The Woman from the Past (Grassi Framily)

Lucas learned from the best.

And he would have known that if Nicky suspected something, he would have found some way to get me out and run, which would hardly have put him in a good position with his hero Colin.

“Don’t let us get in your way, hon,” Nino said, waving to the bed. “We were just going over some shit before we go to our own rooms.”

After the events of the day and night, I really did need to sit down, so I went ahead and climbed on the bed.

“Is… where is Nicky going to stay?” I asked. “Not his apartment, right?”

“No,” Massimo said, shaking his head. “It’s best for Nicky right now to lie low. Shit is going to get hectic for a while when everyone learns their leader and the enforcers are gone. We want to make sure he doesn’t get wrapped up in some sort of street war. We got him a room here too for the night. Maybe two.”

“And then?” I asked, hearing the tension in my own voice.

“Then it is up to him,” Massimo told me. “But you, I figured, were coming back to Navesink Bank with me. If you and Nicky have other plans, though, I—“

I knew what he was doing.

He was giving me an out.

He was making it clear I had options, that I wasn’t going to be subject to his demands like I had been to Colin’s.

Which only made me fall a little bit more for him.

That was why I cut him off.

“I would like that,” I told him. “And I imagine that Nicky will follow me there. Not to your house, of course. I can buy him a place. I mean us. I can buy us a place.”

God, that was a bad slip, right? Especially so early in our relationship.

When he said I would go back to Navesink Bank with him, he didn’t mean to his actual house with him. Like… moving in.

“You can do that. If that’s what you want,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “If it feels better having something of your own. But I meant to my place with me. You. Or you and Nicky. Your choice.”

“You really need to go to his place,” August said. “It needs a woman’s touch.”

“Says the fuck with no headboard,” Nino said.

“I’m having one specially made,” August shot back. “And you can’t talk when you had Smush help you decorate your place.”

“When you want something done right, you hire people who know what they’re doing,” Nino said, shrugging. “Can we get you anything?” he asked, turning back to me. “There’s not a lot of places open, but we can find you some food. There’s got to be an all-night diner in a twenty-mile radius. This is Jersey,” he added, smirking.

“We’re so close to breakfast. I think I will just wait,” I said. “But thank you so much. All of you. For everything.”

“Anytime, hon,” Nino said, offering me a small smile. “We are going to get going. Let you get some sleep.”

“I thought—“ August started, only to get shoved forward to the door by Nino.

“That we are going to let the woman sleep, yes,” Nino agreed, guiding his little brother out the door and into the hall.

“I like your brothers,” I told him.

“Save your opinion on that until you meet all of them. And together. When they are being complete dicks,” Massimo said, giving me a smile.

He was making his way to the bed when there was another knock on the door.

“It’s me, Cammie,” Nicky said through the door.

“I got it,” Massimo said, letting him in.