Page 66 of Naz & Roz

His godfather laughed. “Sure, sure.”

“Plus, I might have mentioned to Dad that I needed a minute or two today to do something important.”

Zeke straightened in his chair, and folded his arms over his chest as he eyed Naz from across the desk. “Something to do with me, yeah?”

“He probably called you right after I hung up.”

“Probably,” Zeke agreed. “You know how your father is. He’s a fucking gossip, but only with me.” Then, Zeke turned serious when he muttered, “Never tell him I told you that because he’ll try to bust my mouth, and we’re too old for that shit. And I really don’t want to hear Catherine and Katya bitching about it all. Got it?”

Naz chuckled. “Got it.”

But where was the lie?

“You’re not going to ask her to stay in New York, are you?” Zeke asked quietly when Naz let the silence stretch on between them. “Rosalynn, I mean.”

“I don’t need you to tell me who you mean. I know.”

“Well, are you?”

Naz glanced up from the glasses in his hands, and shook his head. “Nah, I’m not. I want to, you know? We’re just getting started, her and I. The last thing I want is for her to be on the other side of the world for God knows how long. I’m never leaving New York for a good spread of time—we both know it. So, yeah, I want to.”

“But you won’t.”

“She needs to do her amazing things. And some of those things won’t always include me,” Naz murmured.

“Far beyond your age, principe.”

“Something like that.” Naz sighed, and glanced up at the ceiling. “We’ll figure it out. Vacations to different spots. I’ll fly her way when I’m on a run, or something. She’ll come back here for holidays …. maybe.”

“There’ll be time.”

But how long would they have to do that? It was a question that plagued Naz. And at the same time, he figured, what did it matter?

If it was one year, five years, or a fucking decade … what did it matter? He wasn’t going anywhere. He was still going to be standing in the same spot waiting for her to come back his way.

That’s how this love thing worked, apparently.

“And you’ve still got a little while before you need to worry about any of that,” Zeke said. “A whole month and a half, right?”

“Yeah, speaking of which …”

Zeke smiled. “Mmm, the whole reason you’re here.”

Naz chuckled, and rolled his eyes. “You know, if Dad is just going to tell you everything … then why make me go through the semantics of actually asking? Seems like a waste of time.”

“Or I like watching you squirm, Nazio.”

Yeah, or that.

Naz sighed. “I thought Roz might like to go to Cece’s wedding with me. But I also know it’s going to a publicized event, and for a long time, you’ve kept her out of that. She’s barely been photographed at all. Certainly not on the arm of a Cosa Nostra soldier at the wedding of a boss’s daughter.”

“Circumstance because she was always away at school, not because I was attempting to hide her away from this life, actually. She knows what I am, and what I do. I never hid it from my children, Nazio. A lot like your mother and father. When it comes your time, I suggest you do the same.”

Huh.

“But,” Zeke said, “you can still ask. Because I’m enjoying this.”

Of course, he was.