she pictured her family chatting, singing, moaning over good food. they would miss having her there. the kids must be confused. she'd been a constant in their lives for the last year, and not seeing them felt like someone had punched a hole in her heart. they were so close to the restaurant... gia thought of telling jason about the gathering and suggesting they go. but as she glanced down at her three thousand dollar outfit and the gorgeous rock on her finger, she knew her parents would be shocked. if she remained jason's wife, she would tell her family when they'd married and why she'd hidden the union from them, but not while they celebrated her father's birthday. not in public. not when she wasn't sure if she and jason had a future.

as the familiar streets passed, she focused on jason's strong profile and waited for an answer. finally, he turned off one of the town's main drags and down an ancillary street, slowing down as they approached delvecchio's. her heart stopped as he pulled into the parking lot.

crap! he'd overheard her on the phone with mila earlier. "jason..."

he shoved the car in park and turned to her. "you admitted that we have some issues to work through. the fact that i haven't met your family is a huge obstacle. i want to remove it now. hell, do they even know we dated?"

no. she'd been worried when she'd met jason that her folks wouldn't understand. he represented so many things her old-school, old-world parents didn't like-establishment and money. he'd never worked with his hands. he wasn't a part of the church. no one in her family-not a single one of her sixteen cousins-had married anyone who wasn't both intensely italian and devoutly catholic. she didn't care about any of that, but her parents would. they would understand even less that she'd concealed her marriage from them.

most of all, she didn't want to put her family through this upheaval unless she believed that she and jason could truly make a life together.

"it's complicated."

"it's not," he contradicted. "i'm not who they would have chosen for you. i understand that, but it's your life and ultimately your choice. you say they 'love' you."

"they do, but-"

"no buts. if they value your happiness, then they will allow you to make the best decision for you and respect it. am i wrong?"

"you're oversimplifying. they're parents; they always think they know best."

"you're an adult with your own life."

he was absolutely right. "but they've been the biggest part of it for years. i couldn't do without them."

"well, i won't be your dirty little secret any longer." jason gritted his teeth and sucked in a breath. "we are going to walk into that restaurant, and you're going to introduce me as your husband. or you are going to say your safe word. tell me again what it is."

"divorce," she choked out.

"that's right. and we will never escape that possibility as long as you hide me from your family. all refusing to introduce us does is prove that you never intended to incorporate me into the important parts of your life."

"i need time." but as soon as the plea slipped from her lips, gia knew she asked for too much.

"you've had nearly a year."

she had more objections, but they were all about her escaping her family's disappointment. about her not having to endure their shock and anger. waiting did nothing but convince jason that he wasn't important to her. and that wasn't true. if they could work it out, she wanted to stay with him. she loved him and wanted his happiness.

her world tilted on its axis for a breath-stealing second. she steadied herself against his car as her thoughts raced. could she even make him happy? cold dread gripped her. gia had no idea what jason really saw in her. maybe nothing.

maybe that's why he cared but didn't love her.

god, she needed answers and she simply didn't have them.

"gia?" he asked, concern deepening his voice as the setting sun slanted through the windshield and cast a golden glow over his inky hair and bronzed skin. he watched her with blue eyes, fixed and unwavering.

"i'm fine," she said automatically.

but she wasn't. she'd been that insecure girl who'd let self-doubt cloud her brain and screw her up. she'd let fear rule her-and still did. she wasn't a supermodel or a brainiac. she hadn't come from a gilded background or even finished college. all along, she'd been unclear what she could possibly give him, and the moment her family obligations had separated them, she'd allowed her doubts to creep in and craft a million excuses for why they should remain apart.

self-flagellation and guilt blistered through her.

"then it's time for you to decide. do we meet your family or are you saying divorce?"

instantly, gia knew that if she uttered that word, he would take it literally and file tomorrow. on the other hand, if she stayed with him and he lost interest in a few months or years? it would hurt so much more.

no, she couldn't look at it that way. she refused to lose him again because of her fears or to save her feelings. it reeked of cowardice and self-doubt, and she would not be that woman. even if she disappointed her parents, she had to believe they would never stop loving her. she owed it to them to come clean. and she owed it to jason to try making him a part of her family.

"let's go." she grabbed her purse from the floorboard and shoved open the car door, shaking from head to toe.

they walked through the shadowed parking lot. jason took her hand, holding her father's professionally wrapped gift in the other, leading her to the door. he opened it for her, and the heavy wooden thing squeaked on its hinges. delvecchio's wasn't big. the small bar area and takeout counter sat to the right, doing a steady business already. a dining area big enough for maybe fifty people lay beyond the hostess stand in front of a half wall just inside the foyer.

gia swallowed, her palms turning sweaty as the familiar hostess turned to her. "hi, renee."

"gia!" the delvecchio's youngest daughter, only recently graduated from high school, called out to her with a little squeal. "i haven't seen you in forever." she eyed jason not so discreetly. "your parents said you weren't coming tonight. they'll be surprised to see you."

completely. that filled her with an anxious dread, but she wasn't backing down.

"what corner did you sit them in? you know they're going to be loud, right?"

"mila warned me." renee winked. "they're in the big booth right outside the kitchen. need a menu?" she asked jason, looking a little star struck.

"i'll wing it." he gripped gia's hand more tightly.

she flipped her gaze up to her husband. he'd pushed to make this meeting happen...but he was nervous. this mattered to him, and gia found that endearing. maybe she should still be mad at him. god knew she was so worried, she probably looked a charming shade of green.

"can you have your brother bring a bottle of that cabernet i like?" gia asked the girl.

"sure. nick will take care of you. holler if you need anything else."

she nodded at renee and figured it was time to stop hiding behind the hostess stand.

sucking in a deep breath, gia led jason around the partition concealing the restaurant from the front door. instantly, she saw her family in the corner. longing buckled her chest. dad laughed. mom held his hand. mila rocked the baby while smiling at her folks. tony jr. played with a pair of plastic cars on the table, crashing them together and making explosive sounds. he looked so much like her brother sometimes that it hurt.

the boy looked their way, his dark eyes piercing, then they lit up with recognition. "an' gia!"

as he clambered from his chair, nearly toppling it and his booster seat over, he darted across the restaurant toward her. jason released her so she could crouch and welcome the happy child into her arms. the moment the little boy crashed into her, gia reached back to right her balance and laughed. automatically, jason braced her with a hand on her back. she sent him a grateful glance before she turned back to little tony.

"how's our big boy? you been good for your mama?"

he nodded earnestly. "i helped."

"of course you did."

"colleen helped, too." the little boy grinned.

from his smile, gia had no doubt that he liked the woman jason had hired to help mila and the kids during her absence. "that's great."

as she stood and ruffled his hair, jason took her hand again and nudged her forward. she looked up to see her parents and sister-in-law all gaping and silent.

she held up her palm in greeting as she closed the short distance between her husband and her family. "hi."

they all gave her the once-over before their collective gazes slid over to jason. they studied him unabashedly. her father frowned.

her mother stood. "hello, dear. mila said you wouldn't be here. i'm glad you could make it. you brought a...friend." she smiled wanly. "why don't you introduce us?"

here went nothing.

"they're not just friends, sil," mila corrected her mother-in-law gently.

his frown morphing to a scowl, her father stood and looked jason in the eye. "you dating my daughter?"

gia sighed. "daddy, be nice. if you'll give me a minute-"

"no, sir." jason held out his hand and waited until her father shook it. "i married her."

what the hell? she turned a peeved glare at jason, but he just sent her a cool glance.

maybe it didn't matter if he'd blurted the truth. there was no good way to drop this bombshell.

her mother gasped and blinked at her. "you're married to jason denning?"

he cleared his throat, and they looked around to see most of the restaurant staring at them. she recognized a girl she'd gone to high school with. their neighbors down the street sat two booths away. she and jason had managed to keep this marriage secret for nearly a year. between crazy twitter peeps and gossipy folks in the neighborhood, the truth would travel so fast, they might make the local ten o'clock news.

"why don't we sit down, mom?" she looked pointedly around her.

mama pursed her lips. her short dark hair didn't quite hide the flush of her cheeks. "all right."

her father followed them. mila just stared. this meeting wasn't going down as she'd hoped.

awkward prevailed as they pulled up spare chairs. gia lifted little tony and set him in her lap, glad to hold him again and have a buffer. "mom, dad, mila, you've obviously heard of jason denning. he's my husband and he wanted to meet y'all."

"why didn't you do the proper thing and ask me for my daughter's hand?" daddy scowled.

her mother looked uncertain. "do you love her?"

mila frowned. "how long have you been married and how did we not know about this?"

gia slapped a hand over her face. "can we skip the interrogation, please? dad, we chose to elope. mom..." she sighed. "can you let me handle the whole love thing? i'm a big girl." then she turned to her sister-in-law. "we married the night before tony's death. when i got the phone call with the news, jason and i were in vegas. when we returned, everything was crazy, and i couldn't bring myself to lay more upheaval on any of you...so i made the choice to live separately from my husband while you needed me."

her father's scowl deepened, then he leaned across the table to glare at jason. "you supported this decision?"

"not in the least. she slipped through my fingers for a while, but no more. i've been trying to convince her for nearly two weeks that we belong together. she's proving a little stubborn, but i intend to persevere."

her father seemed to like that answer. a little smile lifted the corner of his mouth. "good."

"happy birthday." jason set the present on the table between them.

gia watched the exchange, stunned. her father hadn't growled or thundered? she turned to her mother, keenly aware of the woman's confused stare. she also looked a bit hurt.

"i didn't marry him to upset you," gia vowed.

with a tilt of her head, the older woman acknowledged that truth. "he's not italian."

"men of other nationalities can be equally wonderful," she pointed out.

mom looked at her husband of thirty-two years. "perhaps. i might be a little biased."

"i'm not catholic, either, ma'am," jason jumped in, sending her mother a reassuring expression and placing his hand over hers. "but i assure you that i'll always take care of your daughter and any children we have for as long as she'll let me." he smiled. "i'll probably do it even when she fights me kicking and screaming."