them. Adrenaline spiked her system, her stomach churning again. She tried to fight it, to take deep breaths and stay calm, but it was pointless. She was leaning back out of the car, heaving, before anyone said another word.
"Oh God," she gasped as she struggled to pull herself together. "I'm Jackson now. I'm worse than Jackson."
Matty shot her a look of confusion. "Who?"
"My car thieving ex-boyfriend. We stole a Honda and he puked on himself." Tears stung her eyes, breaking free and running down her cheeks as her emotions went from zero to sixty. "He got away with it and I didn't, and oh God, I'm screwed! We're screwed! I'm going to go to prison, real prison... ass-pounding prison! I'm going to have a fucking baby in prison!"
Matty grabbed her, his hands cradling her face. His expression remained calm as he stared into her eyes.
"Pull yourself together. You Galantes are stubborn, and resilient, and unrelenting, real pains in the ass, but you're not this. You don't fall apart when you see the police." His eyes flickered to the rearview mirror as a cop got out of the car behind them. "Maybe you Galantes don't trust us Barsantis, but you need to trust me, Genna. Please."
"I do," she whispered.
"Then calm down and let me handle it," he said, a slight smile touching his lips. "I got this."
Genna didn't believe he had it for a second, but she didn't object as he pulled away and pushed the driver's side door open to step out.
"Y'all all right?" the officer asked, approaching Matty, his accent so thick Genna struggled to understand the words. "Car ain't leave you stranded, has it? Need me to call you some help?"
"No, sir," Matty said, mimicking the officer's voice, a fake southern accent framing the words. "My wife's just got a bit of morning sickness, that's all. We were about to be on our way again."
"Ah, okay, just checking on y'all." The officer peeked into the car at Genna, tipping his hat. "Ma'am."
"Officer."
Matty exchanged some more pleasantries with the man before the officer walked away, heading back to his police cruiser. Matty climbed back in the car, his expression serious as he motioned her way. "Let's get out of here."
She barely got the door closed and her seatbelt on before Matty pulled back out onto the highway, leaving the cop along the side of the road. Genna watched in the side mirror, heart beating rapidly, not calming down until the officer took off in the opposite direction.
"So your wife's pregnant, huh? Tough break."
"Would you have preferred baby mama?"
"Probably would've made more sense with the Larry the Cable Guy accent you were rocking."
"The who?"
"Larry the Cable Guy," she repeated. "You know, the 'get 'er done' dude?"
"The what?"
Genna waved him off. "The point is, you sounded ridiculous."
"Yeah, well, considering the North Carolina license plate on the car, I figured it best to try to blend in. You know, so not to raise any suspicion and give the man a reason to run the tag."
Genna gazed at him, surprised by how much thought he put into that, although she shouldn't have been. He'd always seemed in control of situations, even way back in the defunct elevator that first day. Maybe he did have it handled, after all.
Sighing, Genna snatched up the map again, smoothing the crinkles out of it. "Paris, Texas. You think it's anything like the real Paris?"
"Maybe," Matty said. "I wouldn't put any money on it, though."
"Shame," she said. "I've always wanted to see Paris."
"You've never gone?"
She cut her eyes at him. "This is furthest away from home I've ever been."
That seemed to surprise Matty. "Your whole life you've had the world at your fingertips, but you've never seen any of it?"
"I wouldn't exactly say I had the world at my fingertips, you know, since my father had me under his thumb. I was only supposed to go where he had eyes, where he could watch me, just in case, and even when I went there, he sent Dante."
Her voice cracked as she whispered his name. Dante. Man, it hurt. Would it ever not hurt? She doubted it. Even knowing he wasn't waiting for her back in Manhattan, it almost felt like a betrayal, her being on the road like this. Her pseudo-bodyguard brother… what would he think?
"I'm sorry."
Matty's voice was quiet, genuine, as he reached over to grab her hand, squeezing it. Genna gave him a soft smile, whispering, "Thank you."
She appreciated his words, even though he didn't owe