Page 66 of Harbor

All Diego cared about was the fact as soon as he ate his breakfast, Renzo got him bathed, dressed, and took him out to do something other than watch cartoons and play with his cars. He hadn’t been able to do that in way too long. Sure, it might have been safer for the three of them to stay tucked away as much as possible, but Renzo didn’t want them all going stir-crazy, either.

Which was a real fucking possibility.

None of them had ever gotten to sightsee San Francisco’s most famous districts, so he figured that was the best way to spend their day. Then, he could close their day out with something else that would make them all happy, too.

Soon, Lucia drifted away from the window to join Renzo’s side again. Without saying a thing, her palm slid in with his, and their fingers intertwined tightly together. He tugged her closer until she was tucked into his side, and he could drop a kiss to the top of her head. She graced him with one of those smiles he loved the best—all soft, sweet, and knowing. He didn’t know what it was she knew, but whatever it was, it had his heart kicking a fucking beat or two.

That’s what mattered the most to him.

That, and having her close.

With Diego on one side of him, and Lucia on the other, Renzo felt better than he had in days as they continued their walk down the block. Some of the shops had set up vendor tents next to their entrance doors for people to shop outside without even having to go in to pay. He supposed that was for the tourists who overscheduled their days and couldn’t take the time to experience each thing one at a time.

That also helped them.

With so many people around, Renzo felt … safer. If that was even the right word for it. There were enough tourists, distractions, and beauty that the three of them could be anybody walking down the street. They blended in with the mixture of people. It was a melting pot of ethnicities and culture, really. They didn’t particularly stand out as people to stare at when they walked by. He didn’t feel the need to look over his shoulder every five seconds.

It was great.

And probably a fucking lie, too.

Because that was the thing—being lulled into a sense of safety didn’t leave Renzo feeling all that great. He didn’t want to get complacent just to have the goddamn rug ripped out from under him. At the same time, he didn’t want to voice that anxiety of his just to ruin this day for Lucia and Diego, either.

Christ.

Nothing was ever simple.

It was only the tightening of Lucia’s fingers around his that finally dragged Renzo out of his pestering thoughts. He found her smiling at him in that way of hers again—like she just knew his mind was going crazy, and she wanted to bring him back to that moment with them. He was grateful.

“You good?” she asked.

He could have said no.

He grinned instead. “Yeah, babe.”

Lucia winked. “Better be. So, what’s next?”

That was the question of the hour, wasn’t it?

“I thought we should go get this brat something to eat,” Renzo said, letting go of Diego’s hand just long enough to tickle the boy along the side of his neck. His brother squealed, and tried to dart away from his brother’s hand, but Renzo was too quick for him. He bent down to sneak an arm around Diego’s waist, and pulled him up to carry him while still holding Lucia’s hand at the same time. Diego’s laughter drew in several kind gazes and smiles all around them, but the people quickly went back to whatever they had been doing before the interruption. “And I guess we better feed you, too, Lucia.”

God knew she wouldn’t say a thing otherwise. She wasn’t the type to open up her mouth and complain if things weren’t going her way. She didn’t whine when shit was rough. She just got up, and did what was needed. He loved that about her the most, honestly. Well, that and a whole lot of other things, too.

She gave him a look. “I guess, huh?”

Renzo chuckled, and dropped a kiss to her sweet mouth. “I know a place.”

Their second surprise, that was.

Something to make this day even better than it already was.

• • •

Diego practically climbed over the table to get the last quarter of the mini pizza he’d ordered for dinner. He couldn’t just ask for it, no. He had to climb over the damn table, and drag it back across the top when he fell back into his chair. All Renzo could do was laugh at his little brother because shit, even correcting him probably wouldn’t help.

“This place is busy,” Lucia noted.

Renzo nodded, and finished the bite of spaghetti in his mouth. “It is. Seems like everybody likes it.”