*Olivia*
“Peek-a-boo!” I yelled, sending Elio into a fit of screaming giggles.
My phone rang, vibrating the coffee table I’d left it on.
“Mama’s gotta check her phone,” I cooed as I scooped him up.
The pediatrician had said that the more we talked to him, the quicker he would pick up language, and that ant I spent about half my days chattering away at him.
I bent to scoop up the phone. Sal’s na lit the screen, though I hadn’t set a picture for him yet.
I hesitated a mont before picking up the call. Hadn’t set it yet? The last few etings had been great, and I was excited, but was I that certain he would be a part of my life?
I picked up the call before I could overthink this.
“What’s up?” I asked.
His voice crackled over the line, still warm despite the distortion. “Livi! Just calling to check in on you and my favorite grandson.”
I laughed. “He’s your only grandson, to my knowledge.”
He laughed with , and I was surprised at how similar the sound was.
“It was wonderful to see him the other day,” he said.
I bounced Elio on my hip, and he babbled. On the other end of the line, Sal gasped.
“Well, that’s one heck of a phone voice he’s got already!”
I smiled down at my beautiful son. “That’s my Elio, an overachiever just like his parents.”
“I’d love to see him again soon,” Sal said suddenly.
I bounced Elio a little more. “I’d love to see you too! There’s a new restaurant just down the street—”
“Well,” he interrupted. “I was thinking we might be past that. It’s a little impersonal, all these restaurants.”
I humd a song to Elio. I couldn’t exactly disagree. It felt like before we knew Elena, when our life was a series of cafes and fancy dinners. And I’d just been thinking about whether I wanted him in my life permanently.
“I’m sorry if I put you on the spot,” he said after I’d been quiet a mont. “I just want to get to know you like family. Maybe I can co back over to your place, or you can co to mine. I just want to see the two of you sowhere nobody’ll ask if my plate’s alright, you know?”
The more he explained, the more reasonable it sounded.
“I’d have to talk to Gio about you coming back over here, but I could co your way,” I said.
“Great!” A bit of clinking and rattling sounded over the line, like he’d just put sothing down. “When are you thinking? Are you free today?”
I cast a glance at the ceiling. Gio had said he’d be in etings all afternoon, and we’d probably have a late dinner.
“I can actually co over for a little this afternoon,” I said. “Elio’s not due for a nap for a couple of hours yet.”
“Fantastic! Can’t wait to see you, kiddo.” He gave his address, an apartnt building in a different part of Florence, but no more than a half hour’s drive away, and we hung up.
I looked at Elio. “Alright, little man, you ready for a field trip? You just can’t tell Papa.”
Elio nodded solemnly like he understood. I laughed and whisked into the hallway to change both of us before leaving.
I didn’t actually intend to keep it from Gio in the long run. I’d tell him as soon as we got ho, or sooner if he realized we were gone. I just knew he’d stop if I told him now, and I wanted a chance to get to know Sal like family, just like he said.
Dahlia stepped into the hallway just as I entered it, carrying a backpack and clearly on her way ho from school.
“Sobody looks sunshine-y,” she said.
I grinned at her. “Sobody’s going to go see where their—where Salvatore lives and hang out for a little.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Does Gio know?”
I shook my head and tried to keep my tone light so as not to alarm Elio. “Nope! I’m gonna tell him when I get ho so he can’t freak out.”
“I hate being the middleman,” Dahlia complained, but she couldn’t help smiling when Elio waved a chubby fist at her. “Alright. Give the address, and I’ll keep him out of your hair as long as I can.”
I smiled and rattled it off.
Fifteen minutes later, Elio and I were dressed and packed into the back of the safety-tested SUV Gio insisted on getting after Elio was born. His car seat was always set up in the back, and he didn’t travel in anything else. Gio had been like a madman in the weeks right after Elio was born, making sure there was nothing in our dangerous lives that could hurt him before he could even get out of the crib.
I chewed my bottom lip. Gio’s protectiveness about my father, Salvatore—I still didn’t exactly know what to call him—but Gio’s distrust of the man sprang from the sa instinct, I knew. But I’d told him before, and I’d say it again. I couldn’t live my life looking over my shoulder.
We pulled up outside an apartnt complex, bigger than the sagging Florentine house Elena lived in, but shabbier and more modern. I took a deep breath. He hadn’t ntioned anything about a job quite yet, and it seed he was still getting his footing in the city.
I unstrapped Elio and climbed out with him in my arms. Dom and Tino got out, leaving the driver to park the car and wait until we were done.
I led them to the third-floor breezeway Salvatore indicated on the phone and knocked.
He swung open the door with a huge grin on his face but froze for a mont when he saw the two huge Italian n at my back. It seed more like surprise than anything else, because his grin widened when he laid eyes on Elio, and he beca animated once more.
“Look at you! I almost feel bad I had to drag you to this part of town,” he said. “Co in, co in. I pulled out so snacks, if you want them. Best I can do for little Elio is saltines, but I figure that’s alright, right?”
“He can have a few saltines, especially if I knock a little of the salt off,” I said with a smile.
I stepped inside, and Dom stepped in with , leaving Tino to watch the door.
Sal hesitated again. “Does he have to co in?”
I glanced at Dom and shrugged. I’d gotten so used to him following everywhere that I hardly noticed anymore.
“I an, yeah?” I put Elio down so his legs could get a little exercise, and he clung onto my hand. “Gio’s in a dangerous line of work, like I said, and they act on his orders anyway.”
Sal nodded slowly, his eyes still on Dom in the doorway and his hand on the knob as though he could shut it in the big man’s face.
He took a step closer. “I know we just t, but in my mind, you’re my little girl, so I gotta say it. Is your Gio a little bossy? Maybe a little controlling? I just can’t think of any line of work that would an it wasn’t crazy to have two n trailing after you all the ti.”
I flinched at the accusation. Gio wasn’t controlling. I needed the guys as protection.
A small voice in the back of my head nagged that I’d snuck out of the house to keep him from stopping .
“I promise I can make it make sense to you,” I found myself saying. “Just let Dom in and close the door.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face, then stepped back. Dom entered, and Sal closed the door.
I took the mont to look around the apartnt. I stood in a small, slightly grubby kitchen-living room combo. A linoleum table with one vinyl chair held a bag of potato chips and a box of saltines. A brown couch squatted in front of a TV on a folding table that played so sport on mute. There were two other doors, one slightly cracked to reveal a blue-tiled bathroom. I had to assu the last was the bedroom.
I understood why Sal wanted to co to our house. He really was still getting his feet under himself.
I led Elio over to the table a few steps away and put him on the single chair. He couldn’t walk just yet, but he was really getting the hang of cruising, especially with mine or Gio’s hand in his.
Sal tore his gaze away from Dom and gestured to the table. “Go ahead, help yourselves! I didn’t really have ti to run to the market, or I’d have a better array.”
I smiled as I pulled a saltine out of the box. It felt a little stale to the touch, but Elio started babbling and grabbing for it as soon as he saw it.
“It’s perfect. You don’t need to fuss over us.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “So, you said you could explain? ’Cause I know he’s got seniority over , but if he’s mistreating you, I’ll kick that Giovani to the curb.”
Part of wanted to laugh at his attempt at parental protectiveness, but the rest rose up defensively around Gio. The guard had been sothing I’d asked for, basically.
“We had so... problems for a while,” I said quickly. “Gio’s in a line of work that makes a lot of enemies, and not all of his enemies have his moral code.” I swallowed. “Dahlia and Alessandro were kidnapped.”
Sal screwed up his mouth. “What did you say Giovani does again? And I don’t know how other people getting hurt justifies this.”
I handed Elio the cracker. “They threatened as well.”
“How long ago was this?” Sal asked. “A threat could be made up to justify keeping an eye on you.”
I raked a hand through my hair, then smiled as I realized how Gio of a gesture that was. I loved my husband, and I knew he wasn’t being overprotective. I just had to say whatever I needed to in order to make Sal understand.
“Dom here took Dahlia and to get gelato during those problems,” I said finally. “A man with a gun showed up and would have killed us both if Dom didn’t intervene. I owe him my life, and I’d like him to stay.”
Sal sighed, but so of the tension went out of his stance, and he finally looked away from Dom.
“Alright, alright, I can tell you’re set on this.” He walked over to Elio, gumming happily at the cracker, and ruffled his hair. “I guess I’ll put up with just about anything to see this little guy.”
The afternoon passed quickly. Sal turned out to be a great listener, and he had loads of interesting stories about Mom when she was younger. Before she had , before he left, she’d been the talk of Miami, or at least, the Miami dive bar scene–beautiful enough to draw heads wherever she went, never drinking on her own di, and the best dancer the state had ever seen, if you believed Sal.
What I liked best about all the stories was the faraway look in his eyes when he described how thrilling it was to walk into a bar with her on his arm. Maybe I was just a romantic, but it really seed like he missed her.
After a few hours, Elio began fussing. I checked my watch and found it had beco five when I wasn’t looking. I scooped up my grumpy son and stood.
“This was fun,” I said. “Really. But I’d better get Elio to his napti.”
Sal stood with . “I told you it’d be better than a restaurant.”
“You were right.” I bit my lip. I’d considered it earlier, but this only shored up my belief. I wanted him in my life. “We should do this again soti.”
His face lit up just as Elio began wailing in earnest. I pulled out a pacifier, but I had to get him down in the next half hour or we’d have a full ltdown on our hands.
I waved my goodbyes and hurried out. The driver raced back to the compound, because all Gio’s guys knew the horror of Elio’s ltdowns by now, and we were back at the compound before I knew it.
I opened the door and stepped inside, all my attention on getting Elio down as quickly as possible.
Gio stood at the foot of the stairs with his arms crossed. “We need to talk.”
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