“Yeah. You’re probably tired though.”
“I’m not. I’d be up for it.”
“Really? I don’t know the place, so no clue what kind of vibe it is.”
“Then we’ll find out together. Sounds fun.”
“Cool.” He nods, typing out a response to his friend. “Okay, he says to come around ten.”
I chuckle. “Can’t remember the last time I purposely left my house at ten p.m.”
Nantes grins. “Same, actually. It’s been a while, but you’re on vacation.”
“I am.”
We turn the corner and we’re immediately bombarded with Benedettis. Giuliano is here, and his face lights up when he sees me. He walks over to greet me with a friendly hug.
“Hi, Vanian. How the heck are you?”
“Good. Really good. You?”
“All good. It’s been a long time.”
“Too long.” I glance at Nantes, who is already kissing Nonna’s cheek and helping carry dishes to the table. There’s a man sitting quietly at the dining table, looking down at his phone.
“Oh,” Giuliano says. “Let me introduce you.” With his hand on my lower back, he guides me over to the man, who looks up, smiling with relief.
He’s attractive in a very pretty way, with long lashes, glossy lips, and pink cheeks. His hair is short though, almost shaved, so his features are highlighted even more. He stands, and I see he’s several inches shorter than me.
“This is Jacob. We’ve been seeing each other for a few months. Jacob, this is Vanian. He’s the family friend I told you about.”
“All good, I hope,” I say, shaking Jacob’s hand.
“All good,” Jacob says. He has really pretty light brown eyes, and I can see why Giuls is into him.
I’ve never had trouble recognizing attractive people, regardless of gender presentation. Well, not since I got to college and grew the fuck up, anyway.
“Oh, look at this.” Nonna holds her hands to her heart. “All my babies are here, and we keep growing.” Her eyes settle on me. “I’m so happy.”
“Now, don’t get all emotional, Mom,” Larry, Nantes’s dad says, but his tone is affectionate as he rubs his mom’s shoulder. “Good to see you, Vanian.”
“You too, Mr. Benedetti.”
“You can call me Pop.”
“Thank you.” I sit in the chair Nantes points to, my heart filled with a warmth only found here in this home with these people. I didn’t even realize how much I missed Nantes and his family until now.
I won’t let us drift apart again. Somehow, we’ll stay in touch. We live less than three hours away from each other—that’s nothing.
Giuliano tells us about the latest case he got settled instead of going to court, but then his energy shifts.
“I could never be a defense attorney. This case my friend had last week, he had to defend this guy he knew was guilty. We all knew, but there was a major flaw in the investigation. Major.”
“What happened?” Brogan asks.
Giuls glances at Jacob before continuing. “Sloppy police work. They didn’t have a proper warrant to search and they kept pushing for a confession after the suspect invoked his right to an attorney. The whole thing was thrown out.”
My chest tightens with tension. “What did the suspect allegedly do?”
