6. Jian

6

JIAN

T he soft rumblings of rock music filled the air, broken only by the sharp clack of pool balls bouncing off one another and the gentle clink of square ice against the glass in the middle of everyone's drinks.

Dino stood before me, his mouth slanted in thought as he studied the table in front of him. I was in the lead, but not by much, and all it took was one strong sweep of the cue and I would be crying into my Vodka for the rest of the night.

"Come on," I taunted him gently. "Or do you need more time to work out how to take a graceful loss?"

"Fuck you." Dino snorted, removing the darkened aviators from his face and fixing me with a death stare. "I'm just being gentle because I know you can't take another loss."

There was a split second of amusement before we both chuckled at what Dino said, then we glanced at the bar. Rocco was hunched over himself, staring down into his glass of whiskey. He'd been like that for over half an hour, so whatever answer he sought must have escaped him. Games like this were supposed to distract him from his grief, but they only worked when he took part. I'd learned pretty quickly, however, that you couldn't get Rocco to do something he didn't want to do. It had to be his own choice, so Dino and I racked up the game, hoping he would join in.

"You can talk about loss." Rocco grunted from his stool, one leg bouncing lightly against the bar. "I'm not going to fall apart."

"You sure about that, Boss?" I asked gently. "You don't have any rage you want to take out on a few unsuspecting pool balls?"

"Or a meddling grandfather?" Dino said with a snort.

Rocco didn't move, nor did he reply.

Dino and I glanced at one another, silently debating whether to pursue that a little further. We decided against it and returned to the game, for all of thirty seconds because then, Rocco spoke once more.

"I'm sorry, Jian."

I paused, half leaning across the table while trying to line up my next shot and further secure my victory. "For what?"

"For what my grandfather said."

Oh. The Triad comment. It wasn't an uncommon remark, not in this line of work. In the beginning, when I was assigned to Rocco seven years ago, it took a while to build trust. But once we crossed that bridge, the three of us became firm friends. The hierarchy still remained, but I knew Rocco held my best interests at heart. His grandfather's archaic views didn't reflect on him because he always had my back.

Always.

"Don't worry about it," I replied. "Your grandfather is stuck in the past. Besides." I took my shot and struck the ball right into the pocket, much to Dino's dismay. "If I were Triad, I definitely wouldn't have chosen the Italians to infiltrate when the Irish have superior booze. "

Dino snorted with amusement and headed around the table to me, then he slapped the winning five hundred dollars into my palm.

"You know I only lost because I have that old gunshot wound on my ribs." He hunched over, playing up the injury as if he could beat me at that. Setting the cue down on the table, I ran my fingers over the money and scoffed.

"By that logic, I'm even weaker since I've taken two bullets for you over the years, my friend. So you got beaten even worse."

"Fuck you." Dino threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close in a brief, tight hug. "Next bullet is mine, and we can play on even ground."

"I look forward to that, you asshole." I shoved him away with a smile, then we both moved and sat at the bar with our drinks in hand. Rocco didn't look up, but there was something slightly calmer about the air around him. We couldn't take his pain, and we couldn't bring back his dad. We certainly couldn't help him shoulder the burden of Don, but we could support him.

And we would. Until our dying breath.

"Oh, you know," I said after a long victory sip. "I met the hottest woman at the store today."

"When you were getting your allergy meds?" Dino mocked with a smile.

"Yes, when I was getting my allergy meds," I shot back in the same tone. "There's too many fucking trees around here."

"Weak." Dino snorted.

"Fuck you. Anyway, she was stunning. I didn't know small-town women could look like that."

"Who was she?" Dino drained his glass, then he braced both hands on the bar and hopped over to the other side. Bottle in hand, he poured himself another.

"No idea. Mae, she said her name was." I sighed, thinking back to how surprised she'd looked when I'd calmed down her son. "She was gorgeous, though. I'm talking like real, down to the earth beautiful. Like the kind of woman you'd be able to get freaky with and take to tea with your ma."

"Details." Dino slid along the bar toward me and shook the bottle in offering. "I need details."

I nodded for another drink and continued. "She smelled beautiful, like flowers and vanilla all mixed together."

"Surprised it didn't trigger your allergies," Dino quipped.

"I will shoot you." I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, she smelled so fucking good, and she had those fucking amazing green eyes. Like gemstones, but a deep green like the forest, y'know? And this sweet smile that was kinda crooked. All these freckles all over." I waved my hand over my face. "And gorgeous long red hair that was all curly, like messy? I don't know how girls do that, but she was…" I sucked on my teeth and then whistled. "Skinny thing, but fuck, she was hot."

"What did you say her name was?" Rocco's attention was suddenly locked onto me and a deep frown crossed his brow.

"Mae? Why?"

"She sounds an awful lot like Mary," Dino murmured, his eyes darting back and forth between Rocco and me.

"Mary?" I repeated, trying to make the connection. As Rocco's face softened for the first time since news of his father's death arrived, I realized exactly who she was. " The Mary? My small town hottie is your Mary?"

Rocco nodded slowly, then glanced at Dino. "Sounds like her, doesn't it? "

"The one that got away," Dino groaned.

"She didn't get away," Rocco grumbled. "She was taken away."

"By your father?" I knew very little about the details, only that a woman called Mary had haunted Rocco for about seven years now. She was the love of his life, apparently, and he had harbored years of resentment toward his father because of her.

"Yes." Rocco straightened up and slid his glass toward Dino for more, not caring about the mixing of drinks. "She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, so gentle and yet so spunky. She gave me the best night of my life, and then I had to leave everything behind because my father got us involved in a fucking feud."

"He did bring about peace, though," I pointed out. "So it was sort of worth it."

"He didn't let me say goodbye," Rocco snapped, and his grip tightened so much on his glass that veins bulged out of his forearm. "Family became the top and only priority."

"Rocco's little crush didn't matter," Dino agreed. "Man, she was the hottest, sweetest thing. You know one time, I was so fucking sick I actually thought I was dying. We didn't really know each other. I just admired her from afar like Rocco. She brought soup to my dorm. Fucking sweetheart."

"She brought soup for her friend." Rocco snorted. "You just happened to be there."

"Same thing." Dino laughed. "Either way, it was fucking good soup."

"Damn. Well, I hate to break both of your hearts, but since you've just crushed mine by telling me my crush is your old flame, she's definitely moved on from your sorry ass," I said, drinking deeply.

"Married?" Rocco asked with a look on his face similar to that of a kicked puppy .

"I didn't see a ring, but she's got a kid."

Whatever plan Rocco was building shattered immediately right before my eyes. "A kid?"

"Yeah, a boy. Sweet thing, if a bit shy. And she's got a dog, some old thing."

"Dozer," Rocco said softly. "That old mutt is still alive?"

"Yup. So she might have rocked your world for a night, but she's clearly got a new life all worked out for her, with a kid and a dog and some hot guy at home. I bet he's fucking her right this second," I teased.

"Fuck you," Dino groaned. "She ain't fucking anyone if she was flirting with you."

"Maybe she likes choices," I pointed out, then I leaned back and cast an arm wide. "I'm irresistible, after all."

"The next bullet you take had better be in your face, you handsome fuck." Dino laughed. "Shit. You know, coming back here, I did think about Mary, but in the same way you remember old classmates. I can't believe she's still in this town."

"Me neither." Rocco sighed deeply and drained his glass in one gulp. "Whatever. I'm glad she's doing well."

"Bullshit," I shot back immediately. "You pined for her for years, and now you find out that she's here, possibly single, and you're just happy for her?"

"She has a kid," Rocco sighed. "That means she's committed, or there's some asshole in her life."

"You could kill him," Dino pointed out. "I could kill him."

"Don't put ideas in my head when I'm drunk," Rocco replied, and for the first time in what felt like an age, he laughed .

Dino smirked. "You've got me on speed dial."

With a flick of his wrist, Dino refilled all of our glasses and Rocco fell silent once again. Only, there was something different about this silence. His eyes were focused rather than blankly staring into a pit of grief.

He was planning something.

I knew it.