“Time to go,” I said abruptly, turning on my heel and walking into the other room. “Sissy, let’s go ID some bad guys,” I announced, hightailing it through the loft, sparing Lucky a glance. “Lucky, later.”

“Vito says…” Lucky started but Sissy and Hector were already at the elevator, Hector had tagged the button and the doors were sliding open.

I joined them and we moved into the elevator as Lucky started to come our way. He was too late. Luke had already moved to block the path between Lucky and us.

The doors started closing, Luke looked over his shoulder at us and, for some, bizarre, unhinged, insane reason I mouthed, “I owe you.”

I just caught his sexy half-grin and the so ultra-warm it was hot look in his eyes before the doors closed.

Hell and damnation.

Now I was screwing myself!

* * * * *

“Are you mad at me?” Sissy asked.

I looked at Hector. He was standing three feet away talking to Hank. We were at the police station and Sissy had just ID’d a bad guy.

On the way over I told Sissy about what she was up against with Uncle Vito. I told her Luke would keep her safe if she didn’t want to “disappear”. I also told her that I wanted her to take Luke up on his offer. Then I told her I really wanted her to take Luke up on his offer and I didn’t even care if it meant I owed him.

Sissy nodded but she didn’t say anything. We rolled into the police station, it took forever for them to sort out the line up and Sissy had ID’d the bad guy.

Then she turned to Hector and said, “Take me to Dom.”

I sucked in breath and wished there was something to bang my head on, a wall, a floor, a very hard rock.

Sissy took my hand. “I know you think I’m crazy but there are times when you aren’t there when he can be really sweet. A lot of times, Ava.”

I just stopped myself from rolling my eyes. “I know, you’ve told me that before.” And she had.

“He’s not perfect.”

She could say that again. I kept my lips zipped.

“I love him,” she said quietly.

Shit.

“Don’t be mad at me,” she went on.

I unzipped my lips. “He kissed me,” I reminded her.

She looked away.

“In your kitchen,” I continued.

She sighed.

“While you were in the house.” I kept at it.

She looked back at me but she didn’t reply.

I went for the killer diller. “Sissy, his crazy shit got Big Bobby put in a coma.”

She moved, just slightly but I caught it, like a flinch.

Then she said, ultra quiet, “Ava, honey, you don’t get it. I’m never gonna find my Luke. Some hot guy who calls me a knockout, chases me like I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread and shields me from bullets with his body.”

I didn’t want to say anything but that last part wasn’t exactly fun.

She kept going. “Dom’s the closest thing I’m going to get. I’m twenty-nine and going to be divorced. That’s just sad, I’m just sad.”

“Shut up,” I broke in, beginning to get pissed. “You’re not sad.”

“I’m sad.”

“You’re sweet and funny and loyal and everyone loves you.”

“I’m sad.”

“You’re beautiful. You look like a happy, pretty human fairy.”

“I do not. I’m not beautiful. I’m not happy-pretty. I’m just Sissy. I even have a shit name. What kind of name is Sissy? Ava’s the name of a knockout. Sissy’s the name of a sad, twenty-nine year old, silly-fairy divorcée.”

Before I could retort, Hector got close. “In an effort to speed things up since Santo and Lucky both just entered the building…” Hector said his first words since we had been with him (okay maybe second, when we arrived at the station, he said, “this way”). He turned to Sissy. “You’re right, your friend’s a knockout. Lotta guys go for tits, ass and attitude. Lotta guys also go for the sweet, pretty women they feel they gotta protect who don’t realize they’re all that. My brother’s livin’ with one. You’re another one. You don’t think you’re all that which makes you even more all that. Trust me, you’re pretty. You’re your own brand of hot. You’re gonna find a good man who appreciates that and you shouldn’t waste your time on some ass**le who doesn’t. Does that help?”

Both Sissy and I were staring at Hector, speechless.

“Well?” he demanded, sounding impatient.

“I think I’ll go to the safe room,” Sissy breathed, still staring at Hector.

Yippee!

“I’m gonna kiss you all over,” I told Hector.

His eyes cut to me and I immediately regretted my words because he looked like he was happy to take me up on that offer. Guess Hector was all about tits, ass and attitude.

Eek! Not another one.

“Let’s go,” I announced, ignoring Hector’s happy to be kissed all over look.

I grabbed Sissy’s hand and we started motoring.

* * * * *

Hector took Sissy to the safe room at the offices and I went with them. It was my first time back to the Nightingale Investigations offices after my first and last crazy adventure there.

We arrived and Shirleen was on the phone, handset in the crook of her neck, peering into a hand-held mirror, plucking her eyebrows.

She dropped the mirror and the tweezers upon seeing us. “Dorothea, gotta go, my girl’s here with her girl. We gotta lock old Sissy down so the Italians don’t get her. Long story, I’ll tell you later.” Then she hung up and raced around the desk to Sissy and me and she told us, “I was getting worried. Nothing was happening. I thought maybe I got the Bum Rock Chick. But we got you guys wrestling on tape and you should see it. It was great. You went down, whomp, and neither of you even noticed, just kept right on wrestling,” Shirleen said.

I turned to Sissy (who was, by the way, looking pale). “Um, forgot to mention, Luke’s got the loft wired with cameras so the boys can keep an eye on me.”

Sissy went paler.

Shirleen was walking with us as we followed Hector. “I put clean sheets on the bed and when I found out that we might have a girl coming over, I went out and bought that movie 300 to add to the library in the safe room. That movie is great. I’ve watched it at least ten times. Hot, white boys in leather jockey shorts and red capes. And sandals! How those boys can make sandals hot, I do not know, but those boys kicked ass in those sandals. Blood everywhere. Heads flyin’ off. Have you seen it?” she asked Sissy.