Chapter 9
Nine
Harper
I’m dreading the entire drive to the Ricci family’s home. Tomorrow, we’re scheduled to take pictures for our wedding, and instead of coming on Saturday, our presence was requested Friday evening.
While I knew Luca would be expected to arrive on Friday and stay through Sunday morning, I wasn’t expecting Zeke and myself to both have to stay the weekend too.
Can’t say I’m happy with the news.
Zeke is asleep in the backseat.
“I heard you guys won the game yesterday.” I glance at Luca, who has his attention firmly planted on the road. He’s sporting a bruise on his chin that he didn’t have yesterday morning. “What happened?” I gesture toward the blemish.
“Hazard of the job.” He glances at me. “Hockey, not mafia.”
If he’s trying to make a joke, there’s no smile or laughter adorning his face. “I didn’t figure your father was behind the bruise. Rough game?”
“I kept getting my face smacked into the plexiglass. Wasn’t my night.”
“But you won. That has to count for something.”
He sighs. “Yeah, I scored three goals too.”
“Three?” My eyes widen. “That’s great!”
He purses his lips, clearly something else seems to be on his mind.
I refrain from asking because I already know he’s not going to tell me. It seems we’re not sharing much lately, aside from a last name.
Luca glances in the backseat, and then his shoulders soften. “Zeke seems to be doing better.”
Smiling, I nod. “Yeah, I should probably thank your mom for making that call to the pediatrician, bringing him out on such short notice.”
He shifts and glances at me. “Do you think you’ll ever want any more kids?”
His question catches me off guard. “Yeah, maybe. I mean, I’d like to give Zeke a sibling. One who’s close in age would be great, but I don’t think either one of us are ready for that kind of commitment.”
His gaze tightens.
“Did I say something wrong?”
Luca shakes his head but doesn’t answer.
“Clearly, I did. You don’t look happy with my response.” I shift in my seat, turning slightly to face him. I hate that he picks now to fight with me while driving. Or maybe it’s me who is picking a fight with him. Luca keeps avoiding me, it seems.
Silence fills the void between us.
“Dammit, Luca! I’d rather you fight with me than give me the silent treatment.”
“I’m not giving you the silent treatment.” He shoots a glance at me. “I’m driving, and fighting isn’t going to help us when we have to deal with my parents this evening or pictures tomorrow.”
“What will help us?” I ask, waiting for him to tell me how we can fix this mess.
“I don’t know.” There’s an honesty in his words, a conviction that he is at as much a loss as I am.
Luca turns up the radio, deciding we’ve had enough discussion or lack thereof, and fills the silence in the car.
As we pull up to his parents’ house, Zeke begins to stir awake. A few snowflakes begin to fall but the weather report isn’t calling for much and the snow that fell last night has already been cleaned up. The roads were clear, but the snow hadn’t yet melted.
I unbuckle Zeke from the backseat, and Luca carries our weekend bags inside. There are two bags, one for Luca and one that I’m sharing with Zeke. Although I swear most of the bag is Zeke’s, with extra changes of clothes, diapers, and wipes.
Zeke babbles as I carry him out of the cold and into their foyer. Luca removes his own coat and shoes in one swift motion and leaves the bags on the floor inside the door. He helps me remove Zeke’s winter gear and shoes before taking him so that I can remove my own coat and shoes.
“I thought I heard you guys,” Nikki says, coming toward us. She holds out her hands for Zeke and Luca hands my son over to his grandmother.
“We’re going to have so much fun, just the two of us.” Nikki drops featherlight kisses on his cheeks and nose.
Zeke squirms but pinches at her cheeks, clearly enjoying the attention.
Nikki heads with him down the hall, and I’m quick to follow after my son. “Where are you taking him?” It’s not that I don’t trust her. Actually, it is one hundred percent that she is the wife of a mafia don. I don’t trust any of them, except Luca.
I want to trust Nikki, especially since she seems to be enthralled with my son. I can’t tell if it’s the fact she likes babies or that this is her new grandson.
“Do you want to see your new playroom?” Nikki cuddles Zeke and carries him down the hallway. To the left is an open door, and she wanders inside.
I’m right on her heels.
Luca is a few paces behind me. He doesn’t seem nearly as concerned, but Zeke is my son.
I step in behind Nikki, and the room is covered in toys. They’re not all new toys. Against the walls is a white bookshelf, stocked with everything from dolls to race cars. “I had Moreno bring down the kids’ toys from the attic.”
“You kept our old stuff?” Luca wanders into the playroom, taking all of it in, his gaze moving over the entire room.
“We didn’t keep everything, but there were some toys that never got donated and got put away. Yours and Nova’s favorites.” Nikki brings Zeke over to the child-sized table and puts him down.
His head turns in every direction as he spins around, taking everything in. He runs over to the play kitchen and starts pulling all of the plastic food out.
“That was one of your favorite toys too,” Nikki muses.
“Thank you.” I’m shocked that Luca’s family arranged to have a room devoted to Zeke. He’s my son, and while through marriage he’s their grandson, he’s not theirs by blood.
Luca strolls to the far corner where there’s a child’s tent set up, the perfect hiding place, it’s practically a fortress for a little kid. He bends down, glancing inside. “I always remembered this to be so much bigger. Nova and I used to hide in here for hours.”
Nikki smiles faintly, reminiscing. “Yes, I remember that.”
“Did you know it was the only place I felt safe?” Luca turns and faces his mother, the smile devoid of warmth. “After what Dante did, it was the one place I knew no one could see me.”
Because there weren’t any cameras inside the fort, no surveillance. I glance up at the corner of the room and there’s a camera with a red flashing light recording us, always watching us.
Nikki pats Luca’s arm. “Let’s not recount the past.” She forces a smile and bends down to Zeke’s level. “I’m glad you like the toys. I hope you’ll like your new bedroom.”
“Bedroom?” The air leaves my lungs.
Nikki stands, glancing from Zeke to me. “You didn’t think we’d have your son sleeping in your bed or the guest room, did you?”
Actually, that’s precisely what I expected.
It’s not like I intend to stay here very often.
For one or two nights, Zeke could share a bed with me.
That’s pretty much what’s happened since the wedding.
Luca and I haven’t slept in the same room, and because I’m sharing a room with Zeke, he keeps climbing into my bed anyhow.
Luca studies my face before glancing at Nikki. “Mom, that really isn’t necessary.”
“It’s already done.” Nikki gestures for me to follow her.
I bend down to carry Zeke, and he protests.
“It’s okay, you can leave him in here. The room’s been babyproofed.” Nikki gestures at the walls. “The outlets have been plugged, and the toys are all age-appropriate. Anything too mature is on a higher shelf that he shouldn’t be able to reach.”
She’s truly thought of everything.
I’m reluctant to leave Zeke alone in this place.
Luca senses my hesitation and rests a hand on my back. “I’ll stay with Zeke. Mom can show you his room and then later you can show me when I take our things upstairs.”
“All right.” I exhale a heavy sigh and agree to follow Nikki upstairs. I glance over my shoulder as Zeke hands Luca a toy banana. Luca bends down, taking it from him and pretending to gobble it up, getting a laugh from my little boy.
Nikki leads me upstairs. Beside Luca’s room, she opens the door and shows me the child’s bedroom that’s been carefully put together for Zeke. There’s a toddler bed, like the one he has at home against the wall near the window. On the opposite side is a dresser and desk.
There’s a stack of toys in the corner of the room and a handful of plush stuffies on the bed.
Nikki wanders over to the dozen or so books cradled in a basket. “Everything in here is new. The books, the stuffed animals—we wanted Zeke to feel at home when he comes to visit.”
“That is very kind of you.” But all I can keep thinking about is that little boy who was locked in their basement, kidnapped and taken from his family.
Luca had told me that there was no sign of the child. He’d been down in the basement when he’d questioned Kensley. The boy was gone.
But where had he been taken?
There wasn’t a damn thing I could do about the missing child, the one Dante had abducted, but I could protect my own son.
“I should get back downstairs and check on the boys.” I force a smile.
Nikki reaches for my arm. “I know this isn’t what you were expecting when you would one day get married, but we’re all trying to accept you and your son. Please don’t hurt my son.”
It’s too late for that.
Luca already hates me.
Dinner is rather uneventful. Moreno and Paige join us, but Nova is on campus, and I’ve never missed her company more.
Of course, Ashton is there with her, which gives them the place almost to themselves. It’s not as though Liam cares about Ashton and Nova hooking up.
Luca carries our bags upstairs while I show him Zeke’s new bedroom next door to ours.
“At least it’s close.” He places the bag on Zeke’s dresser before heading to our room.
I sift through everything in the weekend bag, grabbing a new diaper for Zeke along with his pajamas.
By the time I get Zeke tucked into bed, read him a story, and get him to sleep, I’m exhausted. I’m reluctant to leave him alone, but there’s no bed for me.
I sit on the floor, stretching out, leaning with my back against the wall.
It’s not comfortable, and I’m tired, but Zeke is my everything, and I don’t trust Dante or the men who work for him.