“Come in the kitchen. There’s no carpet there.”
Having this whole crisis unfold where half the neighbors on the block could see was bad enough. She didn’t need to get blood on Mrs. Lutz’s carpet. That would require explaining.
You see, Mrs. Lutz, dognappers are stealing my clients. Yes, as a matter of fact, one of them did try to get Otis. Twice. Why didn’t I warn you that your beloved pet could be in danger? Well, I’m hoarding a stolen diamond, but have no idea where it came from.
She waved Joey into the kitchen.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he said into his phone. “Call me ASAP. Got a problem.”
“Sit.” Lucie grabbed paper towels and ran them under the faucet. Water splashed off her hands onto the black granite counter. She’d worry about cleaning up when they were done. She turned to Joey, who for some unknown reason remained standing. She waved her arms toward the nightmare of a kitchen chair.
The white upholstered chair was lovely, but fresh blood wouldn’t mix well with this particular style.
How did she get to this place? All she ever wanted was to be an investment banker, and here she sat in her old boss’s home while her brother fought off dognappers and bled on the pristine furniture.
“We need to clean you up. I have a first-aid kit in the car.”
“First-aid kit. That’s funny.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “You always have a plan.”
And what was that supposed to mean? At least one of the Rizzo children should be a responsible adult. “There is nothing wrong with being prepared.”
Joey threw his head down on the table and started snoring.
“Watch the blood. Mrs. Lutz will freak if we stain something.”
She grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head up to find him grinning in a way that reminded her of every moment of torment he’d inflicted upon her.
She didn’t have time to smack him around right now. Her schedule was so completely screwed. Plus, Otis still hadn’t had his afternoon poop. That window only stayed open so long, and Lucie didn’t want to risk him doing it in the house. She’d have to walk him until he pooped. That could take an hour.
An hour she didn’t have.
“I need to clean that lip.” She scrunched her nose and dabbed at Joey’s lip while he sent a text.
He finally held up his hand. “Enough, Luce. The hovering is weird. If you weren’t my sister, maybe it would be nice. Now it’s…blech.”
“I was trying to help.”
“Don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad.” She stopped. “No. That’s a lie. I am mad. I wanted to help you and you got nasty. To hell with you.”
He laughed. “That’s more like it.”
“Ugh.”
But he gave her a small grin and his eyes held a softness she wasn’t accustomed to seeing. “Sorry.”
Wow. Joey apologizing. A monumental occurrence. Maybe there was a human inside him after all. His phone rang and he glanced at the screen before punching the button.
“Here’s the deal,” he said without bothering to say hello. “Some guy—different guy this time—tried to grab Otis…Yeah, hold up.”
He put the phone on speaker. “You there?”
“Luce,” Frankie said, “are you okay?”
The sound of his voice gave her that instant sense of relief she’d known for years now and a gush of air escaped. Frankie brought sanity when insanity loomed. “I’m okay. Joey is bleeding though.”
“He’ll live.”
“I shot bug spray in their eyes.”
“You did?”
“I had to do something. There were three of them.”
“Holy hell,” Frankie said. “Luce, you have to vary your pattern. Please.”
He knew her well enough to know she liked routine. “These dogs have a schedule, Frankie. I can’t just change it. It’ll confuse them. Poor Otis is probably freaking out right now because I came running back in here with him and he hasn’t pooped yet. Do you know what that can do to a dog?”
“He’ll live, too.”
Clearly, Frankie didn’t give a lick about Otis’s mental health.
“You don’t understand.”
“No. I understand. I understand that you are going to get hurt. I understand that we need to do something to throw these people a curve. I understand that you want to do your job.”
“Hey,” she said.
“Sorry,” Frankie said. “But, please, change your pattern. Each day, change it up again.”
Joey tilted his head. “He’s right.”
“Of course he’s right. There’s just nothing I can do about it. I have a schedule to keep. I have the routes mapped out to maximize my time. If I start messing with it, I’m not going to get all the walks in.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Frankie said in his holier-than-thou voice. She wanted to wallop him. Just smack him one.
Joey looked down at his phone and spoke directly to Frankie. “What if we get a couple of the guys from my father’s crew to help out?”
No wonder he wouldn’t look at her. “Are you insane?”
“Knew she’d say that,” Frankie said.
“How could they possibly help?”
Joey made a huffing noise like she was a complete idiot. “A show of manpower. If they see five guys around you, they’ll go away.”
Lunacy. Apparently, her brother had missed the last ten years of her hating their father’s lifestyle. That would be the only explanation for him to suggest such a ludicrous plan. She held up a finger. “Even if I liked that idea, there is no way I’d do it, because one of them is bound to tell Dad, and I don’t need him hassling me. He’s already on me because my Notre Dame education is supposedly being wasted on the dogs.”
“Plus,” Frankie began, “I promised him she wouldn’t get hurt. Enlisting his guys would make him wonder. I don’t want your father pissed at me.”
Joey nodded. “How about your dad’s crew? Will they keep their mouths shut?”
“No,” she said. “I don’t like this plan.”
Particularly because she wasn’t convinced this didn’t have something to do with her father’s business and the people that worked for him. She knew her father would never put her in direct danger. He had always tried to shield her from the life by not discussing it in front of her. No, if this had something to do with her father, he didn’t know about it. The men that worked for him, though? She had no idea.
“I can’t count on them keeping quiet,” Frankie said. “They’re a bunch of old ladies.”
“We are not enlisting anyone’s help,” Lucie said.
Frankie stayed quiet. Too quiet. When he went dark like that, it meant he wanted her to think he was agreeing by not disagreeing.
“Whatever you’re thinking, Frankie, forget it.”
“Yes, dear.”
Joey laughed.
She smacked his arm. “Shut up.”
“I gotta go,” Frankie said. “Luce, I’ll call you later and we’ll talk about it.”
She rubbed her fingers across her forehead hoping to make the pounding stop. “All right. We have to finish Otis’s walk anyway.”
“What?” Frankie said.
“Don’t start. I’m being paid to walk these dogs. Poor Otis’s back teeth are floating he has to pee so badly. He needs to be walked.”
“Joey, don’t you let her walk that dog.”
This was it. Joey would side with Frankie. He always did. She bit down on her bottom lip.
“I’ll take care of it.” Joey hung up.
The best course of action was to start talking first. “I have to get Otis walked. I’ll do it with you or without you. I don’t care. This is my job and the Lutz’s have helped me. I owe them.”
Joey held up his big hand, and she noticed blood staining his palm. “Chill. You’ll get Princess Puff-Puff walked.”
Hold on. Did he just say what she thought he said? “Huh?”
�
��Can we get through the yard to the other block?”
Seriously? He’d break ranks with Frankie and walk the dog with her? A roar of affection for her degenerate gambler brother swarmed. He was siding with her.
“The backyard isn’t fenced. We can cut through there. Do you think it’s safe?”
“I have no idea, but your threat of calling the cops probably chased them off for now. If we take a different route, you can get Puff-Puff’s walk in and finish the other dogs.”
“You need to get that lip looked at.”
“Nag, nag,” Joey said. “Can we get this damn dog walked? I got my own business to run and these dogs are costing me.”
Lucie nodded. Suddenly, she and Joey were a team. No matter how odd it seemed, she’d get her job done. And right now, that’s all she wanted.
Chapter Eight
Lucie made Joey load the merchandise for the Sammy Spaniel trunk show into Ro’s Escalade and winced when he threw the last box of collars.
“For God’s sake, Joey. The rhinestones will be all over the bottom of the box.”
He shrugged. “Then load it yourself.”
Ro stepped off the front porch in a murderous red sheath and matching coat. “Stifle it. Let’s get moving. The traffic on the Kennedy is filthy.”
“By the way,” Lucie said. “You look fabulous. A real professional.”
After stalking by, Joey turned to check out Ro’s backside. He stared for a second, looked up at the sky and blew out a breath. Typical. Lucie peeked at her black slacks and gray cardigan. An hour ago, she thought she looked darn good. Next to Ro? Might as well be homeless.
“Ro, I need your help.”
“Anything for you, sister. You know I’ve got your back.”
“Frankie and I are going on a date tomorrow—”
“I thought you broke up.”
“We did. We’re starting over.”
“Again?”
“Har-har. I need a change. Will you make me beautiful?”
Ro clucked her tongue. “You’re already beautiful.”
“I’m not a man-killer. I don’t want people wondering why Frankie is with me.”
Ro linked her arm with Lucie’s and walked toward the car. “Anyone that wonders is an idiot and doesn’t deserve your time.”
Good response. Excellent response. “Blah, blah. I still want to feel beautiful next to him. Help me step out of banker mode into something sexy.”
Ro rolled her bottom lip out. “You’ve got the tits for it.”
Lucie couldn’t control the laugh. Ro, like Joey, simply said what was on her mind. “You’ll help me?”
“Of course. Even if you’ve only given me a day, this is my specialty. I’m great under pressure.”
Yes, indeed. “Am I crazy, Ro?”
“Not in the least. You’re in a rut. Why shouldn’t you want a change?”
“Not that. Dating Frankie. We’ve broken up and gotten back together so many times, I’m not sure what we’re doing anymore.”
Ro stopped next to the driver’s side door of the Escalade and turned to Lucie. “You love him. You got lucky because the sex is hot and he’s dependable.”
That was certainly all true. “Well, sure.”
“Love like that is all-consuming. The extra benefit with Frankie is you never have to worry about him screwing around, or walking out when you need him. Finding both at once is special.”
Lucie didn’t understand. There hadn’t been any men in her life that came close to what Frankie meant to her. Wasn’t it always this way when two people loved each other? “So, I’m crazy if I let it go?”
Ro tilted her head. “Didn’t say that. I’m saying you need to be aware of what you’re risking. Most people don’t get an inferno of passion and the security.”
A snaking feeling curled inside and whispered that she and Ro were about to discuss something they, unbelievably, had never explored. “Did you?”
Please say yes. Let me believe in happily ever after.
Ro smiled and it was one of those smiles that carried the edge of regret. “Not at the same time.”
Lucie took a tiny step back.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Ro said. “Tommy is the guy I want to spend my life with. He’s a man I know I can come home to and he’ll take care of me. He’ll be kind and respectful and that’s what I need. At some point, the security became more important than the constant adrenaline rush. The adrenaline guy tore me to shreds, and I’d had enough of that.”
Lucie must have been brain-fried, because for the life of her, she couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. There had been a lot of men in Ro’s life, and Lucie flipped through her mental file trying to determine who the shredder was.
“You chose security?”
“Yep. And I don’t regret it. Not for one second. I’m happy with good sex and stability. It beats off-the-charts sex and no stability.”
The damn mental file in Lucie’s head was empty. Not even a hint. “Who shredded you?”
Ro glanced toward the house. Probably checking on Joey Big Ears. “I never told you.”
No. And Lucie couldn’t believe it. Weren’t they best friends? She thought so, and the ache in her chest couldn’t be ignored. Why the secrets?
“I had good reason.”
“What was it?”
Ro shifted her gaze to it before blowing out a breath.
God, please don’t let it be Frankie. If it was Frankie, Lucie would…she’d…she’d…hell, she didn’t know what she’d do, but vomiting could be at the top of the list. Right below that would be pulling a Lorena Bobbitt on Frankie and tearing out Ro’s hair. Brutal punishment. For both of them.
“Joey,” the soon-to-be-hairless one said.
Tension left Lucie like a blown tire. Thank you. “My brother Joey?” Lucie’s gaze shot to the front door. No sign of her brother. Good. She might have to kill him.
Ro stared up at the sky, ran her gloved hand down the long column of her neck and breathed deep. Ro looking wistful. Over Joey. Go figure.
“Yep. You were in graduate school. We were together for all of two months. It was two months of exquisite torture.”
“What happened?”
“Insanity is what happened. We got together one night. Every night after that became a mad rush to get into bed. He’d show up, we’d find a place to go, have crazy hot sex and do it all over again the next day. After eight weeks, I needed more. I wanted to go to the movies or to dinner, and all he wanted was to hang out with his friends.”
“That shithead.” Lucie’s voice was louder than she’d anticipated and she slapped her hand over her mouth.
Ro laughed. “Nah. He cared about me. I saw it in how affectionate he was. Even when the sex was a little adventurous, there was always trust. But that can’t sustain a relationship. I needed more. I needed him to grow up. Not right then, but eventually, and I was smart enough to know that Joey would always be a wildcard.” She stared back at the house.
Joey and Ro? Adventurous sex? Definite ick factor. And yet, her obnoxious brother kept this from her. From everyone, really, otherwise Lucie would have heard about it.
“And I was right. Can you picture me married to your brother? One of us would be dead.”
Igniting Lucie’s temper had become a favorite pastime for Joey, but he had never once made a crude remark about her best friend. “Wow.”
“Don’t be mad, Luce. Joey and I were okay with it, and when you came home, we didn’t want anything to change. It nearly killed me for a while because every time I came over, all I wanted was to curl into that big body of his. My heart was gutted.”
Gutted.
Joey? Ick.
“And then you met Tommy?”
Ro smiled at the mention of her husband. “Yep. He saved me. He’s everything I wanted Joey to be, but without the drama. I wouldn’t change anything. That’s me though. You have to know what you want. If Frankie is the hot sex guy and the stability guy, then you’ve hit the mother
of all jackpots.”
Doubting that was a waste of time. Frankie affected her in ways she’d never experienced. She thought about the implosion inside when his hands slid over her skin, or when he talked dirty in her ear. The idea of that happening with anyone else seemed impossible. She didn’t want it with anyone else.
But they needed different things.
Lucie glanced at the row of houses packed into the block and the cars parked bumper-to-bumper on the street. Two houses down, Mrs. Frasier had put her garbage can in the vacant spot to save it for her son, who worked odd hours, and nobody had moved it. This neighborhood had a flow to it, an unspoken set of rules no one dared to break.
Frankie wanted this neighborhood. She didn’t.
“I can’t let go of him,” Lucie said.
“If it’s because you love him, then it’s a start. But don’t hang on to him because it’s comfortable. You both deserve better.”
“It’s more than comfort. When I think about my life in five years, I’m with him. I just don’t know how to get there.”
“Maybe you should stop thinking and just let it be.”
Could she do that? Not chart out her life? All she’d done for the past ten years was set a course and follow it. She had wanted a respectable job—got that—and to get out of Franklin—got that. And yet, years later, all that planning had simply returned her to the place she’d started.
She closed her eyes and absorbed the fact that planning wouldn’t guarantee her what she wanted.
“Luce,” Ro finally said. “Give yourself a break and stop analyzing. Let’s get you some smoking hot clothes and drive Frankie crazy.”
An already shaky budget flashed into Lucie’s mind. “I can’t spend a lot.”
“We’ll go see a friend of mine. He’ll give us a good price.”
“His stuff didn’t fall off the truck, did it?” All she needed was a stolen dress to go with the diamond.
Ro shrugged. “I don’t think so, but you never know.”
Dealing with anything stolen would put Lucie over the edge and she didn’t want to risk it. “After the trunk show, let’s go to Macy’s. We’ll find something there.”
* * *
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