Her fingers moved before her mind could stop her hand. The pad of her thumb found the raised, uneven line along his neck. She listened quietly to Luca release the breath that he was holding. His hand lifted seconds later unconsciously. His fingertips hovered for the briefest moment near her forehead. La’Nova closed her eyes, anxious for the warmth that his touch brought to her entire body.
He stroked her scar like it was sacred instead of something broken as she did the same with his. Their eyes locked just as her touch softened against his neck into more slow and deliberate strokes.
“There’s going to be times when you can’t bear to look at me, Luca. You know why. Some days it’ll be easy because of the bond we created…other days it’ll feel like torture on both of our ends. Me caught up in past traumas, things that hurt me every day when I think about the two people that raised me….and you. The man that loved you unconditionally that I?—”
“Don’t.” Luca snatched his hand away from her forehead.
She felt him disconnect from her immediately. Not having to be told, she pulled her hand away from his neck. The last thing La’Nova would do was overstep their unspoken boundaries.
“That’s why…” She smiled over at him lightly.
Luca’s eyes saddened once he realized his actions.
“It’s okay… I understand like you do with me. What I really need you to do moving forward is trust me and the progress of us. This friendship and what it means for not just you but for me too. I’ll respect your space as long as you respect mine. Trust me when I tell you things…like, I’ll still be sitting out here when you come back from talking to your brother.”
Her fingers twisted lightly together in her lap. All of this was considered new to both of them. Learning how to feel the deep emotions that they had for one another even through their trauma.
“When I’m done, I’m taking you to meet the twins.” He leaned over the seat and pecked her on the forehead.
He stepped out of the car slowly, the evening air warm against his face. Luca took in how regular Roy’s house looked and now understood why the twins liked to come over his house. He heard the faint sound of kids laughing in the distance, dogs barking, and the smell of food.
His estate had none of that because his neighbors were miles down the way.
“It’s about time,” Roy said, stepping back and opening the door wide with a crooked smirk.
Luca stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. When he turned back to Roy, they slapped hands then embraced eachother into a brotherly hug. Soon as they stepped past the foyer, Luca took in the pictures that he always saw when he came over. Pictures of who he thought were Roy’s biological parents. Then pictures that were sometimes painful to look at too long. The walls carried nothing but framed photos instead of art meant to impress strangers.
All memories that both men could look back and reflect on which served as a reminder of always having each other’s back through thick and thin.
Luca stared at a picture of him and Luca as kids, Dontrell stood between them with his hands on both of their shoulders. He smiled, shoulders dropping like bricks were sat on top of them. He remembered that day vividly. Dontrell had took them to the shooting range and promised each boy a thousand dollars apiece if they hit all their targets.
That day, both Luca and Roy made Dontrell proud of them. They spent the rest of their evening discussing all the childish things they planned on buying with their money. Pride bloomed in Luca’s chest as the memory played vividly in his mind. He loved the stand-up man Dontrell was and was even prouder to call him his father.
“LuLu paid me a visit yesterday.” Roy broke through their silence.
He noticed Luca was locked in place, gazing at all his framed pictures from a distance instead of walking further into the house.
“I always felt like we were brothers…I’ve always had this unspoken deep connection with LuLu’s secret holding ass.” Roy laughed to keep his pain at bay.
Him finding out who his biological parents were fucked him up deeply. The only thing that felt good was knowing that Luca was indeed his blood. The revelation gave him answers that he sought out for years with the man he called dad. He was sorting shit out and trying to overlook his pain at the moment to be there for Luca.
“Shit is fucked up though.”Luca dropped his hands, not in the mood to talk.
“It is.” Roy huffed out.
“If we told my pops about all those vicious beatings you took as a kid from that nigga Ronald… he would have killed him…even if we told Lucille.”Luca’s chest tightened thinking back to everything Roy went through as a kid. He signed fluidly, his facial expressions matched the emotion behind every word he signed.
Most of the time when Roy was a kid visiting the Bonetti estate with bruises and wounds. He’d lie and tell Dontrell and Lucille how he got into a fight instead of telling the Bonetti’s how much of a drunk and abuser his so-called father was.
“Di Lucas never went back to Thailand either.” Roy smoothly switched subjects, not ready to discuss his personal battles with Luca right now when they had another guest amongst them.
“How long he been here?” Luca winced in pain. Instinctively, he grabbed his throat and cleared it, making a mental note to visit the doctor soon to get his pain management under control.
His thick brows pulled together, not even surprised that his grandfather was still in Cali.
“About two hours.” Roy led the way out of the front room into the living room.
Soon as they entered the living room, both men were smacked with the heavy scent of Di Lucas. His peppery and woodsy scent took up the entire space unapologetically. Eighty-six years old and still sitting straight-backed in the armchair near the window with his gold cane resting across his lap like it was part of him instead of something he leaned on to keep him well balanced.
