“You wanna explain that to me?” he invited.

“Not really,” she refused.

“Do it anyway,” he ordered, holding her eyes.

She stared at him before she looked out the window, huffed out an annoyed breath, and gave him back her eyes. “My sister was shot,” she announced.

“I know. I was the one who carried her through the forest after that shit happened.”

“Yeah, I know. Frankie, up in the shit of another Bianchi,” she fired back.

Ben felt his skin start to itch, pissed that another of the Concettis brought that shit up. At the same time, he was wondering how in the f**k they couldn’t get their heads out of their asses and see why their sister would want to be part of a good, decent, loving family. Even so, she wasn’t the kind of woman to go about getting that with how they thought she was doing it. They had to know her better than that.

Then again, since they had their heads up their asses, and when they didn’t, they were all about themselves, he shouldn’t be surprised.

When he got control and spoke, he had to force his mouth to move but, in doing that, not to yell.

“I’m not feelin’ a lot of love for explainin’ anything to you, seein’ as your sister was in a hospital bed for a week and a half and you didn’t even call. Then she was recuperating at my house and you didn’t come ’round. But Francesca is worried about you. It’s her birthday. I want her to quit worryin’ and have what’s important to her on her special day. Not sure I agree with what’s important to her, seein’ as the majority of you Concettis treat her like shit, but it is so I’m here.”

Her face started to get red, even as ice formed in her gaze as he spoke, and she didn’t hesitate to reply when he was done.

“Concettis treat her like shit?” she asked. “How ’bout the Bianchis?”

“You spoke to your sister, you’d know that’s done and we’re all movin’ on.”

“Yeah, you’re here and word is she’s in your bed. I know how you’re movin’ on.”

“Known me decades, Cat. Honest to God, do you think I’m gonna sink low enough to field that one?” Ben clipped.

She glared at him, not like Nat, much like Frankie, except a lot less cute because he didn’t love her, and more, he’d never really liked her.

“You know,” she started, “your big sister’s boyfriend gets whacked in a mob war, then she gets shot, then it’s all over everywhere that her dead boyfriend’s brother is up in her shit and then it’s everywhere they get hooked up, a girl’s gotta make a decision. She continues to get caught up in that ridiculous drama that ain’t real healthy, or she cuts herself off and tries to make a decent life. Me and Art talked about it a lot. He’s tight with his folks, his brothers. He didn’t get it. Why I wanted to cut ties. Until Frankie got shot and you were involved. Frankie involved with another Bianchi. Then he got it. Totally messed up. Totally unhealthy.”

She flipped her hand in the air and didn’t shut up, she kept on yapping.

“Art and me got marriage counseling so we’d quit fightin’ all the freakin’ time. Art and me found out in marriage counseling that it might be a good idea not to drink so freakin’ much. Art and me quit the booze, and now Art and me are in a good place so we’re tryin’ to make a baby. We got a good thing goin’, had it goin’ for a while. We don’t want anything to f**k that up. More, we bring a kid into this world, we don’t want that kid to be involved in f**ked-up shit.”

Benny couldn’t believe his ears.

“You quit the booze?” he asked.

“Yep. We’ve been dry now for nearly a year.”

“Congratulations, Cat,” he murmured.

“Yeah, hold a party for that,” she returned.

“Cat—”

She shook her head and lifted a hand to him, palm his way. “No. My sister got shot. Before that, her boyfriend was in the mob. Now, after years of watchin’ the Bianchis like she was on the verge of beggin’ you to adopt her, she went from one to the other to get her in.”

“That’s not what she’s doin’,” Ben said, his voice tight.

“No?” she asked, sarcasm easy to read. “She’s gorgeous. I know it. She’s sweet. She’s funny. I see why you want a piece of that. Totally. I love her to bits, my big sis. Only one who gave a shit about me my…entire…life. Until I met Art. But she’s messed up, Benny. Took me a while, but I finally woke my ass up and saw I needed to get out of the crazy that was my family draggin’ me down. I love her. I know the way you’re lookin’ at me you don’t believe that, but I love her. That doesn’t mean she’s any good for me. It was a hard decision to make, but I gotta look out for me. And you can take this as my good turn to you: you need to get outta that shit before she chews you up and spits you out like Ninette chews up every man who even looks at her.”

“Your sister is not Ninette,” Ben bit out.

“Who lives with one brother and then hooks up with the other one?” she retorted, shaking her head. “No one does that.”

“Vinnie died seven years ago.”

“He’s still your brother.”

“He quit bein’ my brother when he joined the mob.”

At that, she snapped her mouth shut.

Yeah.

She got him.

“Life sucks, Cat, for everyone, not just you,” he told her something she should know. “Shit happens and you make decisions that can make it suck even more. From what you’re sayin’, I see you took a look at your life and decided to make good changes. But what you’re doin’, slammin’ the door on Frankie, means you won’t see she’s doin’ the same thing. Makin’ good changes to her life. And you didn’t ask, but what she did when she got shot was crazy. Crazy-stupid and crazy-brave. She helped save a woman’s life. You got a screw loose if you’d turn your back on a woman who’d take a bullet to do somethin’ like that. But I know it’s loose ’cause she’s had your back your entire life. Took you as you came, made no judgments when you were three steps away from bein’ a full-blown drunk, a mean one half the time, and she never shut the door in your face.”

He saw by her expression that he’d scored with that one, but he still took a step back, shaking his head and lifting, then dropping his hands.