Page 29 of Contempt

That’s all she wanted to do.

He hugged her again. “How long are you staying?”

“We’ll see. I was due a visit, so it could be a while. All depends.”

“Good enough for me, dolcezza.”

Yeah, her too.

• • •

The one thing Lucia didn’t want to do during her visit to New York? Stay at her parents’ home. She knew her old bedroom would be waiting there to comfort her if she felt the need to use it, and her parents would jump at the chance to have her there with them … but she still needed a bit of space.

That was all.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lucia toyed with the cell phone in her hands as she peered out the double doors leading to the hotel room’s veranda. Overlooking a bustling Manhattan street, she certainly felt at home sitting there.

That’s what New York was for her, even if it was also painful. She was starting to think the pain might not entirely be owned by her father, either. It was here that she met him—Renzo. It was in this city that she fell in love. He wasn’t taken from her while they were here, sure, but it still kind of felt like it, in a way.

The clenching ache in her heart was more than enough to make Lucia want to do something—anything—different. She was sick and tired of constantly feeling like her heart was broken, and empty.

Even if that something else was nothing more than a distraction, she didn’t care.

Turning the phone on, she dialed a familiar number, and put it to her ear. On the third ring, a familiar voice picked up with a sweet, “Hello?”

“Hey, Kelly,” Lucia replied.

Her boss hadn’t even blinked when Lucia said she had a family emergency that she needed to deal with. Sure, Kelly had asked for a little bit of details, but Lucia thought that was normal, all things considered. She tried to explain what was going on without giving away all of her father’s personal issues, but it was enough.

Kelly gave her time off, just like that.

“How’re things in New York—your dad?” Kelly asked.

“Pretty good. As much as can be expected, you know.”

“I bet. It’s been a while since you’ve been back home, right?”

“Yeah, it’s been … a long time.”

“Well, try to enjoy it.”

Yeah, she didn’t exactly know how possible that was going to be, but she was going to make the best of it.

“So, I just wanted to check,” Lucia said, “but we’re still good if I need a couple of months?”

“I hope it doesn’t take that long, but yes, I will figure something out, Lucia. You don’t have to worry about that, I promise. Besides, you know what I think of you, don’t you?”

Lucia laughed. “I mean, not really.”

“You are too talented to waste it—I will be waiting whenever you are ready to come back. All right?”

That was good enough for her.

“Yeah, okay. Thank you again. I can’t tell you enough.”

Kelly made a noise under her breath. “No thanks needed. Oh, and guess who came to the gallery today and asked about you?”

Lucia blinked. “Uh … who?”