Lucie paused in front of the Lutz's garage while the door made its ascent. The heat from the tiny cobblestone driveway scorched right through the bottom of her sneakers, and she rocked back on her heels. For what this brownstone cost, the driveway should have come with air-conditioning. After all, Chicago in August? The humidity alone could suffocate her.
Once the door silently halted, Lucie pointed toward the interior door. "Stay alert, Lauren. This is where it gets tricky."
The newest part-time member of Lucie's dog walking team studied the door and waited for instructions. Lauren seemed like a nice kid. Well, at twenty, she wasn't really a kid. Lucie was only six years older. Still, Lauren was new to Coco Barknell and needed to understand the intricacies of working with the dogs.
Particularly this dog.
"The door," Lucie said, "is your friend. Otis is the deadly combination of a jumper and a runner."
Lauren scrunched her face. "What?"
"When you open the door, you have to do a body block so he doesn't squeeze through. He's an eighty-five pound Olde English Bulldogge. If you're not careful, you will either A) wind up flat on your butt with Otis on top of you or B) be chasing him around the neighborhood. I've done both and it's not fun. Plus, it'll destroy your schedule."
And with the number of clients Coco Barknell serviced in a day, the schedule was the Bible. As happy as Lucie was about the growth of her dog walking and upscale-dog accessory business, she hated turning the dogs over to others. Of course, she'd done a thorough background check on Lauren, but these animals were almost her babies and she couldn't trust just anyone with them.
Lucie stepped to the door and planted her feet, weight on her heels. "Are you ready?"
"Ready."
Lauren smiled and maybe that smile had a bit of lady-you're-a-fruitcake in it, but the first time Otis did one of his Underdog leaps, she would learn.
Lucie opened the door and the howling began. "Hi, boy," she said, her voice firm and level, no excitement that would cause a doggie mindmelt. "I'm coming in."
Slowly, she inched the door open and slid through with Lauren bringing up the rear. Otis did his normal jumping and Lucie steadied herself for the onslaught. "Off!"
Finally, he sat, but he tracked Lauren with his eyes. Then—here we go—unable to withstand the pressure of a new person in his space, he leaped, his long tongue flying in search of a cheek to lick.
"Off!"
But Lucie would never be Cesar Millan when it came to making Otis understand who the alpha was. That was Joey's specialty. It helped that he was six-foot-four and weighed somewhere in the vicinity of two-thirty.
"Sit, Otis," Lauren said, her voice calm, yet assertive in a truly enviable way.
Otis sat.
Cripes. Nothing like the newbie showing the boss up. "Perfect," Lucie said. "He likes you. Come in and I'll show you where his leash is.”
Dressed in micro shorts, a tank top, and sneakers, Lauren epitomized the wholesome, yet sexy college co-ed. Her heart-shaped face and long blond hair only added to the morphing of girl-next-door and sexy vixen. If Lucie wasn't careful, the girl might drive Coco Barknell's male clients insane.
But the risk was worth it. So far she'd been a responsible employee who showed up on time, ready to work.
Lucie led her through the kitchen to the utility closet, strategically placed in a nook between the kitchen and the adjoining dining room. Otis’s leash and various other dog supplies—poop bags, treats, shampoo—were all stored there and it made Lucie's life a whole lot simpler. Too bad all her clients weren't this organized.
"Whoa. Is this an Arturo Gomez?"
Lucie turned and spotted Lauren a few feet away studying the new painting near the dining room entrance. Lucie had seen the painting for the first time last week and marveled at the rich tones. She'd been drawn to the woman's long, auburn hair cascading over her shoulders as she concentrated on the lute in her hands. The deep red of her dress brought out the smoky archway behind her, and Lucie imagined music echoing off the stone on the surrounding walls.
They shouldn’t be snooping, but the painting was right there. Plus, Lauren was an art history major and probably couldn't control herself. Lucie decided to let it go. Except the schedule was quickly falling apart.
"I don't know who the artist is, but the leash is in this closet."
Ignoring her boss, Lauren inched closer to the painting. "I did a paper on Gomez once. Pure genius at Renaissance."
"Uh-huh," Lucie said.
"It might not even be a Gomez, but it looks like one. I don't think this would be an original though."
Lucie rolled her eyes. The only fake thing in Mr. Lutz's world were his wife's boobs. And those had probably cost a fortune. The man never did anything on the cheap.
"If this is a copy," Lauren said, "it's amazing."
"Lauren, we need to go."
The girl straightened up. "Right. Sorry. I've just never seen one in a private collection. I remember something weird about Gomez's paintings and how they were sold. I could be wrong though. I'd love to know where he got this one."
Lucie knew exactly where Mr. L. had gotten it. She'd introduced him to Bart Owens, an art gallery owner who was also a Coco Barknell client. Mr. Lutz had mentioned he wanted to invest in art. Lucie connected him with Bart, and next thing she knew, Bart offered her a finder's fee for the sale of the painting. And all she'd done was make an introduction. If the amount of the finder's fee were any indication, that painting was most definitely an original.
After that hefty commission, Lucie—a business owner with escalating expansion expenses to deal with—found herself dropping Bart's card off with every client she serviced.
Lucie reached into the closet for Otis's leash. “I think it's an original. Here's the leash. Always grab a few of his treats. If he gets loose, it's the only way to lure him back. He's a sucker for peanut butter. Trust me, you don't want him to get loose. He's an animal."
At the sight of his leash, Otis leaped, knocking Lucie back a step, but she held her hand out. "Yes, baby. I know. It's Lucie time."
When Lucie shoved the leash at her new dog walker, Lauren tore her gaze from the painting. "Sorry. I promise I'm not this flighty. It's like meeting my favorite celebrity. Total fan-girl here. Would you be able to find out the name of this painting for me? Would that be okay?"
She looked back at the painting with a wistful longing and something in her expression reminded Lucie of herself at twenty. She'd been at Notre Dame back then and dreaming of a future in banking. She'd worked hard, graduated with honors, and landed a job as Mr. Lutz's assistant at one of the city's top investment banks. During that time, she’d lived her dream of being more than mob boss Joe Rizzo's kid. In the world of investment banking, she'd moved beyond the title of mob princess.
For a little while.
Being downsized had certainly humbled her. Reminded her, as if she needed reminding, how easily life could change. It had also busted her back to living in her parents' home.
That aside, she was now living a different dream. Building her own company. Who would have imagined her little side business of making high-end dog accessories would take off? But take off it did.
In a big way.
Now Lucie, along with her mother and her best friend, Roseanne, had a major department store pressuring them for more dog coats and collars. The faster they made them, the faster they sold and Lucie's panic meter had shot to the red.
All in all, a nice problem to have considering she could still be unemployed, but as with any growing business, time had become scarce. Speaking of...
Lucie checked the time on her phone. Eight minutes behind.
If they didn't make up some of that eight minutes, by the end of the day, it would be an hour. "Let's hit it, Lauren. Plenty more dogs to see today. I'll ask Mr. Lutz for the title of the painting."
At four o'clock, after spending the afternoon showing Lauren her route, Lucie headed southwest back to her hometown. Depending on the day, she either loved or hated Franklin. In Lucie's mind, the town carried the stigma of her father's lifestyle. When she moved back home, she'd moved back to life—at least she thought—as a mob princess. And that, she hated. But Franklin also had a familiarity she loved and a sense of closeness she couldn't get living in the city.
She strolled Franklin Avenue with the hot August sun at her back and spotted her BFF, Roseanne, standing in front of the vacant store at the corner. Ro wore a red pencil skirt so tight it must have taken her ten minutes to wiggle into. But Ro had the curvy, lush body to pull that off. To complete the look of the circulation-modifying skirt, she'd added a white peasant-style blouse and stiletto-heeled sandals. She was, in short, stunning.
As usual.
Lucie, also as usual, smelled like dog. And she was sweating like some other sort of animal. A farm animal most definitely.
As she approached, Ro waved her expertly manicured hand toward the storefront. "Sister, this is a hot-ass mess."
For this, Lucie had prepared. "It's been empty for a while. All it needs is for you to do your magic. Fresh paint and a good cleaning."
Ro made a gagging noise. "A good cleaning? You're delusional. It needs to be firebombed."
Lucie took in the sight of the filthy plate glass windows and the broken realty sign hanging inside. Doing some quick math, she computed that it had been at least ten years since Carlucci's had closed. Pops Carlucci died in 2004, and his family had no interest in running a shoe store that had been a mainstay in Franklin since the fifties.
Lucie stood next to Ro, staring at the filth and cracked glass and years of disrepair that awaited them inside.
It's cheap.
And close to home. So close, in fact, that Petey's, the luncheonette where her father's mob cronies hung out all day, was right down the street. If ever there was a reason to run screaming, that might be it.
Still, the other locations Lucie had scouted were out of Coco Barknell's measly budget. For now. If they kept up the current pace, by this time next year, they'd be able to afford space in downtown Chicago.
Soon.
She focused on the front door. "Let's just look at it. See if it'll work."
"Luce," Ro said. "Please. We have to be able to afford something a little better. We've been working our asses off."
Indeed they had. When the accessory line had started to take off, the production schedule had become too much for Lucie and she'd brought her mother in to help with the sewing. Ro, with her blazing style and queen-of-all-things-fabulous attitude, had also been added to the payroll. Basically, Ro was in charge of making sure nothing looked gaudy or cheap. Something she excelled at. Rounding out the employees was Lucie’s brother, Joey. He drove her insane with his constant teasing and general harassing, but he always came through for her if days ran long and she needed help walking the dogs.
"We have worked hard," Lucie said. "Which is why I'm not overextending us. Besides, I wouldn't even be looking for a place if my father weren't being released early. He'll have a coronary if he walks in and sees the dining room has turned into Coco Barknell's headquarters."
Her father's early release from prison should have come as good news. Should have. And for her mother's sake, Lucie wanted her dad home. But with Dad came his opinions on how she should be living her life and, most times, those opinions didn't mesh with Lucie's. In her father's mind, the dog walking and accessory business was a waste of her MBA. Being old-school, he didn't see the big picture. The picture that included building a brand from the ground up. In his mind, she should still be looking for a banking job.
"He'll understand," Ro said.
Ha. Right. "Think about what you just said. You've known me and my father for twenty years."
Ro see-sawed her head. "Okay. Maybe the term understand is a stretch."
"Yeah, forget it." Lucie dug the keys she’d picked up from Mrs. Carlucci out of her messenger bag. "We're just looking."
She unlocked the door, wrapped her hand around the gritty handle, and imagined she'd need a bucket of antibacterial soap to rid her skin of the germs.
"I'm not touching that," Ro said.
Whatever. Lucie held the door open for her. Ro took two steps, peeled back her lips, and halted. "Dear God, the smell."
True. The aroma of mold and possibly a dead animal or two wasn't exactly pleasant. "The place has been closed for years. What'd you expect? Lavender?"
She gave Ro a light shove. "Move it."
Ro didn't budge. "I will not. That floor is disgusting and I'm wearing Prada sandals. They'll melt off my feet in this pit."
"For crying out loud!"
Lucie shoved her aside and propped open the door with the rubber doorstop sitting just inside the entry. If the dog poop hadn't destroyed her work sneakers by now, this floor had nothing.
Ignoring Ro, Lucie scanned the interior and immediately saw the possibilities. The large open space—fifteen hundred square feet according to the realtor—could do double duty. They'd put a couple of desks or cubicles along the one side and then work tables and sewing machines on the other.
She turned back to Ro, standing painfully erect so she didn't brush either side of the doorway. "You look like you're in vertical rigor mortis."
"I might be. The smell probably killed me."
"Forget the smell a minute."
"And the dirt."
"And the hole in the wall."
Ro laughed. "I'll just close my eyes and hold my nose."
"Perfect. Think about how we could put the administrative area on this right side here. We'll splurge on a couple of comfy chairs and make a little waiting area." She glanced back at Ro, who indeed had her eyes closed. Such a maniac.
Lucie wandered to the other side of the room and motioned with her hands. "Over here we can set up work tables. Sewing machines along this back wall." And the money shot. "If you had your eyes open, you'd see where I want to set up an office for you so you can work on designs and dealing with the clients. This could be your area."
Lucie dared a glance back at Ro, still with her eyes closed, but nodding. So damned stubborn.
"If you do that," Ro said, "we'd need screens to separate the two places. People don't need to see a messy work area when they come in."
That's my pal. Ro might moan a little, but she had a sense of style that would rival the Versace’s. Precisely why Lucie gave her a job designing doggie accessories. Making this place look good would be just the challenge she craved.
By now, Ro had one eye open. As if opening both might tax her. Lucie held out her arms. "Well?"
"We'd have to replace the floors. Under all this dirt, the linoleum is broken. We'll do laminate. It's easy to care for, and if you get a decent one, it looks like wood."
"Sure. And we can repaint."
"Of course. You realize Petey's is two doors down."
Lucie had long despised Petey's. The food was terrific, but throughout her life, Petey's had been the place her father and his crew ran their "business." She'd spent years trying to rise above being Joe Rizzo's daughter. Her father's current prison stint hadn't helped her anti-mob-princess campaign or their sometimes-strained relationship. Lucie had dealt with it. For her mother's sake. Her mother had been the consistent parent. No matter what, she'd always been present, attentive, and loving. She'd nursed all wounds—physical and emotional.
"There's nothing I can do about Petey's. If this place were on the other side of town, I'd be thrilled. But it's not. This is what we can afford."
"Despite the possibility of seeing Frankie every damned day since he can't go twenty-four hours without a meatball sandwich?"
Yeah. That too.
Frankie, her currently off-again boyfriend of four years was also a family friend. His father and Lucie's father were the closest of friends. At least her father thought so. Lucie? She wasn't sure she understood anything about her father's relationships.
Regardless, Ro was right. Petey's was the epicenter of bad Karma.
Including the day three months ago when she'd gone to Frankie's, Petey’s meatball sandwich in hand, and he’d hit her with the news. And now, Lucie stood in the mess that was Carlucci's, trying not to think of that day. Even if her mind battled the memory, her heart ripped itself open and wailed.
Damned broken heart bringing it all back to her.
She'd been standing in Frankie's living room, holding that stupid bag with the stupid meatball sandwich while he stared at her, his eyes a little sad.
"Luce," he said, "we need to talk."
No. They didn't. Because every time she'd said those words to him, it meant she needed a break. Not necessarily from him, but from the life. Taking a break from the life included Frankie because, despite his determination to stay legitimate, his sense of loyalty bonded him to his family and friends. And those people had no interest in going legit. That loyalty extended to his father, even after he'd put Lucie in danger to protect a twenty-year-old secret.
She set the meatball sandwich on the end table, and with her head pounding and a bead of sweat rolling down her shoulder blades, she slid to the sofa. "Oh, Frankie."
Ignoring the sandwich, he sat beside her, grabbed both her hands. "Luce, I need a break."
And, oh, those words imploded her chest, just boom, total annihilation. Worse? She'd done this to him countless times. Always using that exact I-need-a-break phrasing. As the pain ripped her apart, she finally understood how those four little words could decimate a life. She squeezed her eyes closed, fought the tears. Each time she'd done this to him, he'd been downright supportive. Not making a fuss or hurling insults or laying on guilt. Knowing her demons, he'd simply let her go.
Which she would now have to do. She couldn't be mad. Not at him.
"It's okay, Frankie."
"I've been loyal to everyone for so long, I've become a doormat."
"That's not true."
"Yeah, it is. I'm done with that. I don't want to leave you, but I've waited years for you to get comfortable. Now, I'm not comfortable. I need to walk away and get my head together. We just had this major blowup with my dad and I need to figure out how this thing with him and your family will play out."
She nodded. "I don't want to let our relationship go. I love you too much for that. So this time, I'll do the waiting." And then, that sadness in her chest surged and she breathed in, closed her eyes. No tears. Please. He deserved to be happy. Even if it hurt her.
"Luce—"
"You don't have to explain. Not to me. I'm just... sad. But I'll wait, and hopefully, you'll come back to me."
He leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. "I love you, Luce. Always will."
"Excellent. Then I have nothing to worry about."
He grinned. "Wanna have sex? Leave me a reminder of what I'll miss."
She rolled her eyes. Some things would never change. "I'll do better than that."
A spark lit in Frankie's eyes and she was sure it involved something leather and kinky.
"I'm listening," he said.
She propped her elbow on the table, extended her fingers and waited for him to entwine his hand with hers. "Are you ready for this?"
"Ready."
She squeezed his hand. "This will be a sacrifice, but I will let you keep that meatball sandwich I brought you."
And she had. She'd handed over the bag and walked out of his house, hoping the break would be a short one.
That had been three months ago, and she’d been doing her best to avoid seeing him. Not that either of them was bitter. On the contrary, they often spoke on the phone. But right now, Frankie needed his space. For the first time in their history, he was the one who'd called off their relationship.
So, Lucie killed time until they eventually worked it out and got back together.
That's how it was with them. The love between them was a potent thing and they both just plain stunk at resisting it.
"What about the back room?"
Ro's voice broke through Lucie's mind travel, and she turned to see her friend still standing in the doorway.
"The back room? It's a mess. A bunch of boxes in there. We'll have to go through them. I'll do that."
"What about a bathroom? God help us, I can only imagine what that looks like."
Lucie wandered to the doorway leading to another smaller room. Probably the old stock room. Yep. Five short rows of shelving units filled the much smaller space. They'd store their accessory supplies back here. Or even make it the sewing room. She'd have to think about it. To her left was another door. She opened it and found a small bathroom with a white sink—circa 1965—and a toilet that should have had a pull cord. The sink and toilet were both rust-stained and the grout on the black and white checked floor looked like it had seen the wrong end of a chain saw.
"How is it?" Ro asked from the doorway.
"The bathroom is... um... It needs work."
"Hey," came Joey's voice from where Ro stood. "What are you nutty broads doing?"
"Your sister is thinking about renting this dinosaur. I refuse to enter."
"Seriously?"
"Yes!" Lucie said. "Come back here. I need you to see this."
Her brother had become fairly handy since their father's incarceration two years ago. If she could negotiate the owner replacing the floor and paying for a new toilet and sink, Joey might be able to install them.
"Roseanne," Joey said, "your ass looks great today."
Ro made a pffting noise. "You'd better believe it does."
"Hey! She's married."
Ro laughed. "But my ass still looks good. That's the important thing."
"And last time I checked, Luce, my vision was still twenty/twenty."
Terrific. Barbarian flirting. What more could a girl want?
"This place," Joey said, "is a hole."
"I know. But it's cheap. With a little elbow grease, it'll be a palace."
He stuck his head in the bathroom and his tight-lipped expression, so classically their father, temporarily stunned her. Joey had always had her father's dark features, but as he got older, he'd become more and more the angles of Dad and less the softness of Mom.
After sniffing once, he winced. She couldn't blame him. The smell could gas a town.
"If I get the owner to pay for the supplies, can you install a sink and toilet?"
Joey shrugged. "I'll do you one better. I got a plumber who owes me money. I'll have him do it. "
"Is this one of your bookie-ing"—was bookie-ing a word?—"clients? I don't want to be associated with your degenerate gamblers."
Although her brother sometimes filled in as a dog walker at Coco Barknell, his main source of income was a bookmaking business. And Lucie hated that.
"Listen, goody-two-shoes, how do you think Ma's plumbing gets fixed? The next time you take a dump, thank my degenerate gamblers."
Still in the entryway, Ro laughed. "I do adore you, Joey."
He leaned back and wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Good God.
"Does Mom know that? Not that Ro adores you. About the degenerates?"
"I guess. She tells me she needs a plumber and I tell her I'll take care of it. We're lucky this guy can't pick a winner. She hasn't paid a plumbing bill since Dad went away."
"Luce," Ro said, "you'd better take him up on this. Fixing this trap up will cost you. Save money where you can. Besides, since you pee at your mother's, your integrity has already been compromised."
Joey jerked his thumb in Ro's direction and gave her one of his smart-ass perfect teeth smiles. "Good point."
"Okay. Fine."
"Joey," Ro called, "what other contractors owe you money? She'll need a flooring guy and a painter."
Slippery slope, this one.
With Lucie on his heels, he left the bathroom and headed for the door. "Let me see what I can do."
On the way out, he lightly smacked Ro's ass. The one that looked great today.
She waved him away. "Hands off, big boy. Looking is one thing. Besides, you had your chance."
Ew.
"Don't remind me," Joey said.
Recently, Ro had admitted to Lucie that she and Joey were an item for a few months while Lucie was in graduate school. But her brother couldn't commit and Ro had moved on. Lucie wasn't sure she was exactly comfortable with her brother and Ro having done the nasty. So she stood in the middle of the filthy floor, avoiding eye contact with her best friend because the visions swimming in her mind were too much.
Lucie stifled an ick face. "Sometimes I wish I still didn't know about you two."
Ro shrugged. "He really has a sweet side. You don't see it because you're his sister. But that's old news. And with the state of my life right now, not worth rehashing."
Ro loved her husband. Prior to a month ago, he'd been a good, solid guy and that's what she needed. Someone to cool her fire once in a while. Except, last month that good, solid guy, who was also president of the Franklin town council, got caught in a strip club doing things he shouldn't have been doing.
"How are things at home?"
Ro let out a heavy breath, then studied the molding around the ceiling for a few seconds before finally meeting Lucie's gaze. "You mean my stripper-banging husband? He's lucky I don't stab him in his sleep. It takes incredible restraint, you know. I keep telling him not to close his eyes."
"I'm sorry, Ro."
She rubbed her nose a couple of times, sniffled, and shrugged. Ro wasn't a crier. Hated it. She'd sooner cut off her own leg than cry in front of anyone, but Lucie knew the signs. Inside, Ro was coming apart.
"Eh," Ro said. "It's only a broken heart. It'll get better. What do you think about this dump? Is it our new headquarters?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
"If you can get it cleaned up in roughly two weeks because that's when my father comes home."
"Two weeks!"
Lucie raised her hands before Ro started yelling. "It could be three. I'm sorry! I just found out. They're having an overcrowding issue and they're paroling him early."
Lucie's father had been locked up over an income tax issue. Not exactly the violent offense the government would have liked to have nailed Joe Rizzo on, but they took what they could get. Lucie suspected the feds were still trying to build a case on her father—they'd been at it for years—but they obviously didn't have enough evidence to bring him to trial again, and since he'd been a model prisoner, they were letting him out early. Go figure.
And now she had to move her company headquarters from the dining room. Her dad would take one look at the boxes of fabric and sample racks and start yelling about getting that crap out of his house. Thanks for the support, Dad.
"It's a good thing I love you," Ro said. "Two weeks!"
"It doesn't have to be finished. It just has to be usable." Lucie moved to the side of the store where the design area would be. "Let's get this half going. Then I can move all the stuff from the dining room here and set up a desk in the corner. We can work out of this half while the other half is being renovated. That's doable, right?"
Ro put one finger up. "Cleanup." Another finger. "Paint." Another finger. "New floors." Her pinkie. "Bathroom."
"I'll take care of cleaning out the back room. Joey will line up the contractors. All you'll have to do is pick out the floor, fixtures, and paint. Is it a deal?"
"It'll be a miracle."
With that, she spun on her Prada sandals and marched away.
"Thank you," Lucie called after her.
Finally alone in the store, she turned back and took it all in. In a few weeks, this broken-down mess would be the new corporate headquarters of Coco Barknell.
And her father would be home from prison.