"Are you hungry?" he finally asked.
I shook my head, refusing to look at him.
He sighed. "What is it, Nicole?"
"I told you. I am not Nicole," I gritted through my teeth.
He clenched his jaw, but then he inhaled loudly through his nose and sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. I tried not to squirm in my seat as the full weight of those blue eyes focused on me. "If your name is not Nicole, then what is it?"
"Veda."
"Vita?"
"No. Veda. With a 'd'."
"Veda what?"
"Veda Calbert." Duh.
"Do you have a middle name?"
"Lynn. And before you ask, I'm twenty-two, and I live in an apartment on 8th street on the east side of the city. Nicole is my older sister. But only by a minute. We're twins." Probably way too much information, more than he really needed to know, but if it would get me out of whatever mess my sister had gotten herself into...
He leaned back in his chair, and I could practically feel him digging around in my head to see if I was telling the truth. I jumped when he suddenly called out, "Enzo!"
The guy who'd put the hood over my head and brought me inside appeared in the bedroom doorway a few seconds later. "What do you need?"
Without taking his eyes from me, he told him, "Go into my office and look up Veda Lynn Calbert. Age twenty-two. Lives in an apartment on 8th street on the east side of Austin. And works...?" He trailed off, one eyebrow lifted in question.
"I've been working as an assistant. For my sister. Nicole."
He narrowed his eyes at me. "Don't worry about employment. Give him your exact address," he ordered.
I rattled it off to the guy in the bedroom doorway.
"What is this about?" Enzo asked.
"Just do it," he told him. "I'll explain later."
Enzo paused for just a moment before he turned and left the room.
In the minutes that followed, he continued to stare at me. I tried not to squirm. I wasn't a criminal, for god's sake. "What's your name?" I asked him to break the silence.
"Luca," he said quietly.
"Luca what?"
"Just Luca for now."
Uncrossing my legs, I leaned forward and mimicked his pose. "I can't say that it's good to meet you, Luca...all things considered."
He did smile then. A true smile. And as some of the ice in his blue eyes melted away, my heart began to race for a completely different reason.