Part 30 (2/2)

Gino seemed to be blind to the male posturing going on right in front of him-the man had obviously suffered too many blows to the head.

”So you both banged little Rosie here, huh? My turn now?”

Ooh, that was so not a smart thing to say. Dante took a menacing step toward Gino, while Nick pulled her behind him.

Dante grabbed Gino by the collar, and Gino threw his hands up in surrender. ”Just kidding, Dante. Leggo of me.”

After a small shake, Dante put him down. Gino straightened his s.h.i.+rt and tucked it in over his protruding belly. 'As I was saying,” Gino continued,”Mr. Gianelli sent us to introduce ourselves and talk to Rosie here about a little problem we're havin' concerning one of her co-workers, Jackie La.s.siter.”

The tension in the room ratcheted up enough that Gino even seemed to notice. He cleared his throat. ”See, we don't want no trouble, and we're sure you don't neither. We just come here to give you a friendly warning.”

Rosalie tried to push Nick to the side, and when he didn't budge, she went around the desk and got right into Dante's face. ”You call this a friendly warning? You have some nerve, coming into my office after all these years and threatening me. Does your mother know what you do, Dante?”

Gino again must not have been listening, because he picked up the conversation where he'd left off. ”Yeah, real friendly-like. You see, Mr. Gianelli ain't too happy that you and that cute little secretary of yours are sticking your noses in business that don't concern you.” Gino shook his head. ”Not happy at all.”

Nick was about to blow. Not that she wasn't at least as p.i.s.sed off as he seemed. s.h.i.+t, it wasn't everyday your ex-lover came to threaten you and did it in front of the man who recently stabbed you in the back.

”Well, you can just go back to Mr. Gianelli and tell him where he can stuff-”

Nick turned when he heard Dave bark and then growl. Rosalie shot him a what-the-h.e.l.l-were-you-thinkingbringing-him-here look. Dave strolled in growling, teeth bared, ridge of black hair on his back standing up. Dave glommed onto Gino-the one with the gun-and began herding him toward the open doorway.

Gino paled. ”Mr. Romeo, Dante and me, we don't want no trouble.”

Gino moved a hand slowly toward his holster, and Nick felt like growling, too. ”If you don't want trouble, you better keep your hands where Dave can see them. Once you do, I'll tell Dave to play nice.”

Dante nodded to Gino, and Gino held both his hands up high. Dante looked right over Rosalie's head and spoke to Nick as if she weren't there. ”You named your dog Dave?”

Nick bit back a smile when Rosalie poked Dante in the chest. ”No, / named Dave. He's my dog.”

Rosalie was so mad, she was shaking. Nick wasn't sure who she was madder at, Dante and Gino, or him.

Nick took a step toward her but didn't take his eyes off Dante. ”If you don't want any trouble, then why are you here threatening my fiance?

Rosalie turned away from Dante and glared. ”Nick-”

Then all h.e.l.l broke lose. Rich skulked in and hit Gino over the head with the fire extinguisher. Gino's body crumpled to the floor. He was down for the count.

Nick turned to pull Rosalie away and when Dante reached into his jacket, Nick saw red.

”Gun!”

The next thing he knew, he was tackling Rosalie to the floor, holding her down. He covered her body with his as Dave barreled into Dante, knocked him to the floor, and planted his paws on Dante's chest. Dave stood there, growling and frothing at the mouth.

When Nick was sure Dante wasn't moving and Rich had collected all the guns, he helped Rosalie up and pulled her into his arms.

Rosalie, shaking, held onto Nick, wondering if she could have imagined this whole fiasco. No, she blinked a few times, and Nick was still there. Unless her imagination came equipped with Touch-a-Vision and Smell-a-Vision, she was holding the real thing. Nick, who'd put himself between her and a guy with a gun. The dumb a.s.s had tackled her, trying to protect her. He could have been killed.

Rosalie pulled away and took a good look at him. He was fine-well, except for the black eye. His eyes were so much bluer than she remembered, even the one that was almost swollen shut. She felt the familiar sting of tears, so she did the only thing she could to keep them from falling. She hit him.

”Who the h.e.l.l do you think you are? Superman? You idiot. You could have been killed!”

Rich put his fingers between his teeth and whistled.

Rosalie faced her brother. ”What?”

”Where's Gina?”

Rich was definitely frazzled, but curiously, not the least concerned about his little sister. Hmmm. ”She went home with Sam and Randi.”

”Who the h.e.l.l are they?”

”Sam is her brother-in-law, the cop. We thought Randi, Jack La.s.siter's secretary and mistress, might need protection until we could take all the evidence to the police.”

Nick turned on her. ”Oh, yeah. You thought Randi needed protection, but you didn't?”

Rosalie planted her hands on her hips and stuck out her chin. ”You're the one who almost got killed!”

Nick looked as if he was going to throw an embolism.

That's when the sirens drowned out his mumbling and the cops stormed the room. After a few very uncomfortable minutes while New York's finest sorted out the good guys from the bad, things calmed down. Rich turned over the guns; Gino got a trip to the hospital to make sure he didn't have a concussion before going to jail; and the police put out an APB on Jack Jr. and Tony Gianelli. Everyone was taken to the police station for questioning. Well, everyone except Dave. Dave got to go home with Henry.

”Would you hold on a minute, Dave?” Rosalie called out. ”I'm moving. I'm moving already. You know, it's not like you can't go out in the garden and take a leak. Why do you have to get me out of bed at the crack of dawn?”

She rolled over and couldn't believe it was nine o'clock and that Dave hadn't gotten her up earlier. Some mother she was. She went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and got ready for their trip to the dog park. She'd gotten a ride home from the station and hadn't seen or heard from Nick since they walked into the police station. If not for the bruise on her hip, she'd swear the whole thing had been one crazy dream.

Dave was whining at the door. The last thing she wanted to do right now was walk Dave, but no matter how depressed she'd gotten over the last month, Rosalie never missed their Sat.u.r.day romp. She suspected that was the only reason Dave hadn't turned her in to the authorities.

Rosalie pulled on a pair of Nick's sweats that he'd left in the laundry, a bra, and a sweats.h.i.+rt. She finger combed her hair, put on her dog park shoes-the ones she didn't mind stepping in s.h.i.+t in-and shoved her wallet in her jacket pocket. She'd grab a coffee at Fiorentino's on the way to the park.

Rosalie stepped into the hall, and Dave pulled her away before she could properly close the door. Not that she cared. She managed to get to the security door without falling. The sun shone in, nearly blinding her. She had no idea it was such a gorgeous day. She'd gotten out of the habit of opening the curtains in the morning. If she didn't open them, she had one less thing to do at night. Why bother? It wasn't as if the weather made a difference to her lately. Nothing did. It was spring. It rained. End of story.

Taking the sungla.s.ses out of her jacket pocket, she slid them on. As she pushed the door open, Dave ran out and pulled on his leash, spinning her around. She tripped down the step, right into the arms of a very strong man.

Nick.

Dave was jumping on and around them, pus.h.i.+ng in between them, and generally being a total pain in the a.s.s.

”Dave, calm down. Sit.” Nick didn't take his eyes or hands off her when he spoke. Dave sat, but he didn't look happy about it.

”You okay?”

”Uh, huh.” My, what witty repartee.

”If I let go, you're not going to fall over, are you?”

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