Chapter 19 Tilly
TILLY
Everyone’s inside, but I needed a moment alone, preferring to sit on the front porch and listen to the distant noise of the city. My ears are practically ringing from the multiple conversations happening at once inside the house.
“Mind if I come out?” Suzy asks from the front door, holding two glasses of wine. “You can totally say no.”
“Come out.” I pat the space next to me on the swing. “Sit, please.”
She walks slowly, letting the screen door close softly behind her. Not like anyone inside would hear it. I’m pretty sure they can’t actually hear what anyone is saying with the volume at which they’re all speaking and the fact that they’re all doing it at once.
She hands me a glass before sitting down next to me. “Needed a break from everyone?” she asks, turning toward me and tucking her leg under her body.
“Not really. I just needed a moment to wrap my head around the ways my life has changed.”
“Well.” She takes a quick sip before resting the wineglass against her knee. “I remember how overwhelmed I was when I met Joe and then his entire family. No one was married yet, so the group was smaller, but still a lot to take in.”
“I had Mitchell and Roger for so long, and it was just the three of us—and then the two of us. I’ve never been around a large family. Even when my parents were alive, we didn’t have anyone but the three of us.”
Suzy grabs my hand. “It was the same for me. I mean, my parents are alive, but we aren’t close.
And I have a sister, but she’s a bitch. So even though I had them, I didn’t have them.
When I met the Gallos, it was shocking how loving and close they all were.
It took me a while to feel like I belonged and was one of them. ”
“It did?” I ask, happy to know I’m not a complete weirdo.
“They’re all so close. It’s hard not to feel like an outsider, but it’s even harder to stay one. They suck you up, and, girl, they never let go.” She pats my hand softly before placing her arm across the back of the swing. “The Gallos are the best kind of people.”
“They really are. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”
Suzy smiles. “On paper, Joe and I didn’t fit. God, at first, I really didn’t want to date the guy, but he was persistent.”
“You didn’t?”
Hell, I remember the first time I saw Angelo. I wanted him, but I figured he was married and off-limits. I wasn’t sure I could even open my heart again, but the big guy had a way of working himself into my soul.
Suzy shakes her head and laughs. “We did sleep together the night we met, but I figured we’d never see each other again.”
“Why?”
“Why did I sleep with him, or why did I think we’d never see together?”
“I can see why you slept with him.” I laugh softly. “But why did you think you’d never see him again?”
“I was a little na?ve and way too innocent for the badass biker that was City.”
“City?” I ask.
“That’s what his biker buddies call him because he grew up in the big city. The night I met him, my car had broken down on a dark country road, and he pulled over to help me. When he couldn’t get the car to start, he offered me a ride to the bar to call for a tow.”
“And that turned into you two…”
“Yeah,” she says, looking into the distance with a sinful smirk on her face.
“I didn’t plan on sleeping with him. Hell, he even scared me a bit.
” She takes another sip of wine as I study her, trying to picture her younger and na?ve.
“I didn’t drink, didn’t swear… I was like a nun without the getup.
But there I was in this badass biker bar, surrounded by dirty-talkin’ rough men, and then I was on the back of his bike.
I kind of let myself live a little that night.
I’d never had a one-night stand before him, and I assumed we’d sleep together and be done. ”
“Why?”
“I figured he was a player and the night meant nothing to him. I mean, you’ve seen him. He’s handsome as hell, and the ladies are always eyeing him. I see the way they look at my husband. Even the young ones and I want to punch them in their pretty little faces or their perky, perfect tits.”
I let out a howl of laughter. “Somehow, I can’t picture that. So, was he a player?”
“He’d only had one long-term relationship before me. He was engaged, but she died tragically before they were married.”
My heart aches for him. I know the deep sadness that comes from losing someone you love so completely.
“I could see why he didn’t want to settle down for a while after that. When I lost Mitchell, I never thought I’d love again. I figured I’d be an old lady, surrounded by cats, and watching reality television for the rest of my life.”
Suzy giggles. “I think City liked the chase. I may have been easy the first night. Don’t ever repeat that.” She points her finger at me. “But afterward, I tried to put distance between us when other women were throwing themselves at his feet.”
“Angelo and I started hanging out as friends, but we flirted a lot. I think we were both still dwelling on our grief so much that we couldn’t move forward. But that was what brought us together. Unless you’ve loved and lost, it’s hard to comprehend exactly how the other person feels.”
“I can’t imagine losing Joe,” she says quietly and looks down at her wineglass. “My world would end.”
“It feels like that for a long time, but somehow we keep breathing.”
“The man may be a total badass and cocky as hell, but he’s treated me like a queen since the day I met him. He didn’t care that I didn’t like to party and I wasn’t his usual type. For some reason, we clicked. God, he even saved my life. How can a girl walk away from a man after he saves her life?”
I gasp. “He did?”
She nods. “Some asshole attacked me in the parking lot of the biker bar. I thought Joe was going to kill him. After that, I knew he’d always protect me.
No one had ever done anything even remotely close to that for me.
I always only had myself. Not even my parents seemed to give a shit what happened to me. ”
“The Gallos are very protective,” I say, knowing that much about Angelo. The man would take a bullet for me without even blinking.
“They are. Now here I am with three girls, an amazing husband, and a large family that’s like a small mob, none of which I planned. It’s funny how life works out sometimes.”
I don’t say anything as I sit next to her, sipping my wine, letting her words seep into my heart.
“What you’re feeling is normal,” she says like she’s reading my mind. “I just wanted to tell you that.”
“Thank you for sharing all that with me. I loved hearing about how you and Joe met and fell in love.”
“Izzy’s story is better.” She smirks, and her gaze goes to the window and Izzy. “James was Thomas’s best friend.”
My eyes widen. “Thomas was okay with that?”
Suzy shakes her head and twists her lips into a salacious smile. “Not at all. It all started at my wedding.”
“Wait, I think we need more wine,” I tell her and quickly stand. “Don’t move.”
Everyone’s so busy, no one seems to notice me as I run into the dining room, grab a bottle, and head back outside.
Suzy’s sitting on the swing, running her fingers through her long blond hair. She holds her glass up and says, “So Thomas sent James to our wedding because he was working so deep undercover, he couldn’t make it.”
“Okay,” I tell her as I fill her glass. “And?”
“I saw the spark as soon as they met. Izzy was Izzy and totally playing it off like she didn’t even like the guy. She can be rough sometimes, even on someone as tough as James.”
I pour the wine into my glass after I sit down and turn toward Suzy, ready to get the dirt. “Keep going.”
“She got totally shit-faced and ended up in his hotel room doing the nasty all night, and then she left without even saying goodbye. Just dropped the guy like a hot potato.”
“How did they get together again?”
“Izzy went to Bike Week and got in over her head. Thomas was there, still undercover, but somehow, he got a message to James and had Izzy arrested for drug possession.”
My mouth’s hanging open, but she continues.
“After she was arrested, James went to the station and decided to bring her home.”
“That’s all it took?”
Suzy laughs loudly, slapping her leg. “No way. James wasn’t going to play nice with her, so he handcuffed her to the bed all night and most of the way home.”
“He did not.” My eyes widen.
“Izzy was not amused.”
I suck my lips into my mouth, trying not to laugh because more than one person has turned their attention to the window, and I like our little Suzy and Tilly bubble. “So, what happened?”
Suzy shrugs. “It seems James likes the chase as much as Joe. And for some reason, that man can bring Izzy to her knees, and I’m not talking figuratively either.
” Suzy waggles her eyebrows. “He’s straight up hot as fuck when he’s being all Dom and bossy.
I’ve never seen anyone tame Izzy the way he does, still to this day. ”
“I want to know all the stories. Tell me about Mike and Mia, Anthony and Max, and Thomas and Angel.”
“Girl, Angel and Thomas are a whole other story. It’s a wild one too.”
“I feel like I need to know everything.”
Suzy raises her glass, touching it lightly to mine. “I’ll tell you everything.”
An hour later, the bottle of wine is gone, and we’re both giggling like college girls who’ve never drunk before. The stories Suzy told me had me laughing my ass off, and the wine didn’t help me keep my shit under control.
“You ladies okay out here?” Angelo asks as he pops his head out the front door. “You’ve been out here awhile.”
“We’re perfect,” Suzy tells him. “Just girl talk and sharing a bit of family history.”
Angelo’s eyes linger on my face, and when he sees my tears are from laughter, a smile spreads across his lips. “Okay. Don’t get too drunk. You two want anything?”
“Privacy,” Suzy says easily. “We have some things that aren’t meant for a man’s ears.”
“Enough said.” Angelo puts up a hand and disappears.
“I know he thought we were talking about periods or something. It’s where a man’s mind automatically goes and scares the bejesus out of them. Doesn’t take much more than the mere thought, and they vanish quickly.”
I giggle louder. “Thank you for tonight, Suzy. I really needed some laughter, and your telling me all your stories helped me feel like I’m part of something bigger.”
She places her hand on mine. “Sweetheart, you’re a Gallo now. You are part of something special.”
I feel it deep in my bones. There’s something magical about being part of a family, having a tribe to call your own. I no longer feel like an outsider after being clued in on everyone and every crazy, sexy detail. I am now, and forever shall be, a Gallo.