Chapter 24
“Damn.” La’Nova frowned. “Roy house is nice as hell.” She smiled. trying to ease the nervousness that she felt radiating off of Luca.
In response, Luca took a slow sip of his ginger and lemon tea that he had La’Nova make this morning before they took the ten-hour drive back to California.
The pair enjoyed each other’s company far more than what they’d admit to.
They talked about everything and held nothing back.
Both had an unspoken understanding of the reservations that they both had regarding the murders of their parents.
La’Nova didn’t take offense to Luca’s silence.
She took the time that he used to get his emotions in check to scope out Roy’s house.
It was two stories of deep red brick framed by dark shutters.
His front porch was wide, stretching across the face of the home with thick cedar posts polished smoothly.
The neighbors houses were far apart from another, giving each home owner space and peace; something La’Nova yearned for if she ever decided to settle down in a home.
“I know you’re nervous,” she said softly.
Her eyes landed on Luca’s hands resting against the steering wheel since he put his cup back down in the middle.
“If I know Lucille like I think I do.” She chuckled lowly. “Then Roy already knows everything.”
That made Luca glance at her.
“Roy and Lucille had a bond while you were locked up. It was like mother and son. The nigga gets on my nerves, always causing problems at House of Angels, but whenever he was there, he made sure Lucille was good and vice versa.” La’Nova gave him a reassuring smile.
“This will change nothing either; the two of you act like brothers anyway. Y’all close and know each other well. It’s not like two strangers discovering each other,” she added.
“Roy battles a lot of different things that he doesn’t talk about,” Luca whispered lowly.
“You do too.” She gave him a knowing look.
“You have a lot to sort through, and since I’m the cause and cure of most of it… I’m willing to compromise a little,” La’Nova said, looking out of the window.
Luca frowned then looked at her long and hard trying to figure her out. Her heart shaped face remained relaxed, she didn’t bat an eye her gaze didn’t waver.
“What Luca?” She frowned annoyed under his scrutiny.
“Why all of a sudden you want to compromise…for my problems?” He licked his full lips, letting his head rest against the seat.
La’Nova took her time before answering. They spent two days in the Grand Canyon together and still she couldn’t get over how smooth and perfect his skin was.
His almond toasted complexion was mouthwatering.
Luca made being fine as hell look easy as hell.
She watched him put little to no effort while dressing himself.
Showering in her compact shower and moving around her small space like it was the largest.
He tugged at his beard, never taking his eyes off of her.
He was waiting on some kind of assurance from her since trust between the two still hadn’t been established as far as what she truly wanted to become of them both.
Luca was willing to push his differences to the side.
Differences that weren’t considered small by a long shot.
He just accepted the fact that he wanted her near; she was indeed the cause and cure, and he didn’t want to see her disappear.
“I’m not getting out because this is something you should do on your own,” she said.
It finally hit her that Luca wasn’t nervous about getting out to speak with Roy. He was nervous about leaving her in his car with a fear of her leaving without saying anything.
“Can you be a woman of your word and promise me you won’t leave…I’m not holding you hostage, I just don’t want to see you leave me just yet.” He raised his brows, not even realizing that he was holding his breath.
La’Nova let out a tired sigh. She closed her eyes for a couple of moments, searching her brain for the right words to say. She worked hard for her freedom and worked even harder to keep falling for Luca at bay.
“If we doing this friend thing that we talked about,” she stated carefully, face void of emotions. “I’m going to need space in between. I can’t be claimed right now; not by nobody, not even you.”
She watched his face wince out in pain. She felt bad for feeling like she was letting him down, but she had to speak her mind.
“I need to move without feeling like I belong somewhere…That doesn’t mean that I’m gonna be running from you.” She swallowed down the lump in her throat that made it hard for her to breathe.
Her fingers moved before her mind could stop her hand.
The pad of her thumb found the raised, uneven line along his neck.
She listened quietly to Luca release the breath that he was holding.
His hand lifted seconds later unconsciously.
His fingertips hovered for the briefest moment near her forehead.
La’Nova closed her eyes, anxious for the warmth that his touch brought to her entire body.
He stroked her scar like it was sacred instead of something broken as she did the same with his. Their eyes locked just as her touch softened against his neck into more slow and deliberate strokes.
“There’s going to be times when you can’t bear to look at me, Luca.
You know why. Some days it’ll be easy because of the bond we created…
other days it’ll feel like torture on both of our ends.
Me caught up in past traumas, things that hurt me every day when I think about the two people that raised me…
.and you. The man that loved you unconditionally that I—”
“Don’t.” Luca snatched his hand away from her forehead.
She felt him disconnect from her immediately. Not having to be told, she pulled her hand away from his neck. The last thing La’Nova would do was overstep their unspoken boundaries.
“That’s why…” She smiled over at him lightly.
Luca’s eyes saddened once he realized his actions.
“It’s okay… I understand like you do with me.
What I really need you to do moving forward is trust me and the progress of us.
This friendship and what it means for not just you but for me too.
I’ll respect your space as long as you respect mine.
Trust me when I tell you things…like, I’ll still be sitting out here when you come back from talking to your brother. ”
Her fingers twisted lightly together in her lap. All of this was considered new to both of them. Learning how to feel the deep emotions that they had for one another even through their trauma.
“When I’m done, I’m taking you to meet the twins.” He leaned over the seat and pecked her on the forehead.
He stepped out of the car slowly, the evening air warm against his face. Luca took in how regular Roy’s house looked and now understood why the twins liked to come over his house. He heard the faint sound of kids laughing in the distance, dogs barking, and the smell of food.
His estate had none of that because his neighbors were miles down the way.
“It’s about time,” Roy said, stepping back and opening the door wide with a crooked smirk.
Luca stepped inside, shutting the door behind him.
When he turned back to Roy, they slapped hands then embraced each other into a brotherly hug.
Soon as they stepped past the foyer, Luca took in the pictures that he always saw when he came over.
Pictures of who he thought were Roy’s biological parents.
Then pictures that were sometimes painful to look at too long.
The walls carried nothing but framed photos instead of art meant to impress strangers.
All memories that both men could look back and reflect on which served as a reminder of always having each other’s back through thick and thin.
Luca stared at a picture of him and Luca as kids, Dontrell stood between them with his hands on both of their shoulders.
He smiled, shoulders dropping like bricks were sat on top of them.
He remembered that day vividly. Dontrell had took them to the shooting range and promised each boy a thousand dollars apiece if they hit all their targets.
That day, both Luca and Roy made Dontrell proud of them.
They spent the rest of their evening discussing all the childish things they planned on buying with their money.
Pride bloomed in Luca’s chest as the memory played vividly in his mind.
He loved the stand-up man Dontrell was and was even prouder to call him his father.
“LuLu paid me a visit yesterday.” Roy broke through their silence.
He noticed Luca was locked in place, gazing at all his framed pictures from a distance instead of walking further into the house.
“I always felt like we were brothers…I’ve always had this unspoken deep connection with LuLu’s secret holding ass.” Roy laughed to keep his pain at bay.
Him finding out who his biological parents were fucked him up deeply.
The only thing that felt good was knowing that Luca was indeed his blood.
The revelation gave him answers that he sought out for years with the man he called dad.
He was sorting shit out and trying to overlook his pain at the moment to be there for Luca.
“Shit is fucked up though.” Luca dropped his hands, not in the mood to talk.
“It is.” Roy huffed out.
“If we told my pops about all those vicious beatings you took as a kid from that nigga Ronald… he would have killed him…even if we told Lucille.” Luca’s chest tightened thinking back to everything Roy went through as a kid.
He signed fluidly, his facial expressions matched the emotion behind every word he signed.
Most of the time when Roy was a kid visiting the Bonetti estate with bruises and wounds. He’d lie and tell Dontrell and Lucille how he got into a fight instead of telling the Bonetti’s how much of a drunk and abuser his so-called father was.