Chapter 25
La’Nova gripped the steering wheel tighter than she meant to as the iron bars curled apart in front of her.
The familiar patterns of roses and thorns stretched wide around the black metal, catching the late evening sun as it slid across Luca’s estate.
Her stomach fluttered and her heart refused to settle as her camper rolled forward carefully over the smooth stone driveway.
It had been over seven days without Luca.
She figured they needed space since so much had transpired with him and Roy.
Luca mentioned when he got back in the car that day how she needed to be safe and that he would put his men on her to protect her.
When La’Nova asked him why, Luca explained how his grandfather isn’t as forgiving as him and Roy are.
That in itself made La’Nova make a silent and sad decision to create space and watch her own back instead of trusting Luca’s word.
Although she enjoyed her time alone and traveling … She missed him. Missing Luca came as a surprise on the first day without him. He texted her every day, simply checking to make sure she was good.
She felt uncomfortable keeping all that money inside of her camper.
La’Nova kept debating with herself about buying property.
A nice sized family house where she could buy a safe and hide the bulk of her money inside of.
She made a mental note as she came to a stop in front of Luca’s home to talk with him about it later on tonight since she planned on spending the night.
“Alright, go up in here and act normal,” she voiced to herself.
She looked down at the lavender dress that brushed against her thighs as she shifted in her seat.
The fabric was soft, light and flowed perfectly with her mood.
She hadn’t worn something pretty in a long time.
La’Nova spent yesterday getting her nails and feet done.
She couldn’t stop staring at the lavender French tip nails and toenails.
Her hair was pressed bone straight with a side part.
She clipped her ends to give herself a bold cut look.
To La’Nova, this wasn’t just dinner. This was walking back into his space.
That took a lot of trust on Luca’s end. She released the breath she was holding as she got from behind the wheel and went to grab the bags that she brought for Cain and Abel.
She bought markers, snacks, coloring books, and two Roblox cards.
Luca mentioned how he put the boys on a week-to-week allowance since they begged for things on Fortnite and Roblox.
The bags crinkled softly in her hands as she stepped down from the camper.
The evening air wrapped around her shoulders, carrying her vanilla scent in the wind.
She glanced back at her sleek black truck attached to the back of her camper and smiled proudly.
La’Nova’s sandals strutted across the stone path with confidence mixed with anxiousness.
Her fingers tightened around the bags as she reached the massive double doors.
She thought about her art room that Luca gifted her and wondered if it was still intact or if he tore it down once she ran away from him.
A thought crossed her mind that she quickly tucked away.
She barely lifted her hand to knock before the door flew open.
Cain and Abel stood in front of her with matching crooked grins and bright eyes.
Their hair was freshly braided straight to the back of their heads with sharp parts enough to show that a professional braider hooked them up.
They were the spitting image of Kentrell. Same cheekbones, brows and mouths when they smiled. Something in La’Nova’s chest tightened at the sight of them as images of whooping their mother’s ass in their defense crossed her mind.
Cain wore a black athletic set with thin silver stripes running down the sides of the sleeves and pants.
His sneakers were as fresh as his casual fit.
Abel wore dark denim joggers and a soft gray hoodie.
The sleeves were pushed halfway up his forearms like he forgot to fix them earlier.
His shoes were black with red trim, laces tied uneven as if he were in a rush.
It pleased La’Nova that both boys looked well fed, safe, and taken care of.
They didn’t have to tell her their name since Roy spoiled both boys with iced out Cuban link chains with their names in big bold cursive letters.
“Hi,” La’Nova stated a bit timidly. “I’m La’Nova, your uncle Luca’s friend.” She smiled politely, trying to appear as welcoming as possible.
This was all new territory for her, meeting kids, and hoping that they’d accept her instead of give her a hard time.
“What’s good.” Cain spoke first.
He forced his voice to sound deep as he slightly leaned to the side. La’Nova bit into her bottom lip to stifle her laugh.
“Hey.” She waved, smiling warmly at Cain then Abel.
“We knew it was you.” Cain added with a smirk on his handsome face.
“Yeah, Uncle Luca went to get flowers for you ‘cause he forgot earlier,” Abel said with a silly grin covering his face.
“You wasn’t pose to say all that. ’Member Uncle Roy said to stop all that snitching.” Cain scowled.
La’Nova blinked then she laughed softly before she could stop herself. The nervous knot in her stomach started to loosen just a little, replaced with butterflies at the thought of Luca running out just to get her flowers.
“He didn’t have to do that,” she mumbled quietly to herself.
“He wanted to,” Abel replied.
He reached forward without hesitation and grabbed her wrist.
“Come on.” He tugged at her gently.
The foyer opened wide around her, marble floors shining bright under the massive chandelier light. The house smelled like dinner and something sweet baking in the kitchen. Cain closed the door behind them and immediately spotted the bags in her hands.
“You brought us stuff?” He asked excitedly.
Abel released La’Nova’s wrist and took in the bags like his brother as she held them out.
“Just a little something.” She smirked.
They both froze in disbelief, looking at each other wide eyed.
“For us?” Cain asked with his bushy brows furrowed as he tried to process La’Nova’s act of kindness.
“Yes.” She giggled. “Your uncle told me that you guys have been excelling in schoolwork and doing all your chores without having to be told. I’ve been wanting to meet you two for some time now, so I thought to bring you guys a gift.” She exhaled slowly.
The boys thanked her at the same time. Cain grabbed one bag carefully from her then Abel took the other, already peeking inside before they stepped further into the main room.
La’Nova took the time to take in the room beyond the foyer and noticed that Luca had switched his all-white leather couches for all black.
She already knew it was because he had kids living with him.
She watched the boys flop down on the couch, excitedly going through the bags.
“These the good markers,” Abel said, holding the pack of Ohuhu markers up. “Not them cheap dry ones.” He smirked.
“These coloring books dope as fu—hell,” Cain added, sliding his eyes over to La’Nova hoping she didn’t catch his slip up.
He had been working on his language for weeks now but still had slip-ups since it used to be a part of his everyday language.
“Maybe we can go to the other wing of the house to chill in your art room to color.” Abel suggested.
“Yeah, ‘cause Uncle said we can’t go in there unless you say it’s cool…” Cain added. “You haven’t been here since you ran off scared—”
“Cain!” Abel shouted with wide eyes.
“What man? Uncle Roy said that’s why Uncle Luca was feeling down, because—”
“You snitching now, dawg.” Abel shook his head at Cain.
“It’s okay guys, and I didn’t run off.” She playfully rolled her eyes, not surprised that Roy had been pillow-talking with the twins since she found him to be very immature for a grown man.
“I had important stuff to do,” she carefully stated. “If it’s okay with your uncle and not too far past your bedtime we can go to my art room.”
He still kept my art room… La’Nova thought. Her heart sped up as she looked around the room for Luca expectingly.
“What?!!!!!” Cain jumped up from the couch with the black Roblox card secure in his hand.
“Hundred-dollar Roblox card!!!!! Yoooooo!” He squealed, jumping up and down.
Seconds later, Abel found his card and was jumping up and down excitedly along with his twin.
“Uncle Roy cheap! He always getting us twenty-five-dollar cards.” Cain slapped hands with Abel.
They set their cards down on top of the sleek black coffee table then placed their coloring books, snacks, and markers back inside the bag.
Abel was the first to step into La’Nova’s personal space and hug her tightly.
She leaned down and hugged him back, inhaling his cologne that matched Luca’s scent.
Cain followed right after, wrapping his arms around her waist like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Thank you so much, Nova baby.” Cain whispered.
La’Nova swallowed hard as she rubbed Cain’s back and smiled.
“I’m the only one that calls her that, Cain.” Luca’s raspy whispered words carried through the room, striking La’Nova right in the chest.
Cain snorted, squeezed La’Nova one last time then released her with a goofy expression on his face.
“Take your things and get cleaned up for dinner.” Luca instructed the boys lowly, never taking his eyes off of her.
Her and him…
No longer did they hear the footsteps of Cain and Abel thump away in excitement. Both lost in the proximity of each other; Luca took his time taking La’Nova fully in. His eyes landed on her beautiful heart-shaped face that looked well moisturized free of makeup.
One hand held a bouquet of moon flowers mixed in with crimson roses, while the other hand rested in his pants pocket. Salaciously, his eyes roamed her full figure with hunger. He gave her a disarming smile that made her center moisten.
“Come here,” he whispered lowly.
Without thinking twice, La’Nova’s feet moved on their own accord. Luca looked every bit of fine. Her stomach flipped at the sight of him. He smelled like sandalwood mixed with coconut oil.
“You look sexy as fuck.” Luca signed, tugging at the bottom of La’Nova’s dress.
She frowned, licked her lips then took her flowers from Luca’s hold.
“I don’t know sign language, so tell me what you said,” she said, leaning her head down to inhale the flowers.
“I love these, thank you.” She blushed softly.
Luca had his ways of making La’Nova’s hard exterior melt away instantly. She never was the type to swoon or blush in the proximity of the opposite sex, and yet, here she was. Feeling dainty, he had her nerves bad as they closed the little bit of space between them.
“I said, you look sexy as fuck, Nova baby,” Luca whispered.
She exhaled his intoxicating scent; he inhaled her sharply. His lips spread into an enthralling smile as he continued to eye her intensely. La’Nova took a small step back just to take in his casual attire that still made him look like he stepped off a GQ magazine.
His charcoal shirt clung to his broad chest, perfectly matching the tailored slacks and pristine white sneakers he wore. The effortless combination of his style, topped with a gold chain glinting at his throat, left La’Nova momentarily speechless.
“You look sexy as fuck too, Luca baby.” She flashed him a Colgate smile.
She couldn’t help but admire the way his confidence seemed to radiate, making the air between them almost electric. The dim lighting highlighted the sharp lines of his jaw, and as his gaze lingered on her, La’Nova felt her cheeks warm again despite her best efforts to play it cool.
“Stay with me tonight.” He lowered his chin until his lips pressed against her temple.
“Already made plans on it. The boys and I plan on going to my art room to color and get to know each other better after dinner.” She winked and backed away from him before they both got busy out in the opening.
Luca watched her walk away, finding it hard to take his lingering eyes off her curvy backside. Her vanilla scent lingered behind. Negative thoughts popped into the forefront of his brain. He hoped like hell he wasn’t making a mistake letting La’Nova finally meet the twins.
His biggest fear was her getting too far in her own head about them, even though he wasn’t forcing any labels on them no time soon. La’Nova was something special to him. Someone he didn’t want to let go of despite everything he already knew about her.
He’d rather she hurt him by disappearing forever then the twins.
He loved them with everything in him and had finally got them well-grounded enough to trust him and actually like living with him.
The boys got to visit Tracy and were let down.
Nothing had changed, and she hadn’t made any efforts or even inquired about fighting for them back.
He considered Cain and Abel his since the moment he took them out of the parking lot. So this was a delicate balance, trying to blend the worlds of his children and his new love.
Luca's heart hammered with uncertainty, wondering if tonight would mark the beginning of harmony or the onset of unexpected friction. He knew La’Nova’s kindness could win anyone over, but the twins were guarded.
It was something he taught them in order for them to protect themselves from disappointment.