Page 109 of Blood & Lace
“I have food.” Adam sighed.
I didn’t believe him. Instead, I opened his fridge, expecting trash but it was all cleared out. The freezer was the same. And then I froze. Slowly, I reached up and pulled out a container. The contents were frozen, but still looked vaguely familiar. But it wasn’t just that. Adam never put anything away right, he never took this much care. On the top was a label, the letters looping with the kind of care I had only seen one person use toward food.
“Adam?”
“Yeah?” he muttered, sounding distracted.
“Was Lucero here?”
Only silence greeted me. Slowly, I turned around, and he stared at me. I saw a flicker of something in his eyes, like he was warring between telling me or not. But then, over the back of one of his chairs, was a familiar shirt. Lucero’s. I picked it up slowly, my eyes going back to my brother’s before I pressed the fabric to my nose and stuttered out an exhale.
“What? How?”
Adam shrugged. “You think I ask questions too deep? I don’t,” he said. “He just came over, cooked, and cut my hair."
My chest throbbed. “Yeah? What else did he do?”
“He just asked me to teach him French. What the hell is your problem?”
I blinked. My anger had nothing to do with Adam and everything to do with my so-called husband. I pulled back and shook my head.
“Nothing,” I bit out. “I’ll take care of things.”
Adam blinked. “Fuck, Louis. What the hell? You looked so scary right then.”
Did I? I didn’t even feel it anymore. But what I did feel was the pure, ugly betrayal. From my father, from Adam keeping me away, from Lucero breaking the one and only rule I had ever actually put on our relationship.
“Gotta go,” I muttered.
“Wait,” Adam called as I snatched up the shirt and stalked away. “What’s wrong? Talk to me,” he said. “Hey, don’t leave.”
“I’ll be back!” I snapped.
I always came back for him. Didn’t I? My first call was to Cara as I jogged down the stairs. When she picked up, I didn’t waste minutes on courtesy.
“Triple-fucking-check that Adam is buried so deep no one can find him,” I growled. “If Régis is poking around, something is up. And somehow, Lucero found him. If he can find Adam…”
“Shit, anyone can,” she muttered. “Okay, I’m putting my fingers to work, boss. Talk to you soon.”
Cara hung up, and I knew she was already on her job. I raised a hand and grabbed a taxi back to my side of the city. Every mile etched between us felt like too damn long. Adam needed protecting.
He doesn’t want it! Just let him fend for himself.
No, that wasn’t an option I tried to tell my brain. Adam always thought he was good on his own, but he wasn’t. He never was. I bounced my foot up and down in the back of the taxi, avolcano opening up in my chest. When we reached my building, I tossed my tip and fare before I slipped outside. The moment I moved into my apartment, I smelled food cooking and heard the radio playing loud Italian music.
I turned the corner, and there Lucero was. His shirt was off, his big pecs and soft tummy on display as he sang along to the music playing. The sweats he wore hung low on his hips. It was a familiar sight. One I had gotten used to. But now? Now it strangled me.
My finger pressed against the power button. The music disappeared and Lucero whipped around. When he saw it was me, the cold danger in his eyes was replaced by warmth.
“Hey, bella! I was just working on my lemon squares recipe,” he said as he put a piece on a plate for me and dusted it in powdered sugar. “You’re just in time to taste it. Let me know what you think.”
I stared at him.
“Bella?” he asked when I didn’t move.
I laid his shirt on the counter beside the lemon square. When he looked at it, he was quiet before realization dawned on his face. Finally, he dragged his gaze up and stared at me as a tremor shot through him.
“What is this, Lucero?” I asked, my voice even. “Do you know where I got this from?”
