Naz & Roz (Cross + Catherine Book 5)

by Bethany-Kris

  He no longer cared about running the numbers in his head for an upcoming gun run for his father. That was all easy going, anyway. Nothing for him to worry about even if he was known to constantly nitpick detail after detail until it was go time.

  And he sure as hell didn’t care about the current equation he’d been stuck on for a week as he tried to assume an infinite loop of time ran on the premise of an oval shape instead of the traditional figure-eight shape. After all, the usual figure-eight symbol implied at some point, time would have to intersect when it crossed over. There was no proof that—if infinite—time ever crossed over. And because he was such a fucking shit about things, Naz wanted nothing more than to just see if he could make the damn math work for it.

  But that didn’t matter.

  None of it mattered.

  None of it fucking mattered anymore because when Roz spoke, he saw her, his brain decided to shut the hell off in every other aspect … and there she was.

  Here she was.

  She was suddenly the most fascinating thing in his life, and everything else could wait. His brain didn’t want to factor in anything else at the moment. It was going to soak up every little thing she said or did because he needed—like he never needed anything else in his life before this very second—to know everything there was to know about her. He just had to.

  “You’re doing it again,” Roz whispered.

  Naz smirked. “What’s that?”

  “Looking at me like that again.”

  He still didn’t know what that meant, though.

  “Does it bother you?”

  “Not even a little bit, Naz.”

  “Good to know.”

  Naz realized then that they weren’t very far from the end of the trail that separated her family’s property from his. Shit. That meant they weren’t going to get to—

  His thoughts silenced when he felt the light graze of Roz’s fingertips gliding along the side of his hand. Before he could glance down to make sure she had done what he thought she just did, her hand slipped in with his, and her fingers wove tightly around his.

  “That’s better,” Roz said. “Right?”

  Naz smiled. “Getting there.”

  “How does it get better?”

  “Let me show you.”

  Roz’s eyes lit up with amusement. He thought all that bright blue staring at him looked far prettier when he sidestepped her to stop their walk. Naz moved in front of Roz without letting his grin falter for even a second. Her gaze never left his, and if anything, that smile of hers deepened into something sexier.

  She knew exactly what he was going to do.

  She was waiting for it.

  Wanted it, even.

  Keeping his one hand locked with hers, he used his other to slide around her waist, and tug her to him. Roz’s teeth nipped along her fuller bottom lip as she stared up at him through thick, long lashes.

  “Getting better yet?” she asked.

  “You tell me.”

  “Almost, Naz.”

  He was about to make it a lot better for both of them. All it took was his head tilting down, and his lips sweeping over hers with a soft kiss. Gentle and slow, at first. Teasing with his tongue striking out to meet hers when her lips parted for him. Enough for him to get a taste of the sugar on her tongue from whatever sweet drink she’d had earlier, and the cherry flavored gloss painting her lips.

  Just enough.

  Just a tease before he was pulling away. He’d only wanted that taste just to see … he found kissing her could quickly be addictive if he wasn’t careful. There was something about the way she watched him like that. All innocent in a blink, but absolutely capable of tempting his self-control in ways she probably didn’t even know.

  And then she grabbed him by his shirt with her one hand, and pulled him closer for a harder, deeper kiss.

  Hell, if she wanted it …

  Naz let her pull away when she wanted to that time. That gleam in Roz’s eyes hadn’t left, though.

  “Now it’s way better,” she whispered.

  Naz had to agree.

  FIVE

  Roz kept sneaking peeks at Naz just to see as they walked the last bit of trail together. And yep, he was still staring at her. Someone else, and she might have gotten a little freaked out about the fact he wouldn’t look away.

  It was him, though. She didn’t mind so much with him. Actually, she really wanted to keep his attention on only her.

  “You know, if you’re always looking at me,” Roz teased, “you’re not going to see what’s coming on the trail.”

  Naz made a noise in the back of his throat. A sexy sound. It made Roz’s stomach clench, and knees weak. His fingers squeezed gently around hers, and he smiled. “Not possible. I know these trails like the back of my hand.”

  Maybe he did. He and her brother had used them a hell of a lot more than she ever had as a kid.

  “It’s on you if you face plant right into the—”

  Without warning, Naz let go of her hand, circled a strong arm around her waist, and lifted her right from the ground. Two steps later, he put her back down like he hadn’t done anything in the first place. Roz peeked over her shoulder to find the bent root of some tree sticking out a good four inches from the ground. She hadn’t even seen that and easily would have tripped over it. Maybe scuffed up her hands a bit when she tried to break her fall. That wouldn’t have been good at all.

  Not for playing the piano, anyhow.

  “We found that root when Luca wrecked his dirt bike, and cracked his tooth in half,” Naz said.

  Roz’s brow knotted together. “Wasn’t that when he was twelve?”

  “I was thirteen.”

  “He told Ma he tripped running back from the park. And I remember her calling your parents just to find out if you’d been with him or not when it happened.”

  “And I backed him up, yeah.” Naz smirked. “Maybe we weren’t wearing helmets like we’d been told to do. But … you didn’t hear that from me.”

  Huh.

  “Is that a common thing for you two?”

  Naz arched a brow, and glanced over at her. “What’s that?”

  “Lying for one another.”

  “I wouldn’t call it lying,” he murmured, his hand tightening around hers again. “More like … watching each other’s backs. That’s what we were taught to do, after all. If they didn’t want us looking out for one another, then they wouldn’t have stuck us together the first moment they could.”

  That was true.

  Roz couldn’t deny it.

  For as long as she could remember, her brother had always tagged along with Naz. Where one went, the other was quickly followed. Their parents had always been quick to encourage the two boys’ friendship, too.

  Rarely had they been told no.

  “I bet you two have done that quite a bit, haven’t you?” she asked. “Lie—oh, I mean, watch each other’s backs.”

  She didn’t even try to hide the teasing lilt to her tone. Naz didn’t miss it if the way the sly gleam lit up his gaze was any indication.

  Naz grinned. “It’s very possible.”

  “Care to tell me some?”

  “Maybe someday.”

  His tone did not match his statement. He sounded like, no, he didn’t plan on telling her very much in that regard. Boys.

  Roz rolled her eyes, and laughed. “You’re not going to tell me anything, are you?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Why?”

  Naz shrugged. “Honestly, it’s probably better you don’t know some of the shit we’ve pulled. I can’t say all of it is as funny or innocent as the dirt bike story, Roz.”

  Well …

  “I’d still like to hear it.”

  Naz made another one of those noises. “Maybe someday.”

  She thought he sounded more believable that time. But who knew?

  Roz took the front steps of the porch slowly, and only glanced back at Naz when she pulled the ke
ys to the house out of her pocket. “Do you … want to come in?”

  He hadn’t climbed the stairs with her. He just stayed there leaning against the railing of the stairs as she started to unlock the door.

  “Do I want to and should I are two entirely different questions,” Naz murmured.

  “What does that mean, exactly?”

  Although, she wasn’t a stupid girl. And she was pretty damn sure she knew exactly what it meant.

  Naz inched up one step slowly. A bit closer to her, but as her heart was screaming and pounding in her chest, he still wasn’t nearly close enough. She didn’t know what to do with these strange feelings this man invoked. Not the odd ache between her thighs, or the shortness of breath she had every time he looked at her like he was right now.

  “It means,” Naz said, “that I absolutely want to go inside with you. More than you know, Roz. But I shouldn’t because I know better. Because it’s not the right thing to do tonight, even if I am a selfish little fuck.”

  She grinned.

  He came a little closer.

  “Then, why are you still climbing the stairs, Naz?”

  “For this.”

  He darted forward from the last step, and closed the distance between them. His hands found her face, and he tipped her head back a second before his mouth crashed down on hers. The sweet kiss from earlier was entirely gone as his tongue struck hard against the seam of her lips.

  Demanding, she thought. He was demanding she open for him, and let him taste her again. She liked that, and didn’t mind obliging. There was something wicked about the way he kissed her. How it made that ache between her thighs turn into a low flame that reached deep inside her body. Her skin hummed. He nipped her bottom lip gently, and then kissed her again.

  By the time Naz finally pulled away—although he never once took his hands off her face or moved his gaze even a fraction of a millimeter from hers—Roz was trembling and she didn’t think she could talk.

  “Had to do that one more time,” Naz said lowly.

  There was something about the way he talked after he had his mouth on hers—husky, and dark. A lovely tone that had her muscles clenching all over and unsure of what to do. But oh, she liked it. She most certainly liked it.

  Too much, maybe.

  “You should do that more often, then,” Roz said.

  Naz grinned in that way of his. “I will.”

  “But you’re not coming in.”

  “Not tonight,” he returned.

  “Okay.”

  “I would like to take you out, though.”

  Roz’s teeth bit down on her bottom lip as she mumbled, “Like a date?”

  “Exactly that, Roz.”

  “When?”

  “As soon as you want to go,” he said.

  Roz let out a slow breath. “You better figure something out quickly, then.”

  He let out another one of those hard laughs, and finally let her go. Not that Roz liked that all too much. She would much rather have his hands back on her. She liked it way better that way. When he was touching her, everything else seemed to disappear. It already felt like the whole goddamn world was constantly watching her anyway. If he could make that disappear, she didn’t mind at all.

  “Where’s your phone?” Naz asked.

  Roz pulled the device out of her pocket, and handed it over without question after unlocking it. Naz plugged in digits, and handed it back over with a wink.

  “Just in case you … get bored,” he said, “you know who to call.”

  She smiled down at her phone. “And that date?”

  “That’s definitely happening, too.”

  Good.

  SIX

  Naz wasn’t exactly fucking surprised to find Luca leaning against the entrance door of his apartment complex.

  Luca cocked a brow at the sight of him, and flicked the ash from his cigarette over the railing. “Took you long enough, didn’t it?”

  Naz laughed under his breath. “Seriously?”

  His friend kept staring at him … like he was waiting for something. “Yeah, Naz.”

  It’d taken him a good hour and a half to get back to the city after saying goodbye to his parents—who both looked like they had questions about where he’d gone with Roz, but also chose not to ask. At least, not yet. His parents tended to mind their own business where he was concerned, and he liked that just fine. That way, when they did ask something, he found it easier to tell them.

  But he certainly hadn’t been gone long enough that Luca should be acting like a cocksucker. Then again, Naz had kind of taken his best friend’s sister away from the party without much of a word.

  “I walked her home, asshole,” Naz said, tugging the apartment keys from his pocket. Luca slipped in behind him as he unlocked the front door to the apartment complex. He preferred living in the city when it came to work. He was always running for his father or Zeke when it came to the Donati Cosa Nostra, and that business never stopped. It was almost always in the city, too.

  Luca cleared his throat as the two of them stepped into the main entrance. Naz shot his friend another look, this time, one that silently said, Get it out, or shut the fuck up.

  “Just so you know, Dad has cameras all over that property,” Luca muttered.

  Ah, yeah.

  “Forgot about that,” Naz murmured.

  He shouldn’t have forgotten about it, though, to be fair. Men like Zeke—and even his own father—tended to keep a close eye on their properties because the very nature of their business meant the first thing an enemy attacked was wherever a man called home. Plus, made men were just paranoid in general. That couldn’t be helped.

  “Well, damn,” Naz added under his breath. “Let’s hope he doesn’t watch very much, I guess.”

  Luca’s fist slammed into the back of Naz’s shoulder with a sharp snap. Naz jerked forward from the hard punch with a choked laugh. Because shit yeah, while it was funny, it still fucking hurt, too.

  “Fucker,” Naz said, a little breathless.

  “You’re the fucker. Who shouldn’t be messing around with my sister!”

  Really?

  That’s what they were going to do?

  Naz didn’t think so. “Shut up until we get into my place. I don’t feel like getting another noise violation fine because you wanna be a shithead, Luca.”

  His friend followed behind him, and thankfully, mostly stayed quiet. Except for the occasional grumble under his breath, that was. Naz could practically feel Luca’s glare burning into his back, though.

  Luckily for Luca, his friend didn’t have to wait very long before he was able to open his mouth, and go off again. Naz lived on the bottom floor—his father hated that for a number of reasons—and close to the end of the hallway.

  The moment the apartment door closed behind them, Luca started bitching. Naz basically tuned his friend out as he shrugged off his leather jacket, and pulled the beanie from his head. He didn’t need to actually listen to Luca to know what the guy was saying, so, what was the fucking point in wasting time with that?

  Naz pulled the pair of black-rimmed reading glasses out of the inner pocket of his jacket before hanging it up on a rack. He only really needed those damn glasses when he was going to read in bed, or he planned to stare at a computer screen for longer than a couple of hours at a time. Less strain on his eyes, or some goddamn bullshit. But who knew where he was going to be from today to the next—his situation was always changing—so he kept them on him just in case.

  Luca was still barking off behind Naz as he headed deeper into his Brooklyn apartment. The place wasn’t much to look at, as far as that went. Hardwood floors with a few too many scuffs, and standard white paint on every wall and ceiling. Even the light fixtures weren’t anything interesting, really. Two decently sized bedrooms—which wasn’t all that easy to find in New York—the standard living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

  It certainly wasn’t the Marcello mansion, from his mother’s side of the fami
ly. Or even the large Donati home from his father’s side of the family. The shitty little apartment wouldn’t hold a flame to his parents’ home which had been designed and decorated by the best of the very best interior designers in New York.

  But it was his place. And it did the job considering how often Naz had to come and go from the apartment. He never actually got to enjoy his place for very long before he was up to do someone else’s business for Cosa Nostra, or he was taking a trip out of the country for a month on the next gun run for his father.

  He did manage to get the extra bedroom set up into his home gym. He desperately needed that. And he was able to get some shit up on the walls to decorate. The art he liked, and things he’d collected over the years. A hand drawing of a brain stem. A conceptual painted piece of what someone believed DNA to look like. And things that had nothing to do with that kind of shit, too.

  So yeah, the place wasn’t much … he could absolutely afford the penthouse suite in the middle of Manhattan if he wanted it, but this was perfectly fine.

  For now.

  There was even a little set of glass French doors that led out to a small, fenced private section where Naz could chill outside.

  That was the part his father hated.

  Someone could break in.

  Someone could get at Naz.

  Right.

  Fuckers could try.

  Naz invited anyone who thought they were quick enough and smart enough to attack him to make the attempt, and see how that fucking worked out for them. He didn’t come from regular men—he didn’t think or act like one, either.

  Luca was still going on even as Naz pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, cracked it open, and took a long swig of the cool liquid. He hadn’t been listening to anything his friend was saying because none of it mattered. Who gave a shit if Luca was stuck in his feelings about Naz taking an interest in Roz?

  It didn’t make a difference. Frankly, Luca and Naz had been friends long enough that Luca should already know that Naz was going to do whatever the fuck he wanted to do. Nothing anyone said ever made a difference to what Naz wanted. And right now, he really wanted Roz.