The Promise by Kristen Ashley
“Yeah,” she agreed. “He called me, looking for a place to crash. I kept my boundaries and he lost it on me, you know, like Dad can do when he doesn’t get his way made easy for him.”
“Yeah, I know how Dad can do that,” I agreed because I so totally did.
“He said all his kids but Enzo were pains in his ass and he never wanted to hear from me again. Then he said he was goin’ to Enzo.”
“Oh my God,” I breathed into the phone. Just the thought of Enzo Uno and Due together and the havoc they could wreak made my blood pressure spike.
“Yeah. Just uppin’ stakes, leaving Chrissy with a new baby, and heading to where Enzo is fuckin’ up his own life and all the lives of the people in it.”
This was not good, but I was confused.
“How is Nat’s deal slightly better bad news than Dad’s?”
“Well, ’cause Dad told me Chrissy was fucked since she didn’t work and he was shot of her. Didn’t need her shit. She may have kicked him out, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t livin’ in his house. He says he’s puttin’ it on the market so that means Chrissy is jobless, soon to be homeless, and has our new baby sister.”
God. My dad.
“Did Dad say anything about Minnie?” I asked.
“Not a word.”
Fucking Dad.
I looked from Ben’s ear into his eyes and told Cat, “All right, leave it to me.”
Ben went from looking slightly worried and slightly pissed to looking mostly pissed as he clipped, “Jesus, Frankie.”
“What are you gonna do?” Cat asked me.
“I have no clue, but I’ll figure out something.”
“Sal Giglia owe you a marker?” she queried.
Not hardly.
“No,” I answered.
“Too bad. I figure he has the skills to put the fear of God into anybody, even Nat, Ma, and Dad.”
She was probably right.
Still, I wasn’t going to sic Sal on my family. Not because they didn’t deserve it. Because Benny and I already had him coming to our wedding. We didn’t need him forcing us to let him pay for it and giving me away.
“Go get your pregnancy test. No vodka. And call me back after you get done celebrating.”
“Frankie, you always eat this shit and—”
“Go,” I said quietly but firmly. “You need to focus on what’s important, Cat, and their shit isn’t important. Your husband, your marriage, you building a family is important. Get that pregnancy test. I’ll send good vibes your way.”
She said nothing for long moments. Then she said, “Right. I’ll let you give me that, but only in a way that you’re up first. I’ll do my thing with the test and Art. Then you call me in if you need me, Frankie.”
“You’re on the right path,” I reminded her. “Stay on it.”
“These people are fucked up and they drive me crazy. But they’re my family, too, Frankie. You’ve spent three and a half decades sorting their shit. Now it’s my turn to kick in.”
I felt those words, all of them, so deep and so warm and so welcome, I closed my eyes again and turned my head.
Ben lifted a hand and curled it around the side of my neck, so I opened my eyes and looked back at him.
Not pissed anymore, or at least not totally. Back to slightly worried.
I shook my head and gave him a small smile.
This didn’t change his expression in the slightest.
“We got a plan?” Cat prompted in my ear.
“This doesn’t sort out soon and you can’t hack it, you back off. If you agree to that,” I told her, “then we have a plan.”
She hesitated only a second before she said, “We got a plan.”
“Good,” I replied businesslike. “Now, call me later with good news.”
“I hope I can, Frankie.”
“I hope so too, honey.”
“Don’t let them make you eat more shit than you’re already gonna eat,” she ordered.
“I probably would,” I returned, still looking in Benny’s eyes. “But Ben won’t let me.”
“Fuckin’ finally,” she muttered, and that made me grin. “Later, Frankie.”
“Later, Cat.”
We disconnected and I barely hit the button on my phone when Ben practically barked, “What?”
I reached to the nightie laying half on, half draped off the bed, saying, “Concetti drama.”
“You don’t got enough drama goin’ on right now?” he asked, making an excellent point.
He let me go so I could pull the nightie on and I looked back to him. “Benny—”
He shook his head. “Get outta bed. Clean up. Put on clothes. Fill me in while we walk Gus. Then your ass is in my truck so we can get donuts. We’re doin’ what we wanna do with our Saturday morning. After I get a donut in my baby, then those whackjobs you call a family can try to take their piece of you.”
“But, Ben—”
“Try,” he cut me off to say with emphasis. “I’m close while you talk to their asses, and if I get a fuckin’ hint they’re slicin’ into you, I take over.”
I stared at him.
Fucking finally.
Cat was right.
She was so right.
That was why I gave in, saying, “Okay, baby. Now, let’s go take care of Gus.”
I saw surprise start to slide through Benny’s expression, but I didn’t stop to watch the whole show. Gus needed out of the kennel. I needed to give him a cuddle. I also needed donuts. I further needed my man to have donuts.
Only then would I deal with my family while I had someone at my back.
Fucking finally.
* * * * *
I had three donuts in my belly, only two that were powdered sugar, chocolate-cream-filled.
Ben was right. They ran out of those quickly and we got the last three. I loved my man so I sacrificed one for him. The third donut in my belly was a cinnamon twist, but I ate it first.
I was staring at my phone in my hand resting on the counter. I did this until I saw Benny slide a fresh cup of coffee on the counter beside my hand. This meant I did it the whole time he was topping off our cups.
I turned my head and lifted my eyes to his.
“I have no clue what to do,” I told him.
He finished taking a sip of coffee and replied, “Not surprised.”
“You’re not?”
“Nope.”
I guessed he wouldn’t be. There was so much to it, it was like a mountain that needed to be climbed without rope or those spiky things on your shoes.
“I don’t only have no clue what to do, I don’t even know where to start,” I shared.
Ben leaned a hip against the counter. “Not surprised about that either.”
“What would you do?” I asked.
“That’s the reason I’m not surprised,” he answered. “’Cause what I’d do is let them deal with their own shit. They made their beds, they can lie in them.”
I shook my head and protested, “But Davey just fell in love with my sister and got a shitload of problems in return.”
“And how is that him not makin’ his bed?”
I blinked.
Benny kept talking.
“If she pulled one over on him when they first got hooked up, I could get that. But he’s taken her ass back repeatedly after she let other guys tap it. That’s his decision. He needed to man up about five years ago. He didn’t. Now he’s in custody because he’s got no balls. That’s his problem. What I don’t get is why you or Cat would make it yours.”
“He’s family and he’s a nice guy,” I explained.
“Yeah, he’s a nice guy, but he’s a weak man,” Ben returned. “The second part of that is not on you. It’s on him. Their relationship has been cruisin’ toward disaster in one form or another since they got together. Frankly, I’m relieved that when it blew up, it did it this way rather than takin’ other people down with it.”
“But he’s been arrested!” I snapped.
Ben leaned into me. “Not. Your. Problem.”
“Do you think it’s that simple?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” he answered.
“Then what about Chrissy and Domino?” I pushed.
He leaned back. “Babe, she hooked her star to a man old enough to be her father.”
“That’s judgmental,” I informed him sharply, and his brows drew together.
“How?”
“You can’t control who you fall in love with.”
“Nope,” he stated. “And love may be blind, but anybody’s gotta guard against bein’ stupid. He had one marriage decades ago, a string of women in between that didn’t work, children he barely saw, and when he did, they fought like teenagers and got their asses kicked out. If she didn’t see all the writing on that wall, again, that isn’t your problem.”
“A baby is mixed up in that, Ben,” I reminded him.
“Yeah. And she let a man his age with his history knock her up. Again, not your problem.”
I put my phone on the counter and my hands on my hips. “That baby is my sister.”
He held my eyes a moment before he muttered, “That might be our problem.”
“Right,” I hissed.
“Though,” he went on, “I haven’t seen you showin’ me picture after picture she texted you of your new sister, and I haven’t heard you talk about all the invitations to get to know her that you couldn’t accept ’cause you live too far away.”
“I have a feeling Chrissy might have been more involved with bein’ a new mom and dealin’ with my dad,” I returned sarcastically.
“I figure your feelin’ is right. Still. Doesn’t cancel out what I said,” he retorted.
“Every human being has to have compassion and try to be understanding, and that goes double for people who share your blood,” I shot back.
Suddenly, I had Benny’s hand curled around the side of my neck. He used it to pull me toward him as he dipped his head down so his face was close to mine.
“And that’s why I love you so fuckin’ much,” he declared, and when he did and the way he did, his voice not deep and easy but rough with feeling, I felt my breath catch.
He wasn’t done.
“Not because you’re crazy-beautiful. Not because you’re fuckin’ great in bed. Not because I like the way you dress, do your hair, turn yourself out to go walk the dog like most women would to go to a club. Not because you make me laugh and you don’t take my shit. Not because you wanna organize my office and can make even tuna casserole taste spectacular. Because of all that and the fact you give a shit about everybody. Even people who don’t deserve it. You give enough of a shit that you put yourself out there for them. You feel deep. You give everything you got. And the best part of all that, you got a lot to give and you give most of it to me.”
I stared into his eyes that were burning into mine, feeling his words burrow into me, digging deep, planting themselves inside in a way that I knew I’d not only remember them forever, I’d remember how I felt right that moment for the rest of my life.
“So, you gotta wade into this shit,” he continued, “do it. It’s gonna piss you off and that’s gonna piss me off, but I’m here for you to rant at and I’m here to make the decision when you’re done takin’ their shit. So, babe, you gotta wade in, make your first call. My advice: Chrissy. Nat and Davey are adults and should know by now how to sort their own shit or wallow in it. Chrissy’s got a new baby and she’s probably freaked.”
I didn’t nod, lift my phone, and call Chrissy.
I asked, “Do you know why I love you?”
The intensity of his eyes changed. It didn’t fade, it kept burning strong, just the emotion behind it shifted.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Because I’m awesome.”
“No,” I whispered. “Because you’re everything a man should be.”
His fingers at my neck gripped tighter as his lips murmured, “Jesus.”
“For the first time in my life, the words ‘I love you’ aren’t strong enough,” I told him.
He pulled me an inch closer and ordered, “Stop talking, Frankie.”
I didn’t stop talking. He needed to hear what I had to say.
No.
He deserved to hear it.
“You saved me. Not just when I got shot. When I got shot and you carried me out of there and got me to a place where they could fix me and then you didn’t give up on me. Instead, you gave me family. You showed me it was okay to be me. You gave me you. You gave me everything.”
“Shut it, Frankie.”
“I lost your brother and it broke me. If I ever lost you, I wouldn’t be able to go on.”
I heard Benny’s coffee mug hit the counter before he lifted his other hand, put it to my neck, and slid both back and into my hair as he tilted his forehead to rest on mine, his eyes now scorching with a depth of feeling he let me read.
Then he said, “Francesca, do not say that shit.”
I ignored him and kept going. “I’d breathe. I’d eat. I might one day laugh again. But I wouldn’t be living. There is no life for me without you.”
He was done telling me to shut it and I knew this when his head slanted, his fingers dug into my scalp, and his mouth landed hard on mine. His lips opened, mine did the same, his tongue thrust inside, and I wrapped my arms tight around him, pressing close, tipping my head back to give him more. To give him everything. To use that kiss to show him every word I said was true. To make him feel it. Believe it. All in a way he’d never forget it.
Because he deserved that too.
It took a long time for me to do this, which meant we made out in my kitchen until Gus attacked the wraparound tie strap dangling from my high-heeled sandals. Unfortunately, he did this in a way I couldn’t ignore, mostly because his puppy teeth started digging into the flesh of my ankle.
I still held on after I broke the kiss and looked down at our dog. The cute puppy Benny gave me for my birthday, who would grow up to be a sweet dog we would walk and pet and cuddle, who would give us love, and who would probably let our kids play with him, even if it drove him crazy.
That was when I felt the tears start to wet my eyes.
The promise of Benny. Every day. Everywhere. It was always with me.
I lifted and shook my foot, saying softly, “No, baby.”
Gus didn’t give up until I bent my leg back to get my strap out of reach. At that, he collapsed on his ass, and panting, looked up at me.
“Shoes are off-limits,” I told him, and as I did, Ben’s hands slid out of my hair and down my back so he could wrap his arms around me.
Gus panted some more, then got up and waddled toward the rug I had in front of the sink. He latched on with his teeth, and jerking his head side to side, growling at it, he dragged it out of the kitchen.
“Babe,” Ben called. I took in a deep breath to control the tears and looked up at him.
God, he was beautiful.
My Benny.
He took one arm from around me so he could cup my jaw in his hand.
“I’ll save the rug,” he offered. “You call Chrissy.”
I nodded.
He didn’t move.
Neither did I.
“You good?” he finally asked.
“I’m the best I’ve ever been,” I answered.
His fingers curled deeper into my skin before he demanded, “Stop bein’ so sweet. You don’t, I’ll have to fuck you on the kitchen floor and then we’ll have to go out and buy a new rug.”
“I’m done with that rug,” I told him. Then to take us out of the sweet and heavy because we both needed that, I kept the information flowing, “I’m also done with your kitchen rug. When I move in, we’re gettin’ all new kitchen stuff—towels, rugs, potholders. That is, after you paint it butter yellow and put in new tile. Backsplashes and floor.”
His hand relaxed, as did his expression, and his lips tipped up. “I’m doin’ all that?”
“You have linoleum
“You got a problem with linoleum?”
Was he crazy?
“Uh…yeah.”
His lip tip turned into a grin. “Then my baby gets new tile. But even if that rug is bein’ retired, Gus doesn’t need to do that by eatin’ it.”
I nodded my head and remarked, “We have enough on our plate that a trip to the vet would tip us over the edge.”
“Yeah,” Benny agreed.
I gave him a squeeze. “Okay, you get Gus. I’ll call Chrissy.”
He nodded before he dipped his head, and I held my breath at the exquisite feeling of Benny skimming the tip of my nose with his before he returned my squeeze and let me go.
I decided to take a fortifying sip of coffee before calling Chrissy. This also afforded me the opportunity to watch Ben walk out of the kitchen. Then I leaned over the counter to watch him get in a tug-of-war with Gus over the rug.
Ben won.
Although not surprising, Gus felt the consolation prize was attacking the hems of Benny’s jeans as he walked back into the kitchen with my rug. This was cute. It was cuter when Ben bent over, grabbed Gus, brought him up, and held him, doggie nose to hot guy nose.
“No rugs. No jeans. You got chew toys, bud,” he told the dog, then finished with, “Let’s go get one.”
He then tucked the puppy under his arm and sauntered out. I watched Ben’s ass move, alternately watching Gus’s booty swaying with his wagging tail, and I watched this until they disappeared down the hall.
It was a good show and a nice reprieve.
But I was me.
I could delay no further. I had loved ones to sort out.
So I put my cup down, grabbed my phone, and found Chrissy’s number.
* * * * *
“Thought I was dead to you.”
This was Nat’s greeting.
Obviously, I was on my second call.
Shockingly, the first one went great.
Dad was done with Chrissy probably only because Chrissy was done with Dad.
And during the call, she had declared, “He’ll sell this house before I move out and get situated over my dead body.”
I took this to mean he’d sell it over his dead body, because if he tried that shit, she’d kill him.
I was learning that Chrissy was no pushover. She was smart, and even if she fell in love with the wrong guy, she was a new mom who doted on her baby, thus, she had her priorities straight.