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“We can give him five minutes,” Lucia says after a pause, looking around us. The dry cleaner has cleared out, and even Carmen has disappeared from behind the desk. We’re as alone as it gets, even cut off from the passing public by frosted glass. But the risk of people walking in is still high.
“Let’s go to the office in the back,” I suggest, gesturing to theemployees onlydoor.
Lucia shakes her head. “No, thank you. I don’t want to be alone in a room with the two of you.”
Beside her, Angel snorts in amusement. “Nice of you to add me to that equation. I’m not the one—”
He cuts himself off when the bell attached to the door rings and a woman carrying several dress shirts walks in. She looks at all of us curiously and asks, “Are you in line?”
After a brief silence, Lucia shakes her head. “No, we just finished up here. Catching up with some old friends. Go ahead.”
The woman shrugs and heads to the counter, dinging the bell to let Carmen know she’s out there.
The whole transaction probably only takes a few minutes, but I get more and more annoyed as it goes on. It isn’t until she’s out the door once more that I can breathe easily.
I’m about to say something when yet another customer walks through the door. At least Angel and Lucia appear to be just as put out.
Another person enters before the current customer is out, and Lucia finally laughs.
“Okay, fine. Let’s go talk in private.”
I don’t see anything funny about the situation, but I’m so desperate to be near her and Angel that I’m not going to risk so much as scowling at her for her apparent amusement at our plight.
I nod to Carmen and lead them into the back, finding the office and opening the door for us to enter. It’s not a huge space, but there’s enough room for us to sit and talk comfortably for what little time we have.
“What do you want?” Angel asks me as soon as the door closes. “I thought I pretty much made things clear when I up and left to go work forPavone.”
My mouth is dry. “I…” I still can’t believe he did that. “We miss you,” I say hurriedly. “Me and Victor. We need you back. And Lucia… you can’t stay there. You know what he’s like.”
Lucia’s eyebrows rise. “I do. And I know whatyou’relike. Also, forgive me if I don’t believe that Victor misses me.”
“Doesn’t miss me, I bet,” Angel mutters. “He’s glad he can replace me with somebody he can control more easily.”
“You’re both wrong,” I insist, watching them and wishing I could break into their dynamic somehow. I feel woefully out of place, and it isn’t fair. It’s obvious Lucia’s holding things against me, but she seems fine with Angel, and that isn’t fair either. “Victor’s… He’s trying not to show it, but he’s stressed out about all of this. He mentions your betrayal a lot, and I don’t think he’d do that if he didn’t care.” I don’t know why I’m defending Victor in all of this, but I know they won’t come back if they think Victor’s going to keep using them like they’re nothing.
I’m not going to tell Angel about the men who are grumbling over his defection, the ones who are considering leaving now that Victor doesn’t have his support.
“Of course he would,” Angel says. “The great and powerful Victor Corvi isn’t getting his way.”
“And if he misses anything about me, it’s just my cunt,” Lucia says crudely, perching on top of the desk and smoothing out her skirt over her knees.
They aren’t entirely wrong, but they aren’t right either. IknowVictor wants them back. I know him well enough to see how much he misses having Angel at his right hand, and with Lucia… It’s so complicated, but I’ve seen the way he is with other women. He cares about Lucia in a way he never has about anyone else.
He doesn’t want to see what Pavone will do to her if she stays either.
“It’s not… Damn it, it’s not like that,” I say.
“Yeah? Then tell us, what’s it like?” Angel asks, leaning against the door.
“Why are you both so fixated on Victor, anyway?” I clench my fists and try to hold on to the annoyance, the small slip of anger, because that’s better than all the other emotions whirling around inside me. “And if you’re mad at Victor, and at me, Lucia, why are you fine with Angel now? He—he did worse things to you than I did.”
Angel barks out a laugh, but Lucia shakes her head with a cool look of disappointment.
“The fact that you think that tells me there’s nothing for me here,” Lucia answers. She gets off the desk and takes a few steps towards Angel. “Let’s go. It’s okay if we show up at the wedding planner’s early.”
Before she can reach Angel—and the door—I grab Lucia’s wrist and pull her into my arms. “No!” I say quickly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I just… Don’t go.”
Lucia looks up at me, but she doesn’t pull away. “What do you think is going to happen, Saint?” she asks. “Angelo’s going to walk away from Pavone and return to Victor, and I’m going to go with him? You think that’ll happen without a bloodbath? It’s not that easy.”
