Renzo + Lucia: The Complete Trilogy - Bethany-Kris Page 0,2

his early years on the streets, forging for food and trying to survive, but she never had. She never worried about one single thing. Nothing was out of reach if she asked her mother and father for it.

Lucia wondered if she needed a wake-up call from real life.

Maybe this job would do that.

“I think you’ll get something amazing from it,” Lucian added when Lucia stayed quiet.

“I hope so,” she responded.

Standing from the table, her father drew her in for a tight hug that said he still wasn’t quite ready to let Lucia out of his sights. She let him hold on until he was ready to let go, because all too soon, her father wouldn’t have a choice but to let her go.

Lucian was a good father—a great one, actually. But for once, Lucia simply wanted to step out of her family’s shadow and be her own person. She didn’t think her dad would understand.

Would he?

“I love you, Lucia,” her father murmured. “You always were the easy one out of the four. I never had to worry about you getting in to some kind of trouble, or causing us any heartache. My good girl, huh?”

She had always been the good girl.

Lucia didn’t know anything else.

Lucia sighed. “Yeah.”

“Hmm, what was that?”

“I love you, too, Papà.”

Releasing her from his hug, Lucian said, “I should go find your mother. I have news she’ll want to hear.”

“Oh?”

Lucian smiled widely. “Retirement is coming early for me. Your mother has been pestering me for years to do this, and I finally have. It feels good. She will be pissed off like nothing else if I don’t tell her right away.”

Retirement.

Lucia didn’t know what to say.

“So, no more … famiglia?” Lucia asked, choosing her words carefully. Outright asking about the mafia or her father’s involvement would likely get her nowhere. “None at all?”

Lucian shrugged, still happy. “Mostly, no.”

• • •

Lucia poked her head into the state of the art kitchen and found the chef working behind a large stove. The man blinked a couple of times before he finally recognized her.

“Lucia?”

She nodded. “Hi. Is my cousin around?”

“Andino is in his office. I can let Skip know you’re here, if you want.”

“That would be great, thanks.”

“Go find a table. Do you want something to eat?”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Sure,” the chef said. “Go, I’ll let your cousin know you’re here to see him.”

Lucia wasn’t surprised that the man was confused at her presence. It wasn’t often that Lucia went to Andino’s main restaurant in the city because her cousin was known to use the place for the more illegal side of his business. Like the mafia. More than once, Lucian had told his daughter to steer clear.

Quickly, she found a quiet table toward the back and slid into a chair. Resting her bag in the chair beside her, she waited for Andino to come out from the back. It didn’t take him long. Her cousin strolled across the restaurant floor, waving at a couple of patrons as he passed, and then joined Lucia at the table.

“Hey, kid,” Andino said, smiling.

Lucia forced herself not to roll her eyes. “Hey.”

“Didn’t your daddy tell you to stay away from this place?”

“So?”

Andino chuckled. “You should follow the rules, Lucia.”

“I wanted to find out something, and I was in the neighborhood.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” she confirmed.

Andino leaned back in the chair and fixed the buttons on his suit jacket as he asked, “Well, what do you need?”

“Where’s Johnathan?”

Lucia had only seen her oldest sibling once since his release from prison. John was her only brother, but besides that, he was also the only person who truly understood Lucia and how suffocating their parents could be. For John, she knew it was an entirely different reason. But honestly, Lucia just needed a break, and John seemed like the right person to go to for it.

“Working today. Why?” Andino asked.

“I want to talk to him.”

Her cousin lifted a single brow. “He’s working, which means you probably shouldn’t be around him, Lucia. I know how your father would feel to find out you were slumming it up with John while he was doing business.”

Frustrated, Lucia grabbed her bag and stood. “Thanks for nothing.”

“Hey, hey.” Andino stood from the table, reaching out to grab Lucia’s wrist.

“What?” she asked, snappier than she intended.

“What is up with you?” he asked.

“I want to see my brother. He doesn’t answer my phone calls, and he never comes around to the house, so I can talk to him there. I figured coming to see you would probably