Page 99 of Contempt

“You want something to eat? You never want to eat when you’re—”

Lucian shrugged. “Gio found me a good strain of herb—it does wonderful things.”

Renzo laughed under his breath.

Yeah, weed could make someone with food poisoning want to eat if it was the right strain of bud. He knew that from firsthand experience.

“I can go get you something,” Lucia said. “I’m sure they have frozen yogurt downstairs in the cafeteria.”

“That’d be great, sweetheart,” Lucian said, tossing his magazine aside, and sneaking a quick look at Renzo, too. “Renzo can keep me company.”

That was when Renzo knew.

Lucian was aware that he knew the man was M. He was sly as fuck, too, making sure to get Lucia out of the room so that the two of them could talk it out, or hash it out. Whichever way it went, he was up for it.

Renzo didn’t think people gave Lucian enough credit. He was in his golden years, sure, and right now, he was just finishing up the battle of his life, all things considered. But the man was still dangerous—and smart, too. Maybe dangerously smart, if someone wanted to look at it that way.

His hands were still in the game.

He was still watching.

Retirement was a joke for men like Lucian.

Simple as that.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Lucia said, heading back out the door.

Renzo dropped a quick kiss to her mouth as she passed him by. “Take your time. I’m sure he doesn’t mind.”

“It’s fine,” Lucian said. Once she was gone, the man in the chair getting his chemo waved at the door, saying, “Close it, hmm.”

Renzo did.

Then, he turned back to Lucian.

“What do you want me to call you—Lucian, or M?”

Lucian grinned a bit. “You know, Renzo, I was so careful. I thought you’d never figure it out—I didn’t want you to, either. Because I didn’t want you getting a complex about it. I didn’t want you to feel like … those rules and the control that The League put on you came from me because they didn’t. It was a by-product of your circumstances. How you came to them. They had to make sure they could scrub you from the world, and reinvent you. I didn’t get a choice.”

Renzo’s jaw ticked. “You’re saying you didn’t bid and win my contract just to keep me away from your daughter, then?”

“Never.”

He would have kept questioning Lucian on that. Called the man out on it, if he thought Lucian was lying to him. Something told Renzo that, in fact, Lucian was telling the truth. At this point, he didn’t have a reason to lie, did he?

“Then why did you bid on me when the time came?” Renzo asked.

Lucian looked up from his lap with a sigh. “Someone was going to do it, if not me. All that work I did … all the effort I put into getting you free again, and giving you the chance to become something bigger than you were … what would it be for? All for someone else to come along, grab your contract, and get you killed? How was I going to tell her that, Renzo? How was I going to tell her I didn’t do all that I could so that you could both have these moments again someday?”

He chewed on his inner cheek, unsure of what to say.

Again, Lucian didn’t have a reason to lie.

Not now.

Not after everything.

He gained nothing.