42. Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Ronan
“ D inner looks great, Ma,” I said, kissing her cheek before dropping into my seat across from Giaco and next to Grace. She scowled at me but smiled.
“You’re late.” She looked at me from the corner of her eye, pointing out that everyone else already had food on their plates even though they hadn’t started to eat.
I nodded. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I was taking care of something.” I thought about Nellie laying in her bed, reminding myself that the doctor said everything was fine. She was okay. That was all that mattered.
“Something with the FBI?” Giaco asked, suddenly appearing more interested when he thought the feds had come to see me. I shook my head.
“No work talk. It’s family dinner,” Mom said, interrupting us. She grabbed the bottle of wine and topped off her glass. “You know the rules.”
“Sorry, Ma,” Giaco said, nodding apologetically. “But this thing with the feds right now…”
She glared at him and then looked at our father. “You heard your mother. This can wait until after we eat.” He took a bite from the plate of spaghetti in front of him, always quick to take her side when needed. Growing up, she ran the family—he just enforced it for her.
“It kinda can’t wait,” he argued, setting his fork down harder than necessary. “The feds are breathing down our necks, watching for us to make one wrong move. The Cassidys are still pushing on our territory and we have to handle Nikki, but Ronan is too focused on some girl.”
“You mean the girl who almost died?” I spoke up, sitting forward. Mom sighed.
Giaco rolled his eyes. “She didn’t almost die. Doc said she was just fine.”
“She’s not just fine. ” I stood up, planting my hands flat against the table and leaning over it. When Mom grumbled her protest, our father stood up too. “You know that!”
“I don’t care. I need your focus here.” When Giaco stood, our father beat his fist against the table.
“That’s enough!” he shouted. “What is wrong with you two?”
“Ask him,” Giaco snapped.
When Grace stood and cleared her throat, the room silenced. “You two are here fighting when you should be on the same team. This family needs you to work together!” She looked at us like she wasn’t almost a decade younger—more like she was the older sibling lecturing us for the hundredth time. She sounded exasperated, pointing at each of us in turn when she spoke. “And all of this because you love Nellie and you can’t handle that? Get it together, or we all lose.”
Our father nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “She’s right, you know? If the two of you can’t be on the same side, we can never expect anyone else to be.” He looked at Mom, offering an apologetic glance. “You two step into the office and talk and come back when you’re finished. Your mother made a delicious meal, and you’re going to sit down and eat it.”
We nodded, both stepping back from the table like a couple of scorned teenagers. Dinner resumed for the three of them, and the sound of forks clinking against plates followed us out of the room. Giaco had barely closed the office door behind us when I started talking. “I can’t just let her go through this alone, Giaco. You know that.”
“I know,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“And I’d never put our family at risk.” I sat against the edge of the desk. “You know that too.”
He nodded. “I do.”
“So give me a fucking break!” I threw my hands in the air.
“I can’t,” he said with a simple shrug, like it was the most obvious thing he could’ve said. He stepped toward me, putting both of his hands on my shoulders with a suddenly more serious than usual look. “You’re not going to lose it over a woman. She has handled herself this long without you. She doesn’t need you to babysit her now. Get it together.”
“She’s not just a woman.” She was the woman. Every woman.
He rolled his eyes, but the frustration on his face still lessened. “Yeah, I know. She’s your woman and you love her. I get it.” Then, he lowered his voice. “I don’t care. Figure your shit out before someone in our family, or Nellie, gets hurt.”