Criminally Yours

22.

L O R E N Z O M O R E T T I

I received a call from Roman Hale and his brothers the day of Thanksgiving. I knew Lucian was suspicious of my behavior, but I needed to meet with them. I gave the address to Roman and waited their arrival in my safe house across the city.

After about an hour, the doorbell rang. All three of the Hale brothers stepped into my home. Roman was even bigger than Lucian. They were absolute units. It was no surprise they made a name off of fighting.

"Mr. Moretti, thank you for meeting with us," Roman said as he reached his hand out to shake mine.

I took it, my respect growing for the family. "Call me Lorenzo. Let's go to my office so we can talk."

They nodded and followed me out of the room, guards trailing behind them.

"I'm sure you've heard of Angelo De Martinez by now?" Isaiah asked.

I nodded at them, "yes, he's left quite the impression."

"He's holding Gio, our dad, captive," Marco stated.

"How do you know this?" I queried. That was a large accusation to make.

"We've been in contact with Angelo for a while, and just before we left Italy, he put our dad on the line. He's very much alive," Roman stated proudly. He reminded me of myself when I was young.

I sighed. "Do you know anything about his whereabouts? My son, Lucian, and I have been trying to find him."

"No idea. How did you hear about him in the first place?" He countered.

"He stole one of our gun shipments and left a note." I shook my head at the fact that he got away with it.

Roman checked his watch. "We will be in touch. My mother had to come here with us for her safety and I don't want to leave her alone for too long."

I nodded and ushered them out of the house. I didn't even mention Amara. Did they know she was alive? Surely they had to if they knew Giovanni was.

A M A R A

When I woke up a second time, I wasn't pressed against Lucian's muscular body anymore. I sighed and sat up, realizing I needed a shower.

I flipped my legs off the bed and stretched before turning around to see Lucian, dripping wet with a towel barely covering the area below his waist.

I couldn't help but stare at his defined v-line and start to imagine what was below.

"If you wanted me that bad love, you could've just said so," he flirted with a sly smile on his face.

I zoned back into reality at his words. "Never going to happen."

He turned around and went into his closet. "Our date is tonight, by the way."

"Where are we going?" I said as I let out a small yawn.

Standing in his room like this felt comfortable. I liked waking up and being able to talk to him in the morning.

"If I told you, that would ruin the surprise," he said, walking out of his closet in grey sweats, throwing on a shirt.

I crossed my arms. "Well how am I supposed to know what to wear then?"