He opened his mouth and shut it as he turned his head toward the right. Something had caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.
I turned my head to see whatever gorgeous blonde he was checking out—a wave of relief should have washed over me, not a flood of disappointment.
Then I froze.
A lone man stood across the floor, almost exactly where I’d been just a few moments before. Not just any man.
My brother.
Dominic Luca.
Chapter Ten
Nico
Dominic Luca. At the Onyx. What thefuck?
What I wanted to do was grab Raven’s hand and lead her to one of the empty suites downstairs where lavish four-poster beds and Persian rugs awaited.
“I’ll be right back,” I told her instead.Merde.
I knew it was a long shot that I’d get anything useful out of Dominic. Still, this wasn’t an opportunity I could pass up. Not even for the dark-haired beauty who had the zipper of my jeans bursting at the seams.
She nodded, freeing the dark lock of hair that she kept tucking behind her ear. It had quickly become my favorite lock of hair ever—if such a thing were possible. Long and silky, with absolutely no intention of ever being tamed.
Dominic spotted me the moment I stood up, but he stayed where he was.
I never mixed business with pleasure.
I watched him as I crossed the floor. His spine was straight, shoulders back, but the even jut of his chin told me he wasn’t looking for trouble.
“It seems you’ve wandered awfully far from home,” I said with a wry grin, motioning for him to take a seat at the empty table next to where he stood. I sat down but didn’t bother signaling for Tommaso to bring a round of drinks. Dominic Luca wouldn’t be staying long.
“I have,” he said matter-of-factly, taking a seat. “From one wolf’s den to another, it seems.” He returned the wry grin, but then his face settled into the unreadable mask we all wore so well. “I came to ask you a question.”
“Ask away,” I said.
“At my mother’s funeral, I asked your father about someone—”
“Vito Costa,” I filled in.
“Yes.” He had a grim smile on his face as he spoke. “Your father said no one by that name existed.” He said it more like a question than anything.
“But you were hoping I might know someone he didn’t? Or were you hoping he was lying, and I’d offer up the information you wanted on a silver platter?” I offered.
He scoffed. “When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound very good, does it?”
I eyed Dominic closely, his gray eyes met mine—the storm brewing beneath them was not difficult to see.
“Look, it’s important, Nico. I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t. And if it’s of any assurance, I don’t think it has anything to do with your family. But with mine.”
I cocked an eyebrow.
“My mother said the name just before she died. I was hoping…” He trailed off, looking more defeated than I’d thought a Luca could look.
I could string him along. I could use his desperation a hundred different ways. It’s what Lorenzo would do.
“I’d never heard the name before, so I looked into it after your mother’s funeral. There’s no record of a Vito Costa in our family,” I said.