She nodded. “You too.” She stuck her hands deeper into her pockets. “I guess you know why I’m here.”
I glanced at Rocco, and he nodded. “I’ve heard. I’m so sorry your cover was blown.”
She must’ve taken a deep breath and exhaled it out. Smoke purled from her mouth in a fast rush. “A girl can’t have secrets around here,” she whispered, motioning to the smoke still lingering in the air.
“It was warmer during the day, and a tree must’ve defrosted more than it should’ve…I thought it was on fire, at first, but then I realized it was smoking from being so cold.” I shivered.
Rocco took me by the shoulders, then invited Thandie and Giovanni inside. We directed them to seats in the sitting room where a roaring fire contrasted nicely with the below freezing temperatures outside. It wasn’t overly stuffy, or freezing, but tepidly warm.
Rocco helped me out of my thick coat, as Giovanni helped Thandie out of hers.
I watched closely. She allowed him to, which told me a lot about how she felt about him. Even though Thandie and I mostly had conversations when I stopped by the restaurant, sometimes she would sit and eat with me.
I don’t know if this was an Italian thing or not, but eating together bonded us. We talked about everything and nothing. And even though I knew she could only give me surface truth, I knew she had broken protocol to give me more. She’d told meit was easier to be truthful about parts of her life while she was undercover, but I knew when she spoke to me about being alone in the world, it was more than truthful…she had shared a piece of her heart with me.
Thandie knew what it felt like to be all alone in the world. That sort of thing brings people together on another level, because two people together mean neither are truly alone.
Thandie took a seat, and I offered everyone a drink. Thandie wanted coffee, Giovannia drink, which Rocco said he’d handle. I went to the kitchen, made Thandie a cup of coffee and me a glass of warm cider. I didn’t want to do coffee, or any stimulants, while pregnant.
Pregnant.
I sighed and touched my stomach.
This baby was making such a positive impact, and he or she hadn’t been around longer than a month.
I was so in love already.
I brought the refreshments out on a platter, feeling so fancy as I did, and Rocco took it out of my hands before I could even make it fully into the room.
His eyebrows pulled in. “You should not be carrying heavy things such as this.”
I smiled and squeezed his arm. He thought I was just going to grab two cups. The added snacks were just too much for me—this was sarcasm, but in its nicest form. “I’m okay, Rocco.”
“I will do these things for you from now on, and if not me, you will have help. No arguments.”
“All right.” I nodded, because it wasn’t something I felt that strongly to argue about. If it gave him a peace of mind, he had it.
Rocco set the tray down on the table in front of the fireplace, and after I took a seat on the sofa, Rocco nodded at Giovanni and took his seat, followed by Giovanni.
Thandie looked between Giovanni and Rocco, almost studying the dynamics.
She took a sip of her coffee, then sighed. “I must admit, I was shocked that your family allowed me into its fold. With me being who I am.”
“Who you were,” Rocco said, staring straight at her.
She nodded. “It’s so new. Not being a part of the family, in a term you would understand, I was in. I was recruited when I was young, and that life is all I know.”
Rocco sighed and took a more impersonal stance with her. “I understand this. This life is all I know, although I have dealt with enoughfamilies—” he made quotation marks around the word “—and law enforcement, even governments, to know the world is wide enough for all to fit.”
“It’s not supposed to fit. The good guys win and all that.”
Rocco grinned at her. “My family has always honored the code—if we are not wise enough to avoid law enforcement, that side has won. If we are wise enough…” He shrugged. “Fair is fair.”
“Fair as in…your family has enough money to make the rules.”
“This is true.” My husband’s tone wasn’t harsh or defensive. He knew it was the truth and wasn’t ashamed of it. “We mostly govern ourselves. Most governments recognize this about us. If any of our men do not abide by our rules, these men understand the consequences that will meet them.”
“There’s nothing you can tell me about the Fausti family that I don’t already know. I studied the curriculum in school. Your family’s business is well known and always on the radar, even if we rarely get involved in your family’s politics and laws.”
