Texas Proud and Circle of Gold (Long, Tall Texans #52) - Diana Palmer Page 0,44

like to, but he’s the DA. He has to have a legitimate reason to let her go or she could take him to court. He’d like her to leave, too. She messes up appointments all the time, another reason Glory’s so stressed.”

His fingers stroked hers. “We all have our crosses, don’t we, kid?”

She nodded. “Nobody gets through life without a few traumas.” She sighed. “It’s really sad, you know. She’s so beautiful. How can a person who looks like that be such a pain to be around?”

“You never know what sort of background people come from,” he said simply. “A lot of times, kids turn out bad because of the way they were raised. You know, I only saw my dad a few times in my whole life. My mother died of a heart attack when she was just in her twenties, not too long after she had me. Her mother, my grandmother, took me in. Paulie’s mom bit the dust about the same time, so he ended up with our grandmother, too.” He grimaced. “Paulie’s dad was even worse than mine. He took some licks when the old man was home. Fortunately, it wasn’t often.”

“Did your fathers work in some sort of away job, like construction?” she asked innocently.

“They worked for the big bosses. They went where they were told, and did what they were told.” He smiled sadly. “That’s the life, kid. You pledge to obey and you do it. There’s a code of honor. We call it omertà. It means you pledge your loyalty to a don and you never forget it. You sell out your colleagues, you meet with a quick and sad end.”

Her heart jumped. “But you’re going to testify against a man who’s a, what did you call him, a don?”

His fingers contracted comfortingly around hers. “That’s a different thing,” he said. “This guy Cotillo is trying to muscle in on territory that doesn’t belong to him. The other families are as much against him as Tony’s is.”

She frowned. “Tony’s your family? Is he a relation?”

He chuckled. “Tony’s a character,” he said. “No, we’re not related, but we’d die for each other. So in that sense, yeah, I guess you could say he’s family. The feds are protecting him. Me, too. What we know can put Cotillo away for a very long time. The families are working toward that end, even making a temporary truce with the feds to keep them from prying too closely into our business.”

She blinked. “You talk about federal people as if they’re the enemy,” she said. “But your cousin works for a federal agency.”

“It’s just a figure of speech, honey,” he said, backtracking. “We’re all grateful for their help. Nobody wants a guy like Cotillo in charge in Jersey. He’s a weasel. First chance he got, he’d start lining up other families for elimination. They know that. So the feds are sort of the lesser of the two evils.”

“I see.”

“You don’t, but you will,” he promised. He sighed. “I just hope it isn’t all going to be too much for you, Bernie. You’ve lived a sheltered life.”

“Actually, I haven’t. Not so much.”

“Oh?”

“Well, I haven’t lived in a commune or had lovers, or anything like that. But I’m anything but sheltered. I’ll tell you,” she added. “I promise.”

He smiled. “I’ll tell you, too.”

“That’s a deal.”

Chapter Eight

They were heading down the long driveway to Graylings when his fingers contracted around hers. “No secrets from now on,” he said. “I’ll tell you about my life today and you can tell me about yours.”

“It might matter...” she said worriedly.

“It won’t.” He sounded very positive. “Nothing you tell me will change anything.” One side of his sensuous mouth pulled down. “On the other hand, what I have to tell you, well, that may change a lot of things,” he added heavily, and he was regretting things in his past that might drive her out of his life. It was a terrible thought. She was already part of him.

“Whatever sort of trouble you’re in, I’ll stand by you,” she said.

He wanted to pull her over into his lap and kiss the breath out of her for saying that, but he had to restrain himself. His fingers worked sensuously into hers, caressing them. “I never thought I’d get mixed up with a girl from a little town in Texas,” he said, chuckling. “I feel just like Carrera must have.”

“Carrera?” she asked. “Oh, yes, Delia’s husband.” She smiled. “Delia had a bad time of it. Her mother