Page 34 of Contempt

She laughed, still crying. He wiped the tears from her face without saying a word about them. She let him.

“Just … where have you been?” she demanded.

Renzo arched a brow. “Rules still apply, Rose.”

Don’t ask.

Don’t know.

Don’t tell.

Simple.

Rose let out a shaky breath. “But why?”

Well, he wasn’t sure if that fell into the category of the rules, or not. Sometimes, it was better to play it safe, but he figured … his sister had waited all this time, and he did owe her something.

“Someone made a deal for me,” he said, knowing he couldn’t give much more than that without explaining The League. That was most certainly off the table entirely. “Stuff you wouldn’t believe was true even if I told you it was, Rose. But there’s rules—okay? As long as we follow them, then it’s good.”

“But if you don’t follow them?”

Renzo smiled crookedly. “Let’s not find out, yeah?”

God knew he pushed the line enough.

“Okay,” she whispered, her hands fluttering across his chest before patting him quickly. “How long are you in the city? Could you come for dinner tonight? I’m sure Diego would love to see you, and you must want to see him. I mean, if you can and you don’t mind but—”

“Rose, relax.”

His sister let out a hard breath, and sniffled. “It’s been a long time, Ren.”

He hated that water in her eyes.

Hated the tears that escaped.

Mostly, because he knew that he was the cause.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

It was the best he could offer.

“Diego would like to see you, though,” Rose murmured.

“Even though he never wants to talk to me when I call?”

“Because he’s scared. He knows you’re going to have to hang up again … he doesn’t want to say goodbye a second time, Ren. He’s almost nine years old, but he’s not stupid, and he hasn’t forgotten everything that happened. Keep that in mind.”

Well, then …

Fuck.

“I’ll come over for dinner,” he promised.

“Tonight?”

“Yeah, whenever you want. Also, I’ll give you the number to my hotel room. If you’re free tomorrow, give me a call and we’ll work something out for that, too.”

He still couldn’t give her the cell number he used—The League let him call his siblings, they weren’t allowed the same, unfortunately.