Page 37 of Worth the Heat
“I know.”
“Do you, though?” he asks. “Do you really know what my brothers can do?”
I roll my eyes dramatically. “Are we really having the ‘we’ll bury you in the woods’ conversation, Luca? I get it. You’ll all come after me. I’m not sure why you’re telling me this, because you and I both know I’ve been gone for her foryears. If anyone is walking away from this, it’s going to be her.”
“You’re probably right,” he sighs. Our food arrives, and I gawk at the triple cheeseburger and fries he ordered.
“How can you eat like that?” I ask.
He smugly pats his stomach. “I’m a growing boy. Besides, I chase after high school kids on the ice every damn day. I could still play in the NHL if I wanted. I burn a shit-ton of calories every day, even at home.” His smile gets wicked. “Mostly at home.”
“Nice.”
He shrugs. “You’re just jealous you aren’t — fuck. Never mind. I can’t even finish that sentence because I’d be talking about my sister.”
Now it’s my turn to smile devilishly. “Well, just the other night, we —”
“Nope,” he yells, cutting me off as he drops his burger and sticks his index fingers in both ears. “Nope, nope, nope. Don’t you dare give me any details, man.”
I throw my head back with a loud bark of laughter. I try to get his attention, but Luca’s eyes are tightly shut, and he’s quietly humming what I think is ESPN’s NHL theme song. Reaching across the table, I grab his arm and yank it down. “I won’t tell you any details. Hell, nothing may happen with her, so it’s moot.”
“Oh, it’ll happen,” he says surely.
“Why do you say that?” I ask.
Shoving a fistful of fries in his mouth, he chews for a moment before swallowing. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you when she thinks no one is watching. She’s interested.”
I’m not sure how much I believe Luca, but I hope he’s right. “Can I ask you a question?”
“As long as it isn’t about anything to do with banging my sister, yes.”
I chuckle. “I get a vibe from Isabella that she doesn’t have a lot of self-confidence. Like she’s been beaten down time and time again, so she’sjust given up.”
He nods. “That’s somewhat correct. She’s had a couple of boyfriends who were complete jackasses. You know that stupid superstition my family has about crossing the threshold at my parents’ house?”
“Yeah,” I say. “I was there when Alex dropped his first wife.”
Luca winces. “I fucking forgot about that. Then he sailed right through with Natalie. Actually, all of us have done it, except for Belle and Leo. In Leo’s defense, he hasn’t tried. His high school girlfriend wouldn’t let him, afraid of failing it. And every time they reconnected since, it’s been hush-hush, so she hasn’t been to the house again. But Belle has tried. And failed both times.”
“Seriously? She tried twice?” I find myself suddenly irrationally angry that she thought she found love with two men that are clearly not me, and that they failed getting her over the threshold. How fucking hard can it be? “You just pick her up and walk across, right?”
“Not entirely correct. The first time, the guy tried to carry Isabella over, and he dropped her —”
I cut him off. “Give me his fucking name right the fuck now.”
Luca laughs. “He’s a non-issue.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Really. He got caught in a string of armed robberies. He’s in prison down in Cañon City for a twenty year sentence.”
“Oh.” I feel sheepish. “Continue.”
“So after that, Alex had an epiphany, and realized the reason it didn’t work was because the Santo kid should be carrying his or her beloved across the threshold. So, Isabella has to carryyou, not the other way around.”
“Damn. So Arianna carried Stone across?” I ask.
“Yup. They both just closed their eyes and charged through the doorway. Pretty sure Hannah closed her eyes when we did it too. She almost hyperventilated with fear over us not making it.”
