“Suzy’s friends used to rent it, but it’s been empty since they moved out.”
“I may never leave,” I teased.
“Dessert!” Auntie Mar yelled from the dining room.
My stomach growled, and I looked down, trying to figure out how I’d fit another bite of food in my body. “How do you guys stay so damn fit with her cooking?”
“It’s a challenge, bro,” Thomas said, walking past and slapping me on the shoulder. “Lots of working out and physical activity.”
It took me two attempts to push myself off the couch before I was able to stagger to my feet. “I’d have to spend all my free time at the gym if I ate her food every day.”
“You won’t have that problem with Suzy’s cooking,” Izzy teased as she followed me into the dining room.
“She lured me by other means,” Joe said before he pulled Suzy into his arms and gave her a deep kiss.
Being around the Gallos kind of made my head hurt and my heart ache. They never stopped talking or teasing each other, but the amount of love in the house made me long for something I’d never had.
I grabbed a slice of cake and headed back to the living room, trying to get a moment’s peace. Before my ass hit the couch cushion, Mike strolled into the room.
“So,” he said before he stuffed a forkful of cake in his mouth. “I know you have some shit going on up there. Fess up.” Small crumbs fell from his lips, landing on his lap as he spoke.
“Not a thing, Mike,” I replied before scooping the frosting off the cake and shoving it in my mouth.
“Liar. Back in the game?” he asked with a cocked eyebrow.
“Nope.”
He stared at me as if he were trying to figure out if I was bullshitting him or not. “Fine. Are you getting back in, then?”
I shook my head. “Nah. I’m too old to do any time in the joint, man. It’s not worth it anymore. I was given my one chance at redemption, and I doubt I’d get a second if I got caught.”
Mike laughed. “You always were a lucky SOB. I mean, we had to move because of all the shit you started to get Joe involved in. Ma did not want him to be a criminal.”
“Oh, please. Joe would’ve never been a criminal.”
“Don’t be so sure. He’s still scary as fuck. Hey, why don’t you move down here, dude? I mean, the weather sucks in Chicago. You don’t have a job. You’d have us. What could be bad?”
I savored another bite of cake, wishing I could eat like this every week. “I don’t know. I don’t think my mother would survive without me.”
“She’ll be fine.”
“Dude, you clearly don’t know Fran that well. She’s up in my shit all the time.” I scraped my fork against the plate, gathering every morsel left before putting it in my mouth. “She’d go bananas if I moved away,” I mumbled.
“Have her come too.” He shrugged, not meeting my eyes.
“Chicago is a big city. I could get lost and not see her for weeks if I wanted to. Here, it’s a little too close for comfort, if ya know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” he said before he leaned back and polished off the cake.
“What are you talking about in here?” Thomas walked in, rubbing his gut.
“I’m trying to get Morgan to move down here, T,” Mike replied, setting his empty plate on the coffee table.
“James and I were just talking about that. We could use another guy on our team. You have the skills we need and you’re family,” Thomas said as he sat across from me in his father’s chair and leaned forward.
“What do you do again?” I asked, forgetting what Ma had told me.
“James and I started a private investigations company a while back. It’s become such a success that we have a backlog of cases and often have to turn people away. So what do you say?”
