Silva’s scream echoed as fire burned its way over Kalinda’s legs.
Romano …
Chapter Ten
Lorenzo was nothing more than a kid, really. He’d grown up with the Lombardi Pack, and he and Cin were taking the world by storm. With his fiancée’s jewelry and his computer sense, there was nowhere to go but up. The couple had recently moved in together and out of the Community Center apartments Dominic had made in honor of the teens.
If he kept going the way he was going, he’d be Made in no time, despite his mother’s apprehension.
But today … Giuliana wanted to be anywhere else other than at his door. She’d worn her armor, black pants and tank top with her shit kicker boots. Her hair was pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck, and her weapons were strapped to her. She looked as deadly as she was.
Romano and Dominic favored priceless suits, decadence to hide their savagery, and most days Giuliana wore the top name brands to match them. It didn’t seem right to come to Lorenzo like that.
The only accessory she’d brought was Pasquale, and his quiet presence at her shoulder buoyed her. He was close enough his heat slipped over her skin, but not so much he made her claustrophobic.
“How well did he know Heath?”
“Not long, but it’s how he knew him. Cin and Heath were street urchins in District 17 before Zoey mated Dominic. They lived on dumpster food and by their wits against any danger. Lorenzo started hanging out with them, and Zoey tried her best to watch out for them.”
“Mafia turning to charity.”
“A bit. These kids, though, weren’t here to just take. Cin is the one who makes most of the jewelry the women of Encantado are wearing right now, and Lorenzo has been working on Pack finances to keep our money clean. They are invaluable.”
“They are pups.”
Yes, he was right. Every wolf who’d struggled, who lived by the Code, saw these kids as designers of their own fates. They’d beaten the odds, remained true, and carved out their place in the pack without even being able to shift. Other than Zoey, Kalinda, and Silva, they were the only non-shifter inhabitants of Lombardi Pack land. The placement of their people so close to the inner sanctum was symbolic of what they’d done. The young couple lived a stone’s throw away from Giuliana, and their home had been built by the wolves to suit them.
Just like any member of the pack.
They wanted for nothing, would be provided every wish they could ever want, and all they asked was to be family. It was humbling, that sort of love. That sort of loyalty.
It made it all the harder for Giuliana to knock.
But she’d honor who they were.
Cin, her dark-pink bob framing her chin, answered by the time Giuliana hit the door the third time. She wore red leggings and a white shirt cut to hang off her shoulders. Her earrings were little lanterns hanging from the lobes. She’d changed so much from the skinny girl with the spikey blue hair.
“Did you find him?”
“May I come in?”
“Oh … oh gods, Giuls, no.”
Cin was the only person in the world who dared to call Giuliana by a nickname and live, but she crumpled now. Giuliana grabbed her before her knees could hit the floor, lifting the young woman off her feet and carrying her farther into the home. Cin curled into her, fisting her shirt as she sobbed.
Giuliana believed Cin may have loved Heath, in her own way. In the way friends can fall in love slowly and never realize it. In the way you wake up one morning and realize you can’t be without the other. But Lorenzo had appeared and changed everything—some inferno she couldn’t get free of—and she found something real.
It wasn’t easy on any of them. Life was never easy, but they’d found a way, and Heath stayed beside them.
More than anything, it pissed Giuliana off because the wolves who’d taken him from this group had made Cin and Lorenzo believe Heath had done it on his own.
Cin exhaled roughly, sucking in her tears as Giuliana lowered her to her bright-pink couch and sat beside her.
“Where is Lorenzo?”
As if Giuliana summoned had him, Lorenzo walked through the door and slipped a gun from his waist before setting it on a table, all without looking up. It was on the tip of Giuliana’s tongue to chastise him about being unaware of his surroundings when his gaze met hers.
He’d been absolutely aware someone was in his home before he entered, and he’d also assumed it was a friend. The darkness in his gaze disappeared as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
