Zeno: #8 (Luna Lodge) (10 page)

Zeno couldn’t stop the rumble that ripped through him. He glanced over to Ava as she sat on the couch to see if she’d noticed. Her sweet innocent face called to him, and he shook his head. How was he going to be of any use if all he wanted to do was press his mouth her hers? His distraction was going to get her killed.

Apollo leaned forward and clapped a hand on Zeno’s shoulder. “This is for the best. Val’s got this, and Ava needs you.”

He huffed loudly. He knew she needed him. The real problem was how much he needed her. The very idea that something might happen to her made his heart thump hard in his chest. She was in danger here, and for the first time, he wasn’t so sure he’d be able to keep her safe.

“We’ll be back by dusk,” Apollo said and stepped away with a sharp nod into his own room.

Zeno closed the door between the rooms and let out the breath he’d been holding. This was not going to be easy, even without Glycon attacks or Antonio to worry about.

He stepped away from the door and wandered to where his burrito lay in foil. Ava watched him as he picked it up and stepped onto the balcony, leaving the door open behind him.

By the time he’d gotten down to the last few bites, Val and Apollo emerged onto the street. They slipped down a back alley and disappeared into the city.

Ava rustled around inside the room, and he turned to see what she was up to.

He watched as she slipped on his coat and then pulled her pack on her back.

Zeno stood and stepped to the frame of the door.

“You’re not leaving,” he said firmly. She looked up at him and glared.

“I’d like to see you stop me.”

The challenge raised his hackles. Not even thinking, Zeno stepped into the room, following her as she backed away.

“You’re not leaving,” he said again. “It’s not safe.”

She took another few steps back until her legs hit the bed. She bounced on the bed as she sat hard.

“I have nothing to wear,” she said.

Zeno looked down. She seemed fine to him. More than fine if he were being honest.

She lifted her chin defiantly and flipped the jacket back from her chest.

“I’m not wearing a bra and a shirt that’s way too small,” she huffed then tilted her head. “Unless you don’t care what your friend sees me in.”

Anger burned through him. Despite knowing that Apollo had no interest in Ava, the very idea others could see her as Zeno had that morning pissed him off.

He stepped back and took in deep breaths. It did make sense, especially if she was going to be catching a flight home. There was no way he’d be able to handle a whole airport seeing her like this.

His gaze landed on her chest. The V-necked shirt dipped low into her cleavage, and he could just make out the peaks of her nipples.

He snapped his head to the side. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if he kept staring. Damn it.

“Fine,” he grunted. “But we’re just getting some clothes and coming back.”

She gave a wide grin. “Sure thing, boss.”

Chapter Thirteen

Fast. This was supposed to be an in-and-out mission. Get some clothes and get back to the hotel.

Zeno looked at his watch for about the millionth time.

They had been out of the hotel for nearly two hours. In fact, they had nearly worked their way halfway through town just for clothes. He wasn’t even quite sure how it happened.

They would find a store, and she’d grab a few items, but there was always another store. First, it was clothes, then shoes and finally undergarments.

The most recent stops were particularly annoying. The last thing he wanted to do was think about the frilly things Ava wore under her clothes. It was bad enough he had been sporting a semi-hard-on since their morning romp.

Not that he’d been able to stop her. The minute he put his foot down about the lingerie store, she’d gone straight for the throat.

“For over a month, I’ve had to wear exactly what someone else wants me to,” she had said and glared at him. Several people on the street stopped to watch the small woman poke his chest. “I’ll be damned if I let that go on,” she had said and stepped forward until her soft breasts pressed against him. She had looked up, her eyes hooded as she spoke. “Unless you think it’s a good idea I continue walking around like this.”

Zeno swallowed. Just thinking about how she felt against him made him want to rip off all her clothes and show her just what he wanted her to be wearing.

He sighed loudly and scrubbed a hand down his face. This woman was going to be the death of him. Now he was sitting in a damned store while she purchased undergarments. Still, he doubted Antonio’s goons were trawling women’s clothing stores looking for Ava. So at least he could slightly relax.

His body ached from sitting still. Zeno stretched and jerked his hand back when it touched something soft and lacy. The rack jostled from the movement, and the saleswoman near him glared.

He shrank back into the chair and tried not to look around. It was bad enough he was the only man in the lingerie store. The last thing he wanted was to call even more attention to himself, let alone risk bringing any outside searching thugs to the store.

His gaze found Ava as she made her way through the store picking up clothes and placing them back on the rack.

Try as he might, he couldn’t stop his attention from wandering to the pieces she held in her hand.

Black, white and even a bit of pink. A flash of her flushed face as she came around his fingers came to mind, and Zeno fought to push the images away.

This was not going to happen. He needed to keep his focus.

He jerked up and ignored the saleswoman as she continued glaring at him. In a few strides, he was at Ava’s side.

“We need to go,” he ground out.

She held up the black nightgown and nodded. She placed it on her arm and looked up to him.

“Fine,” she said quietly. “Let me pay and change.”

Zeno stood close as she pulled the wad of cash she had in her backpack out to pay for the items. The cashier glanced over to him, likely assuming he was the source of the money and wondering what line of work he was in to bring in that kind of money.

He snorted. She probably thought he was one of Antonio’s thugs, but being a Luna Lodge hybrid didn’t leave him rolling in the cash.

The cashier nodded to the back and Ava turned.

“I’m going to the changing room. I’ll be back in a sec,” she said.

Zeno frowned. He didn’t like her getting out of his sight. There was no telling where Antonio’s men were.

Time ticked by as he stood in the store, his arms crossed. The saleswoman and the cashier kept giving him strange looks, but they didn’t say anything to him.

After nearly fifteen minutes, he stepped over to the door she had walked into.

“Ava, you nearly done?” he called out. “We need to get going.”

Silence greeted him.

He frowned. She might be a bit coy, but she didn’t seem the type to not answer when he called.

“Ava?”

He pushed the curtain that covered the entrance and stepped through. Much to his surprise, there was no changing room, only the back of the store.

His heart kicked up as he stepped further in. Maybe Antonio’s men had found her.

Two brown sacks peeked out from behind the corner, the very two she’d been carrying with all her clothes.

He reached down and pulled his coat from the bag.

Anger pushed out the fear. They hadn’t found her. She’d run despite everything that he’d told her. This wasn’t a damn game. She, of all people, should have understood that.

Zeno breathed in deeply. He could still find her, and when he did, she wasn’t getting out of his sight again.

* * *

Ava ran in her new sneakers. The backs of her foot ached from the hard newness cutting into the wound on her foot. She was certain that she’d split it open and was likely bleeding freely again, but it didn’t matter. She had to press on.

Too long. She’d taken too long. She should have insisted on checking on Anita immediately. Or her clothing diversion could have been cut short. Maybe she could have ran at the first shop. Would that have been enough time to fool Zeno?

Her lungs ached as she took in painful breaths. A street sign popped up, and she turned sharply. Things were starting to look familiar from the one short trip she’d taken over to Piero and Anita’s house. It had been her one lifeline to the outside near her.

Ava turned another corner and looked behind. Nothing.

Guilt ate at her for leaving Zeno like that. She really didn’t want to, but he was being so strict about getting her back to the hotel. There was no way he was going to deviate from the mission any more than he had, let alone anything that involved her getting anywhere near someone connected to Antonio.

She knew the only reason he let her leave the hotel for the clothes was because he couldn’t seem to stomach the idea being in the room with her given her serious lack of clothing.

She shifted the heavy pack on her back. Maybe she’d overdone it a bit on the clothes, but it was just nice to have the option to wear what she wanted. She gave a small laugh.

Maybe a few of the purchases at the lingerie store had just been to make him uncomfortable. There was something fun in the way he squirmed.

Her gaze flicked to the right, and she stopped on the sidewalk.

This was it. She was sure. The flowers in the yard were starting to bloom now, something she hadn’t been able to see before. Lavender. Piero said he’d planted them for his Anita because it was her favorite color.

She was surprised to find their gate wide open.

Ava stepped through, suddenly unsure of the choice she’d made. Maybe it would have been best to have Zeno come with her. Maybe if she’d just talked to him, she might have been able to convince him.

After taking a deep breath, she slowly made her way up the path. When she reached the porch, she stopped.

The door was open an inch, the wood splintered around the lock. She swallowed once. Her heart started pounding.

“Anita?”

Ava took a step but stopped when a large hand wrapped around her waist from behind. She opened her mouth to scream.

“Blood,” said a familiar voice.

She turned, grateful to have him there.

“Zeno,” she breathed.

He inhaled deeply. “I don’t think they are still here,” he said and stepped in front of her. “But I do smell blood. Stay behind me.”

She nodded at his back and followed him through the open door.

A gasp followed as they entered. The small but sweet little home had been destroyed. There wasn’t an item in the house that hadn’t been smashed, ripped or destroyed in some way.

Zeno nodded toward the kitchen.

The fridge had been tipped over.

“Must not have been long ago,” he said, narrowing his eyes, then sniffing. “None of the food has started to go bad.”

She stepped around the piles of glass and food as they made their way to the back bedroom.

Zeno stopped just outside the door to the room, and she glanced around the corner. Relief flooded her.

“Anita,” she said and hurriedly pushed past Zeno.

She rushed over to the old woman who now sat on the bed, holding something close to her.

Ava looked her over. She only had a few cuts and bruises. Apparently Antonio’s thugs had taken their anger out on her things.

She held out the picture frame, tears streaming down the deep lines on her face.

“I saved it,” she said quietly.

The photo was old. In black and white, a smiling bride and her groom looked lovingly at one another.

“He was my world,” she said. Her words shook as she said them.

Ava’s own tears flowed freely.

Not sure what to do, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the old woman and cried with her for Piero.

Chapter Fourteen

The devastation had been the work of Antonio. Zeno was sure of it. The scent of his thugs still hung in the air, and it set Zeno’s nerves on end. He bit back a growl at the realization there could have been Glycons nearby, and he wouldn’t know.

The only reason he wasn’t more worried was the fact that Anita was still alive. The strange Glycons didn’t strike him as the type that could wreck a house without killing the person inside.

Whether it was thugs or Glycons, he had no assurance they wouldn’t come back to finish the job. Maybe they were waiting for the okay from their boss. Maybe they had scouts in the area, and they’d already reported to Antonio that Ava was there.

Striking Ava and Zeno at the hotel when they expected it was risky; going after them in a less populated area closer to the Díaz estate, not so much.

This side trip wasn’t safe, and as much as he wanted to let the two women grieve for the man who should have nothing but respect, this wasn’t the place to do it. If Ava was captured, Piero would have died for nothing.

“Ava,” he said quietly. “We need to go. Sooner than later.”

She pulled away from the old woman and nodded her understanding.

“Anita,” she said and placed a hand on either shoulder of the other woman. “This place isn’t safe. We need to get you out of here. Antonio’s men will come back. We both know it.”

The old woman looked around at her smashed belongings and the house she had so lovingly put together with her beloved.

The anguish on her face made Zeno ache inside. This wasn’t how their story should have ended. Death came to everyone, but they still had years left. Antonio needed to pay for what he’d done.

Anita took in a deep breath.

“I have a sister,” she said and looked back to Ava. “She would help.”

Ava nodded. “Good.” She stood. “You tell us what you need, and we’ll get it for you.”

The old woman looked around the room. “My pictures,” she said. “I need my pictures.”

* * *

They carefully picked through the wreckage and gathered up all the pictures from the shattered frames. Most had survived. A small bit of fortune, at least.