Luca's Dilemma (16 page)

“No,
caro
. Cyndi will be in later this evening, and Maria may not arrive until tomorrow. Evy and Rie are in the kitchen though, if you’re up for sisterly substitutes,” she added mockingly. An impish smile crossed her face, and those dark eyes lit up with her mischief.

Luca held up his palms, warding off her sinful words. “I’ll pass on that one.”

A hearty laugh rang from his mother, the sound not much different from Sheila’s. At that moment, Luca realized that old saying about boys falling for their mamas really did hold some truth.

It wasn’t just the laugh that brought his girl to mind, but the similarity of their warm smile and the hint of coltishness his moms now held in her eyes. They were both strong in their own way and possessed no–nonsense personalities. He knew if given the chance, Sheila would’ve teased him about the guarded relationship between him and his cousin’s wife, just like his moms was now doing.

Tyler and Drago’s wives couldn’t be more different, yet got along as though they were long–lost sisters. Evy was a sweetheart and Luca had hit it off with her on their first meeting. But that Rie… not so much. Ever since she’d, in Drago’s words, ‘put him in his place,’ he’d been somewhat wary of the tiny woman. He shook his head at the irony of it all.

“I’ll take my chances with the boys.”

He leaned down and kissed his mother’s brow before heading down the long hall toward his father’s office. He knocked once.

“Come in,” Nathan’s deep voice commanded from the other side of the closed door.

Luca pushed it open to find his pop in the usual spot behind his gargantuan desk. The damn thing would’ve taken up the entirety of the room had the space been built any smaller. Drago sat in one of the plush, chocolate chairs in front of the desk with his chin perched on his fist while Tyler faced the large French doors, one hand in his pocket, the other at his cheek. Although Tyler’s back was to him, Luca could see it was rigid as an arrow, leaving him to wonder what had been said before he’d shown up for the party. Then he realized Tyler was on the phone, speaking in low, hushed tones as the others in the room granted him an air of privacy. Luca sensed he wasn’t happy.

“I believe when I said ‘be here’ I wasn’t giving you an option, young lady,” Tyler spoke irately into his cell phone. There was silence while he listened to Cecile, who Luca surmised to be on the other end of the line. “It’s for your own good. And who the hell is that?” More silence. “That’s nice. Look, just get here as fast as you can, okay?” He paused. “I love you, too.” Ending the call, he turned to face the others in the room, gesturing his phone toward Luca. “Kids.”

“Can’t say I envy you there, cuz,” Luca stated, doing his best to ignore the rolling eyes of his pops and Drago.

“Are you kidding?” Drago said, trailing Luca’s advancement across the room with wide eyes.

Snickering, Luca strutted over to the couch at the far side of the room, knowing full well what his older, wise ass cousin was about to say.

“If I recall correctly, conversations between you and Uncle Nathan weren’t so different when you were that age. As a matter of fact, where the hell have you been hiding the last few months?”

“Shut it, you. No one asked for a tour down memory lane,” Luca snapped while positioning himself on the couch. After throwing one arm over his eyes to block out the judgmental looks to come, he allowed his large booted feet to dangle over the arm of the sofa. The couch barely fit him, but he always found comfort in this familiar, lazy position.

“Awe hell, something’s up! What the fuck’s tugging on your panties, Lulu?” Drago probed vociferously. “And why the hell are you wearing that shit–kicking getup in here? You’re far from the farm, boy. Couldn’t make an effort to dress decent in your parents’ house?”

Lifting the arm from over his face, Luca peeked out to see three sets of eyes, similar to his own, staring back at him. Pop always wore a suit. That was a given. But with Drago looking like some kind of Don Johnson reject and Tyler dressed to compete with Daymond John, of course he wasn’t blending.

“I know damn well where I am. Why the fuck something’s gotta be wrong, Dre? Can’t a man be tired from traveling? Jeez,” he stated, gesturing with his hands palms up in exasperation before lowering his arm back over his face.

“Pssh! Any other man, maybe. But I know
your
ass. What’s up, and what the hell happened to your hands?”

Damn Drago
!
Always gotta be figuring stuff out and shit. Perry Mason ain’t got nothing on his ass.

Feeling defeated, Luca swung into a seated position and rested his head against the back of the soft leather sofa. He eyed each man in the room individually. Although he was closer to his cousin Drago than any other human being, he wasn’t quite ready to confess his sins in front of him. “I need to talk to Pop about my latest, um… project,” he mumbled. Tyler was new to the family and really didn’t participate in the business aspect of it. Luca wasn’t sure of his cuz’s comfort level with the topic he was about to bring up.

Taking the hint, Tyler quickly excused himself and started toward the door. Drago, however, remained seated with that smug look of superiority on his face that Luca had long since developed a hate–love thing for. At times like this, Luca wondered if life would have been more bearable had Drago grown up with his younger brother, Tyler, to kick around instead of him. But then again, Tyler might not have turned out to be the upstanding citizen he was today.

“Do you mind?” Luca snapped, gesturing toward the door Tyler had just exited.

“Yes,” Drago responded, raising one sandy–blond eyebrow. He remained seated, purposely placing one large pale hand on each knee, challenging Luca to state differently.

As on many occasions, Luca thought about how Drago, with his sharp nose, square jaw, and pale skin looked more like a Brit than Tyler. Tyler had wavy hair but shared Luca’s dark features and olive skin, leading people to assume they were brothers as opposed to cousins. Lately, Luca had started to suspect that on some level this bothered Drago since the two of them had practically been raised together from birth and were actually more like brothers than cousins. Now that Tyler was in the picture, Dre seemed to be trying to solidify his position in Luca’s life.

Luca also suspected his move to Maine soon after Drago’s revelation to Tyler as his half–brother was viewed as an attempt to distance himself. No need for all this drama. Luca liked and respected Tyler and did wish to give the newly united brothers bonding time. However, he would never consider Drago as anything less than a big brother.

Now that Tyler was no longer in the room to provide a buffer, the weight of the situation was making Luca antsy all over again. After years of harnessing the art of coolness, this feeling felt quite foreign to him. He was used to being in control of his emotions, one of his best traits as an assassin. But lately, he seemed to be nothing short of a hot mess. Standing from the couch, he walked over to the window, running his hand through his hair while he struggled to form the appropriate words.

“It can’t be that bad,” his pops said encouragingly from the desk behind him.

“The assignment… I can’t do it.”

The recollection of his hand as it began to tremble while holding the vial of poison over the wine glasses assailed him, followed too quickly by the vision of Sheila the next morning as she held the broken vial and his blue jeans in each hand. For the first time in his career, Luca had found himself second guessing his actions, wondering if Sheila in any way, shape, or form deserved what he’d been ordered to do to her. It had unnerved him.

His usually stable stomach started to quiver from the dumfounded look that had been on her face while holding the vial and the overwhelming fear he’d felt at the possibility of losing her forever. All it would have taken was her figuring out what it was.

Closing his eyes, Luca managed to once again temporarily block out the guilt he’d forever be encumbered with due to the events of that night and finish his line of thought. “I’m in love with her.” His words were met with silence. Not sure what to expect, he turned to face the two men, ready to defend his proclamation. Nathan’s look was thoughtful while Drago opted for one of pure amusement.

“What’s so funny, Dre?”

“You, man,” Drago answered with a snort. “Hasn’t experience taught you not to let your dick get the best of your common sense? You fucked the target, didn’t you? All those years of hard–core training and you fucked up and fucked a target.”

“Oh, look who’s talking!” Luca shouted, throwing up his hands in exasperation. “Whatdaya call what happened between you and Rie?”

“That was different. Rie wasn’t my target, I was hers. Well… kinda,” Drago stated, tapping his chin in thought. “We also knew each other long before anything happened. And, for your information, Rie and I have never fucked. We make sweet, beautiful love,” he profoundly stated with a nod of his blond head for emphasis.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Luca openly regarded his cousin. “I’ve heard you two. You fuck. End of story.”

“Okay, you two. That’s enough,” Nathan calmly interrupted as he elegantly rose to his feet. Both men knew to shut it down when the boss demanded they do so. “Where is she?”

“California. She’s spending the holiday with her parents.”

Nathan sighed. “You do realize there’s backup on this assignment? Someone really wants this woman dead. That’s one of the reasons I specifically ordered you to distance yourself from her, at least until we can figure out what Sal Patina’s up to and who those other actives are. And Drago does have a point. Even though I’m quite familiar with her family, we really don’t know this woman or the extent of her involvement in whatever this mess is.”

“Yes, Pop, I realize that. But, crazy as it might sound, my gut is telling me there’s no way she’s purposely done anything to bring a death sentence upon her. It might just be that dickhead ex of hers trying to get her money.”

“Ex–boyfriend, huh? Are you sure you’re referring to your gut and not something a little lower, bro?”

“It ain’t even like that, Dre. Trust me, staying away from her was much easier said than done,” Luca replied, allowing his shoulders to fall. All that discipline Drago spoke of had never prepared him for this. “Don’t worry. I have someone on her.”

Raising an eyebrow, Drago quirked his head to one side, the way he always did before confronting Luca. “If you’re so in love with her, why aren’t
you
on her? Why didn’t you pledge the
Tenshi Ansatsusha
oath to her?”

“I did!” Luca shouted, fisting his hands at his sides defensively.

“Okay, then. Answer my question. Why aren’t you on her?” Drago repeated, pointing a finger at him.

Luca felt the power behind that digit, even though he stood quite a distance from his cousin. Swiping a hand through his hair, he blew out a harsh breath, attempting to quell his emotions and stifle the heat from the blood pooling in his cheeks. “She got mad at me. I couldn’t get her to come here, and she wouldn’t let me go with her.”

Both men raised inquisitive eyebrows as their eyes bore into him.

Again, Luca blew out a long breath, this time raising his eyes to the elaborately painted ceiling. He forced himself to trace the outline of the angel up there, silently praying she would somehow intervene and save him from this growing discomfiture. Yet, his face grew warmer still. “I told her I didn’t want her working at that damn lab anymore. Can’t stand the thought of her being out all night like that, let alone driving in the dark when she’s dog tired.”

Raw emotions took over, compelling him to turn his back on his pop and cousin. Gazing out the French doors, he started reminiscing about how comforting Sheila’s voice and touch had been on the night of his study. That wonderful assassin’s training had conditioned him to sleep lightly, but on that particular night, he’d slept deeper than he had in years, and his fortifications against dreaming had crumbled away. For the first time in a long time, his subconscious had been good to him. He’d been dreaming about Sheila and, for a few precious moments, had been unable to decipher whether his name rolling past her sexy lips was from what he was doing to her in that dream or real from when she’d awoken him in the middle of the night to replace a broken wire.

Adding to his plight, she’d leaned over him, her distinct lavender smell filling his nostrils and making him feel heady as her heavy rack rose and fell oh so close to his face. The contents of the dream had already done their part to harden him. At that instant, it had been all he could do not to give into the carnal urges threatening to overpower him. Clueless, she’d continued hovering above him fully engrossed in her task, not realizing how close he was to ripping her clothes off and pulling her underneath him.

The warmth in his cheeks was set ablaze as his anger started building all over again at the thought of her tucking anyone else in at night. Maybe he was being an ass, but it just didn’t sit well with him. The woman had no idea how potent her sex appeal was, and he could easily see some jack–off coming onto her or trying to cop a feel the way he had fought so hard against doing. Then she would have undoubtedly turned around and given him hell because he’d have no choice but to kill the poor ignorant bastard for trying to muscle in on his woman.

“Then she had the audacity to kick me out of bed when I told her to have her shit packed before I got back so I could move it over to the big house. Goddammit, the heat had gone out in the night, and it was cold as hell in that room! I’m standing there, freezing my willy off and trying to reason with her, while she’s under the nice warm covers talking trash like ‘I just wasted eight years of my life with an asshole and sure as hell won’t be doing that again anytime soon!’” Luca realized he had involuntarily mimicked Sheila’s higher–pitched voice and neck roll. He found himself staring off into the distance of the large back yard, hands on his hips, fuming.

After a moment or two, the burning from the eyes on his back made him remember he wasn’t alone. Chancing a look back at his audience, he found them staring at him with their mouths agape. He turned to face them, knitting his brows together at not being completely sure what that look they were giving him was all about. They were both married to strong–willed women and should easily be able to relate to his predicament.