Chapter 33 Lorenzo
LORENZO
July
She shouldn’t have spoken. The mistake of her life. Rain stood by the fake oak nightstand, lip bleeding, one eye swelling. She flinched as I caressed the blood from the crack at her bottom lip with a face towel. I murmured, “Sunglasses, some of that pink gloss you love. Good as new, Rain.”
Her mouth wobbled. “No … Enzo. I won’t put on sunglasses and pretend.”
I backed off to give her space in our new seedy hotel. We’d stayed at so many of them in the past couple of months. Traded one bedbug mattress for another. She picked up a pillow. I lifted a brow, eyes questioning her.
She didn’t have the guts to hit me, even if what feathers remaining in that ratty pillow were older than us.
Instead, Rain held it close to her chest and lay on her stomach in the crinkled sheets. “The mercs you work for don’t have enough assignments for us.”
“Won’t always be this way,” I muttered, settling at the small table by the window to stare out at Simi Valley. Wasn’t so bad by day here.
“Could get worse”—she faced the cockroach factory of a bathroom, her mouth muffled now—“if your mind is on Natasha and not our next gig.”
My neck nearly snapped as I turned toward her. “What did you say, Corporal Rainita Howard?”
Instead of bowing out of the conversation, Rain lay on her side toward me. Her decent eye narrowed. “You almost died, Lorenzo. On a crappy mission. The mercs’ instructions were simple: entry, retrieval, extraction. You nearly died. I. Saved. You.”
I clapped my hands. “Semper Fi, baby.”
Eyes squeezing shut, a tear trickled out, before she lay on her side, spine toward me.
Then she threw me a glare over her shoulder.
Women. So indecisive. “Enzo, Natasha still does Taco Tuesday. Why didn’t you grab her last Tuesday?
Lachlan didn’t go. It’s no secret they’ve gotten reacquainted after all these months!
She’s even posted photos of them online.
So again, why didn’t you grab her last Tuesday? ”
“Jamie attended Taco Tuesday,” I said. “His wife brought him.” The women usually went solo. Their closeness made extracting Natasha difficult in the past too.
“Jamie?” Something flickered behind Rain’s moist gaze. Relief.
“My fra. He came.” I couldn’t exfil her around him. Before that? I’d been distraught. She chose … him. Also had to hash out a new plan.
“Our friend. Stop with this fra business. Your Italian accent isn’t even authentic.” She laughed, clutching the pillow as if to protect herself. “So, you didn’t want to kill Jamie too?”
“I’d never hurt my fra.”
“You’re afraid to hit a man … but women? We’re fair game. So, you’ll go out tonight, flirt with Natasha. Torment—”
“I told you,” I hissed, dropping the accent and shoving the chair back. “I run this! Don’t ask quest—” I broke off. A phone rang. My new burner. I answered.
“Ferri, what the heck, man?” Jamie’s brogue was deeper than usual. “NCIS! I see why you keep texting me from new numbers.”
I rubbed a hand over my jaw. “What did you tell them?”
“That I haven’t seen you. Don’t worry, I didn’t give them your numbers. You-you murdered two MPs? We’re worried, brother.”
“Don’t. It was self-defense. The commander has it wrong.”
“If you need help, my family can—”
“I can’t put you out, fra.”
“Jamie?” In an instant, Rain popped up from bed. A storm of desperation increased her voice volume. “Is that Jamie?”
My look shut her down.
“Howard, that you?” Jamie demanded, “Put the phone on speaker, Enzo.”
Damn. I complied.
“What’s this mess he’s in, Howard?” he asked.
“It all has to do with a girl.” She stared at me, wiping sweat beads from her brow.
My hand rested on the handle of my Glock. Breath caught in my throat. Would she squeal to my most trusted ally?
“Some girl down at the VA,” Rain said. “Obsessed with him. After a night full of passion, then rejection by this lady killer, she inputted crazy stuff into the system.”
My hand fell from the pistol grip.
“I tried to help erase her … mistake.” Rain’s eyes shimmered in a pool of her own tears, and I found myself mesmerized. “Now, I’m in hot water too, Jamie.”
I shook myself from the trance. Rainita Howard meant nothing to me. We both knew it, except that she held out hope that I’d fall for her after Natasha got out of my system.
Jamie chuckled. “So, the lassie’s aff her heid. Lorenzo, at my wedding, we discussed all the women. Settle down with Howard. Stop sending mixed signals.”
Laughter huffed from my lips.
“You good, brother?” he asked.
“Yes—”
“No, he’s not.” Something in Rainita Howard shifted. The grin on her face was so bright, I saw the carpet’s piss stains in 3D. “Men believe they rule the world. They need a lady to fix things. I’ve got this. I need to strap on my hacker helmet and get proof for the military.”
“What about the MPs?” Jamie asked.
My palm kneaded my nape. “They … were the crazy broad’s friends.”
“Yep,” Rain agreed. “Anyway, Jamie, you’re right. Enzo should settle down.” Though she sounded like one of the guys, her eyes latched onto mine. As if to conclude with me.