7.

LUCA

"There's some guy here staring me down like I owe him money. I can't place him, but he's not happy to see me, whoever he is."

I read the text my brother had sent me a few minutes ago and replied, "Does he know who you are or just dislike you on sheer principle?"

"What's not to like? I'm fan-fucking-tastic."

I burst out laughing, and Tabby looked over at me in question. "Sorry. I got a text from my brother."

"Are the two of you close?"

"As thick as thieves," I said honestly.

"That's the way siblings should be. I miss my brothers and sisters."

"Why don't you talk to them anymore?"

"I got pregnant out of wedlock which is a big no-no in my family. My father kicked me out and made them cut off contact with me. I still talked to a few of them occasionally, mostly the oldest three, but when my phone got destroyed a few months ago, I lost their numbers."

"You didn't have your info saved to the cloud?"

"I switched to a different carrier and got a different number," Tabby hedged. "Other than doctors' offices, you're one of just a handful of people who have my new number."

"What about friends you've made since you moved here? Other than Simon and what was that one man's name?"

"Rey?"

"Yeah."

"I lost touch with my best friend, and I don't think she'd want to hear from me anyway. Same with a mutual friend of ours who is more like a mother to us than anything."

"Sasha," I blurted.

Tabby's eyes got wide and she asked, "How did you know her name?"

I scrambled to cover my slip-up and said, "You once said that she was the closest thing your daughter had to a grandma."

She had talked about that, but I was positive she hadn't mentioned a name. However, I knew Sasha because I met her when we moved her to The Castello after the Russians targeted Brett to find the woman who was sitting with me now.

"Sasha is a wonderful woman, but I know she wouldn't want to be in the middle of mine and my friend's argument. She probably thinks . . ."

I knew what Sasha thought. And what Brett thought. Both of them wanted to find Tabby and bring her back into the fold, to safety, but we couldn't allow them to do that until we knew for sure whether she was in bed with the Bovinos.

I wanted to believe she wasn't. I needed to believe it. I just needed to prove it.

As I unpacked the basket, I asked, "Do all the people that live on this floor work at the bar?"

"Oh, no. Our friend Darlene lives in one of the apartments, and our friend Rey leases another. He picks up shifts at the bar now and then, but he doesn't work there full-time."

"What does he do full-time?"

"He works for Darlene."

"She owns a business?" When Tabby didn't answer me right away, I looked up at her. She had her lips pulled between her teeth and was looking around as if trying to find an escape route. I tried to sound as if I were joking when I asked, "What? Is it an international crime syndicate or something?"

"No. Darlene is . . . Darlene. That's it."

"Well, that tells me nothing," I told her with a bark of laughter. "What about the other apartment?"

"It's empty," Tabby said with a look of puzzlement. She shrugged and said, "It always has been. The man that owns the building is supposed to live there, but I've never seen him. Neither has Si."

"And the man that owns the building also owns the bar?"

"Yeah. It's a big company, so I'm not sure why he keeps an apartment here when he could probably afford to own a place anywhere in the city."

"That is peculiar," I said, filing that information away to tell my associates at our meeting on Monday. Sam had tracked the bar owners to a holding company we were sure belonged to Geno and Frank, but neither of them would be caught dead living above a bar unless they had pegged the apartment next door as the perfect hiding place. "Maybe the man is a hermit and just gets everything delivered."

"No. No one ever goes to his door. At least, no one has that I've ever seen."

I heard the doorknob turn and looked that way, but when the door didn't open, I looked back to Tabby. She smiled at me as if nothing had happened, but then it jiggled, and there was a soft knock.

"Are you expecting someone?"

"You know I have a daughter, right?"

"Of course. Ember. You've told me all about her."

"Well, she's staying across the hall at Darlene's."

"It looks like she may have escaped. Should you check on her?"

"When Ember starts to get cabin fever, we let her play in the foyer. She likes to ride her scooter up and down the hall. That's probably what she's doing right now."

"Would you like to let her in?"

Tabby looked at the door before she blew out a breath and shrugged. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"She's had a lot of upheaval in the last few months, and I don't want her to get to know you and then have you suddenly disappear and leave her confused."

"Why would I disappear?" I knew that wouldn't be the case. I would forever be connected to Tabby through Brett, and since Brett and Zach were planning to spend the rest of their lives together, if she and Tabby remained good friends, then we'd see each other often.

However, I was addicted to this woman - her voice, her smile, the twinkle in her eye when she said something sarcastic, the way she laughed when I said something funny, the way . . . Well, everything about her had me hooked. I didn't want to give her up.

Matteo had seen it before I was willing to admit it. I was sticking around Tabby with the excuse that I wanted to make sure she wasn't mixed up on the wrong side of this fight, but really, it was because I didn't want to be apart from her. She was like a drug to me.

"Why are you interested in a woman who is seven months pregnant with another man's children?"

"Papà married my mom when she was a few months pregnant, knowing that her children,much the same as the twins you are carrying, weren't his blood. But he married her, and they're still happy to this day."

"I remember you mentioned that before, but I didn't see the similarities."

"Do you see them now?"

"I do." Tabby laughed before she asked, "So, when is the wedding?"

"I'm free on Monday."

Tabby tilted her head and studied my face before she quietly said, "Why would you marry me? We barely know each other."

"I know enough about you to realize that you're running from someone or something. I know that you have friends here who would do anything for you, but I'm not sure that's enough to protect you from the problems you've got. I know that you'd marry me in a heartbeat if that meant you could keep your daughter and those babies you're carrying safe, but I don't know if you've considered that yet." When Tabby's eyes got wide, I said, "I guess you haven't, but I have. If whatever you're running from catches up to you, what happens then? If something happens to you, what will become of your daughter? Where will she go? Back to your hometown? Foster care?"

Tabby's eyes filled with tears, and she began to sob. "I never even considered that."

"Your friends love you, and they're loyal to you, but would they be good parents for Ember if they were given the opportunity?"

"No," Tabby whispered.

I couldn't believe what I was about to offer and knew that I should keep my mouth shut right now, but I'd lost the ability. What I was suggesting felt right. If Tabby and I were married, that would give her some protection if we found out that she was working for the Bovinos. I thoroughly believed that her heart was in the right place, but the other men of The Four Families might not. I would be able to count on Matteo to have my back in any situation, including if I backed Tabby even though she was aligned with our enemy.

Even if my relationship with her tore a hole in the alliance we had with the Romanos and the Morrettis and blew apart the lifelong friendship we had with Zach Campana, I knew that Matteo would remain by my side.

Tabby had friends, but she didn't have anyone like that. However, if she was married to me, she would.

And if I were married to Tabby, if I provided protection when she needed it, that might overcome the betrayal she was going to feel when she found out who I really was and what had started this whole thing.

"Marry me, Tabby."

Tabby's eyes shot toward the front door when there was a loud thump followed by a child's ear-piercing scream. Without hesitation, I took off toward the door, knowing that I could get there quicker than Tabby in her condition.

I was about to meet Tabby's daughter, whether she wanted me to or not.

◆◆◆

TABBY

My heart stopped when I heard my daughter scream, and I was shocked when Luca sprinted across the apartment toward the door. I jumped up and lumbered after him, trying my hardest to get to my daughter as quickly as possible.

When Luca threw open the front door, I was not far behind him and saw Ember laying on the floor, curled up next to her scooter. I watched as he dropped to his knees next to her and calmly started talking to her but couldn't understand what he was saying. For some reason, he was speaking Italian now, but when Darlene skidded to a halt at the same time I did, he looked up and told us, "It"s her arm. Maybe her wrist."

"She was playing and I . . . She always . . . I didn't . . ." Darlene was sputtering as I dropped to my knees on Ember's other side. She was talking to me but staring at Luca in shock, but I didn't have time to concern myself with her since my little girl was injured.

"Come here, baby," I murmured as I rested my hand on Ember's shoulder. "Let Mama see what's wrong."

Ember was sobbing outright now. I had to pry her hand away to see the arm she had clutched close to her chest. She realized I was next to her and sat up and then threw herself at me. I rocked back when her full weight hit me, and Luca reached out to help steady me.

"Oh, honey," I whispered as I held Ember to my chest, or as close as I could since my belly was in the way. "Don't be upset, sweetheart. It's going to be okay. We'll get this taken care of. Let us look at you, okay?"

"She needs a doctor," Luca said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Don't call 911," I ordered as I tried to stand with Ember in my arms. "I'll take her to the clinic. There's one just a few blocks away that I can get her to faster than they could get here anyway."

Darlene tried to help me stand but wasn't nearly as much help as Luca, even though he only had one free hand since the other was holding his phone to his ear as he spoke in rapid Italian to whoever was on the other end of the line.

"Mi serve la macchina. C"è una bambina con un braccio rotto. Portaci all'ospedale e trovami il medico più adatto a lei. Stiamo scendendo adesso."

"What is he saying?" Darlene asked.

My mind was scrambling to keep up when Luca said, "Ms. Smith, call the elevator. There's a car coming around to take us to the clinic."

"You've got a car?"

"Do you want a ride or not?" Luca barked as he ran his hand over Ember's hair. "Andra tutto bene, tesoro. Ci prenderemo cura di te."

"It's okay, honey," I whispered as I walked across the foyer to the elevator. "What are you saying?"

"Sorry. In my family, it was a rule that we had to talk to the kids in Italian to help them learn the language. I guess it's just a habit now."

"Oh," I said, still confused. "What did you tell her?"

"It's gonna be okay, we'd get her help," Luca translated.

"I need my bag," I said as I turned to go back to the apartment.

"You don't need anything," Luca argued.

"I need my ID and wallet, at least." I furrowed my brow as I turned to Darlene and said, "I'll have to use my credit card to pay."

"We'll use mine," Darlene insisted. "I'll lock up."

"Don't worry about anything," Luca insisted. "I'll take care of it, Lou."

When the elevator doors opened, Luca nudged me inside and told Darlene, "I'll have Lou call you."

"But . . ." The doors closed on Darlene's shocked expression.

"I need my purse, Luca. They won't see her without me giving them my identification and . . ."

"Trust me when I tell you I'll take care of it, Lou."

As hard as it was to imagine, considering I'd only known him for a few weeks, I did trust him, and I knew that he would.

When the elevator stopped on the ground floor, I was surprised to find one of Luca"s friends standing just outside the doors when they opened. He nodded at Luca and gave me a tight smile, and then, without a word, he walked toward the back entrance, a door that I didn't even have a key for. I started to tell him that we couldn't get out that way, but before I could say anything, the door was opened from the outside by another of Luca's friends.

Luca put his hand on the small of my back and ushered me out past his friend to a waiting Town Car where a man was standing with the door open, waiting for us. Luca helped us inside and then got in behind me before the man who had been holding the door shut it behind him. I realized then that there was already someone in the driver"s seat, and when Luca spoke to him in Italian, he answered in kind before he pulled away from the curb into traffic.

"Mama, it hurts so bad," Ember whispered.

"I know, baby. We're going to get you fixed up."

"The doctor can give you something to make it stop hurting. Don't worry, honey."

"Who are you?" Ember's tear-filled voice asked.

"My name is Luca."

"Is he your friend, Mama?" Ember asked.

"He is."

Ember looked at Luca, and as a fresh round of tears started, she asked, "Will you be my friend too?"

"You're breaking my heart, dolcezza," Luca said softly as he brushed the tears from her cheeks. She let out a sob and reached for him with her good arm, and I watched in amazement as she crawled over onto his lap and settled herself with her face against his neck, her injured arm clutched tightly between them. "Mi prenderò cura di te, principessa. Anche di tu mamma. Prometta."

The translation wasn't exact but sounded enough like Spanish that I could get the gist of what Luca said to my daughter.

"I'll take care of you princess and your mom too. I promise."