Page 21 of Cusp: A Renzo + Lucia Companion

One that loved him.

He refused to be bitter about the things he didn’t have when it wouldn’t do him any good to focus on all of it. His energy was better spent with the people that did care. Hadn’t they proved that to Diego time and time again?

Renzo slapped him hard on the back as he pulled out of the hug. He didn’t go far, keeping his hands firm and heavy on Diego’s shoulders to give him a good once-over with his sharp, familiar brown gaze. Those dark eyes of his brother didn’t miss a single thing, either. It was something Diego had come to learn, and he stopped trying to hide shit from Renzo because of it, too.

“I came straight to the hotel—supposed to head to the complex, but whatever. I promised we’d talk, remember? Shit changed, you know? Sorry. I’m here, though. Let’s talk.”

Diego laughed, as weak as it was. “Really?”

Renzo nodded. “Yeah, man. Of course. I mean, if you still need to.”

It was only then that Diego noticed how his brother was dressed. In all black. Right down to the army boots he wore that he laced tightly around the ankles. The bag his brother dropped by the door when he first entered was new. None of it was Ren’s usual get-up, and even the phone tight in his grip wasn’t his normal device, either.

Shit.

He really did come straight from the job.

“I—”

“What’s that?” Ren asked, nodding at the opened laptop.

Diego let out a hard breath. “An offer to fly to LA for work.”

That had his brother paying attention. “What?”

Now or never, Diego thought.

“A couple of weeks back,” he said, “when I was home in New York, I met up with Marty Lorde. You know him—he manages the rapper you like that came out of the Bronx a few years back. Remember?”

Renzo said nothing.

Just kept staring.

Diego kept talking. “He talked about signing me on as one of his clients. I’ve already built a following of my own. But someone like him could really help me to take it to the next level because I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing half the time, you know? Maybe he can help me get to LA and figure some stuff out. I really, really want to do it, Ren. I know it’s not college like Rose wants, and I’ll be leaving school before I can officially get my diploma, but I can finish everything and still take the exams even if I am out there. It’s what I want to do.”

“Diego.”

He swallowed hard, meeting his brother’s gaze as his rambling came to an abrupt stop. “Yeah?”

“New York isn’t like LA.”

“I know.”

He said nothing else. There was nothing else for him to say about that when he didn’t care that LA would be a whole new world to him.

Renzo bent down to get a better look at the email on the laptop screen. Diego stayed silent while his brother read through the details, and even after when Ren stood straight and scrubbed a hand down over his unshaven jaw.

“Huh,” Ren muttered.

“I know it’s not respons—”

“Fuck what’s responsible right now.”

Diego blinked. “What?”

All at once, Renzo turned on him again. His hands landed to Diego’s shoulders, and strong fingers gripped tight to squeeze with the comfort he hadn’t expected. “All I care about is what you want to do … as long as it’s really what you want to do, and you know you can always call it quits. You’re basically grown, Diego. A few weeks away from turning eighteen. You can make these choices on your own, even if they’re crazy or wrong or entirely right. They are yours to make. I know Rose thinks we need to be your stand-in for parents, but right now, I’m just gonna be your big brother. Okay? Tell me what you want to do. That’s what you’re gonna do.”

He took a second.

Just one.

“I want to chase my dreams. Even if that’s all they will ever be. Just dreams. I want to chase them.”

He knew that should terrify him. The not knowing. Except the thing was, Diego had never been the type to be afraid of the unknown. Actually, the relief of finally being sure he was going to go headfirst into whatever this was—jump from this edge he stood on—kind of felt like free-falling. And damn, he was so far from scared of what his future might hold because of it, too.

Renzo smiled wide. “Does that mean you’re going to LA next week?”

Diego’s gaze flicked to the laptop and then back to his brother. “Rose will—”

“Understand. She will. Eventually.”

Was Ren right? Would Rose understand why he had to do this like Renzo did? Diego certainly hoped so because he only had one answer to the question his brother asked.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go to LA.”