11.

LUCA

I glanced over at the counter and saw Tabby's phone light up again. When I heard a commotion out in the hallway, I looked toward the door wondering how the guys had gotten Tabby's dinner order together so quickly. I could tell by the look on her face earlier that she was being a smartass when she told me what she wanted to eat, but the woman had obviously underestimated me.

I had a feeling that would happen over and over again considering the differences in our backgrounds and her naivete when it came to my lifestyle.

I heard a man shout in the hallway and walked over to the entryway that led to the front door. I didn't recognize the voice but guessed it wasn't someone who was a danger when I heard him yell, "I just want to make sure she's okay. It's my goddamn apartment!"

Simon was here and had apparently spoken to Darlene.

I threw the door open and found Simon against the wall with his arm behind his back. Paulie was twisting his hand so that it was almost between his shoulder blades while he held him against the wall by his neck.

"Let him in, Paulie," I ordered.

"You gonna chill out?" Paulie asked in a pleasant voice. "I'm gonna let you go, but if you start any shit, I'll snap your goddamn neck. Got me?"

"Yes," Simon growled.

Paulie let him go and took a few steps back, on high alert in case Simon turned around and got aggressive. He continued to stare at him as he asked, "You gonna be okay inside with him, boss?"

"I'm sure it will be fine."

Simon braced his hands on the wall and took a step back as he turned his head to look at me. His gaze was murderous as he asked, "Where is Tabby?"

"She's in Ember's room with Darlene, probably having a complete meltdown while she tries to sort out everything she's learned over the last few hours."

Simon turned to face me, and I saw him clenching and unclenching his hand. I wondered if it was because of the hold Paulie had on him a few seconds ago or if he was considering going on the attack. I knew in the next instant that he was just here to check on his friend, not make trouble.

"Is she okay?"

"She's dealing," I conceded as I stepped back and motioned for him to come inside the apartment. Simon narrowed his eyes, completely aware of the irony of me inviting him into his own home, and walked past me. "Do you want to see her or . . ."

"Darlene said you're Luca Russo. So, you lied when you introduced yourself to us?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Tabby's got lots of people looking for her, and I was one of them."

"Why? She hasn't done anything wrong."

"Those babies . . ."

"Are mine!" Simon interrupted. "My sons. She lives with me and works in the bar with me. We've been friends for ages, and she's helping me create a family."

I shook my head and sighed before I said, "I know that's bullshit. You know that's bullshit. Your boss probably knows that's bullshit, but luckily, he doesn't have the proof yet, so she's remained relatively safe. However, the Bovinos aren't the only ones looking for her. You know that, too, don't you?"

"There was a Russian who . . ." Simon's voice trailed off when I started nodding, and he said, "I should have let her run. I should have helped her when I had the chance."

"Help her now."

"You'd let her leave?"

"No. I'm going to do one better and marry her."

"Like hell you are."

"You're going to help me convince her to do it."

"Why would I do that? What the hell is that going to do?"

"You know who I am, Simon."

"And?"

"You dealt with a few of the crew who will make it their mission in life to keep my wife safe. And, let me say, they went easy on you because they recognized that this is your house, and she is your friend. But they won't go easy on anyone else."

"You can't marry her and then toss her aside when you get what you want. Tab's not built for this kind of life. When she loves someone, that shit doesn't fade. She comes from a place where marriage is forever."

"So do I."

"She's got Ember, and she's going to have two more to take care of soon. She doesn't need you . . ."

"Those aren't her children, Simon. She won't have any connection to them once she gives birth. She won't have any way to see them, communicate with them, watch them grow up, or anything of the sort. I'm not sure what she thought was going to happen when she agreed to this but . . ."

"She thought Rebecca and Brett would kiss and make up, and then they'd all be a big, happy, family. Rebecca would have a second chance at motherhood with Tabby helping her make that happen, Brett would be around to enjoy all this togetherness that Tabby thinks is so fucking important and . . ."

"It is important, but the expectation wasn't realistic."

"I know that and you know that, but Tabby's got a heart that's so big, it overshadowed reason, and she jumped in with both feet."

"Does she do that a lot?"

"Yeah," Simon said with a sad laugh. "She's rescued me a million times and never even knew it. Same with Rey. Same with Darlene. She's the sunshine when the world is a gray shithole, and we gravitate around her just to catch a ray or two whenever we can."

"I've been caught up in her orbit since the first time I set eyes on her."

"Well, I sure hope you've got sticking power because if they take those kids away from her . . ."

"They will, but not too far away."

"What do you mean?"

"Zach Campana is my best friend. Brett is her friend. We live in the same building, and I work with him . . ."

"Pfft.Understatement."

"My life is connected to Zach's through years of friendship. My children will know him as their uncle, and he will be a major part of their lives, just like I'll be for his kids. When Tabby has those babies - his brothers - they'll grow up thinking of me as Uncle Luca, the man who has been there since the day they were born. If Tabby is my wife, she'll be part of that too."

"And she'll be safe."

"As safe as possible. Ember too."

"How is marrying into the mafia any safer than running from it?"

"Because right now, the Russians, the Bovinos, and The Four Families are looking for her. If she marries me, it will only be the Russians, and I'll take care of that problem."

"What about the Bovinos?"

"We're already on it. Believe me."

"On it? What the fuck does that mean?"

"That means when one of them pops their head up out of whatever hole they're hiding in, we'll remove it from their body."

There was a soft knock on the door, so I left Simon next to the counter and walked that way. When I opened it, I was enveloped by the delicious aromas of our dinner, and since we now had two more people here, I was happy that I had a tendency to order too much. When I turned around to go back into the kitchen, Simon was watching me.

"I ordered dinner for Tabby."

"What did you get for her?"

"Everything she wanted."

"Are you going to keep doing that?"

"For as long as she'll let me."

◆◆◆

"Just admit that you didn't want Darlene to go home or Simon to go back to work because you don't want to be alone with me."

"I firmly believe that we should try this date thing again sometime later," Tabby said as she used her fork to push around the scraps of food left on her plate.

"In about ten years? Maybe twenty?"

Tabby burst out laughing and nodded. "That might work."

"Putting your head in the sand doesn't make the problems go away, Lou. They'll still be right there in your face when you resurface."

"I know that this whole situation is crazy, and I never should have trusted Rebecca in the first place, but I have no idea how to fix what I've done," Tabby admitted.

"I gave you my suggestion."

Her eyes shot up to mine before she asked, "How is that going to fix anything? We barely know each other!"

"How do you feel about me?"

"Confused."

"Take away my last name. I'm Luca Robono again. How do you feel about me?" Tabby looked away and bit her lip, and I insisted, "Tell me, Lou."

"The first time I saw you, I thought you looked familiar for some reason. I also thought you were the most handsome man I'd ever seen. But looks only go so far, and you proved you were more than that when you started spouting random bits of trivia that no one should know."

"I do that a lot."

"I know, and every time you do, I think to myself, ‘Tabby, he's the whole enchilada!'" I burst out laughing, and she smiled at me. "When you kept talking to me that first night, I thought it was because I was the only woman working at the bar, but then you came back . . . and you kept coming back, relentlessly asking for me to give you a chance. At the time, I thought it was so cool that you could see me for me. I'm obviously not at my best right now with my body . . ."

"Don't do that," I ordered as I shook my head. "Pregnant or not, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"You say that, but now I know that's not the reason you've been showing interest in me."

"You're wrong."

"You said that all of you were looking for me and that you were trying to find out if I was working for . . . What was his name again?"

"Sokolov is the head of the Russian family here in New York. The Bovinos are . . . somewhere."

"Yeah. Them. So, you were only paying attention to me to find out about that. Now you think you want me to marry you? Come on, Luca. I'm not that dumb."

"You're not dumb at all. Yes, I came looking for you because of what's going on, but that doesn't explain why I kept coming around once I knew who you were, does it? No. I kept coming around because I couldn't stop myself. I could have easily assigned a few men to watch the building and keep an eye on you and gone on about my business, but instead, I've made a million excuses to myself, my brother, my best friend, and everyone else who matters in my life so that I could keep coming back and get to know you better."

"You didn't have to?"

"No. I knew it was you that first night, Lou, but I just couldn't get enough. I found myself thinking about you while I was working or . . ."

"That's another thing. What exactly do you really do every day? I know that the whole jewelry store and event planning stuff was a lie."

"No, it's not." She gave me a pointed look, and I laughed. "My parents own a jewelry store. My stepmom owns an event planning business."

"But what do you do for a living?"

"A lot of nothing," I admitted with a bark of laughter. "Actually, that's not true. I'm a partner in a large hotel, and my brother and I manage a myriad of businesses - from laundromats to coffee shops and a bit of everything in between."

"Darlene said you were a millionaire."

"We do have a bit of money saved up, and the majority of it is legit."

"The majority of it." When I nodded, she narrowed her eyes and asked, "How do you make the not-so-legit money?"

I smiled and shook my head before I told her, "One thing you'll find is that there is a lot that I can't tell you and even more that I won't tell you." When Tabby started to argue, I put my hand up and said, "I'll be able to tell you more after we're married because if something . . . unexpected happens and the police or the FBI were to interrogate you, it will make a big difference if we're married."

"How?"

"It's called spousal privilege. A spouse can't be compelled to testify against their partner. There's also a thing called marital communications privilege, so they can't use the things one spouse says to the other against them in court."

"I think I've heard of that." Tabby seemed pensive for a second and then asked, "What will happen if someone else figures out who I am? Let's say that I take Ember and run away but these Russians find me or those other men find me. What happens to me then?"

"As long as you're pregnant, you'd probably be safe."

"But if I'm not?"

"If you're not and you have the babies with you, then . . . it won't be good, Lou."

"What happens if your friend Zach finds me?"

"He's already found you, babe. I told him who you were and that I was keeping an eye on you."

"Would he kidnap me and hold me hostage until the babies are born?"

"No."

"But the others would?"

"The other people who are looking for you would definitely do something like that."

"But Zach wants to take away the babies even though they're not his kids."

"They're not yours either, Lou."

"I know," Tabby said as her eyes filled with tears. "It's hard to remember that sometimes when I feel them in there. It's so much harder than I imagined it would be, but then again, I didn't think I wouldn't be allowed to see them. That's what's going to happen, though, isn't it?"

"I'm working on a way to make sure that doesn't happen, Lou," I said as I turned her stool so that she was facing me, her legs between mine as I leaned closer and wiped the tears off her face. "I can't guarantee that you'll be able to help raise them, but if you're with me, you'll be in their orbit if not by their side."

"Because of your friend."

"And your friend."

"Brett hates me."

"No, she doesn't. Brett found Zach and asked him to help find you. She missed you, and then when she found out Rebecca was dead, she knew you were all alone."

"She'll probably never forgive me."

"I think she already has but talking to her will accelerate that."

"Why do you want to marry me?"

"Honestly?"

"Yes, please."

"I have no idea." I burst out laughing, and so did Tabby. I was still chuckling when I reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and ran my finger along her jaw. We seemed to be of the same mind because she leaned toward me as I leaned forward, and our lips met in a kiss that rocked my world more than any kiss ever had before.

At first, it was soft and gentle, and when I started to pull away, shocked at the electricity between us, Tabby reached up and grabbed a handful of my shirt and held me still as she pressed her lips to mine again, harder this time, with even more feeling.

By the time she pulled her head away with her hand still holding my shirt, we were breathless. I rested my forehead on hers for a second before I straightened and said, "And we'll add that to the list of reasons I think marrying you would be the best thing for both of us."

"A kiss is a kiss, Luca. That doesn't mean we're compatible everywhere else."

"I can't imagine going a day without talking to you or seeing your face. I don't want to."

"I feel the same way," Tabby admitted breathlessly.

"Marry me, Lou. Not just because it will keep you safe, but because you want to."

"Give me the weekend to think about it."

I groaned but then took a deep breath and nodded. "I can give you that, but I can't leave you here alone."

"No. Give me the weekend, Luca. Here. Together. Let me see what living with you is like because I already know that loving you will be easy."