Rock Chick 05 Revenge (32 page)

Ren was easy to talk to, he might have been hot as well as way cool but there was something mellow about him, laid-back and he gave the impression he gave a shit about what you said.

Our big bowl of caesar salad was put on the table when Ren asked, “So how are you doin’?”

Considering we were into the salad stage, I didn’t figure this was an opening remark.

I looked at him and tried to judge how safe he was. Luke had thrown a new light on the Vincetti-Zano family. Still, I’d spent a lot of time with them. When they took in Sissy, they took me in and they were always really nice to me. There were a lot of them I liked and one of the ones I liked the most was Ren.

“Do you know what’s been happening?” I asked.

He sat back ignoring the salad, eyes serious. “Tell me.”

I served up the salad and told him. Then I told him more while eating the salad. Then I told him some more while eating a second serving of the salad.

While I talked, I could feel Ren’s laid-back mood slipping into something a lot scarier.

The big salad bowl was taken away and I just stopped myself from nabbing one last crouton as the server took it when Ren said, “Why didn’t you call me?”

I looked at him a little surprised. We knew each other but weren’t exactly close. He wasn’t like a bestest best friend who you called when you found a great fingernail polish or when you got kidnapped, especially when his family was doing the kidnapping.

“Why would I call you?” I asked.

“This is family business.”

“I’m not family.”

“Sissy’s family.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

He sat back and said with finality, “I’ll take care of it.”

I leaned forward. Time to get down to business.

“What, exactly, are you gonna take care of?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” he returned casually and I could tell he was ready to move on to another subject.

I didn’t think so. “Well, considering the fact that, for some bizarre reason, I’m involved, I can’t help but worry about it.”

He just looked at me.

“Why am I involved?” I went on.

“Because Dom’s a dickhead,” he answered.

I couldn’t argue with that either, but still. “That doesn’t give me a lot to go on, Ren.”

My hand was resting on the table and Ren put his over mine. I looked at his hand and noticed it was nice, strong and well-veined. His hand didn’t look like the hand of a man who wore a suit.

I looked back to him, shrugging off thoughts of his hand when he started speaking. “Dom’s been talkin’ about you a lot. I won’t repeat it and I’m sorry to have to tell you this because I know it’s gonna piss you off, but he’s made it pretty clear he’s moved on from Sissy and even more clear who he’d like to move on to.” At this news, my fingers curled in and fisted angrily under his and he twisted his hand so that our palms were facing and his fingers were laced in mine. I was hoping that Luke didn’t have cameras installed in Carmine’s because I was pretty certain if he saw Ren and I holding hands, especially like that, there’d be hell to pay and I’d be the one paying.

Ren kept talking. “He has some troubles with some not-so-good guys. Fucked with the business, fucked with the family. Vito’s pissed but he’s trying to sort it out because Dom’s family. In the meantime, Dom’s disappeared. They want Dom and are tryin’ to flush him out so I suspect that’s why they’ve gone after you. And today, finding Sissy available, her.”

I gently pulled my hand away and sat back, looking to the floor at the side of the table as I vowed quintuple-revenge against Dickhead Dom.

“You’ll be safe,” Ren was saying and I looked at him. Laid-back Ren was history, his eyes were sharp and he even looked angry. I’d seen a lot of Ren’s looks but this was a new one and, I had to admit, even if it made me a freak, it was hot. “I’ll assign Santo to you and Lucky to Sissy,” he finished.

I blinked at him as our family style meal was served (Ren let me pick, Chicken Montana with asparagus, sun dried tomatoes and Gorgonzola sauce, I’d let the healthy living mojo have the night off).

“What do you mean, assign –” I asked.

Ren interrupted me. “Bodyguards. Santo and Lucky will look after you two.”

Oh shit. This was not good.

“No, really, that isn’t necessary. I’m covered.”

Ren’s eyes caught mine. “By Stark?”

Hmm.

He seemed very interested, his eyes no longer angry but still sharp and very alert.

“Um… yeah,” I answered.

Ren went in for a direct hit. “You seein’ him?”

Well there we were, the moment of truth.

Was I seeing Luke Stark?

Was
I seeing Luke Stark?

Crap.

“Kind of,” I hedged.

The tips of Ren’s lips went up slightly and I knew he found this amusing. “Stark doesn’t strike me as a guy who would ‘kind of’ be seein’ a woman like you.”

“What’s that mean?”

Why did I ask? Why, why, why?

“A man like that has a woman like you, there’s nothing ‘kind of’ about it.”

“Do you know Luke?”

“I know him. Not well, but I know him.”

“If you don’t know him well then how would you know? He might be perfectly happy with having a relationship that’s not exclusive. In fact, he might do it all the time.”

Just ask Sandra Whoever-She Was, she’d tell you
, I thought but did not say.

“I bet he does, just not with a woman like you,” Ren said.

“What’s that mean?”

I did it again! Why?

He leaned toward me. “Ava, you should know Stark and me don’t get along. We don’t because we find ourselves on opposite sides of the fence a lot of the time. We also don’t get along because we’re a lot alike. Therefore I know a man like that doesn’t ‘kind of’ see a woman like you because
I
wouldn’t ‘kind of’ see a woman like you. A man like that gets hold of a woman like you, all ass, legs, hair and attitude, protecting a soft spot you can just about see but she won’t let you touch. Fuck,” his voice lowered in a sexy way, he leaned in further, his eyes got that hungry look again and I found I was having trouble breathing. “A man like that gets hold of a woman like you it automatically becomes exclusive.”

Holy cramoly.

I decided I didn’t want to know any more and started spooning up the Chicken Montana.

I also decided that, even though I couldn’t stay in my pretend happy place for very long, there were certain times I was going to go visit.

This was one of those times.

“Ava,” Ren called.

I looked at him.

He still had that hungry look but it had intensified. Chicken Montana slid off the spoon and plopped on the white paper as my belly did a plunge.

“Do you understand what I just said to you?” he asked softly.

“I’m in my pretend happy place,” I told him.

He leaned back and smiled and I had to admit it was
hot
.

It was also predatory.

I was
so
screwed.

* * * * *

For some reason when Ren and I left the restaurant and I told him he had to take me to Luke’s, Ren found this amusing.

Then discovering that Ren found this amusing, I found I needed cookies. Therefore I asked Ren to detour to King Soopers so we could buy cookies.

Ren found this even more amusing.

While we were at King Soopers, I bought a whole bunch of other stuff, probably because I was stalling about going back to Luke’s. Ren seemed not to care even a little bit that we were grocery shopping at ten o’clock at night with our end destination being Luke’s.

This made me uncomfortable. Seeing as I was a dork, I again didn’t read the warning signs. When Ren parked outside of Luke’s and I got out and went for the bags, Ren came around to help me.

Not good.

“I’ve got it,” I said, struggling with five bags, two of which contained cookies.

“I’ll carry them.”

Oh no. No, no, no,
no!

Ren was
not
walking into Luke’s loft with me.

He took the bags away from me firmly and started to walk into Luke’s building.

Crap!

Ren was walking into Luke’s loft with me.

Alert! Alert! Danger! Danger!

“Ren, really,” I said, catching up and beginning to sound desperate.

He turned to me and I stopped dead at the look in his eye. “I’m makin’ sure you’re safe in the building, Ava.”

And that, apparently, was that.

I couldn’t exactly get in a rip roarin’ on the sidewalk with him, not with Luke (maybe) upstairs. I had to be cool, calm and composed. I’d sworn off men. It was my decision and I was sticking to it.

So what? One hot guy who wanted to get in my pants was orchestrating a faceoff with another one. It didn’t touch me. I was immune. I was removed.

I’m a little scared,
Good Ava was trembling, holding close to my neck.

I can’t WAIT to see what happens!
Bad Ava was trembling with excitement.

I called the elevator and then used my key to the button to Luke’s floor. The whole time, even if I was immune and removed, I hoped that Luke was out doing scary shit (but not too scary) and not at home.

The elevator doors slid open and all hopes were dashed.

The loft was softly lit, Tom Petty was singing “American Girl” on the stereo and Luke was standing behind the semi-circle bar, phone to his ear.

His head snapped up when we entered. His eyes did a body scan of me, his mouth tightened then his eyes moved to Ren and his jaw clenched.

Shit.

I turned immediately to Ren. “I’ll take them now,” I said, grabbing the bags. “Thanks for helping me,” I went on, as if it was all my idea.

He let me take the bags (luckily cookies didn’t weigh that much in cookie form, their weight multiplied significantly once they’d processed themselves onto your ass).

Ren smiled down at me. “Nice night, Ava,” he said softly.

Don’t touch me, don’t touch me, don’t touch me,
I thought.

“Thanks for dinner,” I replied.

His hand came up, I held my breath and he tucked my hair behind my ear. All the while he did this he was looking into my eyes, his carrying that look that made me feel like I was going to pass out.

Then he walked into the elevator, turned, his eyes moved to Luke then back to me, he smiled and the doors slid closed.

Alone again with Luke.

Shit.

I walked into the loft not looking at Luke and planning my defense.

He’d mostly touched my hair,
not
me. I was going to argue that hair didn’t count.
 

I put the bags on the counter at the back wall not looking at Luke and heard Luke say into the phone, “Call me when you have an update on his condition.”

At his words, I turned to him woodenly and heard him beep the phone off. My eyes moved to his and I wished they didn’t.

He was
way
pissed off. Super pissed. Ultra pissed.

Still, I had to know. “Bobby?” I asked.

“Found him,” Luke answered. “Fractured skull, major head trauma.”

I closed my eyes and opened them again. “Is he going to be okay?”

“We’ll know more tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry, Luke,” I said quietly, meaning every word.

“You didn’t smash him in the head.”

This was true. I still felt like shit, Bobby got hurt looking after Sissy and me.

“I don’t know what to say,” I told him.

“Nothin’ to say.”

He was likely right about that.

“You wanna tell me why you brought Ren Zano to my loft?” he asked, his voice had changed from matter-of-fact to lethal and I tried to find my immune and removed zone (and failed).

I turned away from him and started to unload cookies. “I told him about my troubles. He wanted to make sure I got in safely,” I tried to pretend it was nothing when I knew it was anything but.

“Ava, turn around and look at me.”

Not gonna happen. “I’m putting away the groceries. Some of it has to get in the freezer.” Like the three containers of ice cream.

“Ava, turn around.”

“Luke, no. I know you’re angry but you’re just going to have to get over it,” I shoved the ice cream in the freezer and slammed the door, all the while avoiding his eyes. “We just had dinner. We talked. Nothing more. That’s it. The end.”

I started unloading cookies. Double Stuff Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Nutter Butter, regular Milanos, Mint Milanos, orange-flavored Milanos…

“You stood right in front of me, wearin’ a fuck-me skirt and fuck-me shoes and let him touch you,” he said to my back.