Chapter 205: No Charge
- LUCIANO -
Luciana’s house is quaint and near the beach. Dex and I are sipping agua frescas on the front porch, and I can hear the waves crashing and smell the salt of it on the air. It’s easy to relax here and feel less anxious about potential dangers lurking.
Maybe it’s true that Costa Rica is safe and I have nothing to worry about. Maybe my enemies won’t follow me here. Maybe Rory is completely healthy. Or maybe I feel more at ease because she is right inside and that calm of her presence is still infecting me after a morning of imagining the worst.
It’s dangerous to be lulled into such a sense of peace, but I like it. I can imagine staying here and getting a home overlooking the water—enjoying refreshing drinks like this and exploring the wilderness while we get old and grey.
We.
"What did you say to Rory?" Dex asks while we both stare into the distance. Rain must be coming. The sky has a slightly darker tint to it.
"You should really learn Italian," I say as a reprimand instead of answering.
"Want to teach me?" He chuckles.
"No, but Ma might. Or you could just hang out with your family more and maybe you’ll catch on."
"I want to. I plan on it," he nods and sets his glass down. "I should have stayed around instead of being gone for so long."
"Why didn’t you spend the time away in Italy and learn more about your heritage? You would have been fluent."
"I planned on it." His voice drops, becoming contemplative. "But it hurt too much. Everything reminded me of her. And I’m weak, you’re right. I ran."
"You’ve lost a lot, coz. I can’t pretend to know what that’s like. It would have messed me up, too."
His eyes become distant. "So what did you say to Rory?"
I play with my own glass and consider whether or not I want to share. The fun of keeping the secret will be lost, but I guess that’s not the point.
"I dropped like a baked pear," I say with a small chuckle. "That’s what I said."
"You dropped like a pear," he repeats, disbelief and confusion warring in his voice.
"A baked pear." I grin and take another drink, wondering if Luciana has anything to spike mine with. "That part is important."
"And what does it mean?"
I take a deep breath in and exhale. Rain is definitely coming. We will have to walk through the small village in the rain. There’s no way we will make it back in time, and the Tuk Tuk doesn’t have much protection from precipitation. Hopefully the shower will be short.
"It means you fell in love," Dex says, figuring it out on his own.
I grimace at the English. "Yeah, don’t go repeating it. It loses something important when you say it."
He chuckles and shakes his head. "Trust me, I won’t."
My phone buzzes, and I see a message from Pa. The boss. It buzzes a second time with a message from Dom. Reception must be spotty here if they’re both coming in at the same time.
As if confirming that thought, a string of notifications lights up my phone. I notice Dex looking at his phone, too.
’Call me’ is all I get from Pa.
He’s going to be calling and messaging with every little thing now. When this vacation was just about Dex, he was happy to let me go. But now that I’ve pissed him off and told him about my feelings for Rory, he’s going to be challenging the peace here every chance he gets.
It doesn’t sound like an emergency. I’ll wait to call him when we get back to the resort.
I click on Dom’s text next. ’Just landed. Taking a boat. Sonny ralphed on the plane. Permission to throw him overboard?’
Dammit, that’s right. I forgot Sonny isn’t much of a flier, and I doubt he’ll be much better on the boat. I can’t help but laugh, though.
’Permission not granted. Did you get the reservation details? How is the doc?’
’Got ’em. Doc and his woman are good. See you soon.’
"I have some people coming," I admit, only glancing up to see how Dex receives the information after I’ve checked the rest of my notifications.
"People?" He repeats.
"A few guys. For protection."
He rakes a hand over his face.
"This place is too exposed. I should have checked with you, so that’s on me," I tell him, trying to soften the irritation that he apparently feels. "And there’s also a friend of the family... uh," I chuckle, realizing there’s no way to hide the obvious reason for this one. "A cardiologist and his girlfriend. They’re all arriving in a few hours."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He looks shocked more than angry. "You just happen to have a cardiologist on speed dial and invited him down here because Rory looks... what? Tired?"
My teeth clench. When he says it like that it sounds ridiculous.
"Do you know how dangerous it is to have a medical emergency in a remote location like this one?" I ask, flashing him my darkest look to warn him not to challenge me on this. "It’s a precaution."
He leans forward, voice low. "Remember what I said earlier about that tight grip of yours? If she has any clue how insane you’re being..."
"It’s not insane," I deadpan. "And she won’t know they’re here unless we happen to need them."
"A bunch of wise guys aren’t exactly going to fit in around the pool," he scoffs.
"There are only two. They’ll fit in fine."
I sound like I believe it even though I’m not so sure. Hopefully Dom and Sonny aren’t too obvious. They can be invisible in a city without a problem, but this is entirely different. I told them to pack casual clothes, but even I’m not sure what that looks like on those two.
"They’ll be keeping an eye on her cabin at night mostly," I add. "And bumping into Dr. Reddy will be a coincidence."
Dex sighs. "Whatever you say. But you might want to think of some more Italian phrases to smooth things over once she figures it out, because she’s not an idiot."
Raya appears at the door with a white garment bag draped over her arm, cutting the conversation short.
"This is the one," she says, beaming at my cousin. "You won’t believe the story behind it. The fabric came from Italy."
A ripple of surprise passes through Dex and I, and we glance at each other.
"Really?" He chuckles and stands.
When Rory appears behind her sister, I rise to my feet, too.
"Luciana had a dream about it," Raya says quietly, giving Dex a meaningful look. "That’s why she made it."
"Holy shit," I mumble. What the hell is it about these dreams?
"And it fits and everything?" Dex asks.
"Perfectly."
Luciana arrives in the doorway, too, and the two sisters part to make way for her. She wears a shy smile.
"I’m glad it found its bride," she says.
"Thank you, Luciana. What do we owe you?" Dex asks, pulling out his wallet.
"Oh no," she shakes her head and waves her hands. "No charge."
Dex frowns, hand frozen over his open wallet.
"No, Luci, please. We must pay you for this," Raya says, stepping forward.
"I didn’t make it to sell," the older lady insists. "It was already yours."
Everyone stands silently, gazes shifting back and forth. This woman had a dream to make the dress with fabric from Italy, and she is saying it was already Raya’s to begin with. If no one was inclined to believe me about stregas before, they’re probably considering it more seriously now.
"If you won’t let us pay you for the dress, then please consider this as gratitude for your kindness and your time," Dex says, pulling out a stack of bills and handing them to her.
Luciana stares at the generous amount, lips drawn thin in indecision.
"It is too much," she says, only to have Raya and Dex quickly disagree. "Okay," she sighs with a wary smile. "Thank you. You should hurry back. Rain is coming. Do you know the way?"
"We can find it," Dex says, linking an arm with Raya. "Thanks again, Luci."
Raya breaks from Dex’s hold to give the woman a hug, which seems to startle her. But she chuckles and pats Raya’s back. Raya mumbles something that only Luciana can hear, and the older woman smiles.
"You are welcome. Congratulations."
Dex, Raya, and Rory all descend out onto the walkway, and I give Luciana a nod before following.
The last soft words from her follow us. "Pura vida. Be safe."
