Page 26 of The Woman with the Target on her Back (Grassi Family)

“I know. But this has been a reality check. My father won’t live forever. He won’tworkforever. And then what? Everyone takes out their years or decades of anger on me when I no longer have any protection?”

“That’s… definitely something you need to consider,” I agreed. “Are the developers offering a lot?”

“Half a million,” she told me. “It’s enough to start over somewhere else. And get myself a house. Likely a small house, in this market. But still. Something that’s mine.”

“Would you stay in Jersey?” I asked, finding myself a little too invested in the answer to that question.

“It’s what I know, so probably. Maybe I’d move closer to the beach or something. Summer traffic would be great for business.”

“Navesink Bank is beach-adjacent,” I heard myself saying, wishing I could fucking suck the words back in as soon as they were out of my mouth.

“Right,” she said, smiling now. “Trading one area teeming with criminals for another.”

“Hey, at least most of us have codes and wouldn’t fuck with innocent women.”

“Oh, yes. The old mafia code of conduct.”

“Hey, don’t forget that we have the bikers, the loan sharks, the drug dealers…”

“I would probably want a business closer to the actual beach,” she said. “It was like fifteen or twenty minutes from Navesink Bank to the beach, if I remember correctly.”

“You do,” I confirmed. “Close enough to go as often as you want. Far enough to avoid most of the shore traffic.”

“Hey,” she said, lips twitching.

“What?”

“We’re actually having a conversation without snapping at each other.”

“Miracles do happen,” I said, nodding.

“I really must need sleep,” she added. “I usually find you pretty intolerable,” she added, goading me just for fun.

“You should at least try,” I agreed, making my way back toward the door. “Aurelio is getting your store boarded up in the morning. Then we need to hit up your place and check shit out.”

“Right,” she agreed, and I wasn’t exactly sure why her eyes widened like they did. “Yeah, of course,” she said, banking the look back down before I could really analyze it.

Eventually, I caught a couple of hours, waking up to the smell of freshly brewing coffee and bacon.

I hadn’t woken up to coffee and food since I lived at home. Even before I was fully awake, I could suddenly see the appeal of having a significant other, someone to share the task of getting up first and brewing some coffee.

Even as I folded up on the couch, though, Traveler’s door was sliding open, and she was moving into the doorway, sniffing at the air.

Aurelio.

Of course he’d gotten up first. He’d passed out earlier than us.

“That coffee actually smells really good,” she said, tying the sash of the fluffy hotel robe tightly around her waist.

Her hair was wet from the shower and pulled back. But she wasn’t puffy like she’d been up all night. That was good at least.

“Yeah, it does,” I agreed, getting up off the couch and rolling a crick out of my neck from sleeping on the uncomfortable-as-fuck thing.

When I looked back down, though, I caught Traveler’s gaze moving down my chest and torso, then shooting guiltily back up and away.

“There you are,” Aurelio said, as I followed Traveler into the kitchen, trying to act like I hadn’t caught her eye-fucking me. Because, well, this shit did not need to get more complicated than it already was.

“How did you shower?” I asked, brows scrunched at his perfectly put together appearance.

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