Chapter 9

The following morning, Luciana was up just as the sun rose over the horizon, having the day off and surprisingly, she had no nightmares. Instead, her dreams had been plagued with Mark Calaway and it made her blush while she cooked breakfast for herself since Thea went home with Jon. It still made her nervous, but Thea was a grown woman capable of making her own decisions. Luciana had to keep reminding herself of that and had already popped a Prozac, hoping she wouldn't have to live off of pills for the rest of her life in order to keep her anxiety and nerves in check.

Flipping the pancake in the pan, with classic rock blaring from the radio and in a long nightshirt, she moved her hips to the beat since she was alone. Her hair was pulled back as much as it could be in a clip and her feet were bare. The kitchen was off to the side, so it didn't face the front door and her back met it. So when Luciana turned around and saw Mark standing there, with a shit eaten grin on his face, she screamed, dropping the spatula.

Mark stooped to pick up the spatula off the front porch and shook his head, straightening back up. "You got issues, Luce."

He wondered how the hell she could be terrified at someone being in her house when she had left the front door open and the screen door unlocked. That was an invitation. When she looked like she was either going to have a panic attack or slap the piss out of him, Mark tossed the spatula into the sink and stooped down to kiss her forehead.

"Your pancakes are burning, darlin'."

"I – SHIT!"

Rushing over to the pan, Luciana turned the stove off and moved it to the next grate, shaking her head. She reached up to turn the radio down and finally turned to face him, having left the front door open to let the breeze in. It was a cool morning for a change and all the windows were open as well. It was barely going on 8 AM and she recalled him visiting her around the same time to confront her about finding another job. Mark was an early riser, she surmised, and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, feeling her heart slowly start to go back to normal.

"What are you doing here?"

"Windows and doors wide open, it's quiet enough outside that I could hear your music and Thea is spending the night with Jon." Mark said quietly, figuring startling her further was going to result in him getting whacked upside his skull with that very hot skillet. "You don't know where I live, do you, darlin'?" Not so far from her actually, few blocks away, small apartment building. Jon did not live with him, thankfully, or near him. "I walk this way almost every day." One of his favorite types of exercise was walking and it also allowed him time to think.

"Oh okay." Luciana would never strike him with a hot skillet and took another deep breath, remembering how Thea taught her to calm down. "I didn't mean to freak out. Just didn't expect you to be here this early in the day."

The man either had insomnia or had some kind of problem when it came to sleeping, just like her. She still had to take Melatonin to be able to fall asleep at a half-decent hour. The black circles under her eyes were gone, but it sucked she had to rely on yet another substance in order to rest.

"Are you hungry?" She dumped the burnt pancake in the garbage and fired the skillet up again, having plenty of pancake batter left. "Maybe we can go for a walk afterwards, if you want." The man liked to walk, and she didn't mind it either. "Unless you have other plans…"

"I don't."

Mark made himself comfortable at her kitchen counter, taking in what she was doing and the dishes in the soapy dishwater, ready to go. He began washing while she cooked, figuring if he was going to get a hot meal he might as well contribute in some way. When Luciana turned back on the radio, he watched her out of the corner of his eye, expecting her to start dancing again.

"Come on now, darlin', get back to swaying them hips." That had definitely been his favorite part of the impromptu show.

"Oh my god…" Luciana groaned, feeling her cheeks burning in embarrassment and smacked him lightly on the arm since he kept chuckling at her. "That is NOT funny, Calaway." She chastised in a mumble, not believing she'd been caught doing something she ONLY did when she was alone. "You don't have to do…that…" His finger pressed against her mouth, cutting her words off, but managed to mumble the last word and held her hands up in defeat. "Thank you."

Pouring the batter in the pan, Luciana moved her head to the beat of the next song that came on, but not her hips. She was very self-conscious when it came to other people and that stemmed from how she'd been raised along with running. Flipping the pancake, she gasped when Mark suddenly pulled her into his arms and began dancing with her, twirling her around. It was a miracle the pancake didn't burn again as he released her long enough to put it on the plate and poured more batter in the pan before dancing all over again.

"You're good at this." She laughed breathlessly when he dipped her, after allowing her enough time to make another pancake and stared into his deep emerald eyes, her arm draped around his neck. "Better let me up before the food burns again."

Mark's reply was to take the spatula from her, look over and flip the thing himself, before pulling her upright and spinning her again, smiling as her peals of laughter echoed around the kitchen. What a change from the woman he had first met, the way she had opened up, the life in her eyes now… it was a good change. He felt something shoot through him, his eyes closing as he ignored it. Or tried.

There was still a long way to go for Luciana as far as her nerves and anxiety went, but Mark made it all go away whenever he was around. She could already feel something bubbling up inside of her, feelings she tried desperately to fight off because of the possibility of having to leave one day. Houston wasn't permanent and how she wished and longed for it to be. She longed to be with the man currently making her dance in her kitchen while she made breakfast, the man who made her heart soar to the heavens and made her temporarily forget about her messed up, complicated life.

After dancing and eating breakfast together, Luciana went in her room to change and left the door cracked open, sifting through her duffel bag of clothes. Even though the room had dresser drawers, she didn't bother unpacking because of the chance they would have to pick up and run, always prepared for it. Thea, on the other hand, was more confident and had unpacked, using the dressers. Again, they were polar opposites, but she did make sure Thea had a duffel bag packed, which was currently in Luciana's closet. After she changed into faded used blue jean shorts and a simple blue tank top, she slipped her white tennis on before rejoining Mark in the living room. Together, hand in hand, they walked out of the house and began walking down the sidewalk, enjoying the beautiful day.

That's how it went for the next month. Mark would come over on Sundays when he knew Thea and Jon wouldn't be there, which was quite frequently and have breakfast with her. They went on countless dates: dinner, movies, walking all over Houston just showing her the city, especially at night, going to the park and sometimes staying in to snuggle on the couch together to watch television. Luciana even had that drink with him after work one evening, her trust in him building and growing. One thing Mark hadn't done since they began dating was kiss her. There had been moments where she thought he might, but then…it never happened. It made her wonder if he was old-fashioned at heart or…maybe he didn't want to be with her.

They had a great time hanging out together, sharing laughs and even some embarrassing stories about each other. Luciana had to be careful how she worded hers, not mentioning where she was from or any of that type of information. It pained her to lie to him, but it was the only way to ensure his safety and she'd made sure Thea hadn't spilled anything to Jon. Surprisingly, even in her euphoric state with the man, baby sister had kept her lips zipped.

"So there's something I wanna talk to you about…" Thea looked nervous, sitting down at the table with her sister to have dinner, something they hadn't done in a while. Between the clinic and Jon, Thea barely had time to spend with Luciana and felt bad, wanting to make it up to her. "Jon…asked me to move in with him…"

Luciana choked on the piece of carrot she'd just popped in her mouth and coughed it up, clutching her throat while staring at her baby sister in shock. "W-WHAT?! You…you…Thea…" She stood up, needing a glass of water and frowned, not sure what to think or how to feel about this turn of events. "Houston isn't…"

"Yes, it is." Thea cut her off, already knowing what she was going to say and stood up from the table. "I love Jon, Luci and he loves me. We want to be together and…I want this. I want this so badly and…just please be happy for me. Please sissy…"

Tears swelled in her eyes, seeing the desperation in her sister's eyes and all Luciana could do was pull her tightly into her arms, closing her eyes. "You do what you feel is best. I can't protect you forever, try as I might. I knew this would happen eventually…and I am happy for you. I just hope…Houston is permanent, and we don't have to run again."

Thea shook her head and pulled away from Luciana, wiping tears out of her eyes with her knuckles. "Luci, we're not running again. I'm not running. It's been a year and a lot of months. They probably set some poor person up to take the fall, or they just got rid of the body and let it all sort itself out. They have money, they can make problems there disappear a lot easier than finding us."

She meant it, she was done running. Hell could appear on her doorstep and she'd probably just flip it off and shut the door at this point. She had a job she liked, she was learning so much, and she was in love.

"Houston is permanent Luciana, you got to believe that."

"I wish it was for me."

Luciana had a sinking feeling, if trouble came, Thea would stay right where she was, and it was her decision to do so. She couldn't force Thea to do something she didn't want to do. No matter how much she loved her sister and wanted to protect her, she couldn't do it forever. The amount of love and devotion in her eyes when she spoke about Houston and Jon made Luciana's chest tighten because she wanted to feel the same way. She couldn't, it wasn't possible or in her future. Staying in one place for too long wasn't smart, not when their parents were still gunning for them. It wasn't just about Charley's death; their parents had embezzled money from their clients and used THEM to pin all of their crimes on. Love blinded people, however, so for the sake of not upsetting her sister, Luciana just kissed her forehead and wished her well.


Of all the reactions from Mark, being punched right in the face was the one Jon had suspected was most likely. Moving Thea in was probably not the best of moves all things considered, but… here he was doing it anyway. "Mother fucker…" He cursed, holding his blood gushing nose. "Really, dick?"

"Want another one?" Mark asked gravely, folding his bare arms over his chest. He was in the garage, bare from the waist up, his t-shirt hanging out his back pocket and hair pulled back with a red bandana. It was just them, playing the catch-up game on some work. "You out of your mind, boy?"

"Look, you said to keep her close and I have…maybe more than I should, but…" Jon was a rambler naturally and had certain tics, such as rolling his shoulders while he spoke, never able to stay still. His cool blues stared back at his boss, who didn't look happy with him, which is what he expected. "I already told you my thoughts on this entire situation. I've spent a lot – A LOT – of time with Thea and the next logical step in a relationship is moving in together. Maybe not after 3 months, but…you get what I'm saying, right? I'm doing what you told me to do! So how much longer until we take this to the next level?"

"When I say." Mark never did anything in a hurry, or a rush, not without all the facts. He took his time, gathered knowledge, reached a conclusion and went from there. "You going to be able to do what needs done when it's time, boy?" Or was Jon wrapped, he was betting money Jon was wrapped. Jon had that stupid look of a man falling in love.

"If they're not innocent, yeah of course. Just let me know when the ball drops. I gotta go pick Thea up from Luci's." Jon raised a brow at a tensed Mark, fighting the urge not to throw that obnoxious question back in his face. He knew Mark was falling for Luciana, it was obvious…either that or he was a damn good actor and should be in Hollywood instead of their line of work.

Mark shook his head, watching Jon jump in his Ford pickup truck to go grab Thea to take her to his place. What the hell was his apprentice thinking? That's exactly what he was in their line of work. He feared the boy wasn't thinking clearly anymore, letting Thea cloud his judgment and mind. It didn't set well with him after everything that transpired and everything Jon had done to pull himself out of the dark misery he'd befallen when Mark found him. Now he was afraid the boy was doing it all over again, delving into that darkness and hoped he wasn't making a mistake by pursuing these women, especially Luciana.