Page 3 of Love and the Laws of Motion
Chapter Two
The address was in DUMBO, almost to the water.At the end of the cobblestone street, Livie could see the Manhattan Bridge, arching away into the city.This guy must be doing pretty well for himself, because real estate in this neighborhood was not cheap.
It might be a warning sign, though, one to add to all the others.Gloria DeSantis had been able to provide her nephew’s name, but she didn’t have a clue where he was, because in her words, “there was bad blood,” whatever that meant.When Livie tried to find him online, she’d hit another dead end.There were mentions of him from his teenage years—stuff about his early acceptance to DeWitt, listings in the student directory, but nothing recent.No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram.What kind of twenty-something had zero social media presence?Well,shedidn’t, but Jess had informed her in no uncertain terms that it made her a freak.
In the end, Gemma had asked their uncle Robert, an NYPD detective, to dig up a phone number for the guy.Livie had protested at the ethics of it, but Uncle Robert had produced a number, so despite her misgivings, she’d used it.Despite the mysterious Mr.DeSantis’s incognito existence, he’d replied instantly to a texted inquiry from a complete stranger about a freelance project.There was definitely something sketchy about this whole situation.
When Livie pressed the button by his name, someone buzzed her in without even asking who she was.Okay.She took the elevator to the fourteenth floor, which turned out to be the top one.It opened onto a small vestibule, and there was only one door.Meaning he had the whole floor.
She knocked and had just glanced down to double-check the info in his text, when the door opened in front of her.Livie’s eyes flew up and she froze.
Oh.
Whatever she’d been expecting, it was certainly not this.He was incredibly,unbelievablygood-looking.Tall, with messy dark brown hair and riveting dark eyes that made her feel pinned in place.He had one hand braced on the door frame, making his biceps flex and his tight gray T-shirt stretch across his broad shoulders.
This couldn’t be right.There was no way this was Gloria DeSantis’s computer geek nephew.He had to be his hot, soccer-player roommate or something, right?
“Um...Nicholas DeSantis?”
A tiny line formed between his heavy, dark brows.“It’s Nick.You Olivia?”
“It’s Livie.”
The corner of his mouth twitched—almost a smile—and she melted inside.There was no other way to describe it.Her insides had gone all warm and golden and glowing.An absolutely ridiculous physical response to have to another human being.
“Okay,” he said, backing away from the door.“We cleared that up.Come on in.”
So hewasGloria DeSantis’s computer geek nephew.And he was also spectacularly hot.Livie rarely noticed such things, and she’d never,everbeen so rattled by a guy’s appearance before.They hadn’t gotten past exchanging names and she was almost too flustered to speak.
He turned and walked away, leaving Livie to come in and close the door behind herself.“How’d you get my name again?”he asked over his shoulder.There was a restless energy in his body, evident even as he casually walked across a room, like he was a steel spring, tightly wound and ready to explode.He seemed like he might already be in the middle of a hundred other things.Why had he even bothered replying to her text?
Livie hurried after him.“Gloria DeSantis, your aunt.”
The sudden appearance of the Manhattan Bridge looming just on the other side of a wall of glass stopped her in her tracks.His apartment was huge, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the bridge, the East River, and the Manhattan skyline.The furniture was all that low, sleek, leather stuff you only see in magazines.There were no family photos on the walls, no opened mail scattered across the coffee table, no shoes kicked off in a pile by the door.It barely looked like anyone lived there.
He stopped and turned back to look at her.“But Aunt Gloria doesn’t have my number.Nobody in my family has my number.”
“I know.”She swallowed thickly.“I got your number from a cop.He tracked you down.”
Nick’s expression shifted, like he was really seeing her for the first time since he’d opened the door.“Okay, that’s interesting and also a little bit alarming.”
“Sorry.I tried to find you online first, but you’re not really online anywhere.”
He waved away her apology.“You wouldn’t be online either, if you’d seen what I’ve seen.So, Livie—you said it’s Livie, right?—you know my aunt Gloria?”
“She’s my neighbor.”
Those thick, expressive eyebrows lifted in surprise.“You’re from the neighborhood?”
“Yeah.I grew up there.Romano’s Bar?That’s my family’s place.”
Nick let out a surprised huff of laughter.“Romano’s?That place is still around?”
Hey.The Romanos might complain about the lousy business, but she wasn’t about to let someone else slag on the bar.
“Since 1933, and still going strong.”Limping alongwas perhaps more accurate, but he didn’t have to know that.
“I haven’t seen that place since I was a kid.”
