hand clamping around her throat to keep her from spilling that lie, though.
“I’m on a break, actually.”
Renzo nodded. “Outside, then?”
“Sure.”
It was only as she was following Renzo outside that she realized what he called her when he first greeted her. Princess.
“How long were you in the dining room?” she asked.
He shot a smirk over his shoulder. “Long enough, princess.”
Like her coworkers, there was no malice to his tone when he said it. His gaze still glinted with a bit of enjoyment when her eyes narrowed in on him.
“Where’s Diego?”
Renzo pushed the doors open that led to the outside, and warm air brushed along Lucia’s bare legs. She didn’t miss the way he turned to speak, but hesitated in his words because he was too busy taking in the dress she wore. Maybe she liked it a little too much when his gaze lingered on her legs, and then higher until he finally stopped on her face.
“I took him to Brooklyn to spend a couple of days with our sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“Rose,” he said. “She’s seventeen. Smartest one of us all, I think. Got a scholarship to a private school for the arts, so she stays there all the time. I just run her up cash or whatever she needs.”
Huh.
As fascinating as Lucia found that information, she couldn’t help but be a little defensive, too. She didn’t know why Renzo was here, but none of their previous encounters had gone particularly well.
“You didn’t come here to be an asshole again, did you?” Lucia asked. “Because I was only trying to help with your mom, and the night I offered you a drive. I mean, I didn’t intend to overstep your boundaries or anything. I was just worried—that’s all.”
Renzo cleared his throat, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and glanced down the quiet alleyway that led to the main street in front of the shelter. Maybe it was the fact that she’d grown up around a lot of men who took great effort in hiding their emotions when shit was rough, but she recognized Renzo’s movements for what they were.
Nerves.
“I didn’t come to be an asshole,” he murmured, glancing back at her. It was his eyes, she thought. His face was beautiful. He looked like something out of a magazine, and he didn’t even have to try. But it was in his eyes where she found her heart skipped beats. It was disconcerting and strange that she couldn’t even look at him without those damn butterflies coming back. “And I’m sorry I was a dick before.”
Lucia folded her arms over her chest as Renzo leaned against the brick of the building. “Go on.”
He laughed, and the sound was spectacular. All deep, rumbling bass. He tossed his head back, and she didn’t think he’d ever looked so careless, and happy. She really wanted to see if she could make him laugh again, but he broke her daze by meeting her gaze again.
Her thoughts went silent just like that.
All with a stare.
Lucia felt like she was frozen in place as Renzo’s gaze traveled over her face, lingering on her mouth before he looked away altogether.
“Not really sure why I came here,” he admitted.
Lucia swallowed hard. “Apparently, to apologize.”
Renzo made a noise under his breath. “I just decided to do that when I saw you inside, if I’m being honest. I wasn’t even going to come talk to you, or anything. I just wanted to … well, I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. What did you want to do?”
He sighed hard, and let out a dry chuckle. “Check on you, I guess. Make sure you were okay. I owed you that, didn’t I?”
Lucia’s heart skipped beats again, and she smiled a little. “I’m okay, Ren.”
He passed her another look, the heat in his stare obvious. “Yeah, I guess so, huh?”
“Was there any other reason you came looking for me?”
Renzo took a second, then two. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was stopped from saying anything at all when the door to the kitchen was opened, and Laurie popped her head out with a wide smile. The woman at least had the decency to hide her brief surprise at seeing Lucia and Renzo talking together.
“Renzo,” Laurie greeted, “how have you been, and how is Diego?”
Renzo cleared his throat, and straightened his posture. “He’s good. Took him to the school last week to meet the teacher he will have next year. Made him less nervous to start kindergarten.”
Laurie’s face softened. “That’s great, really.”
“Yeah.”
The woman glanced