Lucian (27 page)

Wearing a leather jacket, dark wash denim, and a ball cap, he looked like any other New Yorker on their way to wherever, constantly in a rush to get nowhere. Briefly, he’d stopped at a café to eat something worthy of being called breakfast, but even feeding himself felt robotic. Just another motion he had to go through.

Without Jordyn, he was feeling particularly unsettled.

Lucian didn’t like being so far from her. He also couldn’t bear to wake her up and see how sad and pained she would be when he said goodbye. Hopefully she wasn’t too angry with him over that. If she was, he’d spend however long it took to make it up to her.

After settling into his suite, Lucian unpacked the one bag he brought along. It was only enough clothes to do him a few days, nothing over the top. The hotel offered laundry service and he would definitely be using that. Other than the clothes, he hadn’t brought along much else. Twenty-thousand in cash from his safe. His gun, of course, with a fully loaded clip and a backup, just in case. A book from his library, though he doubted his mind would calm enough to read it.

There was no phone other than the one in his room which he wouldn’t use. No tablet to check his emails and such. Nothing to keep up with his businesses, though he’d taken care of that earlier by leaving messages for the managers of his places that would be curious about his sudden vacation.

Vacation. That was a damned joke.

Lucian didn’t know how to relax when he wasn’t working, or next to Jordyn.

Strange how that worked.

Lucian put the shower to use, cleaning off the smell of sex and sweat still lingering from the night before. While he cleaned the stitches around his bullet graze, he kept his mind on Jordyn and how absolutely amazing she looked underneath him to stray away from thinking much about the pain radiating through his arm.

The first day after anything was always the worst.

Paulie had given him a round of antibiotics to take for a couple of weeks, so Lucian popped the pills back before deciding he couldn’t stay still much longer.

A half hour, two cabs, and short walk later, Lucian found himself staring at a payphone.

Jesus, it’d been years since he used one of these.

Sighing, he inserted a quarter and dialed a familiar number. It’d bypass his father’s secretaries and the usual nonsense and take him straight to who he needed to speak with.

Antony picked up on the fourth ring. “Antony Marcello speaking.”

“
Papà
,” Lucian said quietly. “I’m good. Settled. Safe.”

A breath of relief whooshed into the phone. “Thank you, son. Your mother isn’t happy. Find her something especially nice for her birthday to make up for it. I’ll have a room booked under the usual name and something appropriate for you to wear at the hotel across from the Opera Theater. Be on time, please.”

“Already done. They’ll be in her kitchen when she wakes up on her birthday.”

“Goodbye, Lucian.”

“Later, Dad.”

Lucian hung up the phone just long enough to insert another quarter and dial the number to burner cell phone he’d picked up for Jordyn a couple of weeks earlier. He had a feeling she wouldn’t be up to going to work today, so he didn’t bother to call the phone Antony provided her for work. She picked up the call faster than Antony had his.

“Hello?”

“Jordyn … hey. I miss you already, beautiful girl.”

Silence answered Lucian back.

“I can’t talk for long, but I wanted to call and apologize for not waking you up this morning.”

Jordyn whined a soft noise. “Lucian?”

“Yeah, sweetheart. This will be the only time I call, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Let Cecelia take you out to pick something beautiful for her birthday. If you need anything, you know the numbers to get inside my safe. Everything is in there.”

“Not you,” Jordyn said, laughing lightly.

“It won’t be long. Nothing big. I love you, huh?”

“Love you, too.”

For the first time that morning, Lucian smiled. “I have to go.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

“Soon,” he echoed.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jordyn tried not to trip over the floor length evening gown that was a couple of inches too long without her heels to answer the knock on the bedroom door. Over the last two weeks, she stayed mostly at the condo because she felt closer to Lucian, but on one or two occasions, she found herself at the Marcello home, staying in his bedroom there.

For Cecelia’s birthday, she had stayed at the Marcello home the night before, and the entire day of the celebration. Apparently getting ready for this opera event was a big thing. Jordyn didn’t quite believe Cecelia on that front until the woman was knocking on the door at ridiculous early morning hours because they needed to start getting ready.

Over twelve hours before the show.

Jordyn mistakenly assumed managing her curls into something decent and putting on a bit of makeup was enough for the event.

It wasn’t. Oh, no.

Cecelia, as lovely as she was most days, could be a downright tyrant when it came to prepping for a party. It wasn’t just a simple trip to the hairdresser, the entire fucking spa might as well have come to them. According to her, the party before the opera was probably more important than seeing the show itself. Jordyn wasn’t entirely sure why, but a few names had been dropped, the Marcellos included. Everyone who was anyone in New York politics, socialites, and old money was supposed to be there.

It was disconcerting.

Lucian offhandedly mentioned once or twice that his family didn’t shy away from public attention. Charities, political runs, and business included. It was just as important to the legal side of the Marcello Empire as it was to the illegal side of it.

Tonight, Jordyn was officially being introduced into that world … at the side of a Marcello son.

She knew it was important. Not just for her or Lucian, but for his family as a whole.

Jordyn wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that. Being significant just for the sake of being significant had never been a goal of hers. In fact, she’d spent most of her life trying to stay under the goddamned radar.

This would be nothing like that.

Jordyn yanked open the bedroom door, coming face to face with a grinning Antony.

“You look lovely,” he told her.

Jordyn huffed, blowing a stray curl from her eyes. “Thank you, but your wife is still horrible.”

“Sometimes,” Antony agreed. “She makes up for it, otherwise. I try to look at it from her perspective. You’re the first woman any of her sons have brought home for her to spoil and love. This is just her way of showing you how much she cares.”

Right …

“She’s ridiculously lucky it’s her birthday today. I do not like to be prodded, plucked at, and touched like cattle at a meat market. She can call that beauty treatments all she likes, it’s more like torture. No sane woman enjoys that nonsense.”

“Cecelia is aware. Tomorrow, she’ll be back to her normal, wonderful self.”

Jordyn snorted. Antony didn’t even bother to deny his wife’s craziness. “I’m almost finished dressing, if that’s what she sent you up here for.”

“No. I came up here for something else. It doesn’t concern her, and she’s busy being spoiled by Dante and Gio while missing Lucian. So now is as good of a time as ever to do it.”

Jordyn’s anxiety spiked. “Is it about Lucian?”

Two weeks without Lucian were not easy to get through for Jordyn. The silence was deafening. The bed was cold. Work didn’t keep her nearly busy enough not to be constantly worried and thinking about him. She wasn’t sleeping well and her appetite was all but gone.

The only thing that helped was each new morning meant she was one day closer to seeing Lucian again.

Oddly, though, Jordyn had a sneaking suspicion Lucian was closer than anyone thought. Especially to her. More than once over the last two weeks, she felt someone’s eyes on her. Hell, it was New York. Who wasn’t watching? This didn’t feel anything like that and it didn’t make her feel unsettled, either. Instead, it was comforting. Hazel eyes, dark hair, a two finger wave and a cocky wink were quick to disappear into a crowd whenever she turned to look.

Oh, yes. Lucian was watching.

It was still hard.

“As far as I know, he should be fine,” Antony finally replied, cocking a brow. “If he’s late tonight, however, I won’t be able to say the same when his mother gets a hold of him.”

Jordyn’s hand fell to her chest to calm the racing organ beneath. “Are you trying to give me a freaking heart attack, Antony?”

“I didn’t realize when we talk the first thing I need to say is that Lucian is okay. I’ll keep that in mind for future reference.” Jordyn’s patience was worn so thin, she simply stared at him and trusted her annoyance was clear. Apparently, it was. “Anyway …”

“I need to finish getting ready,” Jordyn said, hoping he’d get the hint.

“In a moment,” Antony replied, taking a step into the bedroom. The door was closed behind him, effectively closing out the rest of the house. “Something came for you yesterday, delivered to my consigliere.”

Jordyn’s brow furrowed. “You mean Paulie?”

“When I call him Paulie, he’s just my friend. When he’s my consigliere, he’s doing business for the family.”

The family being the Cosa Nostra side of things. Jordyn understood what he meant quickly enough.

“Oh. Why would someone give something to him for me?” she asked.

“To make a point, I think,” Antony said, shrugging. “Besides, I believe this is something you’ll be happy to receive.”

Antony opened his tuxedo jacket to pull out a small package from the inside pocket before handling it over to Jordyn.

“I apologize for opening it, but it was designated for me first and I felt it was important to make sure it wasn’t anything threatening. I can go, if you’d like to see what’s inside alone. The significance is clear enough you shouldn’t need me to translate for you.”

Jordyn thanked Antony, waiting until she was alone in the bedroom again before sitting to the edge of the bed. Opening the top of the package, Jordyn upended the contents to the silver bedspread.

The three items that fell out were not what she expected.

A check. Her final one, actually, from Legs and Leather. Oddly enough, it was handwritten, not the usual printed ones Ron used to have done up at the bank. The signature of a man’s name she didn’t recognize rested at the bottom.

That slip of paper probably would have been enough for Jordyn to figure out what Antony meant by the significance … if the small wedding band she hadn’t seen in years wasn’t tapped to the side of the check, also.

It was her mother’s wedding ring. Sandra hadn’t worn it on her finger, but instead, on the necklace Jordyn had gone back to retrieve along with her memory box. When she found her mother dead from the overdose, the necklace had been broken off, and the ring was missing.

Jordyn once thought she overlooked it in their messy apartment when she searched for it. She’d also wondered for so long if her mother’s death wasn’t exactly as it seemed. The ring suddenly appearing again said a lot.

Had Will stole it from her mother’s body and kept it all this time? Where did he keep it?

Jordyn didn’t dwell on that thought for long. She simply plucked up the plain gold band and slipped it down her index finger for safekeeping.

The final item cemented all of Jordyn’s tumultuously confused thoughts.

It was a note, scrawled in the same handwriting as the check.

Our apologies
, it read.

Freedom is never free.

Jordyn didn’t quite realize how true that was until she stared at two words that meant nothing at all to her, and absolutely everything at the same time.

• • •

Jordyn barely managed to subdue her agitation as she waited for the elevator to take her up to the highest floor of the hotel. She wasn’t sure why she was sent here with a black velvet box in her possession, but it was Antony’s request she do a quick run for him before the party.

All dressed up, heels on, hair pinned back in waves of curls, and her makeup flawless.

Why it couldn’t just wait until Monday, she didn’t know.

Sighing impatiently, the moment the elevator dinged and opened to the top floor, Jordyn was slipping out between the spreading doors and hurrying down the hall to find the room number. She was much more interested in seeing Lucian, whenever in the hell that was supposed to happen tonight, than delivering this stupid package.

Jordyn almost wanted to open the small box just to know what was inside and if it was really that important. She didn’t, though. Somehow, Antony would know she did and he wouldn’t be pleased. Jordyn wasn’t into invading other people and their privacy, anyway.

Finally, she found the correct room at the very end of the hallway, a Do Not Disturb sign hanging off the doorknob.

Too bad
, Jordyn thought.

She didn’t have time to wait for whoever was inside to wake up from their nap, fuck session … or whatever. Knocking just hard enough on the door to be annoying, Jordyn smirked as she heard footsteps behind it.

When the door swung open, Jordyn nearly stumbled back on her three inch heels in surprise at the smiling face staring back at her. She almost dropped the box she was holding, too.

“Good evening, sweetheart. Have you missed me?”

Lucian looked amazing in his form-fitted, black tuxedo with the navy blue vest and tie to match her evening gown. She choked on words trying to tumble out of her chest as she took an inventory of him one more time. Nothing was different about him, but for the slight stubble he usually kept shaved clean. Glinting hazel eyes still regarded her like she was the most important thing to grace his presence.

“Yes, I’ve missed you,” she finally managed to get out. “I’ve been waiting for you all day.”

Lucian laughed. “God, how I’ve missed you,
bella mia
.”

Those words were all the encouragement Jordyn needed. She flew into his embrace, practically knocking Lucian back inside the hotel room from the force. The fresh scent of his soap mixed with whatever cologne he was wearing soaked into her senses like it as a drug. Just being held by him was a high she couldn’t quite comprehend.

Instantly, his hands found her jaw, cupping gently to tilt her face up so their lips could meet. Jordyn vaguely registered the door being kicked shut as his tongue dove into her mouth and those hands of his wandered down the sides of her dress over the jeweled bodice and the empire waist.

She lost herself in the kiss, her body reacting to his closeness and touch by heating up from her middle and spreading outwards fast and swift. When he reluctantly pulled away, she giggled quietly while cleaning the red lipstick from his mouth.

“You look so beautiful, it’ll be a shame when this gown meets the floor tonight,” Lucian breathed against her cheek, grinning. “Cecelia did well picking the dress. She didn’t torture you much, did she?”

“Yes,” Jordyn mumbled, nodding. “It was awful.”

“But you enjoyed it …”

Jordyn scowled playfully. “A little. I didn’t realize this was going to be such a big deal. I already feel out of place and I haven’t even made face with you, yet.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lucian said darkly. “You fit perfectly at my side. Why would you be worried about that?”

Shrugging weakly, Jordyn replied, “I’m not a trust fund baby or a hand-me-down-riches kid, Lucian. We’re talking Ivy League, high-society, and lifestyles of the rich and famous. I’ve never even worn a gown before, and that includes graduation, considering I didn’t go. It makes me nervous. What if I screw up or say something stupid?”

“What, like hello?” Lucian asked sarcastically. Then, he shook his head, staring her straight in the eyes with one of those piercing gazes that rooted her in place and kept her from moving or saying a word. “I don’t care much about the people you’ll meet tonight. No one does, really. They like to think everybody cares about them, but that’s a problem they have to someday handle on their own. Besides, we’ll give them something to gossip about other than themselves for once. Who knows, maybe it’ll be humbling for them.”

“You’re awful,” Jordyn teased.

“I’m aware.” Lucian pressed another feather light kiss to her mouth. “Seriously, don’t work yourself up over those people. Smile and enjoy the night. That’s really all that matters.”

Jordyn had another thought, one that sent sadness spinning into her heart. “Are you coming home with me tonight, or do you have to stay away again?”

“You did hear me say it’ll be a shame when your gown comes off, right?”

Heat pinked Jordyn’s cheeks. “So you are?”

“I’ve missed my bed, and you in it,” Lucian replied gruffly.

“Does that mean they know who is trying to hurt you?” she asked.

Lucian snorted. “Kill, not hurt. And I’m not sure, but I gave Antony the two weeks he wanted. If he hasn’t figured it out yet, I certainly will. I doubt I’ll be as nice as he’s been about it.”

A shiver crawled up Jordyn’s spine. “I don’t like the sound of that.”