Page 97 of Harbor

Renzo still didn’t look at the man.

“Why are you lying?” Lucian asked, his voice edging lower with every word. “I can tell, you know. There’s no reason for you to lie to me about—”

His words abruptly cut off.

Renzo kept staring at the wall.

Then, in a whisper, Lucian said, “It was her. Lucia killed him.”

Nope.

Renzo wasn’t going there.

Vegas wasn’t even on his list of charges for reasons he didn’t know. He never brought it up to police, and they never even asked if he drove through the fucking state. He planned on keeping it that way, including to Lucia’s father.

“What about Vegas and Tucker?” Renzo asked.

“I watched, you know … waiting,” Lucian said, ignoring his question altogether. “I wanted to see if you were going to give her up. I know it would have been easy. You could have done it, washed your hands, and got a lighter sentence, probably. So, I waited and watched to see if you were going to do it. I had to know. Were you that kind of man when shit got bad, or are you the kind of man I was hoping you would be at the end of the day, Renzo.”

That did make Renzo glance back at the man—angry and glaring. “I would never give her up for anything or anyone. Ever.”

Lucian chuckled, adding, “Not even to her own father, hmm? Just now, you were willing to lie for her about Tucker to me. Even now, locked up without the people you’ve worked your whole life to protect and love … you protect her above all else.”

Why did Renzo’s lungs ache each time he exhaled?

God, he wished he knew.

“That’s why I’m here … in case you were wondering,” Lucian said. “Because this was the test. She was the thing I needed to know about before I did anything else. Despite all I knew and the things I found out, I still had to know what you were going to do for her.”

“I love her.”

“Don’t we all.” Lucian sighed, and tipped his head down to check his watch again, muttering, “Five minutes left. All right, back to Tucker. He’s connected. Did you know that?”

Renzo scowled. “Connected to what?”

“The mafia. The Vegas syndicate, specifically.”

What?

Lucian nodded. “I can tell by your expression that this is a surprise.”

“Was he always connected, or …?”

“No, he gained connections in Vegas. Specifically, he works for a brand of the syndicate there. A company called The League.”

“That doesn’t ring any bells to me.”

Lucian smirked. “Good, then they are doing their job.”

“I don’t—”

“Listen for a moment instead of speaking. It will do you wonders, I promise.” Standing from the table, Lucian fixed his suit jacket and rounded the side to stand closer to Renzo. “You took away someone they considered important to The League. Well, Lucia did, it seems, but they blame you, and by proxy, me, too. And because you could be traced back to my family through Lucia, that means I am in their debt, now. A dangerous place to be.”

Lucian told him to be quiet, so Renzo chose to do just that because none of this shit was making any sense to him.

“I could help you, that’s the thing,” Lucian said frankly. “Get you out or break you out between your time here and when they extradite you to Iowa for the robbery charge. I could like you … the way my daughter wants me to, and I know how easy it would be. She would forgive me, then, too. Not because she believes I did anything good or right … but simply because I would give you back to her. She doesn’t see the problems with that, though.”

Then, the man added in the same flat tone, “I could also put you away for the rest of your life, if I wanted to do that. God knows I have the evidence to do it, or I could pay to get the evidence to do exactly that.”