liked herself more when she was with him.
FOURTEEN
“But I don’t wanna spend the night—”
Renzo barely caught himself from sighing out loud. He didn’t want to upset Diego any more than he already was, and it wasn’t the kid’s fault that he didn’t understand what was going on. All he knew was that for the next couple of days, Renzo wouldn’t be around, and Diego wouldn’t be sleeping in his own bed. Nothing else mattered to the kid—not the whys, like the fact Renzo had the chance to do a quick job for somebody that included boosting five specifically requested vehicles, and shredding them down in a matter of a couple of days.
The pay, though?
Ten-K.
Ten thousand for a couple of days’ worth of work.
How could he pass that up?
Truth be told, Renzo didn’t pick up these kinds of jobs very often. Sure, his name was passed around between a few guys who ran chop shops if they needed an extra pair of hands, and shit worked out on Renzo’s side of things—like Diego—so that he could take the job. But mostly, he didn’t take them because he couldn’t.
But this one?
He’d be stupid to overlook it.
“I don’t wanna, Ren!”
Diego’s voice had raised a couple of octaves which told Renzo his little brother was about three seconds away from a goddamn meltdown. They really didn’t have time for this today, even if he did understand what the problem was for Diego. Thing was … Renzo being available to do the job was contingent on the fact he made sure Diego was handled for the day. Then, the chick that watched him during the evening hours would pick him up later that day, keep him for the night, watch him all day tomorrow, and Renzo would be back before bedtime to grab him.
Simple.
Diego didn’t like that idea at all.
“Ren!”
Stopping their walk on the side of the street, Renzo bent down to rest on one knee so that he could be face to face with his little brother. Diego looked like three and a half feet of angry four-year-old in those seconds. He’d come to learn that kids could really be dramatic when they wanted to be. It could be something small they didn’t like, but it might feel like their whole life was burning down around them because of it. Renzo didn’t want to diminish how his brother felt, but this wasn’t something he could bend on, either.
Everybody had to make sacrifices to make shit work.
That’s how life was.
And if all else failed, Renzo knew bribery was a good trick when it came to kids. That was probably a big no-no, but frankly, he just needed to get the goddamn job done, and he would deal with his brother later.
“Hey,” Renzo said, cupping his brother’s little face in his, “you look at me, Diego.”
Watery brown eyes drifted to his, but Diego was still scowling in that way of his that said he was not ready to give up this fight just yet. Already, Renzo knew they were getting down to the last few minutes when he would be able to get Diego a spot in at the shelter daycare, and if they wasted any more time, he was going to miss his chance. Then, all his plans would be fucked. There was no way he could take his brother with him for this kind of work.
No fucking way.
“It’s a night and a day,” Renzo told Diego, shrugging to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal. But it was—he knew it was. While he didn’t want to pass this up, he also didn’t want to trust someone else to keep an eye on his brother while he was gone, too. What choice did he have? “I will be back before you know it. And then we’ll go do whatever you want, yeah? Trampoline park—movies. Whatever, Diego. But I need you to be good, and not fight me on this anymore.”
Diego’s lips twitched as he whispered, “Ma leaves all the time, too. She’s back right now, but she’ll go again, too.”
Was that what it was, then? Unfortunately, their mother had shown back up a couple of nights ago. Renzo had a good mind to keep the bitch right out in the cold—even if it was the end of August—where she belonged, but then he looked at Diego … he let Carmen in for his brother, gave her a place to sleep, and kept his money and drugs well hidden until she was gone again.
Because that was the thing.
She would go again.
She always fucking did.
Renzo sighed. “I’m not like Ma, you know that.”
“But—”
“I won’t ever be like Ma.”
He’d decided that long ago. It was why he never drank anything stronger than a beer—and only on very few occasions—and the exact reason why he never put anything into his body stronger than cigarettes or weed, when he was feeling up to it. He sold drugs to make a living, all the while watching drugs kill his mother and take her away from them …. he didn’t need the hypocrisy or the irony of it all shoved back in his face about the whole thing.
He wouldn’t be the next one sucking on a pipe because his body wouldn’t survive without it. Drugs would not be the thing that took Diego away from him. That poison wasn’t going to be the one thing that made him fail for his sister, and anyone else who fucking counted on him. He was not like his mother.
Never would be.
Diego sniffled, and shuffled his foot along the pavement. “You promise you’ll come back?”
Jesus.
“Cross my heart,” Renzo murmured, leaning forward to give his brother a kiss to his forehead. “Now, you good?”
Diego let out a sigh that sounded anything but good or confident, but still said, “Yeah, I guess so.”
“All right, then.” Renzo stood, and offered his hand to Diego. “We better hurry up, or you’ll miss your spot today.”
Once the two of them were walking down the sidewalk again, Diego glanced up at him. “Do you think Lucia will be there today
?”
He smirked a bit, meeting his brother’s eye and winking. Diego liked Lucia just as much as Renzo did, but not in the same kind of ways or for the same kind of reasons.
“I don’t know, maybe.”
Fact was, he knew Lucia would be there and she was working in the daycare today. At least, that’s what her text said when he messaged her earlier. Which meant that would make this day slightly better for Diego once he figured it out. He wouldn’t complain as much if Lucia was there to keep an eye on him, and distract him for a few hours.
How he reacted when Misty came to pick him up later would be anyone’s guess. Right now, Renzo wasn’t even thinking about that. He just needed to focus on getting through the next couple of days.
Soon, the daycare entrance was in view, and Diego walked a little lighter at Renzo’s side. He knew seeing the place would help the kid. Despite how nervous he was for Renzo to be gone, he couldn’t help but love this place. Smiling a bit, Renzo held his brother’s hand tighter just in case the kid decided to dart ahead of him.
Behind the colorful paint on the windows, Renzo was pretty sure he caught sight of a familiar face—Lucia—but he didn’t get the chance to think on it for long. They didn’t even make it to the door before Laurie pushed it open, and stood on the stoop. Renzo didn’t know what it was that put him on edge, but the woman’s posture sure as fuck didn’t help when she widened her stance and crossed her arms over her chest.
He cocked a brow. “Something wrong?”
“Morning,” she greeted to him, and then to Diego, “Hi, buddy.”
Diego beamed, and waved at the woman who ran the shelter. Renzo almost wanted to tug on his brother’s hand, a silent command to be quiet simply because something felt off. He didn’t have a reason to feel that way, really. Frankly … Laurie had given them a hand out more times than Renzo cared to count. He liked Laurie because she gave a shit about their community. She didn’t care for the whispers she heard about Renzo, and what he did for a living, but she cared enough about Diego and his well-being that she was willing to turn a blind eye to what she didn’t like about the rest.
There were times when shit would have been a lot worse had this woman not opened up a spot for Diego at this place. Not that it mattered when she spoke her next words.
“We won’t be able to take Diego at the daycare any longer, Ren,” Laurie said firmly.
Renzo blinked.
What?
Beside him, Diego just looked confused as he stared between his brother, and Laurie. “Why not? I be good when I come. Like Ren tells me to, right, Ren?”
His hand tightened around his brother’s again, but it felt like the heaviest weight had come to rest down upon his shoulders in that moment. “You’re always great, buddy.” His gaze cut to Laurie again when he asked, “I called yesterday and made sure there was still a spot open for him if I brought him in time, didn’t I?”
Laurie wouldn’t meet his stare. “Things changed, that’s all. I’m sure you under—”
“No, I really don’t fucking understand,” Renzo snapped.
“There’s no reason to get angry and use foul—”
“Oh, fuck off with that.”
Laurie stiffened on the steps, and her defensive posture was back in a blink. “The decision is final, Renzo. You’ll have to leave the property as soon as possible, and without making a scene, or I will have the front desk phone the police.”
Wow.
The last thing he ever did was cause a damn scene.
“Something wrong?”
Renzo hadn’t even noticed Lucia coming out of the shelter until she spoke. He’d been too focused on keeping his anger in check, really. He didn’t want to blow up, and have his little brother see it. Diego saw enough shit like that from their mother, he didn’t need Renzo acting like a fool, too.
“No, go back inside, please,” Laurie said to Lucia.
She didn’t even listen to the woman, and instead, pushed past her in the entrance to come out further. Stopping directly between Renzo and Laurie, Lucia looked like Switzerland in the middle of a war. The only one who wasn’t really ready to go to war, yet stuck directly in the middle, anyway.
She looked to Renzo with her caring gaze, and concern writing lines across her pretty features. This wasn’t her fight, really. He didn’t want her to get in the middle of it, and hurt her position at the shelter. She genuinely loved the job, and the people inside of it. It wasn’t lost on him how he’d once thought this woman was nothing more than a trust fund baby with privilege stamped on her ass who wouldn’t ever be able to appreciate the struggle of someone else.
Mainly, that she wouldn’t be able to appreciate his struggle.
How fucking wrong he’d been.
About all of it, but mostly her.
Renzo had been oh, so wrong about her.
“Ren?” Lucia asked quietly. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head, not wanting her to get into it. “It’s fine. I have to head out, or I’m going to miss out on work today. I’ll give you a call—”
“Okay, I’ll take Diego in, then.”
Lucia held her hand out to Diego, but the boy hesitated in leaving Renzo’s side. Instead, he shot a wary look at Laurie on the step, and whispered to Lucia, “Mrs. Laurie says I’m not allowed in the daycare anymore.”
Renzo swore time slowed down. It was like life came around to laugh in his face, and give him every minute detail of Lucia’s expression and reaction as she realized why they were standing out there, and exactly what was going on that he hadn’t been willing to tell her. She was quiet for a second as her sweet mouth turned into a frown, and her hazel eyes blazed with an emotion he didn’t recognize.
“Why?” she asked Diego.
His little brother shrugged. “Don’t know.”
Lucia turned to Laurie. “Why?”
The woman sighed. “For reasons that I am not required to share with you, or anyone else. The shelter has the right to refuse anyone access to the daycare—it’s our policy. We don’t need to explain it.”
“Or you don’t want to,” Lucia countered.
Renzo didn’t know what it was, but something about the way Laurie’s throat jumped and her gaze darted away from Lucia felt … wrong. Lucia saw it, too, if the way she stepped toward the woman with a finger pointed was any indication.
“Please tell me,” Lucia started to say, “that this has nothing to do with me, or my father.”
Laurie still wouldn’t look their way. She seemed far more content to stare at the wall of the entrance where a few strips of paint were starting to chip, and fall to the ground.
Her silence was answer enough.
Was this what John meant, then, when he cornered Renzo a while back? This was how the Marcellos played dirty when it came to teaching somebody a lesson—they just fucked with their lives in such a way that it backed a person into the corner?
“What,” Lucia asked the woman, “did he stop by, and threaten to drop whatever donations he was making to the place if you kept Renzo away from me, then?”
Laurie’s jaw stiffened, but she stayed quiet. A silent answer, as far as he was concerned.
“Are you fucking serious?” Lucia hissed.
“He didn’t threaten to drop anything,” Laurie countered, “he offered to triple it.”
Renzo’s surprise came out in a harsh noise from the back of his throat. Just how much money was Lucian Marcello throwing at this place that Laurie would be willing to block one single person from using the daycare? It kind of stunned him, but then again … he wasn’t surprised at all.
“I have to go,” Renzo said, turning while pulling on Diego’s hand at the same time. “I don’t have time to stand here and talk about this stupid shit. Not today.”
“Ren, wait,” Lucia called at his back.
“Lucia, you have a job to do inside. Please, go back to doing—”
“Fuck you, I quit. And you can let my father know it, too.”
&n
bsp; Renzo was a good thirty feet down the street before Lucia finally caught up with him. He was a lot of things in those moments—feeling a lot of shit that he really didn’t want to deal with. But above all else, he just felt fucking defeated and pissed.
“Where am I gonna go, Ren?” Diego asked, peering up at him.
Lucia grabbed him by his wrist at the same time, tugging hard enough to make him stop and swing to face her. “I’m sorry.”
That was the first thing she wanted to say?
Renzo didn’t know why.
“It’s not your fault, but I really don’t have time today. I need to get Diego a place to stay for the day, and then let the woman know who’s going to watch him for the night and tomorrow where she can pick him up later. So, I’ll call you when I get a minute, okay? Go back to the shelter, Lucia. They love you there. You like working there. Don’t quit for—”
“No,” she murmured. “Absolutely not.”
He blinked.
She just stood firm.
Then, she glanced down at Diego who looked like he was three seconds away from bursting into tears. “What if I took him? Like, for the whole time. You could just … pick him up from me. I can text you where I’ll be staying because I am not going home. Not if that means I have to see my father.”
“I don’t need you to do shit, Lucia,” Renzo muttered.
Pride was a bitch.
So was defeat.
She smiled just a little. That sweet, soft smile he loved so fucking much. The same one she graced him with when he woke up with her beside him. Fuck, he loved that goddamn smile.
He loved a lot of things about Lucia.
He was pretty sure he loved her, too.
“I didn’t ask if you needed me to do something for you,” she replied, “I asked if I could take him.”
Renzo sighed, and scrubbed a hand down his face. This really wasn’t his day, and he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. “Listen, you can’t take him back to my apartment. Carmen showed up, and I don’t trust him to be there with her when I’m not. You know what I mean?”
Lucia nodded. “I wasn’t planning on going there anyway. I was thinking … a hotel, actually.”
