Page 48 of Driven By Impulse

Or maybe…they just weren’t him.

That was an obvious answer. A stupid answer, if Hanna was being honest with herself. She hadn’t been pining after the boy she had once liked for over a decade. And she wasn’t pining after him now.

Or his best friend who she’d accidentally kissed at a gala.

Right. Accidentally.

Because that added a whole complicated, confusing part to it. Niccolo. Ash’s club captain and best friend and…

She couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more going on between them, or maybe if they wanted there to be something more, but neither wanted to break the rules or ruin the friendship. She had seen the way that Ash looked at Nicco, a kind of longing that she was sure he had no idea showed up on his normally humorous and joyful face.

But Nicco had longing too, the kind of longing a painter had for their muse, like they couldn’t wrap their heads around life without them. Like they gave color to the flowers and meaning to the day.

Or something.

Speak of the devil and he shall be standing at your back porch.

Hanna didn’t allow herself a second to hesitate before she walked up to Nicco’s side. He didn’t have his customary cigarette in between his fingers, she noted. Then she noted just how elegant and powerful those fingers were, twined in ink and stories that tugged at her curiosity in more ways than one.

“What’s the diamond?” She nodded to the small outline on his finger.

Nicco cocked his head and looked out to the distant mountains. “No arrests?”

She sighed. “No arrests.”

“Gray and Xander used to be the two best diamond thieves you ever saw. After their last big job, about seven years ago, I recruited them to do surveillance for us instead.”

“From diamonds to security. I’m surprised they said yes.”

Nicco brought his fingers to his lips, as if forgetting he didn’t have a cigarette. “We all have our reasons for doing what we do. And our stories. Doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else.”

“I’d like to hear your story one day,” she said quietly, realizing she meant it. She wanted to hear everything this man had to say, learn about the different art that covered his arms and fingers and throat, to peel back the layers of subtleties and nuance to learn the true Niccolo.

“You know some of it,” he admitted. “You were there with us, last year.”

The only other case they had worked together. “Right…your father…”

He nodded. “Not a nice guy. But I think my mother would have liked you, Leone. She had fighting spirit, too. She wanted to survive.”

“Some days it feels harder than others,” she admitted. Rather, it felt like throwing a lifeline from the water to the person next to her in the deep end.

“That’s when you need the right people in your corner, I think.”

Hanna chewed her lip. “So you want me to forgive him, then. You don’t think he should have at least given me a choice?”

Nicco stood to his full height before her, and Hanna felt that same sensation of at once being matched and seen. His eyes were dark, heavy shadows against golden skin, and his leather jacket looked too big on him, but fuck if the man wasn’t beautiful, his elegance almost dangerous, like a beautiful sword that would cut you before you knew it.

He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up, and Hanna swallowed hard to fight against the sensations warring within her. She wanted to hold his gaze. Wanted to lick her lips and see if he’d lean down and kiss her again, the way he had done at the gala.

Wanted to drop to her knees and…

“I don’t think there’s one answer, Leone,” he murmured. “Maybe it would have worked out okay if he had stayed. Or maybe you were both too young and too hurt at the time to see the path. But if you’re looking for choices, you have one now.”

Hanna swallowed. How was it possible that this man affected her so much? Ash, she could almost understand. They had history. They had a connection that had kindled and caught flame. But Nicco was a dark horse, sneaking into her psyche when she hadn’t been looking, taking her by surprise.

“And what choice is that?”

He smiled at her. “Whether you’re going to live in the past, or focus on your future.”