Read Online Relentless: A Bad Boy Romance (Bertoli Crime Family #1) by Lauren Landish - Free Book Online Page A

that he carried with him nearly everywhere outside the house. “By the way, I got you something.”
    “Really? Cool!” I replied, immediately transported back to my teenage years. “What?”
    “Well, a friend of mine knows of your appreciation for fine art, so he sent this along with me,” he said, taking out a metal tube about two inches wide and just over a foot long. “He said this was the best way to transport them for you.”
    I popped the cap on the canister and carefully took out the lithographs, amazed by the photographic images. The first was a black and white photo of a mostly nude woman with her arms around her knees, hiding her body and looking at the camera with such pain in her eyes it was hard not to want to reach out and comfort her. The second was the same woman, this time from the collarbones up, her face turned to the sky and wearing such an expression of joy that you knew she was having the best moment of her life. “This is amazing.”
    “If you look on the back, all of them are signed by the artist,” Carlo said. “I thought you'd appreciate that.”
    “I do. Thank you, Uncle,” I said, not pausing to look through the rest of the images at the moment. “So you're back in town for a while?”
    “I have nothing for at least the rest of the month,” he replied. “But the first thing I want to do before I go into the office tomorrow and find out that the clerks have robbed me blind and left me penniless, is to have dinner with my favorite niece. Tell me you can spare the time tonight.”
    “Of course,” I said, laughing. “I was planning on staying the night here in the mansion, actually. The apartment's nice and all, but it doesn't have the aura of family, you know?”
    “I do, and like Judy Garland said long before even I was born, there's no place like home. Come, let's have dinner.”

    * * *
    D inner was actually light , some panzanella and salmon with vegetables that had me looking at Uncle Carlo in surprise. “Did you see your doctor recently or something?”
    He laughed and cut into his salmon with his knife. “No, Bella. But as I've gotten older, I've learned a few things about my body. After flying, I've come to understand that my stomach takes a while to settle down and can’t handle the oregano, tomatoes and other things I normally enjoy. But I can at least still have my olive oil.”
    I laughed and took a bite of my salad, crunching on the crispy pieces of bread that had been sautéed in olive oil. “Food of the gods there—as you've told me my entire life.”
    “I spoke with your mother while I was on the plane. She says your readjustment has gone well?”
    “It has. Thank you.”
    “And your classes? I hope they’re teaching more than how to mix paint and slap it on some canvas.”
    “Oh no, they've done a little more than that,” I teased, a glint in my eye. “They've taught us how to use our fingers to smear it on walls and paper, too. You should see your study; I've done some redecorating for you.”
    He laughed and took a careful bite of his fish. “Sorry, I went in there earlier before dinner or you might have gotten me. But seriously, Bella, how are your classes?”
    “Pretty good. Actually, I'm signed up for a few business courses this semester,” I said. “I put them off for a while, but the university thinks that it is important for us artists to have some business knowledge. So I'm taking a digital marketing course as well as business math this semester.”
    “That's good. Too many artists end up starving, not due to lack of talent, but lack of the ability to keep two pennies in their pocket,” Carlo said. “Listen, I wanted to ask . . . have you been contacted again by that freak, Drake?”
    It was one of the gray clouds hanging in the sky of my time, and one I wanted to be gone more than anything else. So far, the police hadn't found a single clue as to the whereabouts of Vincent Drake. “Not so far. The police detective in charge of the