Normally, Lucky plays this part.
It’s not an act, he’s the most rational as well as the most balanced—andquirky—of the five of us, except when it comes to Leonor.
If I’m being honest, we all get pretty unhinged when it comes to her, it’s how Pete, Norm, and I ended up doing time, so to say that she’s Luck’s Achilles heal when we’re all guilty of flying off the handle over her isn’t fair. But the last few years have shownme a lot, and I’d like to think I shed some of thatgoofballvibe I’ve given off for so long.
My grandma would say I’vematured, that I grew up after shit went south and I’ve continued to do so ever since we almost split over the trauma. I’m not sure that’s how I’d describe it but experiencing death the way we did definitely whipped me into shape.
While none of us need to say it, I’m pretty sure I’m the one who kept the four of us together while we sat around going crazy waiting for our girl to come back to us.
Kind of like right now.
I’m keeping a level head, trying to reassure the guys that Leo is just running behind, that she most likely let her phone die as usual, and there isn’t anything to worry about. Meanwhile, Lucky is climbing the goddamn walls, I don’t think Pete has blinked in forty five minutes, and one wrong word will have Norman on the verge of tears.
He’s a scrappy little thing with a hot temper, but we don’t call Norm our sweet boy for nothing.
“I’m calling Franc,” Luck says as he unlocks his phone for the hundredth time. “Leo said she was leaving an hour ago, she should be here by now.”
“Mark?” Norm looks at me with those big blue-green eyes, worrying his bottom lip as he wrings his hands. “You think we should call Franc?”
Yes. “Everything is fine. We all know how Leonor can be. She never has her phone charged, and she’s fucking terrible about keeping time. She’ll be here, and Francesco will only make things worse.”
I reach across the island and take Lucky’s phone from him, clearing out of what I thought was his brother’s contact only to find he’s searching for the number to the National Guard. “Really?”
“Franc didn’t answer my text.” He shrugs before he starts pacing again.
If I didn’t love these assholes as much as I do, I would have gotten tired of their shit the second we met in middle school. Goofball or not, they’re hard for even me to handle at times. But I do love them, and put up with them I shall.
“This isn’t a matter of national security.”
Lucky points a tattooed finger at me while he wears a path on the wood floor. “Yet. If Leonor isn’t here in the next ten minutes, I’m looking up the local FBI office.”
Instead of responding, I roll my eyes and rub a hand over my skull trim then force myselfnotto play with my beard.
It’s my nervous tell and we all know that, so if I start doing it now, all hell will break loose right here in our girl’s loft.
The only reason I’m not wigging out like they are is the fact that I genuinely think Leo is on her way. My gut is telling me she’s coming home, the same way my gut told me three years ago that she wasn’t. I trust my fucking gut because it brought me to these four. It’s never been wrong.
About two minutes after Lucky went backstage to find her, I got hit with this awful wave of anxiety—that I never have—then the sense of doom set in, and that’s when I dragged Pete and Norm down the hall to check on things after our anniversary show.
Did I think we’d be walking into a bloodbath? Nope. Same as I didn’t think I was about to commit murder—technically manslaughter—with two of my best friends but all that shit happened and if I had anymore growing up to do, it happened real fucking quick.
“I don’t like this,” Pete grunts as he crosses his arms over his chest, staring holes in Leo’s front door like he has been since we realized she was late.
None of us fucking like this.
Getting her back was something we didn’t think would happen but hoped for all the same, so having her running behind and not answering her phone is fucking torture. We’re all saps when it comes to her, wrapped around her little tattooed finger, and even though the dynamic changed for a couple of us, Leo is the heart of our family.
And she’s owned all four of ours for thirteen goddamn years.
A gentle hand on my shoulder has me turning from the island to meet those fearful teal eyes again.
“Mark,” Norm whispers before looking between me and the boys. “You’re really not worried?”
I blow out a breath and shake my head as I lift my hand, grabbing the side of his neck to help ground him. “I’m always worried about Leonor. She’s a wildcard and we all know that, but I know she’s coming home tonight. I can feel it, and?—“
“You’re never wrong.” Norman gives me a soft smile. “I know, I just…” He looks at Lucky and Pete again before hitting me with a look I’ve only seen on his face twice before. “We won’t just be losing Leo, and I’m not sure I can go through that again.”
He’s serious, I know that.
