Deep (The Deep Duet 1)

“At a security company?” Her brows shot up.

His lips twitched. “It’s sort of a long story. My brother-in-law owns the place. Sort of a work-live situation.”

“Okay then. Let’s do this,” she said with a sunny smile.

Rafe tried to match her enthusiasm, but nervous energy still flowed through his veins. When they reached the elevator, she slid her hand into his and squeezed. Her tiny, delicate hand gave him warmth, gave him strength. He tapped in the code to reach the penthouse and then leaned forward for the retinal scan. If Diana thought that was strange, she said nothing.

When the elevator doors pinged, he sucked in a deep breath. Next to him, Diana squeezed his hand and gave him a bright smile. “It will be fine. Watch. I have a feeling about these things.”

They were met in the foyer by Oskar, whose permanent scowl was in place.

“Oskar, how’s it going?”

“You’re here, so not great.” The German turned his attention to Diana, and his whole countenance changed as he suddenly plastered a wide smile on his face.

Rafe had to mutter under his breath. “Okay, I get you. Turn the wattage down.”

His sometimes friend just laughed. “What’s the matter, afraid of a little competition?” Oskar looked back to Diana. “So, are you going to introduce me to my future wife?”

Diana just laughed. “Are you always this outrageous?”

Oskar nodded. “Pretty much. I’m not as bad as Noah though. So, Rafe, you can thank your lucky stars.”

Rafe pursed his lips. He was happier when the German was his usual scowling self. When he smiled, it made him almost appear charming.

“Okay, that’s enough. Diana, this is Oskar. He works with my brother-in-law.”

The German grinned again. “When you get tired of this guy, come find me.”

Diana giggled, and Rafe tugged her behind him. He found Noah in the kitchen, attempting to molest his sister, who was laughing as he copped a feel. “Seriously, do you guys have to do that? There are people around.”

Lucia laughed and pushed Noah away before rushing over to give him a hug. It didn’t matter that he worked here now and she saw him almost every day, she always hugged him like she was trying to make up for all the days they’d missed.

He held her tight. It was still weird as hell to see Noah with his sister. Yeah, sure, he’d always loved the guy like a brother. But him and Lucia… Rafe had never even considered it an option. And now they were happily married and parents of the only other person who had him wrapped around her little finger more than Lucia—his niece, Isabella.

Noah came over and gave him a one-armed clap and then a good thump on the back. “What’s up, brother?” He inclined his head and slid his gaze to Diana while Lucia was dancing from foot to foot. Oh boy. They were going to make this a big deal.

“Guys, this is Diana. She’s a friend of mine. Diana, this is Noah Blake and my sister, Lucia.”

Noah shook her hand briefly and welcomed her to the party. Lucia was far more exuberant and hugged her tight before taking her hand and dragging her out of the kitchen, talking a mile a minute.

Noah turned his attention back to Rafe. “A friend?”

Rafe just shrugged. “I do occasionally have those.”

Noah narrowed his gaze and studied him for a long moment. Then he started to laugh. “Friends. Uh-huh.”

Rafe shook him off. “Shut up.”

“I never thought I’d see the day Rafe DeMarco—” He paused. “Does she know who you are? Or are you using an alias?”

Rafe shook his head. “No alias. I’m out, remember?”

Noah nodded. “So, this is new then.”

“This is nothing. She’s just a friend. That’s all.”

Noah chuckled. “Yeah, you just go ahead and tell yourself that.” His friend clapped him on the back and said, “Come on, I just got the text from Dylan. Nonna will be here in ten minutes.”