by Bethany-Kris
The last thing Renzo wanted to do was turn Diego into him.
Because that’s all he was, too.
Angry and fucking confused.
“I told her to stay the hell away,” Renzo muttered, “so let’s hope she does that.”
“Yeah, hope.” Rose made a quiet noise. “And until you really do have Diego figured out, and stuff slows down, I can afford a couple more days off school.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Ren—”
“Take him to the movies, all right? We’ll chat when I get home. Later.”
He didn’t give his sister the chance to argue with him further. Instead, he just hung up the phone before she could get started again. There was no point in arguing with Rose over the phone. Like him, she was too stubborn for her own good, and once she set her mind on something … well, that was it. Renzo was going to have to try another direction to make his sister understand he was fine, he did have Diego handled, and she needed to get back to school.
End of.
“Figured you’d be around these parts tonight, Renzo.”
Halfway down the alley, and Renzo hadn’t even thought to look up from the ground once as he chatted with his sister. Maybe he was getting too cocky on these streets—too stupid. Maybe he was overconfident in his belief that nobody was going to purposely try to cause him any kind of shit because they knew him well enough to know better.
Tightening one hand around the messenger bag strap hooked over his shoulder, and slipping his other up under the back of his coat to get a good grip on the butt of the handgun tucked into his jeans, Renzo found the man who called his name. He recognized the voice, of course, but it wasn’t like this man to hang around in alleyways just because. His usual motive was to drop off Renzo’s shit—when it was him doing the drop-offs—and go on his way until it came time to collect payment … if he was the one who wanted to collect the payment, that was.
Johnathan Marcello.
Lucia’s fucking brother.
“John,” Renzo said, coming to a stop a good ten feet away from the man.
There was a rule he’d once heard—seven feet. A person needed at least seven feet of distance between them and someone else in a bad situation to make it better for them. Seven feet to make a better choice, or move fast enough to save their skin.
Just seven feet.
Renzo gave himself a couple of extra feet just in case.
John fingered a Zippo lighter, and flicked the top open and closed. Then, he pulled a cigarette out from its place tucked behind his ear and lit it up. Taking a hard drag from the smoke, he eyed Renzo from the side. His gaze did a slow travel, like he was weighing his options, or maybe trying to size Renzo up.
It made him fucking edgy.
John had a couple of inches on him, but that was it. Size-wise, they were about the same. Lean, but muscular. Able to take a good punch, or throw a mighty one.
He heard enough shit about John on the streets to know the man wasn’t to be messed with. Rumor was that he just got out of prison after serving a couple of years for going on a tear, pulling a gun on someone, and beating the hell out of a few cops during the process. People had a lot of things to say about John when someone had the balls to ask. They called him crazy … said he had no fucking control when he was pissed.
Renzo didn’t know exactly how true any of that was, but there was always a bit of truth to every rumor. Add onto it that John was a supplier for Renzo, and while these were his streets, they were also fucking John’s.
Simple as that.
“I hear you’re stepping out of line,” John murmured, wetting his lips as he stared at the cherry red tip of the cigarette. “How true is that, now?”
“Stepping out of line how?”
John gave him a look that said, foolish boy. “Don’t play dumb, Ren.”
“I don’t know—”
“My sister. Lucia. Seems you’ve been hanging around her a lot lately. Going wherever … doing whatever.”
Renzo arched a brow. “That a problem?”
“My father seems to think it is.”
“That sounds like something he should probably handle, then, doesn’t it?”
“Renzo.”
He didn’t know what did it—maybe the tone of John’s voice, so patronizing and cold—but Renzo tightened his hand on the gun at his back just in case he was going to need to use it. Fuck, he didn’t want to. At least, not on this man. It would do him no good to kill a fucking mafioso. Beyond that, this was Lucia’s brother.
Her brother.
“You’re not seeing things very clearly, are you?” John asked. “That, or you just don’t give a shit. There are bigger rules at play here. Ones I don’t expect you to understand. Your attention on Lucia isn’t appreciated … that’s all there is to it. So, either you’re blind, or you’re just too stupid to care. Either way, I am here to warn you before someone else comes looking for you on these streets to do it. Trust that you want my warning, and not theirs. Listen to me, and you’re going to be fine.”
“And what’s the warning, then?”
He figured he already knew.
His answer was already picked out, too.
“Stay the fuck away from my sister, Renzo,” John said, pushing off the alleyway and closing about five feet of distance between them in a blink. Just like that, the seven feet rule was gone, and Renzo had to make a choice to act, or not. He hesitated … just long enough for John to take a drag from his cigarette, and toss it to the ground. “Stay away from her, or you’ll be lucky to walk these streets again. Do you hear me? I’m trying to help you out here.”
Renzo let go of the gun at his back, suddenly unconcerned about having to use it. That’s all this was—one big fucking show.
Nothing was going to happen.
Not today.
“Well, do you understand?” John asked.
Renzo smirked. “How about fucking no?”
• • •
Renzo’s first inclination when he saw Lucia sitting on the steps of his apartment building laughing with the other people who usually loitered around the front was to ask her what in the hell she thought she was doing. But he didn’t. Instead, he hung back a bit, and watched her interact with people who had only given her some kind of grief any other time she showed up at his place.
He was too far away to hear what they were saying while he leaned against a car, and lit up a smoke. Not that it mattered. Watching was just about as good as hearing, and he could step in if he needed.
Lucia pointed a finger at the man to her left in response to something he said, and the girl with dreadlocks at her left threw her head back with a hard laugh. Someone in the apartment building opened their window, and music filtered out. A loud, fast beat that immediately had the people on the steps dancing where they sat.
Even Lucia.
Renzo grinned.
He was coming to learn that absolutely nothing about this woman was what it seemed. She was more than capable of making friends wherever she went. She wasn’t a wilting wallflower, either. If someone gave her shit, she could hand it right back, and with a smile, too. She might have been wearing a silk dress and heels with those goddamn red soles again, but once someone let her in, they quickly realized she could fit in anywhere.
Or maybe it was just him that had to learn that fact.
“Ren!”
He wasn’t sure who it was that called his name because he was still a little busy staring at Lucia as she moved her hips and swayed her shoulders to the beat of the music filtering out from the apartment up above. Although, as soon as someone called his name, that ended her dance.
He didn’t like that at all.
Her smile lit up his whole fucking day, though. He’d been going non-stop—barely got in a couple of hours the night before, really. The sun wasn’t even up fully, and he was already out of the apartment, and gone again to do something for someone else. He’d had to run a package all the way down to Hell’s Ki
tchen, and then take a message back again. All the while, checking in with his guys, and doing a couple of deals on the way for customers that called on him when they wanted an eight ball.
Lucia smiled at the girl to her left, and nodded when something was said. She didn’t linger with the people on the steps for any longer than she had to once she realized he was there, though. Not soon enough for his liking, she came down the steps, and crossed half of the parking lot to come stand in front of him.
Already, he was reaching for her.
Renzo felt a hell of a lot better when he had his arm wrapped around the back of Lucia’s neck, and he could drag her closer. Her soft laughter filled his mind as he dropped a kiss to the top of her head, and tightened his hold. Her arms snaked around his waist to hug him back, and the rest of the shit in his head that had bothered him over the last day just drifted away.
Gone.
Instantly.
“What are you doing here, huh?” he asked.
Lucia tipped her head back, and grinned in that sweet way of hers as her teeth cut into her bottom lip. “What, you don’t want to see me?”
“You know I do.”
Of course, he did.
He always wanted to see her.
Shit was always getting in the way, though.
“You didn’t think to call?” he half-joked. “I would have made sure to be here when you showed up, Lucia.”
She shrugged, and kind of nodded a bit at the people back on the stairs. “Yeah, but I had company so it’s all good.”
He quirked a brow. “That so?”
“I made friends, Ren.”
He chuckled because really, what else could he fucking do at this point? When someone told this woman not to do something, she turned around and did it with a smile just because she could. Besides, he wasn’t going to tell her not to make friends.
“Those are good friends to make,” he murmured. “They’ll always keep an eye out for you as long as you keep an eye out for them. That’s the deal—got it?”
Lucia met his gaze knowingly. “Got it, Ren. They keep calling me princess, though.”
He laughed.
He couldn’t even help it.
Lucia smacked him on the chest with an opened palm. It stung, but all he did was rub the spot with his fingertips to soothe the ache. All the while, still laughing.
“Stop laughing! It’s not even funny.”
No, it really was.
“You kind of are a princess,” he muttered.
“Shut up.”
Instead of shutting up like she told him to, he just kissed her instead. The second his mouth found her silky lips, the rest of the world ceased to exist. All he could think about was getting a taste of her, and nothing else mattered. He was fucking hungry, and his lips working against hers was the only thing that might satisfy him. He nipped at her bottom lip, and pulled away before he really wanted to, but at the same time, he also didn’t want an audience.
Not that it made a difference.
A shout came from the people on the steps, anyway. Renzo rolled his eyes, and gave Lucia a look.
“What?”
He shook his head, and wet his lips. “Nothing, baby. Absolutely nothing.”
• • •
Renzo dropped the bag of takeaway on the counter, wishing he’d grabbed more food for Lucia. “Were you at the shelter today?”
She nodded, propping herself up on the edge of the counter to watch him pull items out of the bag. “Came over after my shift was done. Where’s Diego?”
“Took a trip with Rose to Brooklyn today. Where was your car, then?”
That question made her look away from him, and that was Renzo’s first sign that something was up. Maybe, if he was a smarter man, he wouldn’t push the topic, and just let it drop. But he wasn’t very smart lately, apparently, and so he asked.
“What was that about?”
“What?” Lucia asked innocently, her eyes going wide.
Too innocent, really.
Renzo peeled the wrapper off a cheeseburger, and pointed at Lucia at the same time. “That right there—you won’t look at me. What’s up with the car?”
She sighed. “Nothing, really. Just …”
“Lucia.”
She pressed her lips together in an effort to keep from smiling, and still failed. Maybe she just wasn’t that good of a liar, but he thought it was cute as hell. And probably not very good for her.
“My dad, actually,” she finally admitted.
Renzo’s arm froze as he held out the cheeseburger for her to take from him. “What?”
“My dad.” Lucia shrugged, and snagged the food from his grasp. Before taking a bite, she was quick to add, “He decided to take my car away because apparently, he thinks I’m a fucking idiot who doesn’t know how to use a cab, subway, or a bus … or that I don’t have friends to call to take me places when I want to go.”
Renzo blinked.
They took away her car?
She was eighteen.
Lucia seemed to read his expression, and the thoughts running through his head. “Yeah, I know, right. But he bought it, so he can take it. Or that’s his reasoning. I didn’t even bother to argue.”
“But why?”
“Why didn’t I argue?”
“Why did he take it in the first place?”
Lucia cleared her throat, and set the burger down on the wrapper. Wiping her hands down on the skirt of her dress, she didn’t even seem a bit bothered that those tiny greasy fingerprints were probably going to ruin the silk. “He wants to make a point, I think. To me.”
“But why.”
This time, it wasn’t even a question. Renzo meant for it to come out like it did because he wasn’t stupid—she was avoiding the question. He wondered if …
“Because he doesn’t want me around you,” she murmured quickly.
Yeah, there it was.
Exactly what he thought.
Renzo popped a couple of fries into his mouth, leaned against the counter, and stared at her for a while. Neither of them said anything, but he was fine with that. He needed a second to think, and there was something about Lucia that always put him in a different headspace when she was talking. He was much more interested in listening to her speak than caring about what was running through his head.
“They’re pretty determined to keep you away from me, huh?” he asked.
Lucia arched a brow, and those pretty pink lips of hers curved sinfully. “Yet, here I am.”
Yes, here she was.
With him.
“For now,” he returned.
Because he did wonder how long this was going to last. He didn’t think her family was the type to put up with nonsense very long before they just said fuck it, and did what needed to be done. Renzo wouldn’t say that scared him, really. As long as Lucia wanted to be here with him doing this … whatever this was between them … then that’s exactly what she was going to do.
He didn’t give a shit about them.
“Your brother came to see me yesterday, too,” Renzo said. “Cornered me in an alley and warned me … not that it did any fucking good, but yeah.”
Lucia stiffened on the counter, and her hazel gaze narrowed. “John?”
“How many brothers do you have?”
Because Renzo wasn’t really sure.
“Two sisters, Cella and Liliana. One brother … just John.”
Renzo nodded. “Yeah, well, him.”
“Huh.”
Something dark colored her tone, but Renzo didn’t have the chance to think on it for very long. It was the ringing of his phone inside the messenger bag on the counter that took him away from her just long enough to pick up the call. He didn’t even bother to check the ID before answering with, “Yeah, Renzo here.”
“Ren, man … I need you to come get this cash out of my hands,” Noah said.
Renzo’s brow furrowed. “I just did the exchange with you for the week yesterday.”
“
I know, but I hit a party last night. You know I don’t like having this much cash on hand or at my place. Didn’t you have to grab something from Perry, anyway?”
Sighing, he scrubbed a hand down his face. “It can’t wait until tomorrow?”
He would much rather spend his time here with Lucia instead of heading out on the streets again. He already knew Noah’s answer before the guy even spoke. He really didn’t like to carry around a lot of cash—he got paranoid about it. Renzo blamed that on the fact the man smoked the wrong strain of weed, and wouldn’t listen when he was told to cut the fuck back.
But that was none of his business.
“Perry’s doing work at the shop tonight, stripping a car,” Renzo said. “You know where—I can meet you there.”
“Sounds good.”
Noah hung up without a goodbye, but Renzo wasn’t even offended about it, really. Lucia smiled at him from her perch on the counter. She looked entirely too sweet and good sitting there in her silk wrap dress with her hair down in free waves, and her face clean of makeup. Entirely too innocent for him, except the gleam in her eye told him she wasn’t innocent at all.
He knew that first hand.
“Work?” she asked.
Renzo shrugged, “What else?”
“Can I come, then? I’ve got all night.”
He should have told her no. It wasn’t like her family needed another reason to hate his stupid ass, or to try and keep her away from him. Even if he was ready to fight whoever the fuck thought they could try to come in on him for keeping this girl at his side, he was quite aware that it wasn’t smart of him to poke the goddamn bear.
Because that’s what the Marcellos were.
A nasty, mean bear sleeping happily in its cave. And he was the fucking fool with a stick poking them right in the ass.
“Well?” Lucia asked.
He should have told her no.
She looked way too good to refuse, though.
“Yeah, baby,” he said, grabbing his bag, and then helping her down from the counter. “You can come—grab the food, though.”
Lucia laughed. “Whatever you want, Ren.”
Maybe that was part of the problem. She was all too willing to go along with whatever he wanted, and he was perfectly fine with letting her do exactly that, too. Maybe that was what would get them in the most trouble.