Page 41 of One Breath After Another

Might never.

Who knew?

Stuffing his hands in the pocket of the hoodie he’d thrown on under the leather jacket, he waited until the guys came back out of the truck and headed for another armload of boxes before saying more to Naz.

“Since when do you show up while I’m looking after the guys, anyway?” Luca asked. “Checking up on me, or—”

Naz chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t even start. You know I don’t worry about you or what you’re doing.”

“Had to ask.”

“Well, don’t.”

“Something is wrong, then,” Luca noted. All it took was his friend’s lifting brow to know he had hit the nail right on the head with that assumption. “What happened?”

“Bullshit, that’s what.”

Luca chuffed under his breath. “That tells me everything.”

“I’m getting around to it.”

“Well, get there faster.”

Naz only rolled his eyes at Luca’s attitude, but that was just their way. Another made man, and he wouldn’t dare talk to the guy the way he did with his friend. But that was the thing ... Naz would always be his best friend first and everything else second. He didn’t know how to switch that shit off, and really, he didn’t want to.

Maybe that was his biggest problem with the family business. He didn’t know how to separate the lines that were so clearly drawn the way other men wanted and needed him to on a regular basis. Men like his father.

Oh, well.

It was what it was.

“Anyway,” Naz muttered, shifting from foot to foot while the guys came back around for another trip inside the truck, “I’ve got a new problem that needs to be handled as soon as possible, so it doesn’t grow into something more.”

“And that problem is ...?”

Naz shot him a look. “Penny’s caseworker. Apparently, the woman decided she should step in on Penny’s therapy sessions by suggesting to the therapist that our home might not be the right place for her. So much so, that she even encouraged the woman to ask about things going on inside or out of the home. Like business. Or rather, anything out of the ordinary. Criminal activity was actually said, apparently.”

That had Luca’s brow rising. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s ... bold.”

“And complete fucking bullshit,” Naz grumbled.

“You know, considering who you are and everything, you guys were lucky to even get guardianship over Penny in the first damn place,” Luca said, wetting his lips to remove what taste remained of the nicotine. “And don’t pretend like you didn’t have to pull some strings just to make that happen, either. I know better.”

Naz lifted one shoulder, unbothered. “And?”

“I’m just saying. Probably should have expected some shit like this might pop up over time. People like us can only get away with so much before it becomes too much, you know what I mean?”

“I don’t need it pointed out.”

“Fair enough. What do you plan to do about this problem? Or ... what do you want me to do about it? Because that’s why you’re here, right? You want me to do something.”

Naz didn’t even try to hide his smile. “You’re not wrong ... we don’t need this problem with the caseworker right now on top of everything else.”

“So, what do you need me to do?”