Riding Dirty: Luciotti Crime Family (A Bad Boy Mafia Romance) - Kara Hart Page 0,32
smile on his face. What that word meant, I hadn’t a clue, but it caused Jen to laugh uncontrollably. “Was it delicious? Was it everything you dreamed of?” He snuck a glance at me.
“Yes! Macaroni is my favorite!” She exclaimed.
“Personally, I like a good meatball, drenched in meat sauce.” He shrugged. “How’ve you been Jen?” he asked her. I put the car in park as he chatted with my daughter.
“We have to go, Jen.” I interjected, but Jen wasn’t having it. In reality, she was the boss. If she wanted to stay, she got to stay. She made an angry noise and shook her head fast and hard. I leaned my head back, annoyed I had even stopped for this man.
“I failed my test,” she sighed. “And my whole class hates me. I don’t think I like school very much.” She looked out the window.
Lucas rubbed his chin. “Hm. Well, I guess you’ll have to beat everyone next time then, right? That doesn’t seem too hard. What subject was the test on?” Oh God. Was he really doing this right now?
“Math class. I hate subtracting!”
“Subtraction? Shit, I can teach you all about that,” he said. I smacked his arm at the word shit.
“No you can’t!” she exclaimed. “No one can. They’re too hard.”
“I’ll tell you what. How about we go back to your place and we study up. Then, when we’re done, we can reward ourselves with an ice cream sundae or banana split!” He was practically leaning his whole body against me now to look at Jen. Was he really schmoozing my daughter to get into my house? Oddly enough, I didn’t find myself protesting. It wasn’t that I wanted him to come over or anything. If he could really help my daughter with school, I couldn’t put my foot down. I mean, this was my daughter’s future we were talking about.
“An ice cream sundae?!” She squealed. “Mom! Can I? Please, please, please?”
“I don’t know…” I mumbled.
Lucas looked at me and smirked. “Aw, come on, Mom. Jen wants a huge ice cream sundae.” I looked into the rearview mirror and Jen looked as if she was having the biggest dilemma of her life. She needed that ice cream sundae. Of course I had to give in.
“Fine.” I sighed. “You need the address?”
“I’d be lyin’ if I didn’t say I need a ride. Car needs some more work done to it, I guess,” he said. I nodded for him to get in the front seat. He jogged around the car and jumped in.
“Thanks, babe. Can’t wait for our date tonight.” He smiled and ran his hand through his hair, putting on his pair of sunglasses.
“Don’t you dare start with that. You’re helping out my daughter. That’s it. Got it?” I put the car back into drive and headed in the direction of my home. He seemed safe enough. I mean, would a criminal offer to help a first grader with their math homework? It was like he said when I first met him. He was from the streets of Detroit. Here I was, acting all high and mighty when in all actuality he was really just a nice guy. I was starting to think Carmelo was going senile or something.
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted me and winked at Jen, who had already taken a liking to him.
We pulled onto Loraine Avenue, our little neighborhood. It was a quaint neighborhood, like those in the movies, and I felt real lucky I got a chance to rent a house there. Back in Seattle, we lived in a one-bedroom apartment infested with rats. But because no one in their right mind would move to a small town like Monroe, it was much cheaper to live here.
“Nice house,” he muttered. “You should see mine sometime.”
“I’m good.” I parked the car in the driveway and got out of the car. Within seconds, Lucas was already helping Jen out, even with the groceries in his hand
“Up we go!” He said, picking her up and setting her gently on the ground. For a guy who was made in the streets, he surprisingly had a way with children.
I gave a guttural throat noise of annoyance and walked inside the house. “Get that homework out, girl! We’re about to learn all about subtraction.”
“You don’t know anything about math, do you?” I whispered to him.
“I know a little,” He winked. Jen got out her math book and turned to Chapter 4: Subtraction and we both dove in.