Page 31 of Be Courageous

“No, seriously, I have to go. My new boss is making us sign in.”

On the verge of slipping under his arm and out of the room, Ruby pressed a heartfelt kiss to her husband’s cheek. “I love you so much.” Tears stung her eyes.

His eyebrows quirked. “I love you, too.”

She fled before he could pursue the question she’d heard in his voice. Tony knew her like nobody else did, even better than her sister. If he guessed her circumstances, if he knew she was carrying their baby, he would talk her into quitting her job and staying at home.

Over my dead body.

Exiting the bathroom swiftly, Ruby went to collect her purse and jacket from the hall closet. Being lead investigative reporter gave her the self-respect she desperately craved. Just three short years ago, she’d been indulging in pastimes that were self-destructive and living with her sister because she couldn’t support herself waitressing.

And then Tony Caruso had come along. He might have been barely out of his teens and three years younger than she was, but he’d had his act together—a sound work ethic, a career in the Navy, and a long-term goal of becoming a doctor. He’d taught her to believe in God. He’d inspired her to improve herself. Finally, she felt like she was worthy of him, but only because of her job.

When he found out she was pregnant, that would change—not just because Tony would insist she alter her priorities but also because being pregnant would ruin her career.

Maybe I won’t tell Tony.

The thought sneaked into her brain as she backed her cherry-red Range Rover out of their carport, careful not to sideswipe Tony’s Honda in the process. She could visit a clinic somewhere and quietly—Oh, God, no.

She squashed the notion almost as soon as it occurred to her.

Shame made her swallow hard as she tugged the gearshift and pulled forward onto Shore Drive in Virginia Beach, headed for the highway that would take her toward the adjacent city of Norfolk. There was no excuse for her even thinking like this. She and Tony had the means to care for a baby. And Tony, despite his young age and his plans to enter medical school, would make a terrific father. The problem was Ruby.

Maybe she could negotiate.

“Okay, Lord. I’m not ready for a baby. I mean, Youhaveto know this. I’ll make a terrible mother. I’m too self-centered. And the fact is, there are even worse people than me out there, manipulating the system and crushing other people just because they can. If I don’t catch those criminals and hold them accountable, who will? You need me for that. And I can’t have a baby and still do what I do. Right?”

She flipped down her visor and peered into the lit mirror there half expecting God to speak through her reflection. What she saw was a professional young woman in a smart sage-green jacket and cream silk top. Her vivid red-gold hair was pinned up in a loose but elegant knot. Her turquoise eyes would pop as soon as she put on her makeup.

But all Ruby saw were faint lines at the corners of her eyes, marring her porcelain complexion. She would turn twenty-nine in December.

The clock—her biological clock—was ticking.

“No.” Women were having babies well into their forties. She could cling to her career for another ten years before starting a family. This pregnancy would ruineverything.

Steering with one hand, she felt inside her purse for her makeup. Tony’s chiding voice sounded in her head.“Bella, you don’t need to do that. You’re perfect the way you are.”

His nickname for her meant “beautiful” in Italian, which he spoke, in his own words, “badly.”

If only she saw herself the way Tony did.

She pulled the lid off her concealer, intending to cover up the circles under her eyes. What kind of chemicals and toxins was she putting on herself? Once at work, a makeup artist would put a ton of product on her, anyway.

Ruby stuck the lid back on the concealer and dropped it back into her purse. She might be an inherently selfish person, but she didn’t need to expose the secret life inside her to more harmful chemicals than necessary—assuming the little tyke would be born in eight months, wreaking havoc on the satisfying career Ruby was enjoying.

CHAPTER1

Tony’s mother still lived in the Italian neighborhood of Bella Vista in the same clapboard row house squeezed between two others just like it, except Mama Anna’s was a pretty butter yellow instead of dishwater gray. The street, as always, was lined with parked cars and littered with debris. Whenever Ruby took in Tony’s old stomping ground, she couldn’t help but marvel at what he’d overcome.

“You’re a saint,” she stated as her husband parallel parked her Range Rover between two beaters.

He issued a startled laugh. “Hardly. What makes you say that?”

How she admired his humility. Not only had Tony resisted recruitment by the local gangs while growing up here, but he’d also helped to raise his little sister when their father ran off and his mother fell ill. “Most people are victims of their circumstances. But you always take the high road, Tony.” Which was why she felt like such a loser in comparison.

His purely Italian shrug sloughed off her praise. “Nah, it’s a choice. Everybody has a choice.”

His words echoed in her head as he set the parking brake and punched the button that killed her engine. Worry furrowed his brow as he took in his former neighborhood. “We should’a brought my old Honda. Someone’s gonna key your SUV out of jealousy.”

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