Lex and Lu (9 page)

But she’d already shown her hand.

Caroline looked doubtful. For a moment, Lu thought she would let it go and relief surged through her. But it was fleeting.

“You don’t have to tell me. I imagine I’ll find out before too long.”

Although her tone dripped with understanding and sympathy, Lu felt suddenly chilled.

“I can see the way Lex is looking at you. He wants you. Just be careful.”

“You’re worried about me?” Lu asked, skepticism clear in her words.

Caroline continued to stare at her. Lu could see that she would be good at her job, representing her clients with equal parts charm and confidence.

“That’s an interesting question,” she responded. “I’m very familiar with the way Lex operates. Right now, he wants you; that’s plain as day. It’s equally clear that you want him. But you don’t really know him anymore. He’s not the same boy that you knew. And his attention span is short. You are familiar and convenient. But he’ll leave you behind. I’d hate for you to get hurt.”

“I certainly appreciate your concern, Caroline. But I’m not after Lex,” she reassured her, “not that it’s any of your business, though.” Lu just couldn’t hold that comment back. She liked Caroline, but this really wasn’t any of her business.

Caroline smiled, clearly not offended, and patted Lu’s knee. Lu got the distinct impression that Caroline was patronizing her, but she didn’t care as long as this conversation was reaching a conclusion.

“Just be careful,” she murmured as she stood up to leave. She was almost out the door when she stopped and turned to Lu. “I almost forgot,” she said, although Lu knew that she didn’t ‘almost forget’ anything. “Mike left a letter with me for Lex in case anything ever happened to him. I imagine it holds the key to the mystery that is the trust. I’ll give it to Lex before I leave tomorrow.” With that, Caroline swept from the room.

Lu knew she’d be given notice. She had until tomorrow to tell Lex about Nina.

Willa found Lu sitting in the same striped wingback chair that she had escaped to thirty minutes before.

“Come on,
chica.
The hall is clearing out. We’re headed to the Village.” Taking up the seat that Caroline vacated, Willa threw herself into it. “You OK?”

“Aren’t you sick of asking me that question?”

“Hell yes. Damn, just get over this mopey shit,” she replied, reminding Lu of Sky and eliciting a smile. “Seriously though, why’d you bolt out of the room?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Seriously? Of course I do. What happened?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” Willa demanded. “What the hell, Lu? I saw Lex say something to you. What did he say?”

“Will, trust me,” Lu said, not wanting to think about what he had said. But just talking about it brought the whispered words back to her and a blush crept up her neck.

Willa watched, fascinated. She laughed as she said, “Ooh, Lu. He said something dirty dirty to you, didn’t he?”

“Stop it, Will!” Lu demanded.

“Tell me, please. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten laid.”

“Seriously, now you’re encouraging this?”

“Absolutely not. Don’t you dare sleep with him! It would be the stupidest thing you could do. But might as well enjoy the flirting. Now tell me what he said.”

“Have you been drinking?”

“Not yet. But I will be. Come on, Lu. If you were me, watching you from across the room, you would so want to know what he said. Come on, Louisa May,” Willa continued to cajole.

“I can’t, Will. I’d be embarrassed to say it.” She hated to admit that to her sister.

“Ugh. It must have been good.”

Lu glanced at her watch. “Is Dad back yet?”

“Yup. Just got back from the liquor store. Are you done avoiding him?”

Lu smiled ruefully. “Not yet. I just can’t have the conversation that he and mom want to have.”

“Can you and I have it?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your plan?”

“Sky is bringing Nina tomorrow. She’ll be here about one o’clock. Since the service is at ten, I figure that will give everyone enough time to get out of the house.”

“So she’s just going to knock on the door and say, ‘Hi, I’m Nina Pellitteri Knight. You can probably tell from looking at me that I’m your daughter!’”

“Ha ha, Willa. No. I’m going to ask Lex if we can talk after the house clears out. I’ll explain to him what happened and introduce him to Nina. And then I’ll duck.”

“Are you actually developing a sense of humor about this?” Willa asked, sounding impressed.

Lu smiled a weary smile. “No, not really. I’m just accepting the inevitable.”

Willa reached over to give her hand a squeeze. “Are you telling Dr. J.?”

“I want to let her fucking suffer,” Lu said with no malice, “but since I’ll be destroying her son, I think I owe her a heads-up.” Lu didn’t tell her what else she had planned. No one needed to know that. It was between her and Lex, and it was the only way she could think of to save the man she loved some hurt.

Willa stood. “Let’s go,” she said. As they started to walk to the door, she added, “Is it OK if I strip Pete down and fuck his brains out?”

“Did you just admit that you want Pete Pellitteri?” Lu asked, not hiding her shock.

“Yes. I did. Are you surprised?”

“That you want him—absolutely not. That you are finally admitting it? Hell yes.”

“So,” Willa calculated, “will you tell me what Lex said?”

“Ugh, Will. You’re relentless,” Lu said, laughing, following her sister out of the funeral home. “Let’s go find those pesky Pellitteri boys.”

“Yes, lets!” Willa agreed. “Let’s do that.”

The Village had changed a lot since Lu’s younger days. Since she left at seventeen, she’d never really hung out at the bars in the small commercial district on Siesta Key. She did recognize that it had been infused with some upscale boutiques, a couple of bars and restaurants. They chose the Daiquiri Deck because of its open-air venue. The beautiful night was clear, humidity free and cool enough to lure people to sit outside. They left the house to the adults and drove to the bar as quickly as they could exit. Willa and Lu were happy with the choice because it meant they could walk home. It wasn’t like they could get too crazy, with the memorial service at ten o’clock in the morning.

Willa, Pete, Lex, Lu, Caroline, and Miguel were all that was left of the crowd. The talk of the table turned to soccer when Willa and Pete went to get drinks. Lu excused herself and headed to the bar to join them. Walking up to Pete, she grabbed his hand, squeezed it, and leaned in to him. “You doing OK?” she asked.

“Yup, Harvard, I’m doing OK,” he said with a sad smile.

“So many people were there today. Must have made your mother feel good.”

“More humbling than anything,” Pete responded. “But, yeah, I think it made a difference.”

Willa looked at her watch. “I think we should call it a night. I’ll get their drinks, then can we leave?” she asked Lu.

Lu didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”

“I’ll come with you,” Pete said. “Lex can swing by and get me when he’s ready. I think they’re talking business.”

“I got lost about two minutes into the conversation,” Lu said.

They each grabbed a drink from the bar and headed back to the table. Placing the drinks in front of their respective owners, Pete said, “We’re gonna walk to Will’s. Just swing by and get me when you’re ready.”

Lex looked at his brother, then at Lu. She was across from him, out of his reach. “You too?” he asked her.

“Yeah. I’m beat.” Lex nodded his head, seemingly accepting of her decision. Surprised, but relieved, Lu walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.

Lex merely turned his head, which was right next to her ear and whispered, “Before that.” With the din of the music and the swirling conversation, no one heard him but Lu.

Quickly withdrawing, she looked uneasily toward Pete and Willa. “Ready?”

They said their good nights and walked the half mile to Willa’s condo. Lu dropped back, lost in thought and trying to give Willa some space to operate. When they made it to the apartment, she quickly withdrew to her room, leaving Pete and Willa alone.

Willa was still debating, wondering if she should really try to seduce Pete. He interrupted her thoughts.

“I’m surprised Lex didn’t put up a fight when Lu left.”

“I’m not,” Willa responded. “He’ll end up here. He’s just biding his time.” Pete opened her sliding glass door and walked out on the balcony.

“Do you love hearing the water when you go to sleep and wake up?” he asked.

Standing a heartbeat away, Willa moved to his left and leaned on the railing, mimicking his stance. “You know I do.” She wanted to talk to him about Lu’s plan, but she wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. Over the last eight years, Willa and Pete had, by mutual, silent agreement, avoided the subject of their siblings. It just seemed simpler not to talk about it. Willa had always been afraid that Pete secretly hated what Lu had done, what she agreed to, and she didn’t want to have to defend her sister. But suddenly she needed to talk to him about it.

“What do you think Lex is going to do when he finds out about Nina?”

Dropping his head in his hands, he looked completely distraught. Rolling his head to the side, he caught her eye. “I feel like I am waiting for Armageddon to occur.”

Willa didn’t mean to, but she smiled. “Nice.”

“Fuck, Willa. We’re burying my father tomorrow. The people I’m closest to are going to come apart at the seams when this all gets revealed.” He sighed and looked back to the water. “There’s a good chance Lex will absolutely hate me, but I’m so relieved. I want him to know Nina.”

Willa knew there was more, so she stayed quiet—which was damn hard.

“Can we fast-forward past tomorrow and just get to the aftermath?” Pete asked.

Willa couldn’t resist any longer. She pulled his hand out of its clasp and locked her hand with his. She pulled him close, into a hug. She felt him stiffen, then relax into her. “Damn, Willa. What the hell are we going to do?”

“We’ll figure it out,” she murmured.

They didn’t talk for a while, just held each other. Pete’s hand started to move up and down her back and she willed herself to let him dictate this.

“Will,” he whispered, close to her ear, making her shiver with desire, “would it feel at all incestuous to you if I tried to kiss you?” He drew back and smiled at her.

And she burst into rippling laughter. “Ah, Petey, you really know how to get a girl hot.”

He laughed too. Then, he grabbed her gently by the back of her neck, pulled her forward and kissed her. And it was good. Very good. Not at all incestuous and not at all the little Petey that she had grown up with. When he ended the kiss, she grabbed his hand and led him to her room.

“Stay here tonight, Pete.”

“OK. But Willa”—he stopped her, grabbed both of her hands, and kissed her briefly—“this can’t go any further tonight.” He kissed her again to take the sting out of his words. “Tomorrow we are going to be operating in a whole new world. We need to take this slow.”

Willa was about to protest. Pete stopped her by laying his index finger across her lips. “Listen to me. I already love you. We have an amazing niece together. But my brother and your sister are about to destroy each other. I just can’t do this now when—” He stopped. “Armageddon. I know this isn’t you, but can we do this my way?”

Willa was burning up with desire. Always the impulsive one, she wanted to have him now. But Pete was the reasonable one—the one who tempered Lex. And just as he was the voice of reason so much when they were growing up, what he said made sense. Her blue eyes burned hot.

With his finger still on her lips, he begged, “Please don’t make this harder for me than it already is.”

His big chocolate eyes were impossible to resist. She reached up and gently took hold of the hand that had rested lightly on her mouth. “OK. But you better be really fucking good,” she said with characteristic bluntness.

Laughing, he leaned forward and branded her with a scalding kiss. “You don’t need to worry about that!”

Willa led him to her room. She got ready for bed, he texted Lex. Then he wrapped himself around her and fell into a contented sleep.

Lex couldn’t remember ever being so exhausted. The last couple of days had finally caught up with him. But as he crossed the threshold of Willa’s condo, a startling energy coursed through him—his proximity to Lu instantly registering. He needed her. Surprised to find the living room empty of his brother, he sat lithely on the couch.

He’d been warned off by everyone, his mother, Caroline, Dr. A., and Willa. The vehemence of their positions gave him some pause. Their concerns were valid. They beat at him now as his body continued to strum with unreleased desire. He would return to England, she would stay here. While baby genius Lu was super intelligent, she wasn’t worldly. He would hurt her. His world wasn’t made for a tenure-track professor. How could he leave her behind again?

He’d heard it all and he’d listened. He’d even thought briefly about leaving without making love to Lu. But how could he? Maybe Pete was right about this being just familiarity and grief. Did he just want her because he was home and it felt like he should be with her because his memories of Sarasota were all wrapped up with her? He didn’t think that was it, but he couldn’t be sure of anything at this point. His objectivity on the subject didn’t exist.