Sweetest Sorrow

  "Awesome! Thank you! I'll see you soon!"

  She hung up, tossing her phone down on the counter, before meeting Matty's curious gaze. "Who was that?"

  "Chris from Jerry's."

  "Chris from Jerry's," he repeated. "Who the hell is Jerry?"

  "Oh, I don't know. I guess the dude who owns the place? I only met Chris. He called to tell me the parts I ordered are in."

  "You ordered parts? For what?"

  "For the car."

  "The Honda?"

  "The Lincoln. I went into the garage in town and ordered some parts so I can try to fix it."

  He stared at her like she'd gone insane. "Do you even know what's wrong with it?"

  "I'll figure it out."

  "So you ordered parts for a car that you don't even know will work, and you gave your phone number to some stranger so he could arrange for you to come pick them up from him?"

  "Yep."

  "And you don't see anything wrong with that?"

  "Nope."

  "White girl in the horror movie," he muttered, reaching over to flick the burner off, cutting the heat from the burgers. "Can't even recognize danger."

  Genna laughed. "Whatever, I know danger. I grew up around danger. That dude was harmless."

  "We'll see," Matty said, setting the spatula down. "Come on, let's go."

  "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" She stepped in front of him, blocking his path when he tried to walk away. "Nobody is going anywhere until I get my damn cheeseburger."

  Matty turned on his heel, swinging back around to the stove. Grabbing a bun from the fresh pack on the counter, he slapped a burger and a slice of non-melted cheese between it and held it out to her. "Eat in the car."

  She took a bite of the burger as she followed him, slipping her feet into a pair of flip-flops in the foyer. She ate as Matty drove them into town, still eating when they pulled up to the garage, finishing chewing as she followed him inside.

  "Excuse me?" Matty said, approaching a grubby man with long hair, leaning over the hood of a car. "Are you Chris?"

  Genna paused at the entrance. Oh Lord.

  The guy motioned toward the other side of the garage. "Chris is over there."

  Matty diverted that direction, approaching Chris as he sorted through boxes in the back. It didn't escape Genna's notice that Matty sized him up, his eyes picking the guy apart.

  "Chris?" Matty held his hand out when the guy turned around. "I'm Matt. I believe you've already met my wife, Jen."

  Wife. That word sent shivers down Genna's spine. She was somebody's wife now.

  Chris shook Matty's hand, his gaze shifting her direction. "Yes, of course. Nice to meet you."

  "Likewise," Matty said. "She mentioned something about needing to pick up car parts?"

  "Yeah." Chris turned to some boxes before launching into a rundown of whatever he'd ordered for her. Some of it was gibberish to Genna, which made her wonder if she was in over her head, but she smiled like she actually knew what the hell an actuator did. Matty seemed to, though, nodding as the guy talked. Afterward, Matty pulled out his wallet, forking over damn near four hundred dollars for all the parts she got. Whoa.

  He carried them to the car with Chris's help, loading the Honda down, the two of them still talking. Matty slid a box into the trunk, slamming it closed, as Chris lingered there.

  "North Carolina, huh?" he asked, glancing at the plate, before looking Genna's way. "Thought you were a Jersey girl."

  Matty's gaze flickered her way as panic flooded through Genna. Oh shit.

  "Transplants," Matty chimed in, his voice casual, but she could tell he wasn't amused. "Stayed in North Carolina for a while, but you know... you never let go of your hometown."

  Chris smiled. "Fresno, right here... born and bred."

  "As in, California?" Genna asked.

  "Is there another Fresno?"

  She shrugged, pretty sure there probably shouldn't even be that one. "Let's hope not."

  Chris laughed, strolling away. "Hold on a second, got one more thing for you."

  When he disappeared back into the garage, Matty took a few steps toward Genna, speaking quietly. "A Jersey girl, are you?"

  She made a face, pretending to gag. "Trust me, I got no enjoyment out of calling myself that."

  "Then why did you?"

  "Jersey phone number," she reminded him.

  He looked surprised, like that hadn't registered with him. His gaze flickered to the license plate when Chris reappeared from the garage, carrying a book.

  "There's a manual in one of those boxes," he said, "but I thought this might help, too."

  Genna took the thick book from him, laughing. Complete Idiot's Guide to Fixing Classic Cars. "It just might."

  "You need anything else, you know where we are," Chris said, motioning to the garage.

  They climbed into the car, and Matty set out onto the road, driving back to the house. He said nothing until they got there, until he unloaded the parts behind the house.

  "You really think you got this?" Matty asked, dropping the last box by the back door.

  Genna's gaze glossed over the car. "Pfft, piece of cake." Oh…"Do we have any cake? I could go for some."

  "Of course," Matty said. "I brought some angel food cake home from work yesterday."

  She scowled. "That's not cake. Cake has frosting. And sprinkles. And it's chocolate, hopefully. Angel food is a dessert bread."

  "Well then, how about we have some dessert bread and I pick your brain about this project of yours."

  "Deal," she said, "but only if I can pick your brain, too."

  "About?"

  "About what the hell an actuator is."

  Chapter Thirteen

  "Order up!"

  Matty slid the plate of French toast onto the pass beside the stack of pancakes for Doris to deliver to a table. He wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his tattooed arm, grateful to have a second to collect himself.

  It wasn't hard work, it wasn't manual labor, but he wouldn't call it easy, either. It was work, real work, for a genuine paycheck.

  A degree in communications and a cushy job keeping up the family books hadn't prepared him for spending eight hours a day on his feet, sweating over a hot grill, smelling like food by the time the day was over.

  "Order," Doris said, appearing on the other side of the pass, a baffled expression on her face. She looked almost shell-shocked for some reason. "Hashbrowns smothered in onions, peppers, mushrooms, and cheese... excuse me, extra cheese... and a three-egg omelet, also with onions, peppers, mushrooms, and extra cheese. The gentleman requested I tell you, and I quote... uh... fuck 'em up good... whatever that means. He seems a bit of a weird one. He also asked for a Roman Coke, but I told him the only Coke we served was made here in America. He seemed to think that was funny."

  Matty stared at Doris, his blood running cold at those words, while she laughed it off, clipping the ticket to a hook and spinning it toward him. He stood there for a moment, after Doris walked away with the plates from the pass. Sickness churned through him, but he tried to push it down, holding himself together as he worked on the order, not wanting to cause a scene. His gaze flickered to the clock near the pass. His shift was over in twenty minutes.

  He wouldn't last that long.

  As soon as the food was done, he set it aside. "Order up!"

  Doris grabbed the plate, and Matty's gaze trailed her to a booth in the back left corner. Carefully, he untied his apron and tossed it aside before strolling through the diner, leading there. He passed Doris along the way but didn't look at her, not wanting to explain. Every footstep sent his heart racing, and every pound of his heart made him even queasier.

  His vision blurred from a rush of adrenaline by the time he reached the booth.

  Sliding into it, he looked across the table at a face he hadn't expected to see again so soon. Gavin Amaro. He was the only one who knew where to find them, who knew where they had gone.

  "This," Gavin said, pointin
g to his plate with his fork, "wasn't worth the trip. Five and a half hours on a plane, another hour in a car, and you couldn't even fuck 'em up good for me. You ought to be ashamed."

  "I am," Matty said. "Deeply mortified."

  Gavin took a bite as he met Matty's eyes. His expression softened, a smile touching his lips. "It's good to see you, Matty-B."

  "You, too, Gavin. A bit worrisome, though."

  "I figured," Gavin said. "Don't panic. Nobody knows where I am. The Prodigal Son and the Ice Princess are still safe with their happily ever after… for now."

  "That's a contradiction."

  "Yeah, well, isn't life? It sure doesn't make any damn sense to me. But I'm not here about you. Just needed to talk to you."

  "You couldn't call?"

  "I thought about it, almost did it a few times, but it's not something you tell someone over the phone."

  Matty's chest tightened. "Something happen to my father?"

  "No, still the same coldhearted Uncle Bobby."

  "Primo?"

  "Still homicidal."

  "Uncle Johnny? Aunt Lena?"

  "They're fine."

  Matty's frown deepened. "So, what happened? Who is it?"

  Gavin hesitated. "It's Dante."

  Dante.

  "I'm assuming that means they finally found him?"

  "You could say that."

  "And I'm assuming my father did it… whatever it is."

  "Well, that's definitely the assumption."

  "I'm surprised he let anyone find him," Matty said. "When someone disappears, they usually stay gone."

  "Tell me about it. Took us all by surprise. Happened weeks ago… about two months, actually, right after you left town. They dumped him out on Primo's front lawn."

  Matty cringed. "I'm assuming they've had a funeral."

  Gavin stabbed his plate of food with the fork. "Not yet."

  "What are they waiting for?"

  "Him to die, I guess."

  It took Matty a minute. An entire fucking minute. Those words bounced around in his mind as he watched Gavin casually eating, something about them just not wanting to sink in. But then he got it, after those sixty seconds. "He's not dead."

  Son of a bitch.

  "Not yet," Gavin said again. "Although, if you ask me, it won't be long."

  Matty ran his hands down his face. "How bad is it? Coma? Brain damage?"

  "Worse."

  "What's worse than that?"

  "He's a fucking cocksure jackass," Gavin said. "Even more so than before."

  Matty's eyes opened, his gaze going straight to Gavin. "What?"

  "He's got no sense of self-preservation. He's out there playing fast and loose with his life."

  "You're telling me he's alive?"

  Gavin looked up, brow furrowing at Matty's incredulous tone. "We already said that."

  "We said he wasn't dead yet, not that he was alive," Matty said, his voice grave. This was the last thing he expected to hear. "That's a big difference, as far as the damage my father inflicts in concerned."

  "Yeah, well, don't get me wrong here—Uncle Bobby got him good. Him being alive is pretty much a miracle. And it's not going to last, at the rate he's going. He's mad at the world and it shows."

  "Does he know about us?"

  "He just knows what everyone else does—car went boom and you two got ghost. I think he's too wrapped up in the 'who did what' to go any further with it, but he's smart. If he lives long enough to start using his brain, he'll ask questions. He knows better than anyone right now that just because someone vanished doesn't mean they're not still out there."

  "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit."

  "Tell me about it," Gavin said, continuing to eat.

  "What are we going to do?"

  "I'm not going to do a damn thing," Gavin said. "No more than I've been doing, anyway."

  "Well, what am I supposed to do?"

  "I don't know, man," Gavin muttered. "You can be like me and keep your mouth shut, act like you know nothing, and let it all play out. He'll probably get himself killed before anything comes of it. Or you can tell your girlfriend—"

  "Wife," Matty chimed in.

  Gavin faltered. "No shit? Mr. Ice Princess now? Congratulations."

  Matty's lips twitched, itching to spew a comeback to that, but it wasn't worth it. There were more important issues. His eyes darted to the clock—ten minutes until his shift was over. "Or I can tell Genna her brother is back in New York, alive and well."

  "I don't know that I'd say he's well," Gavin said. "But he's alive, and he's back, and she deserves to know. But it could change things. She might want to see him. Probably wouldn't want him to think she's dead, especially since thinking she's dead has him acting like a miserable jackass. So if you tell her, you'll probably end up back in New York, back where you started, with people trying to kill you both for stupid shit."

  "So I either keep it from Genna and let Dante get himself killed, or I confess, maybe spare him, but in the process risk her? Those are my options?"

  "Yep," Gavin said. "Sure glad I'm not you right now."

  "You're an asshole." Matty ran his hands down his face as he leaned back in the booth. "I take back everything I've ever said about you being my favorite cousin."

  "Oh, speaking of cousins, I almost forgot the best part."

  Matty glared at him through his hands. "There's more?"

  "Yeah, you remember Gabby? Alfie and Victoria's girl?"

  "Of course I remember Gabby. What about her?"

  "She figured out the truth," Gavin said. "Which wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't for the fact that she has, for some inexplicable reason, decided to take up with Dante."

  "What do you mean take up with him?"

  "They're, uh…" Gavin waved his fork around in circles before stabbing the air with it. "Well, they're fucking. I don't know how else to describe it. He's sticking it to her on the regular."

  Matty just stared at him. He had no idea what to say. Every word from Gavin's lips just made it all worse.

  "So regardless of what you decide," Gavin said, shoving the plate aside as he dropped the fork. "There's always a chance Gabby could crack. So… good luck with that."

  Doris approached. "You finished with that, sweetheart?"

  "Absolutely." Gavin picked up his soda and sucked the rest of it down. "I'd love one of these Americanized Cokes to go, if you don't mind."

  "Not a problem," Doris said, smiling, looking between them. "You two know each other?"

  "Nope," Gavin said. "Never seen this shaggy-haired bastard before in my life."

  Doris's eyes widened as Matty sighed, running a hand through his hair. He hadn't touched it since leaving New York, the ends curling around his ears, the top covering his forehead, falling into his eyes. "He's an old friend of mine."

  "I was just passing through town and thought I'd stop in and remind him to cut his hair." Gavin looked at Matty. "You're starting to look like a girl. An ugly girl. With a beard. And a mustache. The bearded lady. Stop it."

  Matty laughed, grabbing the discarded straw wrapper from the table and balling it up, flicking it right at Gavin's forehead. Doris walked away, carrying the plate of food, to retrieve Gavin's Coke. Before Matty could say anything to his cousin, the bell above the door jingled. His gaze darted that way.

  Three o'clock on the dot.

  Shift over. Shit.

  Genna walked in, distracted, her attention fixed outside at something.

  "Afternoon, sweetheart," Doris said, greeting her.

  Genna turned to Doris. "Whose car is that out there? Do you know? The BMW?"

  Matty glanced out the window, spotting the BMW parked in front of the diner. Black paint. Tinted windows. He knew what she was thinking. The people they grew up around steered toward that kind of car—discreet luxury.

  Her guard was up.

  "Oh, that would be mine," Gavin said, standing up.

  If Gavin thought that would alleviate her worry, he w
as mistaken. Genna's eyes darted right at him, every inch of her tensing as Gavin approached. She was a block of ice with no expression. He veered to the register, pulling out his wallet to pay.

  The second his back was to Genna, she swung toward Matty, panic melting her face as she mouthed, 'what the fuck?' and dramatically motioned his way. Matty walked over to her, grasping her elbow to pull her out of the diner.

  "What the fuck?" she hissed. "What is Pennywise the Clown doing here?"

  Before Matty could respond, the door to the diner opened and Gavin walked out, sipping a drink from a Styrofoam cup.

  "Genna with a G!" Gavin grinned as his eyes scanned her. "You gained some weight."

  "Amaro." She crossed her arms over her chest. "You can kiss my fat ass."

  He tilted his head. "I wouldn't call it fat. Round, maybe. And those hips are getting wide... not to mention those thick thighs."

  "I'm pregnant, asshole," she said. "And you're not supposed to say that shit to a woman. I thought your mother would've taught you better than that."

  "My mother taught me that all women are beautiful and should be treated as so," he said. "But you're extra cute when you get angry, so I'm just doing my civic duty by pissing you off."

  "Why are you even here?" she asked, not giving him time to respond before turning to Matty. "Why is he here?"

  Matty paused, his gaze flickering to Gavin. "He was visiting Vegas on business."

  "Oh, so he was just in the neighborhood? Thought he'd drop in for a piece of cake or something? Pie, maybe? Some milk and cookies? Thought I'd bake him a damn casserole? Fix up a guest room? Maybe I can read him a bedtime story and tuck him in while I'm at it."

  "How very domestic," Gavin chimed in. "I'm starting to like Genna with a G becoming a mommy."

  "Fuck off," she growled.

  "There's that Galante spirit," Gavin said. "Or maybe it's the Barsanti in her, since she's got some of that now, too."

  Genna spun around, darting forward, like she was about to swing on Gavin, but Matty wrapped his arms around her from behind, yanking her back to him. "Gavin, you're not helping."

  "Okay, okay..." Gavin held his hands up in surrender. "I'll stop."

  "You're lucky," Genna said, "because I was about to knock some teeth out and I know your mother taught you better than to hit a pregnant woman."