Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
So I let the silence hang as Alara pet a very disinterested Tuna.
Then climbed with her up the stairs toward Zeno’s place.
It took three solid minutes of knocking to hear any kind of movement inside.
“Keep your panties on,” Zeno called, tone light. The door pulled open, and his gaze landed on Alara, making a boyish smile tug at his lips. “Or take them off. Whichever you’d prefer.”
I wasn’t aware any sound escaped me until Zeno’s gaze flicked up, brows raising.
“Wait. Shit,” he said, recognition hitting. “Chris, man! It’s been forever!”
It had been. And when I’d left, he’d been young still.
He’d grown up.
He was just as tall as his brothers, with a slim build, but well-toned. How’d I know that? Because the guy answered the door wearing nothing but fuzzy Santa Claus-patterned pajama pants. And mismatched socks.
The family resemblance to Nico, Leo, Cesare, and Gav was unmistakable. Same strong bone structure and dark hair. Though Zeno’s was about two months overdue for a trim, starting to flop into his face. His brow was pierced over his dark brown eye. And when he spoke, I spied another piercing in his tongue.
“Come here, man,” he said, grabbing me and pulling me into a bear hug with Alara smushed between us.
“I’m sure this family reunion is sweet and all, but I’m suffocating here,” Alara grumbled.
Zeno patted my shoulder a few more times before pulling away. “Got a two-for-one hug. You’re Alara, right? We met once.”
“We did. You were buying an ungodly amount of caffeine.”
“Me? No. I don’t have any vices,” he said, waving out toward his desk with nails in chipped black paint. It was covered in old take-away coffee cups and energy drinks. At least a dozen of them.
But other than his desk, his apartment was surprisingly tidy. Nothing at all like I’d been told, repeatedly, by people. Certainly not the ‘potential biohazard’ Alara had mentioned.
Maybe he came up with a cleaning schedule.
Or hired someone.
“And who is this?” Zeno asked, dropping down to a deep squat and holding out both hands toward Tuna, who, after a suspicious sniff, walked right over to be petted.
“I’m starting to think he’s sexist,” Alara said, looking over at me. “I saved you from a life of dumpster diving and fighting rats for the last scrap of food, you ingrate.”
Tuna wasn’t listening. He was too busy licking Zeno’s hand and rolling over to beg for belly rubs.
“This is Tuna,” I said.
“He’s amazing,” Zeno said. “I wish I could get a dog.”
“Why can’t you?” I asked.
“I’m not good with the… remembering to feed myself thing. Doubt I’d be able to take good care of a dog. So, no one ventures over here just for a chat. What’s up? Got a job for me?”
Alara pulled out the flash drive.
“This cost a woman her life.”
“And gave you some bruises?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well, let’s see if it’s password-protected or not.”
He walked over to his desk, pulling open a drawer, then removed a laptop from a pile of them.
At my scrunched brows, he shrugged. “My setup cost a mint. I don’t want to compromise it if something has a virus.”
Alara absentmindedly stacked empty coffee cups together and tossed them in a nearby trash can as Zeno turned on the laptop and waited for it to load.
“So, how long have you two been together?” he asked, making a strange, strangled sound escape Alara.
“We’re, ah—” she started, but stopped herself.
Because we weren’t nothing.
But we hadn’t exactly been something yet either.
Zeno leaned over his desk, glancing between us. “Please,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “I can smell the sexual tension between you two.”
“What do you know about sex?” Alara teased. “When’s the last time you left this apartment?”
Zeno glanced up at her, his smile going devilish. He twisted his tongue and bit it for a second before answering. “Who says I need to go out to get laid?”
“Oh, you’re just so attractive that women line up at your door, huh?”
“Something like that,” he agreed. He leaned closer to her. “Want to see why?”
“Hey,” I snapped.
Zeno looked over his shoulder at me.
“Oh, but nothing’s going on here, huh?” he asked.
“That’s Brio’s sister-in-law,” I reminded him.
“And I’m sure that would mean something if she wasn’t a full-grown woman who can decide who she wants to take a ride with.”
Huh.
I would have thought that the other Costa guys who hadn’t been away from the Family as long as I had would have been more protective.
But, I guess, these guys were all around for Isabella and Lore both marrying rival family bosses. So maybe they weren’t as old-school with their thinking as I was.
Or I was trying to come up with a reason not to date Alara because, quite frankly, I hadn’t felt ready; because I wasn’t prepared to care so much so quickly. Because this wasn’t anywhere in my plans.
“Welp,” Zeno said, snapping me out of my thoughts, “it’s password-protected.”