Tempting the Artist (13 page)

Christina moved closer. Luke wrapped
his arm around her, his hand resting on her hip, her head near his
shoulder just under his chin.

“
That’s so sad. I can’t
imagine my parents not being in my life. I’m surprised Scott’s
mother didn’t insist on child support or something. How is it that
your father didn’t know about him?”

“
From what I understand, it
was a one-time thing with my father and Scott’s mother. Supposedly,
she wanted a child, without the husband. Though according to my
father, he didn’t know that. They worked on a committee together
for months and then attended a conference in Boston,” Luke
shrugged, “one thing led to another and they had a one night
stand.”

Christina didn’t say anything for a
while, her soft touch on his chest was so relaxing, and he
struggled to keep his eyes open. He wished they could just stay
like that - in bed, together, surrounded by silence, but there was
more to tell.

“
What does Scott have to do
with you leaving New York?” she asked as if reading Luke’s
mind.

“
He’s dead.”

She sat upright. “Oh my God.” One of
her hands hovered over her mouth, the other over her heart. “When?
How?” Her eyes as wide as saucers, she moved away from
him.

Maybe he shouldn’t have just blurted
out that part.

“
Come here.” He tried
pulling her back down, but she wouldn’t budge.

“
What does Scott being dead
have to do with you being in Cincinnati, Lucas?”

It wasn’t until she leaned further
away from him did he realize what she must have been thinking. Now
he was sitting up, the sheet tangled around him.

“
I know you don’t think I
had anything to do with his death,” he said in a tone rougher than
intended, causing her to scoot back more. Swallowing hard, he tried
to rein in his anger. “I had nothing to do with his death, CJ.” He
stood, and stepped into his pajama bottoms. Walking over to the
window, his back to her, he took a moment to slow his
breathing.

“
Then … then what
happened?”

Luke turned to her. She was standing
next to the bed with the sheet wrapped around her curvaceous
figure. Her tousled hair making her look as desirable as if she was
all dressed up and in full makeup.

“
He got into some trouble
about eight months ago and was up on murder charges. He asked me to
defend him.” Luke breathed in and released the breath slowly as he
turned back to the window looking out at nothing in particular.
“The judge set bail at a million dollars.”

Luke startled when Christina placed
her hand on his back. He hadn’t heard her approach.

“
And?”

His throat tightened and a
gut-wrenching ache had him rubbing his stomach. He felt sick just
thinking about that day. Based on his initial interview with his
brother, Luke knew he was guilty but agreed to defend him. He had
to. They were brothers.

Luke thought he could keep his brother
safe by having him sit in jail for a little while, thinking Scott
couldn’t come up with the million dollar bail. All Luke needed was
a little more time. At least long enough to cut a deal and get
Scott put into the government’s witness protection program if he
agreed to testify against the capofamiglia - the boss of the Donati
family.

“
Lucas?”

“
Someone posted his bail
before I was notified. There was a hit out on Scott. He was dead
within an hour of being released.”

“
Oh. My. God. I’m so
sorry.” Her arms went around Luke’s waist and she laid her head
against his back, holding him tight.

He hadn’t planned to share anything
about their relationship. Only his friend, a P.I and Zack knew that
they were brothers. And now, Christina.

During high school, neither he nor
Scott were interested or willing to claim each other publically.
And when Luke went to California to school, they had lost contact.
He didn’t even know his brother knew how to reach him until Luke
had received a call from him at three o’clock one morning. Scott
was in jail.

Christina lifted her head and loosened
her grip, stepping to the side of Luke. He glanced down at her, not
missing the tears misting her eyes. She had such a sweet, gentle
spirit. Here she was getting emotional for a man she didn’t even
know. A man who had lived his life on the streets of New York doing
God knows what.

“
Are you … are you in
danger? Is that why you moved here?” She visibly shivered and he
pulled her close hoping to comfort her.

“
No. I moved here because
of all of the loss and shit I experienced in New York. Between
working so many crazy hours, losing my family over the years and
the type of cases I was getting … it was starting to be too much. I
was defending people, some I knew were guilty.” He shrugged. “I
just couldn’t do it anymore. I didn’t
want
to do it anymore. I needed a new
start. I needed to regroup. Zack suggested Cincinnati.”

“
What about the stuff Scott
was caught up in?”

“
I have friends in high and
low places who keep me informed. Looks like Scott might have been
set up to take the fall for someone in one of the largest crime
families in New York. I never had a chance to dig into the case.
After he was killed, I didn’t think it was safe for me to pursue
answers.”

“
So I don’t have to worry
about something happening to you? You’re not going to try to
retaliate?”

He had done plenty of stupid stuff
over the years but trying to kill off a crime family wouldn’t make
the list.

“
No to both questions. From
what we can tell, no one knows that Scott and I were
brothers.”

“
What about his
mother?”

“
She was killed in a car
accident last year. Being parentless was the one thing we had in
common.” The bitterness in his mouth seeped out with each word,
threatening to consume him the way it had when he found out his
brother had been killed. He and Scott might not have been close,
but they were family. Everyone Luke ever cared about had been
snatched from him in some way.

Luke wrapped his arms around Christina
and held her tight. He didn’t think he could handle losing anyone
else, especially her.

Christina snuggled closer to Luke,
reveling in his body heat. Back together for a month, it was as if
they had never split. They had fallen into a good routine and she
planned to do whatever she could to never feel the emptiness that
she felt when they broke up, which seemed like a lifetime
ago.

“
What are you thinking
about?” Luke turned onto his side and draped his arm across her
waist, pulling her to his body.

“
I was thinking how glad I
am that we’re back together.” She ran her fingers through the
barely there hairs on his chest. “I missed this, lounging around on
a Saturday morning sharing pillow talk.”

Seconds passed without him speaking,
his fingers sifting through her hair, something he often did. When
he looked at her, the way he was doing now with such intensity, the
love she had for him bubbled inside of her, making her giddy like a
schoolgirl.

“
After my mother died, I
never let anyone else get close to me, close to my heart, not even
my father.” He lifted her chin, forcing their eyes to meet. “You’re
everything I never knew I needed. Never knew I wanted. You’re
compassionate, creative and your loving touch keeps me thinking
about you throughout the day.”

“
Aw, that’s so
sweet.”

“
But you know what I love
most about you?”

“
No. What?”

“
You’re a
freak.”

“
What?” Christina laughed
and pounded on his chest. “I can’t believe you said that! Why’d you
have to ruin the moment?”

“
Quit,” he said laughing,
blocking her swats. “Why are you hitting me? You know you’re a
freak.” They wrestled before he halted her moves by pinning her to
the bed and then he turned serious. Staring into her eyes, his
fingers gently caressed her cheek. “But you’re my freak, and baby I
wouldn’t have you any other way. You’re the best thing that’s ever
happened to me. And that’s on the real.”

For the next hour, they talked and
laughed. Christina couldn’t remember ever being as happy as she was
at that moment. Glad the secrets were behind them, she wished they
had talked, really talked before she allowed her half-truths to
almost ruin their relationship.

They finally got out of bed, showered,
and were in Luke’s kitchen eating breakfast. He had cleaned the
kitchen as he cooked and Christina marveled at how different they
were when it came to housekeeping. Luke was ridiculously neat and
her … not so much.

“
Tomorrow for Sunday
brunch, my family is having a cook out at my grandparent’s house.
You want to go with me?” The last two times she had asked him to
Sunday brunch he turned her down. He had spent time with some of
her male cousins, but Luke was an important part of her life. She
wanted him to get to know everyone else and for everyone to get to
know him.

He watched her over the rim of his
coffee cup.

“
What?” She shrugged,
wondering what was going through his mind.

He set his mug on the round glass
table. They were sitting near the window overlooking a swimming
pool.

“
So why do you guys have to
get together every week? What if you want to do something else
like, oh I don’t know, cook dinner here?”

“
Then I would cook dinner
here. We get together weekly because that’s what families do.” She
pushed her plate aside and leaned forward. “Where is this coming
from? Do you have a problem with my family?”

He shook his head. “Nah. I don’t have
a problem with them.”

“
Then what’s with the
questions? And why do you keep turning down the invite?”

Luke stared down at the mug in front
of him, steam billowing from the dark liquid. How could he tell her
that he didn’t do family gatherings? That he didn’t want to get
close to her family and he didn’t want them to get close to him? He
already felt vulnerable letting Christina get so close. Now she
wanted him to welcome her family into his world.

“
I think your family is
cool, but I’m just not into the lovey-dovey, let’s get together
every week scene. I get this is what you guys do, but you have to
understand. That’s not who I am.”

“
That’s nonsense. We both
know why you don’t want to get close to others. But let me explain
something to—”

“
Christina, baby, let’s not
do this.” He stood abruptly with his coffee mug, his chair scraping
across the travertine floor. His hasty retreat to the coffee pot
across the kitchen confirmed what she suspected.

“
Let’s not do what,
Lucas
? You don’t want me
to call you out on your fear of letting anyone get close to you? Or
is it that you don’t want to get close to anyone for fear of one
day losing them? Which is it?”

He refilled his mug without
responding. She didn’t miss the way his jaw clenched or the death
grip he had on the handle of the coffee pot. Maybe she needed to
try a different approach.

“
I can’t even imagine what
it’s like to not have a family to call on in the time of trouble.
Or a family that doesn’t butt in when you don’t want them to. But I
do know what it feels like to laugh and joke with people who love
you. Or how it feels to have someone be there to hold you up when
your heart breaks or your knees go weak.” She thought of Jada and
the way she and Zack rallied to get her and Luke back
together.

Luke turned and faced her, his back
leaning against the counter. “Can’t you accept that I just might
not want to be around a lot of people tomorrow?”

“
No.” She stood and
approached him. “There will be times when we don’t want to do
something that the other wants to do or go someplace the other
wants to go. But if you asked me to go
anywhere
with you. Do you know what
I’d do?” When he didn’t respond, she continued. “I’d go. Do you
know why?” Still no response. “Because I love you. That’s what
people who love each other do. And I love you so damn much at times
if feels as if my heart is going to explode.”

“
Christina.”

“
I’m inviting you because I
want you there with me.” She felt herself getting choked up but
refused to let any tears fall. “No, I don’t expect you to be all
lovey-dovey with my family. Or automatically fall in love with
them. What I want is for you to try to get to know them because
they’re important to me. I know they can be intimidating, but
…”

“
Stop.” Luke set his mug on
the counter and grabbed hold of her hand, pulling her against his
body. “Just stop. There is nothing I won’t do for you. Understand?
If attending the brunch means this much to you, consider it done.
You’re right. Letting others into my world doesn’t come easy, but I
understand how important your family is to you. I will try to be
more … social. Just don’t cry. I can’t handle seeing you
cry.”