They’d been together more than two decades, and he’d been don most of that time. Beverly knew what it meant to be the don’s wife. She understood the dangers of his world, and the graces. She knew—and she wielded, in her gentle way—the power of her place as well.
So her agitation was private, let out only between the two of them, and perhaps also in her moments alone. At all other times, she remained the woman their family, their world, and he needed her to be. Mother to their children. Leader in their community. His beloved.
Since last Saturday morning, however, when Nick had told her the news he’d gotten—that their daughter had almost been dosed and assaulted in a Brown University fraternity house—Beverly had struggled for calm, and she’d taken it out on him.
He could carry the weight of her worry and anger. But the danger that had brushed their daughter hadn’t come from his world. That danger was part of the normal world. The protections he had in place had saved her, but if war weren’t looming over them in his world, he wouldn’t have had so many men devoted to the protection of his children.
Lia would have been alone in that frat house, left to the whims of entitled, bestial young men.
Nick thought of what had happened to his cousin, Uncle Ben’s daughter, more than fifty years ago. That horror had been so very similar, except that his cousin hadn’t been protected like Lia had been. Ben had exacted bloody vengeance, rendered justice, on those who’d hurt his girl, but he hadn’t been able to prevent the hurt from happening.
The only way to keep his children safe was to keep them close. When they wandered, too much of the world filled in the space between them and home. He couldn’t control every single variable in the wide world, but he could control virtually every variable here. He could keep his children safe. Here, at home.
Beverly agreed with him in principle. She wanted Lia home, too—and she hated that Elisa was away as much as he did. She’d sobbed with loss even as she’d fought to let their daughter cross the country.
That fight had been the worst in their marriage by far, and she hadn’t even wanted the thing she’d fought so hard for. Nick thought it was that—the sacrifice in Beverly’s fight—that had finally made him fold and let Elisa go.
And he had regretted it every day since. Now their eldest was three thousand miles away. So much more world between them and her.
He was right to call Lia home. Without question. And this time, he wouldn’t fold.
“Bella.” He spoke softly, pushing affection and reconciliation into his tone. “What are you thinking? Tell me.”
Her glorious blue eyes, so keen and full of light, shifted and locked with his. “You cannot treat our children like the don, Nick. Don’t bring that into our family. You promised you never would.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t expect so much fight from her, and my instincts rose up. Lia’s our good girl. I thought she’d understand.”
Beverly smiled sadly. “Remember the way she was when she was little? All sass and vigor.”
His smile felt warmer as nostalgia filled him. “She used to fight like a wild thing with Elisa.”
“Well, Elisa was so prim and bossy all the time.”
They shared the memories for a quiet moment, until Beverly said, “When did that change? When did Lia get so quiet?”
He thought about that but couldn’t find an answer. At some point, she’d simply been quiet and pliant. Their good girl, in the midst of Elisa’s therapists and Carina’s parent-teacher meetings, and Ren and his … Ren-ness.
Their only son was a puzzle he had not yet solved. He looked so much like him people confused Nick’s childhood photos for his, yet they were nothing alike. Nick struggled more every passing day to understand his fifteen-year-old son.
“We’re failing our children, Nick.”
A flash of angry offense tightened his jaw, but he didn’t lash out. “No,” he said, calmly.
“Yes. Elisa had to cross the country to feel safe. Carina can’t get through a semester of school without a suspension. Ren doesn’t feel like he fits in his own family. And Lia … I didn’t see it, either, until this summer, but there’s more going on than what happened last weekend. You’ve seen how thin she’s gotten.”
“She’s been dieting. That’s bad?” He fought against another zap of offense when Beverly rolled her eyes.