Page 91 of Second Chance

Blinking and turning to Tony in bafflement, Blake repeats, “Me?”

“Are you or are you not an in-house social worker in a mental health ward?”

“Oh, right.” Blake laughs nervously. “I nearly forgot.”

“Encouraging.”

“So, Blake takes care of her and gets her back to herself once she’s here,” Lisa says. “But how do we get her here?”

Tony shrugs uncomfortably. This is the one part he hoped they’d sort out for him. “I was hoping you two would be able to convince her?”

Lisa looks over at Blake doubtfully. “We can try.”

Blake’s lips thin to a narrow line. “Tony.”

“What?”

“You know who you need for this.”

“I do?” It’s news to Tony that he knows anything at all.

Blake rolls his eyes. In the last half hour, Tony has told him he intends to rescue both a kidnapping victim and his kidnapper by himself without informing the police, and it’s only now Blake starts to look annoyed. “Yeah, man. You do. Lisa and I can come along, sure. We might have enough experience with troubled kids to help out, but Lily doesn’t know us, and she won’t trust us. You know who she does trust. You know who definitely shares her awful taste in men.”

Tony swallows hard. “You mean Gianna.”

“Yeah, I mean Gianna,” Blake says as if it should be obvious.

Shifting on his seat, Tony avoids meeting Blake’s eyes. “I mean. I guess. But she won’t be awake or here in time. And I don’t wanna—”

“Dude,” Blake interjects impatiently. “Get over yourself and whatever dumb fight you and Gianna are having. If anyone knows what Lily’s feeling—like returning to college with everyone knowing about their stupid fling with an asshat professor—it’s gonna be Gianna. If anyone can get through to her, it’s gonna be Gianna.”

“It’s still the middle of the night.” Tony knows it’s a weak protest, but he can’t quite deal with the piercing way Blake is staring straight through him.

Lisa rests a gentle hand on his knee. “She’s going to pick up the phone. She’ll always pick up the phone for you.”

Tony lets his eyes fall shut. “Okay. All right. I’ll try.”

Gianna picks up on the third ring. Her voice is sleep-soaked and groggy, but she picks up. “Tony? What is it?”

“I found him,” Tony says. He moved to the kitchen to make this call. It gives him the illusion of privacy, although he knows Blake and Lisa can hear everything he’s saying anyway. “I need your help.”

“I can be there in half an hour.”

“Lia—”

“Ma will take her. She was gonna tomorrow morning anyway.”

Tony wants to ask if she’s sure. Why would she drive out here with no more information than Tony needing her help, especially after everything he’s said to her in the last few days? He wants to apologize, to tell her he loves her, to explain everything going around and around in circles in his head.

All he ends up saying is “Thank you.”

All Gianna says in response is “Of course.”

It takes her twenty-five minutes. She must have been speeding.

Her hair isn’t straightened, and she’s not wearing makeup. Tony hasn’t seen her like this since two weeks after Lia was born when they were all still getting used to life with a baby.

She’s wearing an old flannel shirt of Tony’s.

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