Page 103 of Second Chance

“I’m gonna—”

“You’re gonna go in there and threaten a twenty-one-year-old girl? You’re gonna hurt her? That’s gonna look great in court, man. A good lawyer will get her off the hook if you do.”

“I’m not justwaiting here.”

“You’re not. You’re having some breakfast, and you’re sitting down, and you’re taking a fucking breather.” Tony pushes Emilio lightly by the shoulders, getting him situated on the bar stool Tony usually sits at when he and Daniel eat in here.

“Look,” Tony says, “I know this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but think about it this way. You know who did it. You know where she is. She’s going to get arrested sooner or later. And yeah, maybe sooner would be better, but the smartest person in the room thinks we should wait. No one else needs to get hurt.”

Emilio takes a deep breath. “Give me a minute.”

Tony grabs his plate. “Sure thing. We’ll be in the living room.”

He closes the kitchen door behind himself and Gianna and tries not to sigh with relief too loudly.

“You’re good at that,” she observes. “Calming him down.”

“I get how he feels.” He felt the same much of the time this last year. First, about Mario when he was still alive, then, about Daniel, briefly, when Daniel thought Gianna had killed Mario. Then, about no one in particular when it was all over and there was no one left to be angry at. “Hey, you were amazing with Lily, you know.” Tony bumps their shoulders together as they sit on the couch between the mess of bedding Lisa and Blake never ended up needing.

Her lips twitch into the start of a smile. “Thanks, I think.”

“I never knew how you felt about Mario. About everything that happened with him.”

“How could you? I didn’t.”

“But you—”

Gianna pats his shoulder. “I didn’t know when it was happening, or last year, when I was busy freaking out about himbeing dead and me becoming a mom. It took me a while to work through everything.”

“Well, if you need someone to talk to…” He’s not sure he should be offering himself as a resource right now. They both know he has his own stuff to work on.

She must catch where he’s going, though, because she says, “Maybe we both do. Maybe we should make coffee dates or something.”

The thought makes him smile. “We could do it when we do customer logs. Busywork and trauma, the two things that will keep Dad and Kyle out of the front office.”

She laughs. “I’m down. You bring the drinks.”

“Deal. Pastries on bad days.”

They bump fists, a gesture they haven’t done since Gianna still had braces.

“Did you make breakfast?” Colette asks, emerging from the office. “Bless you.”

“Yeah. Maybe wait a minute, Emilio’s cooling off in there.”

She nods and falls into place next to them on the couch.

“Any luck with Jeff?” Tony asks her.

“He’s furious we interrupted his holiday. He gave us a number for a colleague in the city. Daniel’s calling right now.”

Tony grins.

“What?”

“I knew he didn’t have to come out here himself last year. He wanted to help.”

Colette blinks. “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”

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