Since I liked that idea better, I did as ordered.

Mid-kiss, my phone stopped ringing. Then Ben took over the kiss and it became a make out session, where I found myself on my back with Benny mostly on me. This lasted a happy while until my phone rang again.

Ben broke the kiss, and this time, it was him that looked to my phone.

“Ignore it,” I repeated his order.

He looked down at me. “Two calls in five minutes on a Saturday morning?”

“I’m indisposed,” I replied. “That being I’ve got panty marks around my thighs. My panties are fubarred since they were stretched so tight, the elastic is probably broken. You’re leaking out of me. And you have our dog to walk and powdered sugar, chocolate-cream-filled donuts, three of them at least, to go out and buy for me. All that being the definition of indisposed.”

My phone stopped ringing as Benny’s brows rose, his eyes lighting with humor, giving me that, and fulfilling promise-part-three of the day and we hadn’t even been awake an hour.

He did all this asking, “Fubarred?”

“Fucked up beyond recognition,” I explained.

“I know what it means, honey,” he replied. “I just didn’t know anyone outside Tango and Cash said it.”

I felt my eyes get squinty. “Don’t make fun of me when I’m post-orgasm. I’m happy-drained when I’m post-orgasm and I don’t have any good fight in me.”

Ben grinned. “You should never have given me that, baby. Knowin’ that shit, from now on, I’m totally fuckin’ with you post-orgasm.”

My eyes got squintier before I informed him of something he should know by now, “I recover quickly.”

His hand glided over my hip, back, and in to cup my ass as his face got closer to mine. “Bet I can set you back.”

He so totally could.

“Gus? Donuts?” I prompted.

“Is your detail on which donuts you want me to buy your order?” he asked.

“Yep,” I answered.

“They run out of those quick, Frankie.”

“Wait for them to make more.”

He didn’t grin that time. He smiled.

Then he said, “I might be pussy-whipped, honey, but I’m not that far gone.”

I felt my brows shoot up. “You’re pussy-whipped?”

“Babe, I’m makin’ deals with Sal, away from my home, my restaurant, watchin’ your ass while you go about something undoubtedly worthwhile but makes me all kinds of uneasy, and you’re surprised I’m pussy-whipped?”

He had a point, and although his words gave me a heady feeling of power, they also bothered me.

So I wrapped my arms around him and reminded him, “We’re doin’ this with Wyler because it’s the right thing to do.”

“We are. We’re also doin’ it because I like to fuck you, eat you, and watch you ride me, and I can get all that, and often, I keep you happy.”

Suddenly, I didn’t feel bothered.

I felt annoyed.

“That’s it?”

“There’s also the fact I like lookin’ at you, seein’ you smile, and doin’ what I can to make you happy. It’s insane, but I’ve learned to own the insanity because you’re you. You’re crazy. Fearless. Willin’ to put yourself out there doin’ something you know is dangerous because it’s the right thing to do. And I love all of you. The insane part is that I love all of you, including that.”

I screwed up my face and declared, “You’re being sweet again when I’m annoyed.”

He lowered his lips to mine, eyes still smiling. “You gotta learn to get over it, baby. It’s gonna happen a lot.”

I got over it right then because I had the happy feeling he was going to kiss me again, but he didn’t because my phone rang.

This time, we both turned our heads to it.

“Fuck,” Ben muttered, reaching across the bed and tagging it. He looked to the display, then to me, his face unreadable when he said, “Cat.”

That could mean anything from the happy news she was carrying Art’s baby to the news that she fell off the wagon, got arrested for doing something stupid, and needed someone to bail her out.

Ben knew this and that was why his face was unreadable.

I slid my phone from his hand and took the call.

When I had the cell at my ear, I said, “Love you, but you’re delaying donuts.”

“Frankie,” she whispered.

Oh God.

At the tone of her voice, my eyes flew to Benny as I pushed up to sitting. He rolled off to let me do that, and I didn’t tear my eyes away from him as I sat on a hip, pulling the covers to my chest and holding the phone tight to my ear.

“What?” I asked.

There was a moment of silence before she said, “Okay, last night was a bad night.”

Hoping her bad night did not include downing shots of vodka and committing felonies, my hand snaked out and pressed into Ben’s chest. The second it did, he sat up and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his warmth, trapping my hand between us.

“What?” I whispered, my eyes now to Ben’s throat.

“Okay, the, um…slightly-better-but-still-bad news first.”

Slightly better but still bad?

“Cat…”

“Davey found out that Nat was cheating on him again. They fought…really bad, Frankie. Really bad. He said he was done, and I guess he did it in a way where he meant it this time because she lost it. Started beating on him. He hit her back. She called the cops. He’s all messed up. Even has a concussion ’cause she hit him in the head with a plate or something. He took a lot from her, Frankie, before he lost it. He hit her once to get her off him, but he’s the one in jail.”

I closed my eyes.

“He didn’t press charges,” she continued, “but she did. His mom called me. That’s how I know all this. She’s pissed, Frankie. She knows Davey’s been eatin’ shit for years and she’s seriously pissed. And making matters worse, Ma’s there.”

Oh no.

I opened my eyes, saw Benny’s face, and for the first time in a long time, seeing it didn’t soothe me.

“She was out carousin’, not there for the fight, got there after the police got there. She texted me a few days ago, said I was dead to her because I wasn’t pickin’ up her calls to help her in her hour of need. Guess that’s why she’s with Nat and Davey. But according to Davey’s mom, she’s all up in his and Nat’s shit, talkin’ smack about Davey. Davey’s mom wants the charges dropped and Nat and Ninette outta the house, and she wants that yesterday.”

“Cat, I—” I started, but she cut me off, talking quietly.

“I can’t get dragged into this, Frankie. I’m late.”

My heart thumped and she kept talking.

“Just a couple of days, but I’m always regular. Art and me were gonna spend our Saturday getting a pregnancy test and hopefully celebrating. All this…” She stopped speaking and I actually heard her take in a huge breath before she went on, “And there’s more that happened last night so all I wanna do is skip the pregnancy test and get a bottle of vodka.”

Shit.

No.

“Don’t do that, honey,” I urged.

“I know, but it’s hard.”

“Get the pregnancy test,” I said, then took my own deep breath and finished, “I’ll call Nat.”

Ben’s arms tightening around me brought my eyes to his face. He was worried. But hearing Nat’s name, he was already pissed.

I shook my head.

He shook his back.

“I haven’t told you the more,” Cat said in my ear.

Goddammit.

I looked to Ben’s ear and invited, “Sock it to me.”

“Chrissy kicked Dad out last night.”

“Fuck,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “He called me, looking for a place to crash. I kept my boundaries and he lost it on me, you know, like Dad can do when he doesn’t get his way made easy for him.”

“Yeah, I know how Dad can do that,” I agreed because I so totally did.

“He said all his kids but Enzo were pains in his ass and he never wanted to hear from me again. Then he said he was goin’ to Enzo.”

“Oh my God,” I breathed into the phone. Just the thought of Enzo Uno and Due together and the havoc they could wreak made my blood pressure spike.

“Yeah. Just uppin’ stakes, leaving Chrissy with a new baby, and heading to where Enzo is fuckin’ up his own life and all the lives of the people in it.”

This was not good, but I was confused.

“How is Nat’s deal slightly better bad news than Dad’s?”

“Well, ’cause Dad told me Chrissy was fucked since she didn’t work and he was shot of her. Didn’t need her shit. She may have kicked him out, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t livin’ in his house. He says he’s puttin’ it on the market so that means Chrissy is jobless, soon to be homeless, and has our new baby sister.”

God. My dad.

“Did Dad say anything about Minnie?” I asked.

“Not a word.”

Fucking Dad.

I looked from Ben’s ear into his eyes and told Cat, “All right, leave it to me.”

Ben went from looking slightly worried and slightly pissed to looking mostly pissed as he clipped, “Jesus, Frankie.”

“What are you gonna do?” Cat asked me.

“I have no clue, but I’ll figure out something.”

“Sal Giglia owe you a marker?” she queried.

Not hardly.

“No,” I answered.

“Too bad. I figure he has the skills to put the fear of God into anybody, even Nat, Ma, and Dad.”

She was probably right.

Still, I wasn’t going to sic Sal on my family. Not because they didn’t deserve it. Because Benny and I already had him coming to our wedding. We didn’t need him forcing us to let him pay for it and giving me away.

“Go get your pregnancy test. No vodka. And call me back after you get done celebrating.”

“Frankie, you always eat this shit and—”