Page 110 of Tulips and Lost Time

“I think he’ll be fine,” I rumble. “I mean… sure, he’ll be enraged at first. But I’ll tell him I love you and that I intend to marry you. And that’ll?—”

“Marry?” Britt gasps. “Marry! Luca, you don’t marry chicks.”

“Thanks, Brat.” I look at the back of Kari’s head and shake mine side to side. “I’ve been in a committed, monogamous relationship with your best friend for two years now, jerkoff. Can I get a little faith, please?”

“Two years!” She booms, loud enough to rattle the walls. “Are you insane?” She glares at Kari. “Are you even my friend? Two years, and you said nothing?”

“Marcus.” She looks to me, widening her eyes impossibly round, then back at Britt. “That’s all I need to say on the matter. Marcus! He’s going to prison once he finds out. And Luc is permanently relocating to the cemetery. Excuse me for not wanting to rush the process!”

“I say she’s being dramatic.” I scratch a hand through my hair and sigh. “He’s gonna be pissed. He’s not gonna end up in prison.”

“No,” Britt quips, so fucking easily. “You’re wrong. He’s gonna claim temporary insanity and end up in the whacky cell block. Either way, you should probably pick out your headstone now if you want any say in what it looks like.”

“Kari?” Marcus’ voice echoes from the front of the apartment. Instantly, Britt and Kari freeze up and pale. “You home, Kar?”

“Oh shit!” Britt yanks the bedroom door open and swings it wide, then she grabs Kari’s hand and looks her up and down. Dressed? Yes. Decent? Sure. She tugs Kari into the hall, then pokes her head back into the room and snarls, “Get dressed, stupid. Climb out the chimney or some shit. You’re so dead if he finds out.”

“He’s not gonna kill me!” But do I keep my voice low? Fuck yes, I do. The second the door closes, and the girls are out of my sight, I bound out of bed and focus only on finding my boxer shorts. My pants. I don’t cling to every word the girls say outside of this room—I mean, I would if I could, but the walls are too thick.

I trip into my pants and tug the fabric up to sit on my hips, then I step into my boots and risk my neck when I leave them untied. I snatch up my shirt from the floor, and when I’m close to the door, I catch the murmurs of Marcus fucking Macchio in the living room. Settling in for a little visit with his baby sister, since I guess he’s done screwing Meg for today.

They’re hot and heavy when they’re together, but when they’re not, he’s back to obsessing about his sister.

“We’re playing a set at the club tonight,” he declares. “Just coming to see what you were doing, since it’s the weekend.”

“We’re going to the club too,” Britt announces. Seriously fucking loudly. “Kari and I were just thinking about getting breakfast at the diner, then we were gonna decide what to wear.”

“Jeans.” Marcus comes closer to the hall. His voice carries louder. So I shrug on my shirt and prepare to have my ass kicked. “You can wear jeans and a winter coat. It’s cold out.”

“Oh geez,” Kari rolls her eyes. I mean, I don’t know for sure that her eyes move. But the tone of her voice sure as shit indicates they do. “It is not cold out. And I’ll wear whatever I want.” She pauses for a beat, allowing the tension to build, before she adds, “Probably even a cute little skirt.”

“You were hiding in her room!” Kane giggles. Giggles! Who knew tattooed thugs giggle? “Dude. You just walk out of that room and say hey, I’m here, I’m banging her, get used to it.”

“He nearly killed Luc.” Eyes deathly serious, Jess looks up at her husband and shakes her head. “Like, we love Marc. Really, we do. And god knows, his reactions are based in trauma. His entire life was built around protecting Kari, and none of that makes what he did right, but it provides a little context, at least. The day he did find out?”

“He nearly killed me.” I bring my hand up and touch my jaw. Pretty sure he splintered the bone that day. Busted my eyes. Trashed my nose and ribs. “He wouldn’t be reasoned with. Couldn’t be reasoned with.”

“He did so much damage,” Jess whispers. “We were so worried.”

35

LUC

PAY THE PIPER

The girls know.

I swear, I think damn near every single person in this town knows at this point.

But Marc doesn’t. He remains blissfully unaware of the things his sister does in private, and no one else is rushing to share the news.

So we just… we continue on with our lives.

With a vague, loosely made plan to eventually tell him when the time is right.

But until that point…

“We could go into the city or something.” I lounge back on the couch in the middle of Kari’s apartment, groaning when she sidles onto my lap and grinds just a little closer. “Go out on a real date,” I moan. “We could hit a fancy restaurant and sit there until closing. Get a little tipsy on good food and nice wine, then stay in a hotel for the night.” I drag her top up, gentle as I draw the fabric over her head. I’ve pulled her hair too many times to count. Tangled it in her earrings more times than we can recollect. It’s the price we pay, I think, for me to be able to sneak around with a beautiful woman.

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