Leonardo was staring at me as I walked across the room. He had a concerned look on his face and I knew he wanted to ask me a personal question. A personal question I wasn’t interested in answering.
“Everything okay?” he finally spoke and I nodded.
“It’s fine.” I walked to the kitchen. “You want some wine?”
“I’d prefer a beer.”
“I know, man.” I attempted to be cool and laughed. “But Lucky wants to serve wine, let’s go with that for now, yeah?”
“Sure.” He walked up to join me in the kitchen. “She’s nice.”
“Yeah, she is.”
“She’s living with you?” he continued.
“You could say that.” I nodded.
“That was a bit fast, eh? I never heard you talk about her before your call.” His voice was unsure and he looked at me as if he was scared I was going to deck him.
“Why would I tell you about her?”
“I guess no reason.” He sighed. “How’s the case going?”
“We’re close to getting him.” This time my voice was animated as I poured the wine. “We’re so close to getting that son-of-a-bitch.”
“Do you think Noah would have wanted this?” His voice was light and questioning.
“Braydon killed my brother. He’s going to jail.” I was angry at Leo’s question. “He’s a drug dealer and he will kill others.”
“He didn’t make Noah jump.”
“He gave him, I mean, sold him the drugs. Illegal drugs. He has to pay for that.”
“Dude, we’ve all done some drugs.”
“I don’t want to talk about this.” I looked him in the eyes evenly. “I know you’re a good guy, Leo—you’re one of the best. And I trust you. I love you like a brother. You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think you were one of the best men I knew, but don’t ever talk to me about my brother’s death or Braydon again. I will not stop until Braydon is behind bars.”
“I don’t want it to make you crazy, Zane.” Leo touched my arm. “But I support you, man, whatever you want.”
“Yeah, thanks.” I handed him his glass and took a big gulp of the Cabernet Sauvignon that Lucky had selected. I swallowed it quickly, trying not to grimace. It was a cheap bottle and had a cheap taste. “Pretend you enjoy the wine.” I looked at Leo and grinned. “I don’t want Lucky to feel bad. And she already seems like she’s in a bit of a mood. I just can’t keep up with these women.”
“I don’t have to pretend to a beautiful lady like that. And let me know if you need some help, I can always keep up.” Leo winked and I wanted to punch him.
“Funny,” I said instead and turned away. “Let me go and check on Lucky again and make sure she’s okay.”
I walked out of the kitchen quickly and back up the stairs. I frowned as I walked to Lucky’s bedroom door. It was always a bad sign when Lucky went into her own room as opposed to mine. I wasn’t even sure what was wrong.
“Lucky!” I banged on the door. “What’s going on? Can you let me in?”
“I’m coming.” Her voice sounded a little too cheerful and she opened the door.
“What’s going on?” I tried to look into her normally warm and happy brown eyes, but she avoided my gaze.
“Nothing.” She paused and I saw her lick her lips quickly, while furtively checking her phone.
“It doesn’t look like nothing to me.”
“I was on a call and they said some things about you and I don’t want to bring it up right now because we have a guest and I’m not even really sure what they were saying exactly.” She looked up at me and her brown eyes were wide and slightly worried.
“Who were you on the phone with?” Suspicions grew in my mind. “You weren’t talking with Braydon, were you?” I didn’t hold back the anger in my voice. I knew we hadn’t heard the last of that ass**le. “What did he say that’s got you so upset?”
“I wasn’t on the phone with Braydon!” she snapped back at me. “And let’s talk about this later, okay?”
“Why are you mad at me, Lucky?” I grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her towards me at the top of the stairs. “What did I do to you to get you upset? I don’t even know.”
“Nothing.” She sighed and finally looked up at me with woeful eyes. “I just don’t know, okay? I’m just confused. Everything that is happening is confusing me. I’m worried and scared and I’m mad at myself and I just don’t know what this is, what we are. Who you are.”
“Why are you mad at yourself?” I held my breath. “Do you regret being with me? Do you regret coming here? And what do you mean you don’t know who I am?”
“No.” She bit her lip and I tried to ignore the yearning to reach forward and bite it for her. This was not the time to be having thoughts of sex. “Kind of. I don’t know. You have to admit everything has been moving quickly, Zane. We don’t really know each other that well. Sometimes I just worry that what we are feeling is …”
“Oh,” I interrupted, then hesitated, trying to cull the feelings of panic swelling in me. “You don’t love me?”
“Oh, Zane.” Her eyes grew huge. “That’s not the issue. One thing I know is that I love you.”
“Okay.” My heart didn’t stop thumping. “But that’s not enough for you, is it?” I ignored the voices in my head that were screaming at me. They had warned me that it was a bad idea to get involved with her. It had always been a bad idea, and now I was going to pay the ultimate price. If she decided to leave me, I would never be all right again.
“I don’t know.” She shook her head, looking worried. “There are just so many things I’m unsure about. What if I’m pregnant? Will I finish school? Will I ever go to grad school? Will we get married? Should I even want to marry you? I barely know you. Am I crazy?” She rambled on and then paused and gave me a small smile. “I sound crazy right now, don’t I?”
“If you’re crazy, you’re the most wonderful crazy person I’ve ever known.” I couldn’t resist the urge to grab a hold of her hand and trace the lines in her palm. I loved the feeling of her skin next to mine, even when it wasn’t in an intimate way.