"i need to see what's wrong with my dad."

"i'm with you," he promised, pocketing the phone. "is he upset?"

"i can't tell for sure."

jason grabbed his coat and escorted her out the door just as her father hung up the phone, his face pale and shocked. he stepped closer to his truck, shaking, then balanced himself against it, head bowed.

mama curled up against him and lifted a palm to his cheek. "marco?"

gia ran to her dad, flanking his side and taking hold of his arm. "what is it?"

he tensed, swallowed, then lifted his head to stare at them all for a long moment. his weighty gaze steadied on mila before shifting back to his wife. "ricky wayman is dead."

chapter eight

fifteen minutes later, they sat around the breakfast table in her parents' kitchen. mama busied herself making coffee. mila settled little tony in front of the tv in the next room, then put bella in her playpen. jason linked his fingers with her own. daddy didn't say a word.

"who gave you the news? what happened exactly?" gia asked finally as mila entered the kitchen again and mama sat down with her steaming mug.

her father sighed. "sergeant miller called. he still works at the precinct, right?"

she nodded. "he's retiring in march."

"he thought i'd want to know that wayman had been killed. apparently, he got into a fight with one of his homies and it ended with a gunshot."

gia sat back in her chair, the shock still pinging inside her. a thousand emotions pelted her. vindication warred with anger. wayman had been an unrepentant thug, well known for selling drugs to kids. whoever had shot him had probably done the human race a favor. but she'd wanted to arrest him and at least try to make him answer to a jury and the prison system for his crimes. his violent end shouldn't be surprising, not when he lived so violently himself. still, the suddenness of it left her reeling.

"do we know why?" she asked.

mila breathed a sigh of relief. "do we care why? he's dead, and i say good riddance. wayman shot your brother in cold blood, and i hope he pays for what he's done in hell."

"i can't disagree," her father said gruffly, sipping at his coffee. but he still looked shaken.

mama reached out and tucked her hand in his. "i know i should look at it differently as a good christian, but that criminal took something from me-from all of us-i can never replace. i couldn't bring myself to forgive him. maybe now that he's reaped what he's sown, i can. i don't know. but i also know there's a mother out there tonight grieving the loss of her son. she will miss him at thanksgiving and christmas, every year his birthday passes, every time she sees something he would have enjoyed... even if her son committed terrible deeds, my heart goes out to her."

daddy nodded fiercely and wrapped his arms around her mother, breathing loudly into her hair as if trying to get a hold of his emotions. a long moment later, he kissed her head. "his death probably saved lives. and right or wrong, i feel a sense of closure now."

gia didn't. she was relieved in a way, but even more, she felt cheated. the whole swirl of emotions barely made any sense to her. but right now had to be about her family.

beside her, mila sobbed quietly. "i know wayman's death doesn't bring my husband back." her breath hitched on his name. still, she pressed on. "but i feel better knowing that man doesn't walk the streets any more and can't pull the trigger again. he can't rob any other woman of her husband or son. maybe now, we can all move on with our lives."

beside gia, jason squeezed her hand. she knew she should let go of her anger against wayman and her driving need for revenge to focus on tomorrow, on building her own family with her husband. on the surface, that sounded great. but how did she just forget the fact that she'd needed to give her family-and herself-some finality before she moved on?

"we certainly weren't going to get closure from dpd," her father added cynically.

"what do you mean?" gia frowned. did her dad know something she didn't?

"think about it. a good cop died and no one lifted a finger? the story of an officer murdered on the streets within days of thanksgiving barely made it to the press. and patrick recanted his eyewitness testimony after a few days."

"yeah," she drawled. "and i have little doubt he bought a boat with the bribe that made him suddenly 'unsure' of what he'd seen. i even reported him to internal affairs. it's like...they're stalling or they just don't care."

"that's what i'm saying. wayman was paying off most of the precinct, including the brass. i can't prove that, but i know he targeted your brother because tony refused to be bought."

gia sat back, feeling flattened all over again. it all made sense, and she should have seen it sooner. but no, she'd wanted to believe that the people she worked with weren't corrupt assholes more concerned with lining their pockets than justice. she felt damn naive.

how was she going to return to work when her stay with jason was up and look those people in the eye without wanting to rail and scream at them all?

jason's phone rang. he pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the screen, then stood. "i should take this. you okay?"

she nodded. "yeah."

sort of, anyway. she might self-combust in the next ten seconds if her head didn't stop spinning. hell, what else didn't she know?

"excuse me for a minute." jason nodded and ducked out of the room.

gia watched him ease out the front door with his phone pressed to his ear, his posture telling her he was already in business mode.

"it's been a hell of a night," her father commented with a sigh.

she nodded, then reached for daddy's hand. "it has, but i want you to know that i'm here for you all."

"no," mila insisted, jumping out of her chair with her hands on her hips. "hell, no."

blinking, gia stared at her usually reserved sister-in-law. "what the..."

"you listen to me." mila wagged her finger. "don't you dare give up one more minute with your husband! tony and i had six wonderful years together. even though they ended terribly, i wouldn't trade a second with him because i loved him. you gave me a year when your place was with jason. don't spend more time apart from him that you may someday regret. i should have been standing on my own two feet all this time. i will from now on."

"if we had known you were newly wedded, honey, we would have done so much more to pitch in and help." mama's expression looked somewhere between miserable and guilty. "i let you handle everything because i felt lost myself. taking care of the kids would have given me purpose and allowed me less time to wallow."

"you weren't up to it."

her mother snorted. "i'm not ancient. i would have managed."

"i'd hoped dealing with the kids would give you less time to hunt wayman," her father admitted. "i damn near did a jig when you were put behind a desk. you were too set on revenge to be looking for that killer."

"daddy, i can take care of myself."

"i thought tony could, too." he shook his head solemnly. "i kept fearing i'd get a phone call about your murder next."

"i wouldn't have risked myself."

her father scoffed. "don't lie to me."

gia sighed as guilt ricocheted through her. "i was careful."

he shook his salt-and-pepper head. "bullshit. you went into wayman's 'hood with guns loaded and cocked. i made a couple of phone calls and tried to get you reassigned or put behind a desk, but i don't have any influence since i retired. whoever finally realized that you were going to get yourself killed and did something about it, i want to shake his hand."

"i'm glad you approve." jason closed the door behind him suddenly and crossed the front room into the kitchen with his hand outstretched.

daddy took it, pumping vigorously. "you got gia desk duty?"

"yes, sir. i'm acquainted with the mayor. i might have suggested that if he wanted a healthy donation for his reelection campaign, he needed to make sure a certain beautiful female officer didn't get hurt in the line of duty."

"well, hot damn!" a grin broke out across her father's face. "i like you even more."

"thank you." tears trembled in mama's eyes.

mila nodded, wearing a mirror expression.

she glared at them. they all approved of jason's manipulation? what the hell?

jason looked surprisingly grim. "don't thank me yet." then he turned to gia and took her hands. "you know i'd do anything for you, that i would move mountains to keep you safe and happy."

"yes," she said cautiously.

he'd proven it again and again these past nine days. really, since they'd met. she might not always like the boundaries he gave her, but she couldn't deny that he had her best interests at heart.

"always," he vowed, then faced her family. "that phone call i just took was from an associate of mine. a week ago, i hired him to spread the word in wayman's neighborhood that i would pay anyone who brought information leading to the thug's capture a hundred thousand dollars."

her father choked. her mother gasped. mila's jaw dropped.

"what are you saying?" gia demanded.

"once word got out, one of his fellow criminals didn't want to just give us information. apparently, this one decided he could run the hood better, so he tried to turn in wayman and collect a little money, too."

"wayman would never go in quietly. he'd fight to the death... oh my god." she pressed her hand to her mouth, shaking.

"your reward put an end to him," mila said.

jason shrugged. "his fellow gangster's greed prompted him to turn on his 'buddy,' and wayman chose to die rather than go to the station for questioning. maybe i should cry or feel guilty, but i don't. i don't always get to use my money for something good, but i think in this situation, we got the best outcome possible."

"you knew i wanted to bring wayman in myself," gia said through her shock.

he nodded. "i knew it was going to kill you, too."

she couldn't argue that he hadn't done everything possible to keep her safe, but he'd completely missed the point. later, when she was less stunned, she might not be so angry. but not now. "you didn't even discuss it with me."

"i saw no reason to mention it unless my plan actually worked. and i didn't know wayman would rather die than be questioned."

"did you think he'd just go quietly?" she tossed her hands in the air.

"most people do, so yes. my intent was simply to get him into the station, which i hoped would lead to his arrest and eventual conviction. i did this for you."

she knew that logically, but somehow she had a hard time simply thanking him. "what gave you this crazy idea?"

"the night we met for mexican food, i knew you needed closure. the way you spoke suggested your family did, too. i knew you'd kill yourself trying to provide it. so i took care of it. it took me a few days to find the right person and another week for results but-"

"that phone call this morning, the one i overheard after i first woke up... that was him."

"yes."

"you threatened to fire him."

"i wanted results. how does that make me the bad guy?"

it didn't, and in her head gia knew that. but right in her gut where the anger and rage over tony's death lived? not so much. "you didn't talk to me about this."

"so you could tell me not to and go on risking your life?" he challenged.

she held up her hands, feeling seconds away from explosion. she didn't even know how to put everything she felt into words. jason's heart had been in the right place, but that didn't excuse his interference.

"you had me put behind a desk, then you blackmailed me into spending a few weeks with you. you bought me clothes without consulting me, forced me to introduce you to my parents. and now you tell me that you had my brother's murderer turned to dust. when do i get to make some decisions about my own life?"

"gia!" mila screeched. "i couldn't be more grateful to him." she turned to jason, then rounded the table to hug him. "thank you. from the bottom of my heart, really. thank you."

he put an awkward arm around her. "i'd do it again."

meeting jason's stare over the top of her sister-in-law's head, gia dragged in a breath, trying to get ahold of herself. they'd been so happy an hour ago. she'd been almost convinced this could work.