Page 28 of Vendetta
My mouth fell open. ‘You just broke into the diner.’
‘You gave me permission.’ He stashed whatever he had been using into his pocket and stepped back so I could enter first. ‘After you.’
I stared at him as I shuffled inside to punch in the alarm code before it went off. ‘Do you make a habit of that?’
‘No,’ he said, following me closely. ‘My brothers and I used to find tools that we could use to break into one another’s rooms when we were younger. It was never anything more serious than bedroom warfare. It was just dumb luck that an old screw-driver could open that door tonight. The locks really aren’t what they should be.’
I flicked a switch so that a line of recessed lights sprang to life, illuminating a pathway to the other end of the diner.
‘And you just happen to carry that with you because…?’
‘I was trying to get into the old barn at my uncle’s house tonight so we could use it as a storage unit.’
Nic trailed behind me, his attention wandering around the diner like it was the most fascinating place he had ever seen. ‘My mother ordered a truckload of antiques for the new house, but she doesn’t want us moving them inside the place until she comes back from overseas in a few weeks. She wants to finish the painting first. So right now we’re trying to find a place to stash them.’
I slipped behind the counter and started looking for my keys. ‘So your mother’s entrusting her sons to handle her expensive furniture in her absence?’
Nic slid in beside me, his arm brushing against mine as we searched side by side. ‘Pretty much.’
‘I’m not sure I’m completely convinced by that, but it doesseem more likely than my other theories.’
‘What kind of theories?’
I tapped my chin. ‘How about that you’re a notorious jewel thief?’
Nic angled his head to one side and smiled. The tension seeped from his shoulders. ‘That actually sounds kind of cool.’
‘Or what if you rob little old ladies when they’re asleep in their beds?’
‘Not cool.’
I stopped searching for a moment and looked at him – his inky-brown eyes, the curve of his upper lip, the way his hair curled beneath his ears. There was something nebulous about him, something dark and uncertain. It ignited a kind of uneasiness in me that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I thought of my uncle’s warning to me, and not for the first time felt the weight of it on my mind. ‘The trouble is,’ I said, my voice catching in my throat, ‘I don’t knowwhatyou are.’
Nic held my gaze steady. ‘Maybe that’s half the fun of it.’
Too flustered to respond, I resumed the search for my keys, and Nic broke into a low laugh. I’m sure he didn’t mean it to be seductive, but the sound of it coupled with our proximity was having that effect on me.
‘So your mom went overseas and left all her sons alone in her new house?’ I asked in a bid to distract myself. ‘She sounds very trusting.’
‘She’s not,’ said Nic, laughing again. ‘It’s just that her love for Venetian furniture outweighs the distrust she has in her five sons.’
Five sons!So I hadn’t imagined Priestly Boy Number Five and I definitely wasn’t seeing ghosts that night.
‘Wetryto be respectful of her wishes when she’s away,’ Nic added as an afterthought. ‘Though sometimes we make a mess, and of course we end up fighting, too, as brothers do.’
‘I don’t have any siblings, so I guess I wouldn’t know a lot about the whole rivalry thing.’
Nic nodded thoughtfully. ‘That’s too bad. My brothers are my best friends.’
‘Even Luca?’ I couldn’t help myself.
Nic’s smile was empathetic. ‘Even Luca.’
‘That’s… surprising.’
‘He’s not so bad.’
I bit my tongue.
