“You want to come in?” I asked. “I’ll warm some of this up for you. I’ll even pretend like I made it and impress you with my mad kitchen skills.”
“Your madpretendkitchen skills.” He eyed the pan, and then his gaze locked with mine before drifting down to the pan. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had Ma’s lasagna.”
Still, he stayed in the hallway. Frustrated with his indecision, I plucked Matt’s new number from my pocket and held it between us. Bones took the number and pocketed it.
“Thanks,” he said.
Having given him what he wanted, I expected him to leave, but he didn’t. Taking it as a sign that he wanted to stay, I grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him toward me. Bones had to weigh at least twice as much as I did. Had he wanted to stay in the hallway, I wouldn’t have been able to move him. But as his feet crested the threshold, I knew I had him.
Hoping he’d be staying for much more than lasagna, I went into the kitchen and started the oven. Bones leaned against the bar and let out a big yawn, wincing at the pull on his stitches.
“Why didn’t your mom say anything about your cut?” I asked. Marcella had asked about his job, about Angel, and about his car, but hadn’t mentioned a word about his cut. That seemed strange to me.
He shrugged. “I’ve been fighting for a long ass time, Ari. She used to ask, but I couldn’t ever answer her questions, so she stopped asking. Hell, she probably wouldn’t recognize me without some cuts and bruises.”
I frowned. “That makes me sad, Bones. She’s your mom. You should—”
“I’m protecting her. If she knew any of the shit I did, she’d be in danger. So would you.”
“But—”
“Let me explain something about Italian mothers and their sons. Every Italian mother tries to turn their boys intomammoni,into mamma’s boys. Ma’s no different. Trust me, if she thought she could get away with it, she’d move all three of us back in with her. She’d cook and clean and take care of us like we were still children.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” I said, pouring myself a glass of water.
“She worked two jobs after my dad disappeared, taking on any and all extra shifts they offered her, so we wouldn’t go without. Ma has done plenty for the three of us, andItake care ofher, now.Iprotecther. You feel me?”
Yes, and I had a feeling he’d been taking care of—and protecting—his mom for a long time. “Is that why you got involved with Angel’s family in the first place? To help her out?”
Bones nodded. “They offered me a job right after Pops disappeared.”
This was the most I’d gotten him to open up to me. Determined to capitalize on his willingness to answer my questions, I asked, “How old were you?”
“Ten.”
He’d been working for the most powerful crime family in Vegas since he was ten. “Jesus. Didn’t your family step in and help your mom?”
“Her parents are on the east coast and she hasn’t spoken to them in years. She doesn’t talk about what happened between them, and she refused to ask them for help. Ma’s a forgiving woman, so whatever they did must have been bad.”
“And your father’s side of the family?”
“Pops was an orphan. But I’m sick of talking about this shit. Come here. I promised to teach you some self-defense moves, and I’d rather do that than blab about myself.”
Personally, I’d rather listen to him blab than learn self-defense moves, but the look on his face told me arguing was pointless. I followed him into the living room and watched as he pushed my coffee table and sofa out of the way.
“Pull out your phone and look at it like you were doing when I found you this morning,” he said.
I did as I was told.
“You need to pay attention, Ari,” he said.
“You just told me to look at my phone. Would you make up your mind?”
“I mean pay attention to your surroundings. You can’t be so caught up in whatever you’re reading that you leave yourself vulnerable. Nobody should ever be able to sneak up on you.” He circled me. “Like I did today.”
“I was aware of your presence, I was just trying to ignore you,” I replied.
“Sure, babe, but humor me. Get in the habit of holding your phone up more, so if someone approaches you from behind, you’ll have more room to drop an elbow into his gut, like this.” He closed the distance between us, pressing his front against my back. Then he grabbed my arm and tugged it down hard, stopping about an inch away from his stomach as he shifted my stance. “Now, you try.”
