Gian (Trassato Crime Family Book 1) by Lisa Cardiff Page A

counter. “Hey. That’s not true.”
    “No. I really am.”
    “Come here.” I threaded my fingers through hers and pulled her closer to me until our shoulders made contact. “She told me you helped her after her fiancé, Rocco, died. She said she would’ve never gotten through it without you. That’s what a real friend does. She won’t forget that simply because she’s pissed about us. She’ll get over it.”
    “Maybe.” She tipped up her head, her brown eyes glossy. “She really said that?”
    “Yes.” I tapped the tip of her scrunched up nose. “So she repaid the favor by helping you with Kevin.”
    Her attention drifted to the side, and she squared her shoulders. “What does your dad have to do with this engagement party?”
    “Nothing. Everything. I don’t know.” I despised talking about my dad dying. I spent the first thirteen years of my life both hating and fearing him. That all changed when he opened his world to me. Hate and fear shifted into love and respect. Rather than wanting to run away from him the minute I turned eighteen, I wanted to stay and prove my worth to him. Make him proud of me. That was probably what made him a great capo. Nobody wanted to let him down. I was still trying to earn everyone’s respect, but I’d get there.
    “Is it because he’s dying?” she whispered so low I nearly missed her words.
    “Yeah, I guess so. I want to make him happy. I want to make my mom happy, and if having a stupid engagement party makes them happy if only for a couple hours, I’ll do it.”
    Her too-knowing gaze collided with mine, and then her eyebrows raised. “All right. I’ll do it. But if you get a wild hair up your ass and decide to get married for the same reason, I’m not doing it. I narrowly escaped one disastrous marriage, and I will not consider jumping into another to grant your dad’s dying wish to see you married. With my track record, I’d pick cement boots and a swim in the Hudson over a white dress and stroll down the aisle without batting an eye.”
    An involuntary chuckle burst between my lips. “Wow. Okay. Good to know. Death is better than marrying me. If I didn’t have a healthy ego, I’d be crushed right now.”
    She rolled her eyes. “If the gossip about you is any indication, you’ll recover.” She flipped her messy braid over her shoulder. “In fact, if what I’ve heard about you is close to truth, I think you’d pick death over marriage.”
    My lips kicked up at the corners a notch, and I pressed a kiss to her temple. “Don’t believe everything you hear.” I snagged my beer from the counter. “Be ready at four-thirty tomorrow.”
    She dragged her perfect white teeth over her lower lip. “What should I wear?”
    I took in her black yoga pants and loose white cropped top that had wreaked havoc on my senses since the minute I found her curled up on my sofa. It’d been damn hard to ignore the game of peak-a-boo her shirt played with her belly button while we were talking. “Anything you want.”
    “That’s helpful.”
    “It’s the truth. You look good in everything.” I paused, enjoying the way a pink blush spread up her pale cheeks. “I’d probably avoid sweats, swimwear, and ball gowns just to be safe.”
    “Ugh. You’re such a jerk.”
    She punched my shoulder, and I laughed. I fucking laughed , and not the hollow laughter elicited by a dumb joke. It was the kind you felt deep in the pit of your gut. What was this woman doing to me? Where had the hard-as-nails Gian gone? I’d been an immovable brick with singular focus since my dad introduced me to dark side of Trassato family at age thirteen. All that changed the moment I laid eyes on Evangeline. I’d caved and caved and then caved some more.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THIRTEEN
     
     
    Evangeline
     
    As the sun slipped below the horizon, Gian and I climbed the front steps of his childhood home. A two-story brick house with a black lacquered door loomed in front of