“What’s going on? You called nine times?”
Corey reached out and grabbed his arm, yanking him close so he could speak to him over the watch case.
“You’d think after the fifth, I might get a call back,” he whispered loudly under his breath.”
“What the hell is it?” Luca asked, nerves pooling in his guts. Just as Corey was about to answer, the door to the store chimed and they both looked over to find Kane—looking red-faced and angry—striding into the store. He nodded at Dog and Rodney, walking right past them and up to the counter where Corey had to crane his neck to look up. He wore an unpleasant sneer but Luca ignored him and frowned at Kane.
“Do you answer your phone, ever?” Kane’s words were bitten off as they came out in clipped tones.
“I believe so. What the hell is going on around here? First Corey and now you. You two act like someone I know has died,” Luca said, frustrated.
“Someone has!” Corey said.
Luca’s gaze shot to Kane. “What?”
“It’s true, baby,” Kane said, looking sadly at him.
Luca felt his face go pale as he began to shake. “Who?”
Kane glanced around to find Sebastian standing nearby but paying close attention to their conversation. As soon as he realized he’d been spotted, he turned to Luca.
“Go into your office, Luca. I’m fine out here with Marilyn,” Sebastian said, looking very worried.
“Thanks, Sebastian,” Luca said shakily. He stepped off the jewelry sales floor and followed Kane who’d already begun walking back to his office. Corey hooked an elbow through his but Luca pulled free, not wanting to be touched or comforted. With horror, he realized Corey was trying to comfort him and that scared him more than anything he could possibly think of. After he closed the door to the office with the three of them inside, Luca turned to Kane, not wanting to hear bad news from Corey who’d no doubt start going into hysterics. Kane’s face looked grim.
“What’s happened. Who died?” Luca demanded, terrified to learn the truth. He’d just lost Freddy and now… someone else. To his horror, Kane reached out and took his hand, looking down into his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Luca. Your friend Thelma was killed when another car hit hers today.”
Luca instantly felt sick to his stomach as his eyes filled with tears. He gasped and lifted a hand, placing fingers over his mouth so he wouldn’t vomit. He looked from Kane to Corey who looked terribly grim as he thinned his lips. Luca recognized the truth of Kane’s words in Corey’s expression as he nodded.
“I’m so sorry, babe. I heard it directly from her daughter’s stylist, Juan,” Corey said. “I only happened to be in the salon by accident. He said she ran out of the salon in curlers when she got the call.”
Luca looked back at Kane, feeling the tears fall. “Someone made a mistake. I was just with her this morning,” feeling suddenly hopeful. “In fact, I told you that earlier, didn’t I? Didn’t I tell you that I had an appointment to see her and have my final driving lesson? It’s a mistake, Kane, I just know it.” He looked tearfully at Kane but his expression didn’t change. The sadness in his eyes was devastating. He slowly shook his head.
“Kelly and I were in her car this afternoon when the call came in over the radio. When I heard it was a yellow Yugo and two people had been killed, I nearly died of fright. I went out to the scene myself, Luca. It was no mistake, love.”
Luca shook his head and stared at Kane. “It’s wrong… just wrong. It can’t be I just saw her this morning,” he repeated.
Kane squeezed his hand gently. “No, sweetheart. She was out in the Yugo with another student driver who was also killed. The man looked so much like you, I almost had a heart attack, Luca.”
Luca felt tears running down his face. His nose was clogging with snot and when Corey prodded him, he glanced down and saw that he had a Kleenex in his hand. He took it from his best friend and blew his nose.
“They were hit broadside, Luca. I’m so damned sorry.” Though the words were clearly spoken, Luca felt as though Kane was struggling to say them gently, more gently than he’d ever heard him be. That was a silly thought though. Of course Kane was probably used to delivering horrible news like this. When he opened his arms, Luca stepped into them and he began to sob against Kane’s big broad chest.
Chapter Seventeen
Kane held Luca’s hand as he drove the Charger toward the hospital where Thelma’s body lay until the mortuary would come to pick her up. The last thing he wanted to do was to take him down and have him see Thelma’s body and he’d at first objected. When Luca had threatened to go alone, Kane had relented. He didn’t want Luca to face this alone. He’d seen the way he’d reacted to Freddy’s death and he knew this loss would only compound his grief. Kane couldn’t imagine how Luca felt right then; he only knew his own reaction the moment the radio call had come in.
Kane and Kelly had been in her car on the way back to the police station after having lunch, but when a call requested officers to respond to a hit and run motor vehicle accident in West Hollywood involving a Yugo, Kane’s whole body was instantly bathed in dread. They’d raced out to the scene and Kane had jumped out of the car when he saw a young man sitting in the driver’s seat. Thankfully, as he got close, he’d realized the man had lighter curlier hair and that he wasn’t Luca. If it had been Luca’s soft dark spiky hair stained with blood as this man’s were, Kane would have probably curled up and died. In that moment, standing over the man’s poor body, Kane had realized something… he was in love with Luca Price and no one mattered more to him than the sweet, gentle man who’d been in his arms only hours before.
Now, seeing Luca’s face so devastated the way it was, made Kane sick. The bastard who hit Thelma’s car was going to pay for the pain in Luca’s eyes. As he pulled into the hospital parking lot and parked the car, he looked over at him. Luca was slumped in the seat, his head lolling against the passenger window. At first Kane thought he’d fallen asleep but as he stirred and glanced over at Kane, he recognized determination. He knew Luca wouldn’t fall to pieces in front of Thelma’s daughter who was also elderly, but he would probably lose it when they were alone. Luca had come to trust him over time and Kane had no real idea why. All he did know was that his feelings for Luca were much the same even though he wasn’t deserving of them.
“Are you sure, baby?” Kane ventured.
Luca nodded. “I know it sounds stupid, but I have to know for myself.” Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, “Is she… does she… will I recognize her, Kane?”
Kane’s heart did a little flip-flop in his chest as he recalled the sight that had greeted him and Kelly at the scene of the accident. He nodded slowly, praying the hospital staff had wiped away the blood before letting Thelma’s daughter see her.
“Yes. She’s bruised but you’ll be able to recognize her.” He paused. “Are you absolutely sure?”
Luca looked uncertain for a moment. “Let’s go see Madeline. If she tells me I can’t see her then I won’t.”
Kane nodded, offering him a tiny smile as he reached out and cupped his cheek. Luca’s eyes slid shut as he leaned into the palm of Kane’s hand and he felt his heart melt. This sweet man was suffering and all Kane wanted to do was to wrap him up in his arms and take him home where he could keep him safe from all the hurt in the world.
“Come on, then.” Kane dropped his hand as Luca opened his eyes. He turned away and unlocked his door as Luca did the same. They walked into the hospital hand in hand and stopped at the reception desk. When they gave Thelma’s name and the volunteer looked her up in the system, her bright smile slipped away to be replaced with one of sympathy. She wrote out their sticky visitor badges and then pointed them to the elevators, telling them to take them down to the basement where the morgue was located. Kane never let go of Luca’s hand, wrapping his arm around him and pulling him against his body as they stepped out of the elevator. The moment they stepped into the hallway, an elderly
woman spotted them and stood up.
Luca flew to her and swept her into a gentle hug as the lady broke into tears. Kane stood awkwardly as the two embraced for long minutes. When Luca finally pulled back, he took both of her hands and pulled her over to Kane.
“Kane Delancey, this is Madeline, Thelma’s daughter.”
Kane reached out and took both of the lady’s hands in his much larger ones. “I’m so very sorry for your loss, Madeline. I think Thelma was a beautiful lady. I only wish I’d known her better.”
Madeline offered him a sad smile, gripping his fingers tightly. “It’s good to meet you, Mr. Delancey, even under these terrible circumstances. My mother spoke very highly of you. She told me several times that you’re good for our Luca.” She glanced over at Luca and smiled fondly before dropping Kane’s hands and reaching up to wipe away the tears tracking down his face. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Luca let out a little sob and drew her back into his arms.
“I think I should see her to say goodbye, Madeline,” Luca whispered against her hair.
She pulled back without letting go of him. Kane watched her slowly shake her head. “Sweetie, you don’t want to see her like that. It’s best you remember the kind soul she was. Besides, she’d want you to remember her smiling eyes… not like this, sweetheart.”
Luca nodded slowly. “Of course. If you think that’s best, Madeline.”
Kane felt a wave of relief wash over him. He knew Luca’s soft heart would do its best to make it through that kind of viewing, but to see a body that had been pulled out of a crumpled car, that was something even a seasoned law enforcement officer hated to have to deal with. It was terrible to see strangers like that, much less a beloved friend.
“I do, sweetie.” She offered him another sad smile, then looked around and sighed deeply. “Would you and Mr. Delancey mind taking me home? My friend, Alice, brought me to the hospital but her husband has Alzheimer’s disease, so she had to go home and take care of him. It took a while for me to find out that my mother had passed and then even longer for the nurses to prepare her so that I could… view her,” she finished on a sob. She sniffled and then looked up at them. “I don’t want to be a bother.”
“Of course, we’ll take you. It’s no bother, Madeline,” Luca said, glancing over at Kane.
He nodded. “As Luca says, of course we will,” Kane replied.
“Thank you,” Madeline said. They waited for her to walk over to the bench where she’d been sitting to collect her purse and sweater and then got into the elevator and went the lobby before changing elevators and taking this one down to the parking level. They escorted Madeline to Kane’s Charger and Luca slipped into the back seat, leaving the front passenger seat for the elderly woman. After she was seated, he reached forward and gave her a gentle squeeze on her bony shoulder. She covered Luca’s hand, giving it an affectionate pat.
After dropping her off, Kane insisted on taking Luca home to his condo and making him some food since he knew he hadn’t eaten since breakfast and if left to make something for himself, he wouldn’t eat at all.
After Luca went into Kane’s en suite bathroom to shower, he ran upstairs to feed Dorothy and Toto and change their bedding. When he came back down, the water was off and Luca was stretched out on his comfortable sofa wrapped in Kane’s oversized robe with his eyes closed. Kane was going to have to remember to tell Luca to bring over some of his own clothes now that they were back together. Sometimes—like this one—it was a pain in the ass to think of running home to change clothes. When Kane stayed at Luca’s he had the same problem and as much as he would normally love to see Luca wearing his robe, he made a mental note to bring up the topic when the time was right.
Luca sighed deeply and Kane recognized the signs of emotional exhaustion in him immediately. He walked over to the sofa and squatted in front of him, brushing his spiky damp hair back from his forehead. He loved Luca’s hair. It was as fine as a baby’s, cut longer in the front than the sides and back, and he usually left it to do a little flop over his forehead. When it got too long the way it was now, it hung in his eyes which Kane found very sexy.
As soon as Kane touched him, Luca’s eyelids fluttered open and he gazed at Kane, making no move to sit up. The agony swirling in the gray-blue depths of his eyes was evident and Kane was left feeling helpless to do or say anything that would help. Grief was a complex thing and it manifested itself differently in everyone.
When he’d seen his own father murdered, he’d grieved for a lost parent. It hadn’t been until years later in the Marine Corps, that he’d experienced the grief of losing a friend. Since both of his grandparents had died before he’d been born, he hadn’t ever felt that sort of loss but he had no doubt what he was seeing was at least one of these in Luca’s eyes. As Kane’s face came into focus, Luca’s eyes teared up and Kane leaned forward, sliding his arms around his shoulders and pulling him up to a sitting position before sliding onto the couch himself. Luca slid farther down to lay his head in his lap and Kane began to stroke his fingers into Luca’s hair as he looked down at him.
“You need to eat something. I have canned chicken noodle soup or I can make you some eggs, sweetheart.” As usual, Kane kept his cupboard bare, not because he didn’t have the money to buy groceries, but because he didn’t care a whole lot about more than stocking beer and frozen dinners—which were pretty much disgusting in every way.
Luca sighed. “I’m not hungry, Kane. I just want to go to sleep and forget about everything.”
“I know, baby,” Kane said, tracing one silky eyebrow with his finger. “But you have to eat something. Let me order some tom ka kai from that Thai place down the street. You loved their soup when I took you there,” he offered.
“Kane, really, I need to forget everything and sleep because I have work tomorrow.”
“I already called Sebastian and told him you wouldn’t be in tomorrow.”
Luca instantly stiffened and sat up. “You shouldn’t have done that.” He wrapped his arms around his middle but in Kane’s massive robe he looked like a little kid wearing his dad’s clothes. “I’m not a child,” he said, as if reading Kane’s mind.
“I’m not saying you are, Luca. I wanted to let Sebastian know what happened and that you were okay and when the subject of your schedule came up, he told me that everyone in the company is entitled to bereavement pay and time off. You can take several days off if you want, baby.”
Luca smiled sadly. “That’s for immediate relatives, not driving instructors, Kane.”
Kane snorted in disgust. “If you think that Stephen Auerbach is going to be that strict about your loss, then you have another think coming. Thelma was practically a grandparent.”
Luca’s jaw dropped open in surprise. “How do you know that?” he whispered.
Kane reached for him and pulled him into a straddle over his lap so that they were eye to eye. “If you think I’m that poor of a detective, you have been watching too much Columbo.” He offered a silly smile to lift Luca’s mood but the man only sighed.
“You’re not really a detective, Kane.”
“I was one in San Diego and ATF agents are law enforcement too, baby. If you don’t think we investigate crimes…”
“It’s okay, I’m not arguing,” he said tiredly. He held up both hands. “If you want to order Thai soup, that works but please get it only mildly spicy. I don’t think my stomach can take the really hard stuff today. I usually love it but not today. I know I have to eat even if I don’t want to.”
Kane smiled and leaned in to gently kiss his lips. As he pulled back, Luca took both of his cheeks in his hands and gazed into his eyes.
“Thank you, Kane.”
Before Kane could reply, Luca dropped his hands, slid off his lap, and reached for the remote control to flip on his TV. Kane stood up and called in the food order before going back to his first-floor bedroom to change out of his monkey suit and into something more comfortable. He padded out into th
e living room in bare feet, sleeping pants, and a T-shirt, carrying one of his long-sleeved tees for Luca. He was watching Drag Race on TV and he looked up when Kane held the shirt out for him.
“I hope you have your own underwear since my boxer briefs definitely won’t fit you.”
Luca reached for the shirt and smiled. “Thank you.” He pulled the robe apart to show off boxers. “I wear underwear to work but nowhere else.”
“Good to know,” Kane said with a genuine smile, really wanting to ask why but deciding not to. “The soup should be here in ten minutes. I’ll be right back.”
Luca sent him a forced smile and Kane left him, jogging up to the loft bedroom and bringing Dorothy and Toto down. If they couldn’t make Luca smile, nothing would. He’d guessed right because as soon as Luca spotted the two ferrets in Kane’s arms, he grinned widely and stood up from the couch, reaching out for them. Toto leapt into Luca’s outstretched hands and immediately scampered up one arm to his shoulder where he leaned over and put both hands on Luca’s face when he turned it to the small animal. Kane chuckled as he watched Toto’s beady little black eyes stare directly into Luca’s.
Toto, the much more hyperactive of the two ferrets, adored Luca and he was very sensitive to his moods. As soon as he got a good look at Luca’s swollen red eyes, he patted him on the cheek and made a chirping sound. Luca’s shoulders shook with laughter as he reached up and grabbed the ferret off his shoulder, pulling him into his body where he could kiss him on his tiny little head.
“I love you too, Toto,” Luca said into his fur.
The ferret instantly wiggled out of Luca’s hold and jumped down onto the couch where he made several circles before jumping onto the back of the sofa and running down its entire length. When he got to the armrest, he stood on two legs and chirped long and loud, holding up two tiny little paws, wiggling his claws, as though he was a tiny rodent referee at a soccer match. Kane figured it was his way of calling out GOOOOOOOAL!!! He and Luca both laughed as Kane set Dorothy down on the sofa back and watched her run over to join her mate.
Play With Me Page 23