5. Chapter Five #2
“I couldn’t agree more. Knowing what I do about Lianne, she’s probably been helping out where she could since the funeral.”
There was little Lukas’s twin sister wouldn’t do for her mom.
Lukas came home the next day, and when Quinn pulled him directly into their bedroom, nothing short of a disaster was going to make us knock on that door.
The following morning, I waited until I heard Phil and Quinn leave before coming upstairs.
I wanted to give Quinn as much uninterrupted time with Lukas as possible.
After refilling my mug of coffee, I headed toward his office for our usual morning meeting.
When I walked in, he was holding his face in his hands.
“Is now a bad time? I can come back later.”
He let out a sigh and picked up his head. “Now is fine. I’m still wrapping my head around… everything.”
I sat in the chair next to his desk. “Anything I can help with?”
“Well, we’re going to have to figure out where to put Cole when he flies out.”
My eyebrows went up. “Cole is coming out to Colorado? Why? When?”
Lukas looked over at me. “I switched Ryan to Lianne’s team.”
The reassignment didn’t fully surprise me. It wasn’t a secret Ryan was fiercely protective of Lianne or that he was the most talented tech nerd ever. Keeping him in Chicago was smart. I nodded. “Okay. Anyone else?”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Nash, Talia, and Dante.”
I nodded again in approval. “That’s a solid team.” It also cut the size of Lukas’s crew in half.
“God, I hope so.” He let out a frustrated sigh as he leaned back in his chair. “Apparently, Gage has been saying bullshit about Lianne and has had at least one discussion with my mother about it.”
I couldn’t help but grimace. Lynette Agosti was not a woman you ever wanted that kind of discussion with. She looked calm and demure at first glance, but there was a skilled fighter and seasoned mafia madame under the surface. “And he survived?”
“This time.”
Silence fell between us for a moment before I went back to the first point of interest. “So, back to Cole. When is that happening?”
“As soon as we figure out accommodations.”
Over the next hour, and after a couple of phone conversations, Phil offered to stay at Chelsea’s house so Cole would take over his room in the basement.
The room was quiet again for a while before Lukas looked away from his laptop screen and over at me. “Am I doing the right thing?”
The question caught me off guard. This man was typically confident in all things business-related. “In what area, specifically?”
“With Mom and Lianne.” He let out a tense breath. “With being out here. With letting my brother live.”
“You’re taking care of everything you can. You’re stacking Lianne’s team with a lot of your power players. You’re taking care of your family.” I hope my words comforted him.
With a nod, he stared out the window in his office.
“I talked to Conner about it, and you know what his advice was? Follow your heart.” Lukas let out an irritated breath as he rubbed his face in frustration.
“How in the hell can I do that when half of it is here, and the other half is falling apart in Chicago?”
I leaned forward, arms resting on my knees. “I don’t know.” We sat in silence for a moment, not because I didn't know what to say, but I was debating if or how to say it.
“I can practically smell you overthinking. Just spit it out, Peter.”
A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth before I continued. “Lukas, you know I respect the hell out of you…”
He lifted an eyebrow. “But?”
I huffed out a laugh. “You are taking care of your family by keeping Quinn safe here and putting the best people on Lianne’s team, and you have been supporting your mom and sister as best as you can, but have you considered moving back? At least temporarily?”
Lukas leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “Only every day since Liam went rogue. Even Quinn has brought it up. I think she’s waiting for me to ask her, already assuming it’s going to happen.”
Interesting. “Alright. Are you considering moving because you feel you need to be there for your new Don, or is it the fact that it’s your mom and sister running the show and you feel obligated to protect them?
While those two women are intelligent badasses, it’s well-known how protective you are of them.
Is there some part of you that thinks they can’t or shouldn’t handle it on their own?
” I held my breath after the words were out of my mouth, preparing myself for an ass chewing.
I knew I was pushing it with that last comment.
It didn’t happen. Instead, Lukas swallowed hard and continued looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t know.”
Those three words surprised me. I expected him to defend himself, to yell at me. Neither happened. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?”
“No. I have a couple of phone calls to make.”
Standing, I walked across the office and turned the knob on the door but glanced over my shoulder back at him. “I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
“They were fair questions I should have answers to.” Lukas let out a heavy sigh. “Dad made all this shit look so easy.”
“We saw him after he settled in, not at the beginning.”
When he didn’t say anything else, I stepped into the hall and closed the door.