Tony

 

Things went back to normal after talking with Evie. Honestly, it was a Goddamn first. I had never had to actually put in effort like that with a woman before. Ever. Mostly because I never planned to keep them if I was fucking them, and that’s all I was doing with them if I was playing with them—fucking.

 

Evie was different.

 

After our conversation, I put more effort into getting shit together for her and the baby. We had been going to doctor’s appointments, yes, and picking out baby things here and there, sure. But we weren’t planning the big things.

 

We turned the guest room in my wing into a nursery. It took about a week or so to get it totally done, but Evie moved into my room officially and our baby had a room—officially. It seemed to be the first step in a few that I was laying out to make this thing with Evie the real damn deal.

 

I could remember standing with her in the room. We’d painted it this really faint yellow—still on this thing that we wanted to be surprised about the baby’s gender and therefore would have the nursery painted in a color that would suit a boy or girl, either way. I’d looked down at her as we observed our handiwork—we’d wanted to the painting ourselves—and she’d had speckles all over her face, like little yellow freckles. She’d looked so happy; I’d never seen a woman glow like her, and I wanted to make her glow, and glow, and glow like that some more.

 

It wasn’t even just that. It was everything about Evie.

 

She’d made friends with everyone at the compound. She’d seemed nervous at first, but she’d tried. She wanted to try and be a part of things, and though certain aspects made her nervous, she never shied away hard. She wasn’t afraid. She was trying. I could appreciate a woman with a bit of gumption, despite the odds, and the hard-ass will to get shit done.

 

She even got along with my dad, which was a shocker. I still didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, but he at least treated Evie well enough, and I couldn’t fault him for that in all honesty. I rather him treat her like the queen that she was than some sort of trash.

 

As for me? I worked on those promises I’d made to Evie, which generally meant pushing my father to do things that he had, up until this point, not wanted to do. Cleaning out the drug slinging, for one. It brought in cash, but we made more cash running the clubs and strip joints than we did on drugs—and there were fewer reason for cops in Rick Brown’s pocket to come sniffing after us if there wasn’t a reason to sniff. My father thought I was chickening out.

 

“We’ve been doing these things this way for years. You want to stop now?”

 

“There’s no point,” I’d told him. “The numbers speak for themselves. It’s good business. We put our efforts into something that, in the long run, will bring us more profits and fewer troubles.”

 

“And what does your little lady think of that, huh?”

 

“She thinks it’s good business.”

 

My father had laughed at that, but eventually he’d conceded. We were working on cleaning up our operations, now, and working toward something better for the Esposito name. Cleaning it up would be something that would happen in the long run, but I was fine with that. I wanted that kind of upswing associated with me and not with my father.

 

I had a renewed sense of purpose. I had a drive. A lot of that had to do with having a focal point for the shit that I wanted.

 

That focal point had me thinking past these immediate changes. Out and about in town, it had me walking into a store that I hadn’t expected to—a jewelry shop.

 

I browsed through the selection of rings. There were a lot—ones with huge rocks, tiny rocks, no rocks at all, and rocks of all colors. I hadn’t had this particular talk with Evie yet. I didn’t know if it was the right time, really. But what could I say? I worked fast. I could at least be prepared for when the time was right (as in, when I knew that she would be down for something as crazy as this.)

 

There were gold bands and white-gold bands. There were platinum bands. A lot of them were gaudy. I knew that Evie wouldn’t want something gaudy.

 

“You need any help, young man?”

 

The jeweler came up to me as I leaned over the glass, peering in. I looked up to him and nodded.

 

“Trying to find the right one.”

 

“They always do,” he said knowingly. “I think I can help. Tell me about your girl.”

 

“She’s perfect.”

 

He laughed.

 

“They always say that, too. What’s perfect mean to you?”

 

I thought about it.

 

“She’s smart as all hell. Confident but …humble. She knows how to show rather than tell. I like that.”

 

“Hmm …” The man started to peruse on his own. “Color preference? Cut?”

 

“Anything but yellow gold. Oh—she likes amethysts?”

 

“Oh. Non-traditionalist. I like that. Shows adventure. Love needs adventure.”

 

“I like to think that I’m adventurous.”

 

“You look the type.”

 

I laughed. “You have no idea.”

 

The jeweler gave an enigmatic smile and moved through the selection. He eventually stepped back behind the counter, and I followed him over when he gestured to me.

 

“How about this one?”

 

He pulled from under the glass a thin-banded ring with a single amethyst set into it. The cut was just as delicate as the platinum band and it glittered in the light. He held it out to me and I looked at it carefully, taking it in.

 

There wasn’t a thing wrong with that ring. It was …well, hell, it was perfect. And perfectly went with Evie. It was like it was fate.

 

I looked to the man and gave him a huge grin.

 

“I’ll take it.”

 

After I finished up at the jewelers, I stopped by a bakery to pick up cupcakes to bring back with me. I wasn’t going to be giving Evie the ring, not just yet, but I could at least have something to bring back to her, nonetheless. Things were looking up. My life was making a few good turns for the better.

 

I just didn’t know in the moment that this was merely the calm before a very pressing, daunting storm.