The Perfect Sin

71

𝗟 𝗨 𝗟 𝗔

"What did you and Leandro get up to the other day while I was in Atlantic City?" Renzo asks as he fastens the buttons on his white dress shirt.

I glance over my shoulder at him from the bed. "What do you mean?"

He cocks his head slightly. "Neither of you will give me a plausible answer to what you did that day and yet when I came back, I walked into see you both playing happy families."

"We're not playing happy families, Renzo."

"So, how did you do it?" He asks. "Drug him? Spike his food? Drink?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that a few days ago, my brother despised being in the same presence as you, and today I walk in to the kitchen to find him helping you make breakfast. Leandro doesn't even know how to cook." He says.

"We bonded, I guess." I try to shrug it off.

"Over what?" He's persistent, I have to hand it to him.

Guns. Pistols. Shooting things.

"I don't know. Nothing in particular." I choose to say instead.

"It doesn't make sense, Lula. Leandro is different. It's as though he actually likes you now."

"You says that as though it's a bad thing." I mumble.

"No, that's not what I mean." He exhales as he adjusts the sleeves on his shirt.

I get up from the bed and walk over to him. "Maybe Leandro has finally realised that I'm a really nice person and he wants to be my best friend? Would that be so hard to believe?"

He looks down at me, his white shirt fitting his muscular frame perfectly. "It would be hard for me to believe that Leandro is the person wanting to be your best friend, yes."

"Well maybe we should start cutting him some slack from time to time." I say. "Since the incident where I hit him, he's.. changed. It's as though he finally saw that his words and actions will have consequences and he realises he isn't going to get away with treating me like shit. Maybe he wanted to get that reaction from me. Maybe that's what he's wanted all along."

"You think he wanted you to hit him?"

"I think he wanted me to stand up to him. To show him that I have a place here and that I can fit in with you. He wanted me to show him that I'm not afraid." I tell him.

Renzo stares at me, his brown eyes whirling with so many different emotions. He takes me off guard when he places his hand on the nape of my neck and closes the distance between us, pressing his lips against mine.

The kiss is only brief but it's soft and delicate. "You think you finally cracked him, huh?"

"I think I'm on the right path." I say with hope in my voice.

After Leandro taught me how to shoot the other day, we both went back up to the kitchen where we sat and talked for almost an hour. Yes, we talked. He listened while I told him about my life before I met Renzo. He actually seemed interested in what I had to say.