Say Ye Read Online Free PDF Page A

experienced, but something wholly different. He shook his head, knowing it didn’t matter. He knew what he had to do: protect Lita, even from himself.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    3
     
    Lorenzo wiped the steamy haze off the mirror in his bathroom. He didn’t look any different than usual. Combing his hair, he grimaced at his reflection. It would take more than a sleepless night worrying about Lita to affect his appearance. Years of projecting a certain image worked like the spell in The Picture of Dorian Grey . Lorenzo looked collected and attractive, concealing the ugly truth. He pulled on black boxer briefs and nearly tripped as he ran for the phone. He was expecting a call from Nico, his most trusted contact at DeGrazia Security, who he’d hired with another guy to trail Rich.
    “Yeah,” he said into the handset. His voice sounded breathless.
    “Catch you at a bad time?” Lee chuckled.
    Lorenzo’s stomach gripped. Lita said Lee was in Tahoe with his girlfriend. Something must be wrong. Why hadn’t…
    “Can’t talk, huh? No worries, I’ll--”
    “I’m alone. What’s up?” Lorenzo pressed the phone to his ear.
    Lee exhaled. “Meet me at the tennis court?”
    “Sure. In twenty?”
    Lee agreed and hung up. Lorenzo shrugged on a tee shirt and sweats, slipped on sneakers, grabbed his racquet and a canister of balls from the hall closet, and ran out his front door.
    Jogging downstairs, he almost collided with Nick, who was on his way down from his second floor apartment to his restaurant on the first floor of the building.
    “Meeting Lee?” Nick clapped him on the back. As usual, his landlord and friend was dressed in a grey suit, groomed to dapper perfection. Lorenzo nodded. “Bring him back here for brunch?”
    “I’ll be here.” Lorenzo watched the older man trot downstairs. Nick had known Lorenzo’s mother even longer than his father had. What had possessed her to choose a man like Vincenzo Calabra over Nick D’Angelo was a mystery. Lorenzo had to make sure Lita didn’t make such a mistake.
    He strode out into the chill, sunny morning. The sidewalks were already becoming crowded, as they usually were, especially in the summer, with the influx of more tourists. Once he passed into the residential blocks, lined with trees and parked cars, he found himself almost alone. Sprinting, he soon entered the tennis court, where he waited for a few minutes until Lee showed. No one would guess Lee and Lita were related. She resembled Lorenzo’s family more than she did her own. Lee’s only similarity to Lita was his brown hair, though his was light and curly, where Lita’s was dark and wavy. Lorenzo shook off his thoughts as they took their places on the court.
    “I called Lita last night,” Lee said after lobbing a serve over the net. The ball bounced with their conversation.
    “She okay?”
    “No.”
    Lorenzo swung wide and missed the ball. He retrieved it and whacked it back into play.
    “I was in Tahoe with Amy, but came home after talking to Lita. Seems she broke up with her boyfriend and he’s not taking it well. Been calling her all day yesterday trying to get her to meet him. She didn’t tell me right off. Had to drag it out of her. She sure can pick ‘em.”
    Lorenzo wiped his forehead with his arm. Sweat dampened his skin. “Can’t be her fault.”
    “Maybe not. At least I know she can defend herself. She took all those classes. But if she keeps trusting the wrong guys…I’d almost say she should get married. At least if she had a husband like your cousin Joe, I know she’d be safe. But she’s capable on her own. Wish she’d realize it.”
    Lorenzo held up a hand to signal a time out. He ran and gulped some water. When he returned to his position, Lee served again.
    “I’m being too hard on her. She knows what she could do. She’s just got this fixation on marriage and family. Keeps pestering Jane about who her father is.”
    “Sometimes you’re better off not knowing,” Lorenzo