“I want each of you to leave your cuts here, go out and see what you can find out,” I said.

We’d gathered outside with Bear circling us, sniffing our boots and begging for ear scratches.

“Romeo, go to Otto’s. Hang out, drink a few beers, keep your eyes and ears open. Italo and Alonso - go hang out in the old neighborhood. See if you can get a beat on what Loprinzi and his guys are up to. Bats, brother, you go see if you can get in touch with Donny, from the precinct. See if he’ll tell you anything. Anything at all,” Donny was an old friend of ours from the neighborhood. He and his brother Sal had both become cops, following in their father’s footsteps. Their father, Charlie, was close to both Leo and Giannetti and rumor had it that he wasn’t opposed to letting his palm get a little greasy over the years.

“Sure thing, Dante,” Romeo said, as they all stripped off their cuts and draped them over a chair on the porch.

“What do you want me to do, Dante?” Angry Bobby asked.

“I want you and Gio to go check on my Ma. I don’t want to leave Gabby alone here, and I’d normally go to her house today.” I dug in my wallet and handed Gio some money. “Give her this. Tell her I’ll stop by as soon as I can, and tell her to have Veronica take her to the store.”

“Will do,” Gio said, nodding.

“Thanks, brother,” I said, pulling him in for a hug and then doing the same with Bobby. These guys were my family, just as much as my sister Veronica and my Ma. I hated that I couldn’t be there today, but there was no way in hell I was going to leave Gabby alone.

Ma was really getting old and Veronica was responsible for making sure her day to day needs were met. I went by her house several times a week to make sure she had plenty of money and helped her out with anything she needed around the property. It was the least we could do for her after all she’d done for us over the years. After our father left her all alone, she had to be both mother and father to us, and we didn’t always make it easy. I shuddered to think of the hell I’d put her through before I joined the Army. Hell, the Army years weren’t easy on her either, saddling her with so much worry and pain until I’d finally made it home.

“Check in with me if you hear anything. I want to know who’s looking for us and if anyone’s getting close.” I said, before lowering my voice, “I’ll turn my phone on. Text me with any info you find. When you come back, make sure you aren’t followed.”

I watched the guys leaving, a tiny pang of guilt for lying to Gabby about my phone starting to form in the back of my mind. She’d probably be pissed when she found out that my phone really did work out here, but I knew that when I lied about it. I figured I’d deal with the consequences when that happened, but at the time, there was no way I was going to let her lead Loprinzi to my doorstep.

Not before I had more time to gather information and figure out what to do.

* * *

“So why were you just wandering around the carnival all alone, anyway?” I asked Gabby, the flames from the fire flickering in her pretty green eyes as she smiled at me.

“Cotton candy!” she replied, jutting her chin out proudly.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yep. I was obsessed. I loved those carnivals. Giannetti was the man back then. We all looked up to him. My mother adored him. My father was his most loyal employee.”

“I’ve heard.”

“I loved those parties, though. Not just the cotton candy, but the pony rides, the bouncy houses, the face painting, the fireworks!” Her eyes lit up and I felt a twinge of nostalgia as she described our shared childhood memories. They were the same eyes I’d seen that night behind the tent and I’d had no idea at first. I always figured I’d know them as soon as I looked into them again, but I’d been wrong.

Maybe that was because she’d grown up so much. Those amazing curves were proof of that, but there was a lot more to it than that. It was the eyes themselves. They were filled with a strength, hardened with the sadness that comes when innocence is lost, and yet deeper, wiser. I found myself lost in them, remembering them, remembering the way they’d looked at me last night, trying as hard as I could to engrave them in my head in case they didn’t stick around for too long.

“Yes! I remember all of them fondly. No matter what anyone says about Giannetti, he took care of the neighborhood,” I said, tearing my gaze away at the thought of losing her. That was the first time I realized she was getting under my skin. Or, maybe the first time I admitted it to myself. I guess the first time I’d felt it was when I dragged her out of Otto’s. Or maybe when I first felt her lips against mine. Or, maybe it was the first time I felt her wrapped around me, the first time in so long that I’d buried myself in the heavenly bliss of a woman. I suppressed a groan just thinking about it. Here she was talking about fond childhood memories, and I was fantasizing about ripping her clothes off again and taking her back to my bed once more.

If there was one thing we had, it was time. I got up to lock the front door as she kept talking, the blood rushing through my veins as I imagined her writhing below me.

“He did. I never thought I’d see the day he’d get put in the joint,” she said, her eyes trailing me as I locked the door. I grabbed my gun from the table and tucked it into the waistband of my jeans. She didn’t miss a beat, just kept right on talking. “My dad was so freaked out that day. The whole neighborhood was. Not just Queens, either. All the housewives in Howard Beach were gathered out in the street in front of their houses, chaining smoking and gossiping like it was the event of the century.”

Yeah, I thought, she’s not like other girls. Wait - women. She wasn’t like other women. She didn’t flinch at the sight of my gun, she didn’t seem afraid of anything. It made me wonder if she was ever scared of anything in her life. But why would she be if her father was Leonardo Loprinzi? What did she ever have to be afraid of?

No wonder she was calm as a cucumber about all of this shit. She sat there like we were just two old friends catching up. As if there weren’t a dozen dangerous men trying to find us and kill us at this very second. As if our very lives didn’t hinge on what happened in the next few days.

Fuck it, I thought. Maybe she’s onto something.

“You aren’t afraid?” I asked her, stopping in front of her and pulling her up and into my arms.

“Of you?” she asked.

“No, not of me. Of everyone else,” I said.

A slow smile spread across her lips and she smirked.

“I like to live in the moment,” she winked, “and right now, you’re the only person I see. And I don’t see anything to be afraid of.”

“I like the way you think,” I whispered, pulling her chin up and brushing her lips with mine. She tasted like peaches, so sweet, so good. She melted under my touch. I pulled her close, as close as I could get her, as we stood in the kitchen, slowly inhaling her, tasting her, running the silkiness of her skin under my palms.

All these years, she’d been like a mirage in my head. We were just kids. That brief moment was like a dream, something that never really happened. Something I’d almost convinced myself that I’d made up.

But now she was here, in my arms. Real. Flesh and bone, all feminine softness and welcoming warm bliss that I desperately needed to feel again.

I scooped her up and carried her to my room, slamming the door with my foot behind us, leaving Bear whimpering on the other side.