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Neither he nor Luca responded. Conor felt like an ass for his earlier allegations. Luca hadn’t been wrong when he’d accused him of looking for a way out. That was exactly what he’d intended.
“And a lifelong family feud,” she added.
Luca grimaced, while Conor rubbed his jaw, but again, neither of them answered.
“Fine. We’ll tackle all that shit later. First things first. Because there’s a more important issue to address,” she said.
Conor wondered what the hell could be more important than the fire and he and Luca being at odds.
“What can you tell me about that gorgeous firefighter?” Harper nodded her head toward Aldo as she pulled out a large order of fries with a shit-eating grin.
Luca laughed. “He’s my cousin, Aldo, and he’s got a girlfriend.” Then he pointed in Aldo’s direction, where he and Kayden were standing close, talking. “And a boyfriend.”
“Damn,” Harper mused. “That’s hot as shit.” She tipped the carton of fries toward Luca, who grabbed a couple and shoved them in his mouth quickly.
Then she offered them to Conor. He sighed, taking one and eating it. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d had McDonald’s, though he knew he was counting in years, not months. Regardless, it was a damn good fry, so he reached for another.
Harper stuffed three fries into her mouth as she stared across the street at Aldo and sighed heavily. “Sounds like we’re all having a shitty night. I could use a beer.”
Luca exchanged a glance with him before talking to Harper. “Me too. There’s a quiet pub next block over. That cheeseburger looked good. Might get one of my own if you’d like some company.”
Harper perked up. “Oooo…a pub sounds good. Do you know if they serve dessert? I could go for a piece of pie or cake or maybe an ice cream sundae.”
Luca chuckled as he clutched his heart. “Beer and dessert? Harper, you are my kind of woman.”
Harper leaned toward Luca and bumped her shoulder against his in a friendly manner. Conor swallowed hard, struggling to sit here and watch Luca and Harper flirt with each other. This was probably the point where he should excuse himself, let the two of them?—
“What do you say, Conor?” Harper asked.
She was giving him that famous smile, and Conor felt the first tingles of…something he should not be feeling for his new business partner.
Then Luca looked at him in such a way that Conor knew the other man expected him to turn down the invitation. Maybe he was even hoping that he would. It felt like a dare Conor couldn’t resist.
If he was smart, he’d bail.
On fucking all of it.
The pub and the project.
Luca continued to stare him down.
Russos aren’t weak.
Russos don’t fail.
Those words were the mantra that had played in his head for most of his life. Always spoken in his father’s voice.
For the first time in forever, Conor didn’t want to escape. He was tired of being alone. Tonight, he wanted to be a part of something, even if it was just burgers and beers at a pub.
“I’m in.”
Those two words elicited two very different reactions from his partners. Delight on Harper’s part, disbelief on Luca’s.
“Great.” Luca stood and dusted off the seat of his jeans, drawing Conor’s attention to his very sexy ass. “I’ll go tell Aldo we’re heading out together and get him to call me when the inspector figures out what started the fire.”
Conor rose as well, offering a hand to help Harper up as Luca jogged across the street to talk to his cousin.
Harper tossed her trash into one of the city bins, the two of them standing next to each other on the sidewalk as they waited.
