by Bethany-Kris
Hard pass.
Lucia had better things to do.
And money to make.
She loved art.
No doubt about it.
Her respect for art and this business went beyond the pale—she lived for it. Thing was, the only way she could continue to do that was if she made enough money to make it possible. The same thing went for the artists making the art.
They needed money.
Simple as that.
The phone on her desk rang just as Mason looked like he might open his mouth and say something else. If this were another day, one where she had more patience and had spent the night in bed with Renzo, she might have given him the chance to talk. Instead, she waved her hand at the door behind with him with a sharp, “Anything else, take it to my assistant, okay?”
He huffed.
She smiled again.
Once she was alone in her office, she picked up the ringing phone. “Lucia here.”
“Dolcezza.”
That time, her smile was real.
Entirely true.
“Daddy,” she greeted, turning her chair away from the desk a bit to stare out the window of her office, where she could enjoy the sight of a bright sky overhead. “What are you up to this afternoon?”
“Coming to see if you might like to clear some time off that very busy schedule of yours, actually.”
“Excuse me?”
“You never take a break. I am in the city to do some last-minute business before your mother and I take our trip to Bali … and I know Renzo is coming home from Vegas this week sometime, isn’t he?”
Yes.
God, she couldn’t wait.
She didn’t have a clue what job Renzo had been on, but it’d taken him away for almost three weeks. It was unusual for him to be allowed to take his phone and call her when he was on a job, so instead, she was stuck waiting for that call which said he was back in the country. Finally, she’d gotten that today.
He’d be home soon.
“He is, yes,” she replied.
“So, you’ll be tied up with him for a while, won’t you? Which means I probably won’t get to see you until we get back from our trip.”
Her father knew her so well.
A lot like the rest of her family.
“Very possibly,” she replied.
“Then, I think you could at least let me take you to lunch before he hides you away.”
She had more than enough reasons to say no. Owning her own gallery meant the work never stopped. If it wasn’t one thing, then it was another. She also now needed to brief her assistant on the artist who seemed determined to toe every line and work her very last nerve. The less she had to deal with him after today, the better it would be. She had a lot to do, and she really couldn’t afford to cancel her next two meetings to have lunch with her dad when she already planned to just take it in her office that day.
But …
At the same time, she loved her dad.
Missed him, too.
Sometimes, they didn’t get enough time together. He never said anything about it one way or another. And she tried not to point it out, either. She never missed a chance to spend her day with her dad.
“How long before you get here?” she asked.
Lucian chuckled. “I am outside with a car running.”
Of course, he was.
Lucian knew her well.
“I will be out in two minutes.”
“Perfetto, mia cara.”
TWO
“Zulla!”
Renzo spun on his heels at the familiar voice calling his name from behind him as he headed through the lower halls of The League. Alessio, a high-ranking member of The League and independent assassin, like Ren, stuck his head out of the knife room. On another day, he might have stopped to have a conversation with the man—he even noticed him when he passed the room—but today, he had other things on his mind.
Better things, really.
No offense to Les.
Alessio arched a brow at the sight of Ren, who was still walking backward and not even stopping at the call of his name.
“Too busy to have a conversation with me or what?”
Renzo laughed, entirely unbothered and knowing Alessio wouldn’t be offended. The last few years of Les’s life had been kind to him, maybe even softened the guy’s fast attitude in a way. Renzo figured settling down and having a couple of kids could do that for a person. “Nah, I uh—”
“Oh, wait, you were on the Bosnia job, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, just got back in. The rest of the team is getting in on the next flight coming in. I took the only opening they had on a flight before theirs.”
“Right,” Alessio said, rocking back on his heels. “The wife is waiting for you. I get it.”
He bet.
Shit, Alessio had two spouses to get back to.
“We’ll chat another time, then, yeah?” the guy asked.
Ren nodded. “You know it. Later.”
Alessio slipped back into the room he’d come out of and Renzo spun around on his heels, heading deeper into the complex. He walked familiar halls, took the stairs a couple of levels higher, and met up with a few more familiar faces along the way. Of course, none of that stopped him longer than a quick hello before he continued on his way. It didn’t take long for him to make it to the office upstairs that Dare rarely left when inside the compound. After arriving back from any job, each member who was independent for The League was required to debrief. It didn’t matter if they all had the exact same thing to say.
Policy and all that shit.
You know, if breaking policy meant losing your life and all.
“Renzo,” Dare greeted just as Renzo came to stand beyond the entrance of the man’s office. The door forever seemed to be open, although Renzo never truly understood why. It seemed dangerous, in a way, but maybe it proved just how much of a danger the man who owned the office was. That, and Dare had access to every single camera within The League’s complex. He knew each and every person who came inside, and exactly where they were while within the walls of the place. “Good to see you in one piece, after that one—your phone is on the table. Your wife has been sent a message letting her know you’re back in the country.”
“Perfect.”
“Go ahead and let me know the specifics so you can head out.”
A lot of shit had changed at The League for Renzo over the years. He wasn’t sure if it was his seniority at the place, despite the fact that he sometimes wondered if he made the right choice in staying as a member. Or was it just the respect that he’d earned over time doing what he did here? But things were different. There was a mutual appreciation all around the board for the people he’d found and had here and he liked that just fine. Part of it, he knew, revolved around the fact that even though Renzo no longer had to be here working, he still was.
Renzo did as Dare requested and briefed the man on the Bosnia job, which had taken three days longer than he’d expected it would. That little time delay had been based on factors that were entirely out of The League’s hands because of circumstances. None of which would cause a problem for them. What mattered was that the job was finished successfully. Still, everything had been standard, and the client who’d hired the team would be happy to know that he’d blown open that safe without causing more than a million in damages.
Which meant more money.
While he spoke, he headed deeper into the office and picked up his waiting—entirely charged—cell phone from the table in the middle. Dare said nothing as he continued to talk while scrolling through the phone to all the text messages—three hundred missed ones, in fact. Mostly from Lucia, and a few from Diego and his sister, likely.
But most came from her.
Lucia.
He smiled, pulling up her thread of messages to go through a few at the very bottom. As she always did, whether he was out of the country or just spending the night at Rose’s after being out with Di
ego for a day, she updated him throughout the day about what was happening or what she was doing with messages.
A good morning, love you when the sun rose for her, and a night, babe, fucking miss you when she laid her head down on a pillow at night.
But especially when he was out of the country, she tended to do it more. It gave him something to look forward to when coming home. He’d sit through her talking about all that he’d missed while he was gone, too.
“And that’s all?” Dare asked.
Renzo glanced up from his phone, coming back into the conversation he hadn’t really left but wasn’t one-hundred percent engaged in. Now that he was back in America, he had too many other important things on his mind.
The job was done.
Successful.
Nothing else mattered but getting home to Lucia.
Like he always promised to.
Forever.
“Yeah, that’s it,” he said.
Dare nodded, never turning away from the screen covering one entire wall where he watched a sports game. With a wave over his shoulder, he said, “I will be in touch, Ren, look for the final deposit into your accounts.”
“Will do.”
He was halfway out of the office, and ready to call Lucia and hear her voice for the first time in weeks, when the phone in his hand buzzed with a call. The ringtone that accompanied it had him grinning even though it wasn’t his wife calling.
“Diego,” Ren greeted, picking up the call, “I just got back, kiddo.”
“Ah, Ren, don’t call me that.”
He laughed it off, as he always did. Yeah, Diego acted like he didn’t like it when his big brother teased him a bit, but Ren knew that in truth, he did. He was the only person Diego had that type of relationship with. Serious but fun. He really was the only father the kid knew, even if they were really half-brothers. Diego got both in him.
Someone to be his father when he needed it.
And the big brother he wanted even more.
“Are you back in New York?” Diego asked.
Damn, he wished.
“No, just got back to Vegas, but I am on my—”
“Rose said I can come over, so …”
Ren chuckled. “Buddy, I just got back. I haven’t even been home to see Lucia yet, you know?”
“So, when you get back in town, I can come over, right?”
Lord.
He couldn’t tell this kid no. Even if he just wanted to spend one night alone with his wife before he got back to his real life, that likely wouldn’t happen.
Not that he wanted to tell Diego no, anyway, because he missed his little brother, too. Because for as much as Diego needed his brother, Renzo needed the kid. He was never going to be separated or taken from his brother again.
“You know what? Yeah,” Renzo said. “Absolutely, Diego. We’ll work it out, okay?”
“Okay, Ren.”
He hung up from his brother shortly after and immediately tried to call his wife. The damn thing rang through to voicemail twice.
Shit.
Sometimes, she turned it off when she was with clients. He decided whatever. After all, it’d been a while since he’d surprised her. So, why not?
THREE
“Thanks,” Lucia told the cab driver.
He handed her card back over with a nod. “Have a good evening, ma’am.”
“You, too.”
Stepping out of the vehicle into the quiet Brooklyn street, Lucia didn’t take much time to admire the sight of her home or the relief at the fact she was finally here after a very long day. Instead, she headed past the gate that led up to the brownstone’s steps, already pulling out her keys and readying to unlock the door.
She didn’t need the keys, though.
The door was unlocked.
That might have made her pause, but when she pushed open the door, the thing she hadn’t been expecting to greet her was the noise. Well, it didn’t so much greet her as it just filled the space entirely.
Music blasting from the surround sound system. Something that sounded like a game being played accompanied the tunes. Laughter—masculine—followed the noise from two distinct people, both of which she recognized. They made her smile grow larger as she kicked off her shoes and discarded her coat to a waiting hook before heading farther into the place.
She swore every light between the entrance and down to the living room had been turned on, when she was positive she had turned them off before leaving that morning. It had become a habit. She had to do her own part to save the environment and whatnot.
On another day, this much noise in her house wouldn’t be unusual. When Renzo was home, he always had to be doing something. Rarely did he sit back and relax. Typically, he liked to have everything on while he did it, too—music, the TV or whatever. Sometimes, he had a person or two over just because he enjoyed the company. More often than not, it was his little brother.
The only time she could quiet that man and his mind was at night. When it was just the two of them together in bed, or the bath … alone. That’s when he settled, and she loved being one of the few things that could bring him back down to earth. She gave him peace, and he reminded her of exactly why she loved her life.
Because he was in it.
She passed by a familiar bookbag in the hallway, the contents, which included a textbook and a tablet, slightly spilling to the floor where its owner left it to stay. She didn’t even care that it made a mess because that bookbag meant one thing and one thing only.
Diego was here.
Which meant so was Renzo.
She was right, too.
Lucia leaned in the entryway to the living room, smiling at the sight that waited for her there. Renzo threw his hands wide, his back turned to her as his character on the screen from the game he currently played with his fourteen-year-old brother, Diego, was blown sky-high from whatever weapon the teenager used on him.
Diego took his moment to shine, doing a little victory dance on the spot while at the same time, mocking his brother. Renzo, on the other hand, wasn’t a sore loser, and she swore he only kept the damn game system around just because Diego loved it so much. Because while he was good at it, he also didn’t get nearly enough time to play and enjoy it the way he wanted.
“Ha! Told you, Ren. You suck.”
“I do not. It’s just … been a fucking while, yeah? Don’t get cocky. We’re going another round.”
The two brothers continued their teasing, and Lucia stayed back to watch them, happy in her spot. They wouldn’t mind a bit if she joined them, but she figured they needed at least a couple of more minutes without her in the middle, not that either of them ever complained about her presence.
Yeah, she would definitely have liked to have the night alone with Renzo, seeing as how she figured that he wouldn’t be getting back until at least tomorrow, but at the same time … well, she never minded having to share his time and attention.
At least, not with Diego.
Ren had priorities.
They became hers, too.
That was love.
And life.
Their life, anyway.
Besides, she loved Diego more than she could explain. It had been a privilege for her to watch the boy grow into a young man these past few years. Not to mention, being able to see Renzo help Diego become who he was just starting to be.
She couldn’t ask for more.
They were so lucky.
After everything, they still had this.
All this love.
Just as Diego started clicking buttons on his remote to bring the game back to a restart, Renzo turned to grab something on the couch. That’s how he noticed Lucia standing in the doorway. For a brief moment, the rest of the world ceased to exist when their gazes met. Or it just stopped turning, but hey, she liked that fine.
It was him and her again.
He was safe.
Home.
Here with her.
“Hey, you,”
he murmured.
She smiled. “Hey, yourself. Were you trying to surprise me?”
“Maybe. Did it work?”
“Absolutely, Ren. I thought you wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.”
“Yeah, well … pulled some strings. Diego wanted to come over, too, so—”
“I don’t mind.”
He gave her another one of those blinding smiles. The kind that still made her stomach twist with butterflies and had her chest growing tight. And when he winked at her, while his brother’s back was turned so the kid couldn’t see it, she swore the heat he caused shot right down to the spot between her thighs that had gone without this man for far too long.
Yeah.
She missed Ren like nobody knew.
Always did.
“Hey, Lucia,” Diego called.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Wanna game?”
“Yes, another person to kick my ass,” Renzo grumbled. “Stupid, that I do this shit in real life but can’t manage to beat it on the game. This shit is rigged.”
Lucia laughed, but didn’t hesitate to cross the room and pick up the third controller on the coffee table. “You just need to get in your groove, that’s all.”
“When do I ever get the time anymore?”
That wasn’t a lie.
As Diego began the process of restarting and adding a third player to the game, Renzo leaned in to grab Lucia, as she was close enough for him to do it. He pulled her in to his side, and the moment his lips touched down to hers, her world finally tilted back to its proper axis. Soft at first, the sweep of his lips against her own stayed gentle for just long enough to get her to open for him. And then he was really kissing her, taking away her breath all over again and driving her crazy at the same damn time.
How long had it been?
Too long.
“Missed you,” she whispered against his lips.
“Too much, babe. Love you, huh?”
She smiled when he kissed her again. “Forever, Ren.”
