All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(67)
“There was a mom with a baby on the plane, and I told her I had a problem with chafing and asked if I could borrow some talcum powder.” I had to grin at that. He went on, “She gladly obliged, and I dumped some into a zip-top baggie, which I planted on Andreo. It only kind of looks like cocaine, but between that and the fact that my brother was going ballistic, TSA kept him busy long enough for me to slip away and grab a cab.”
“Good job.”
“Thanks.”
“Didn’t you bring any luggage?”
“No, I’m traveling light. Passport and a toothbrush. I figured I could buy whatever else I needed when I got here.”
“That reminds me, I’m sorry I didn’t give you a heads-up about your brother monitoring your credit cards. I really should have.”
“It’s okay. You were busy not speaking to me,” he said.
“Yeah. Sorry about that, too. I know I didn’t handle any of this well at all. I shouldn’t have run off like that, and I shouldn’t have let your texts go unanswered.”
“I’m the one who needs to apologize. I should have told you who my father was the day I found out you were a Dombruso, but I didn’t want you to judge me based on the things he’d done. I planned to tell you after we’d spent some time together and you’d gotten to know me, but I was afraid of how you’d react, so I kept putting it off.”
“I understand.”
“I should have known better,” Luca said. “Trust is everything to you. I swore I’d never hurt you like your ex did, but then I found a whole new way to betray your trust. I’ll never be able to apologize enough for that.”
“I get why you didn’t tell me, and I accept your apology Luca. You don’t have to keep beating yourself up over it.” I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Thank you,” he said quietly, taking my hand in both of his. “That’s more than I deserve.”
The apologies didn’t magically wipe away all our problems, of course. There was still uncertainty between us, and the huge unanswered question, now what? We shifted uncomfortably for a few moments before I finally said, “So, come on in and meet my cousins.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“You have nothing to worry about, I promise.” Luca took a deep breath and let me lead him hand-in-hand to the back of the warehouse.
Dante and Vincent were right where I’d left them. Vincent sat upright with his hands folded in his lap, while his brother was sprawled out and taking up a lot of room, one arm strewn over the back of the club chair, one foot up on a mahogany coffee table. They wore matching, serious expressions though, as they assessed Luca. I introduced both of them, then said, “I’d like you to meet Luca Caruso.”
The brothers rose to their feet slowly. They were both around six-four and solid muscle, but then, so was Luca. It was rare for me to feel tiny at six-one, but I did then. They shook hands with Luca solemnly, the tension thick and heavy around us. “Jesus,” Luca said, “I had a nightmare like this once, where all my father’s enemies confronted me, and I had to pay for his sins.” Dante raised an eyebrow at him, and he went on, “I can only imagine how much you must hate me, and I don’t blame you one bit. I know what Sal Natori did to your family, and it makes me sick to my stomach. I’m ashamed to carry his DNA, and if I could somehow cut out that part of me, I would. I apologize on behalf of the Natori family for his actions, and I know how ridiculously inadequate those words are, but I had to say it. I’m done talking now. Please don’t shoot me. ”
Dante considered that for a moment, then said, “You’re making it pretty f*cking hard to hate you.”
“Good,” I said.
After an awkward pause, Dante said, “So, a couple things need to happen. You two have to work things out, but first we have to figure out what the hell we should do about Andreo Natori.” He turned to Luca and asked, “How far do you think he’s willing to go to keep you from getting involved with a Dombruso?”
“How far? A bullet in Nico’s brain. I hope to God I’m wrong, but I think he’s probably capable of that. To say he’s a control freak is putting it mildly, and the fact that he can’t control me enrages him. I think he’d kill Nico just to teach me a lesson.”
“Wow, your brother’s a douche.” Surprisingly, that had come from Vincent, and when I looked at him he said, “What? He is.”
“You’re not wrong,” I told him.
“Come into my fake living room,” Dante said. “Let’s have a seat and see what we can come up with for defusing this situation.”
I brought Luca a cup of coffee from the breakroom (because he looked like he desperately needed it) then sat beside him on the brown sofa while my cousins returned to the matching club chairs across from us. I held his hand while we all brainstormed ideas, even though the earlier awkwardness still lingered. It was as if we didn’t know where we stood with each other anymore.
After a while, Dante got to his feet. “Come on, Vinnie, let’s raid the showroom manager’s desk. She often has peanut butter cups in there. I think Luca and Nico need a few minutes to talk. Plus, I’m f*cking starving.”
Vincent got up too, and both of them had just started to leave the model living room when movement to my left caught my eye. The entire west wall of the showroom was glass, and a large, white SUV was headed straight for it. I managed to yell, “Look out!” An instant later, the wall shattered, and all we could do was crouch down and shield ourselves with our arms. Fortunately it was made of safety glass, so we weren’t ripped to shreds as the pieces pelted us.