“Yeah Sal, me and Vinnie, we learned that lesson a long time ago.”

Another sigh. “Vinnie Junior was a good man.”

“He’s on Hart too.”

“I remember,” Sal said softly.

“And I’ll never forget.”

“You Bianchis. Your loyalty is rabid.”

Cal shook his head and reminded him, “Bianchi blood is in your veins.”

“Luckily Giglia blood is dominant. Bianchis think with their hearts. Giglias think with their balls.”

Cal smiled. “Giglias think with their dicks and, you see Vi, you’ll think I got Giglia blood.”

Cal listened as Sal laughed then he listened to that laughter die.

“Vinnie said she’s a good woman,” Sal said quietly.

Cal didn’t respond. Sal was family and now Vi was family. Their paths would cross. Sal would find out for himself one day.

“You held this marker a long time,” Sal noted. “You’re pullin’ it for her, she must be.”

“Make my woman safe, Sal,” Cal ordered softly.

“Fatto, figlio. Done,” Sal replied just as softly. “But when it’s done, I want her at my table. Gina will make cannelloni. You like Gina’s cannelloni.”

“I figure Vi, the girls and me will be in Chicago a lot, Sal. We’ll be at your table.”

“It’ll be good to see you, Cal,” Sal said and he meant it, the crazy fuck.

Cal didn’t reply. He liked Sal just as much as he didn’t. But Gina’s cannelloni would be worth dinner at his table.

“I’ll make contact when it’s done,” Sal went on.

“I’ll expect one of your boys to call, tell me what to do and hang up and I’ll expect it soon,” Cal said and Sal laughed.

“You can’t be too careful,” Sal remarked.

“No, you can’t,” Cal replied with zero humor.

“Right,” Sal whispered, “so you be careful.”

“You too,” Cal replied.

“You’re a good man, figlio.”

Cal didn’t know what to do with that, coming from Sal so he just said, “Thanks, Sal, later.”

“Ciao.”

Cal heard the disconnect, put the receiver in its cradle and shook his head at the phone. Then he left his office, locked it and walked to his truck so he could get home.

* * *

I sat in bed wearing one of Joe’s tees and rubbing moisturizer in my face as Joe walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but his jeans.

All the family was gone which was a relief. Not that I didn’t like them being there, and the girls loved it, just that I was glad to have this first meeting done and be back to just us.

Joe had been busy that day, having a conversation with Uncle Vinnie, taking off for a couple of hours then having a conversation with Dad. The good part was, after his conversation with Dad, Dad seemed to settle down. The bad part was, Joe seemed tense all day, after the conversation with Vinnie, after getting home and even after Dad seemed to settle in.

I watched Joe pull off his jeans, toss them on the floor, throw back the covers and slide into bed. I put my moisturizer aside as he yanked the covers to his waist then I moved to sit astride him. His big hands went to my hips, spanning them. My hands went to his shoulders and I leaned down so our faces were close.

“You okay?” I asked, searching his eyes.

“Yep,” he lied.

“You sure?”

“Yep,” he lied again.

“What was with the squad car that was outside the whole time you were gone?” I asked.

“Colt was at the Station, he needed to talk to me, he wanted you covered,” Joe answered casually and I didn’t know if this was a lie or not but what I did know was that Joe wanted me to let it slide. The problem with that was I couldn’t.

“Okay, breaking that down, he’s been gone before, and you’ve been gone too, and no squad car was sitting outside,” I pointed out.

“Colt was in the mood to be cautious.”

I bit my lip then let that go. “Okay then, why did Colt need you at the Station?”

Joe’s fingers flexed at my hips and he spoke gently. “Baby, your brother was murdered and then things got intense for you and for me. After that happened to Sam he and I needed a brief. We needed one awhile ago but Colt gave us some time to get our shit sorted. Our shit is sorted, he called me for a brief.”

This made sense but I still didn’t trust it.

“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” I whispered.

His reply was a little scary and he did it on another flex of his fingers at my hips which made it scarier. “I’d do anything for you, buddy.”

My head tipped to the side. “Was that an answer?”

His eyes never left mine. “Only one you’re gonna get.”

We stared at each other several moments before I whispered, “You want me to let it go.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to relax?” he asked.

“A billion a day,” I answered.

He grinned then said, “Relax.”

I looked at the pillow by his head and muttered, “Right.”

“Baby,” he called and I looked back into his eyes. When our eyes caught, he lifted his head and touched his mouth to mine. After he settled back down, he murmured, “Trust me.”

“Okay,” I whispered instantly because he needed me to and because I did.

His hands started to slide up my sides, taking my tee with it when I asked, “What did you talk to Dad about?”

His hands went from the outside of the tee to the inside so I felt the heat of them against my skin. “Told him to cool it with the girls. Told him he did the right thing, leavin’ your Mom. Told him she wasn’t with him, he was always welcome here. Told him the best way he could work his way in was not to work so fuckin’ hard. And finally told him his granddaughters already loved him so he could relax.”

One of my hands slid to his neck. “Lucky you, considering he actually seemed to listen when you told him to relax.”

Joe grinned again. “Yeah. You could learn from that.”

I laughed as I felt Joe’s hands divide, one went up my back and pressed me down, one went into my panties and curved around my ass.

I dropped my mouth to his and said softly, “Joe.”

“Yeah, honey,” he said back.

“Aunt Theresa gave me something to give to you,” I blurted.

Now wasn’t the right time, I knew that. I should have done it after we had sex when he was mellow and hadn’t had a day that made him tense. But that picture in my lingerie drawer felt like a smoldering ember ready to burst into flames. Not only it being there and me knowing it was there but the girls knowing it was there and wondering when it would come out for air. Who knew? One of them (probably Keira) might let our scene in the living room that day slip.

He was keeping something from me, I knew it and I was going to let him. For whatever reason, he’d made the decision to make that play and I was going to let him have that too. We were in a relationship. I had to trust him and I did. If I needed to know, he’d tell me. Tim had been a badass macho man too and he’d had times where he clammed up about shit at work or shit he had to do, stuff that would make us worry. I knew when my man was erecting a shield around me and I knew he had to do what he had to do. If I fought that, it wouldn’t be pretty. No matter what it was, I had to let Joe do what he had to do and trust that he could protect me and my girls. And I did.

For my part, the conversation with Theresa, the picture of Joe and Nicky, I couldn’t sit on that and I couldn’t keep it from him.

For me, it had to be out in the open.

“Vi,” Joe called and I focused on him to see he was very focused on me and this time his fingers flexed into the flesh of my ass. “Jesus. What’d she give you?”

“Something to give to you.”

Joe closed his eyes and muttered, “Oh fuck.”

I lifted a hand from his shoulder to rest it against his cheek and guessed, “You know what it is, don’t you?”

He opened his eyes and started, “Vi –”

I dropped my head to rest my forehead against his. “I want him on the shelves,” I watched Joe close his eyes again and pressed on, “with Sam,” Joe’s hand clenched my ass as I finished on a whisper, “and Tim.”

Suddenly, he knifed up to sitting, taking me with him, both arms wrapped tight around me and I knew it was in order to set me aside so I held on.

“Joe –” I said to his profile, his head was turned away.

“Not ready for that, Vi.”

“Joe –”

He turned to me and repeated, “Baby, I said I’m not ready.”

If he wasn’t ready after seventeen years, it was time for him to be ready.

“He’s part of you, Joe, which means he’s part of this family. Let me bring Nicky home.”

I watched his face get hard and his hands moved to grasp my waist, definitely ready to set me aside but I clenched my thighs on his hips and held on harder with my arms.

“You said you’d help me with Sam and you are. And you said I could help you let what happened with Nicky go and you have to start letting me do that.”

His face stayed hard and his voice was tight when he said, “I’ve let it go.”

I risked moving my hands to his jaws and whispered, “Joe, you won’t even look at his picture.” Joe glared at me, his fingers gripping my waist hard and I risked more. “He was beautiful, honey.”

He closed his eyes again, pain slicing through his face and my fingers tensed at his jaws.

“Christ, Vi –” he started.

“And you’ve always been beautiful.”

His eyes opened and the pain was there too.

“Baby –” I whispered when I saw it.

Joe cut me off. “I got rid of ‘em.”

“What?” I asked.

“The photos, his clothes, his crib. Everything.”

I felt the sting of tears in my eyes when I asked, “Why?”