Page 19 of One Second After Another

“I can’t promise that,” Luca replied.

He didn’t promise anything.

Not anymore.

5.

Luca

BY the time Luca did make it to Naz’s house just outside of the city it was well past dinner time, and the sun had already started to set. He didn’t exactly plan to be that late but shit happened. Like a phone call from his mother which ended up morphing into a chat with his father as well despite the man being on the tarmac the night before when Luca arrived back in New York.

After that, he needed an entire drink—and then a second—to compose himself before he was even ready to consider leaving his apartment. But then the landlord showed up with a fucking attitude because Luca hadn’t been around to drop off his rent for the month. As if he didn’t typically pay several months ahead, and this was the first time he was late.

If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. The saying rang true—when it rained, it poured. Maybe he was just getting used to the world dumping trash on him because Luca took it all in stride. Or, he tried.

He was still late to show up at Naz’s—too late, really. Even he knew it. He certainly didn’t expect to walk through the front door and find the house lit up in all corners with life bustling all around, but he didn’t expect to find the quiet, somber mood he did, either.

Nor did he think his sister would be sitting on the entry stairs with a mug of hot coffee between her palms, staring at him like he owed her something. Maybe he did, even if he didn’t want to admit it. It wasn’t just Naz that he had been keeping secrets from lately. Although, the choice not to tell Roz the truth about his business looking for Penny hadn’t been one he personally made. That was something Naz made the final call on—Luca hadn’t argued the pros or cons.

Not his wife, not his life.

Right?

“Naz told you, then?” he asked Roz.

It took his sister a moment to respond. Her fingers flexed around the ceramic mug while her throat bobbed with an audible swallow. A good sign that she was angry and trying not to show it. Family was important—it was a rule that had been drilled into the two of them for longer than Luca cared to remember. A good rule, though. At least, it allowed them to consider their words before they spoke them aloud to one another.

“I’m mad at him, too,” Roz whispered.

Holding back tears, he knew. He could hear it in her voice, but that was also why she wouldn’t look up at him. She didn’t want him to see the water in her eyes.

“I’m mad at Naz, too,” she said, louder the second time but still sure and clear. “Because he told me years ago that you had stopped looking—there was no hope. He didn’t have answers, and I should move on, Luca. And then what, I turn around and find out that’s all you’ve ever done—but oh, you found her, too. You found Penny, but she’s—”

“I’m sorry,” Luca murmured.

Roz shook her head, a sad laugh leaving her frowning lips as she gathered her thoughts. He let her. What else could he do?

“Naz says it’s bad,” Roz eventually said, the first between them to break the silence.

“He’s not lying.”

“Well, forgive me if it’s hard to trust—”

“Roz,” Luca said, stepping closer so that he could kneel down in front of his sister. She still didn’t want to look at him where she sat in her shorts and tank top pajama set on her stairs, but she eventually did. “You’ve known Naz for as long as you’ve been alive—don’t ever say you can’t trust him. You know that’s not true.”

She sniffled but nodded once. “Still mad.”

“Be mad if you need.”

“Yeah, okay.” Roz lifted one shoulder and looked upward when she said, “He’s in his office. We’re ... or he, is doing a thing. Letting me be by myself for a bit.”

“How loud did you yell?”

Because Roz never yelled. She was a lot like their mother in that way—Katya Puzza didn’t raise her voice unless it was the last option. And when she did yell, everybody knew shit was about to go down and to get out of the way.

“Pretty loud,” she said softly, ashamed.

Luca gave her a small smile. “Sometimes, we need that. Guys, I mean. Draw the lines, Roz, and fucking hold them.”