Page 28 of Charity's Torment
“What can I get ya?”
“Gin and apple juice.”
She frowned. “That sounds gross,” she murmured under her breath.
“Don’t judge me; just make my fucking drink.” I watched her pull the two simple ingredients out and dump them into my glass. I preferred to come here occasionally so I could listen to drunk cops bitch about their cases. They liked to do it regularly. Their chief pissed them off. That could have something to do with Luca owning most of the department sans my father.
She placed my drink in front of me, and I emptied it before she could walk away. “Another, please.”
She repeated her process and made me another with a sour look on her face. Nico pulled up a stool next to me. I avoided all eye contact with him, hoping he’d go away but secretly wanting him to stay. How could I vent to Nico about his brother? I can’t.
“Can I get a water,” he said to the woman as she set down my “disgusting” drink.
She nodded and filled a glass from a hose.Now,thatwas gross.
“What do you want, Nico?” I drank my drink.
“I wanted to see how you were doing.”
I raised my glass so he could see how I was handling it all—at the bottom of a cup that had its limits. My two drinks are enough to numb me up a bit, but not enough to hinder my skills.
“How’sKandy?”I asked sardonically, then snickered.I’m messed up.
“You shouldn’t have done that. She has a dislocated elbow, but she’ll be fine.”
“She touched me first. It was self-defense.”
“Regardless, it draws unnecessary attention to yourself. You’re luckyhepaid her,” he said, not mentioning Luca’s name.
“I didn’t realize she was a prostitute. Was that who he was staying with all week and ignoring me?”
“Careful, Charity, your jealousy is showing.”
I slammed my empty cup down and threw a twenty on the bar. “Pleasant chat, Nico. Let’s not do it again.”
He hung his head, and I stormed out of another business for what would be the second time today. These men were fucking with my head.
He gently took hold of my arm. “Charity, hold up,” he said. “That’s not what was happening. She works there.”
“He’s not mine, Nico. Why would I care?”Yes, why would I care?
He shook his head and released my arm. “Drive safe, Charity.”
“Always.”
I sped off towards Luca’s home. Maybe I could convince him to let me question Jose without hurting a hair on his head. I was capable of that… I think.
His massive million-dollar home was bright with all the decorative lights and ones strictly for security. His perfectionist landscaped yard made me want to dig my boots in and ruin the flowers in spite. I parked my bike at the roundabout and walked in the front door, passing his guards standing beside it.
His father built this obnoxious home twenty years back so his entire family could live under the same roof as Italian families did. Luca and Nico would have none of that. But when his father went to prison, Luca sold his other home and moved in here—because… why not?
“I was wondering if you would turn up again.”
I spun on my heel and found Luca, fresh from the shower, with a towel wrapped low on his waist, defining the cut in his abs and the v-shape that disappeared beneath the cotton. A glorious black and gray tattoo spanned the width of his broad chest. Wings encompassed a broken pocket watch, spreading from shoulder to shoulder with meticulous detail.
Oh, sweet Lord.
Luca took pride in his image, and the results were in… he was a treat I wanted to lick..