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Nico was skating well, so Bennett decided to push him even more. “Here. I’m going to let go of one hand and skate forward.”

“Wait, no.” Nico sounded worried. “It was not pity, te lo prometto.”

“No, I know. But you’re ready to do this on your own.” And staring at you is too much for me. Bennett let go of Nico’s right hand, then shifted so they were side by side, both skating forward.

“Allora, you never said who taught you to skate,” Nico said after a moment. “Was it a coach?”

“Initially, I learned off the internet. Just watched videos and kept practicing. There was a frozen pond in town, not far from our house. All the kids used to go out there in the winters. I wanted friends, so.” He lifted one shoulder.

It was easier to make friends with a stick in your hands. On the ice, no one had treated him like the boy without a father, or the boy whose mother worked two jobs to keep a roof over their heads. Or the boy who wore hand-me-down clothes and sometimes didn’t have lunch money. Hockey had given Bennett a purpose, confidence. Everything a boy needed to thrive.

Quietly, Nico said, “Your mother must have been very proud of you. Being drafted and playing for Toronto.”

“She was, yes. She was still feeling decent for my rookie year. Came to all the home games. But by the time I won my first Cup, she was in the care facility. The nurses said they had the game on for her to watch, but I don’t know if she understood what was happening or not.”

“I’m sure she did, somewhere deep down.”

That was an incredibly kind thing to say and it caused Bennett’s eyes to sting. Who knew that a mob boss could be so fucking sweet? “I hope so.”

They were holding hands now, but not because they had to. Nico was skating fine on his own, gliding only slightly awkwardly across the ice, so Bennett could have let go. Except he didn’t feel like it. And there was no reason to. The practice rink was empty, except for the security guard, and Bennett didn’t think he’d leave his post to come spy on them. So, they kept going, their blades cutting into the ice, the soft swoosh-swoosh calming Bennett more than any drug. It was his favorite sound in the world. And he was glad Nico was here.

“Tell me about your grandfather,” he prompted, greedy to learn more about this enigmatic man.

“He is smart and thoughtful, nothing at all like my father. We play chess together. It’s through an app. One move a day. And he yells at me if I don’t move fast enough.”

Bennett could almost picture it: Nico checking his phone each day, waiting on his grandfather to make a chess move. It was adorable. “That’s nice. He must be proud of you.”

“He is, but he doesn’t know much of what I do. He just knows what Filippo and I tell him. When he retired, he wanted to live in peace.”

They were going faster now, really skating, with Bennett guiding them. “I thought you couldn’t retire from the mafia.”

“You can when your son or grandson takes over.”

That made sense. But Nico’s mention of the other name reminded him there were more Marzanos. “The two of you are close, you and Filippo?”

“Sì. He is the closest thing to a brother that I have.”

“Do you have any sisters?”

“No, just many, many cousins. My parents, it was not a happy marriage. My father had an heir and his mistresses. That was enough for him. Probably why my mother left.”

Bennett understood this. Probably better than he should, considering his own history. At the end of the day, some parents weren’t meant to stick around. He changed the topic. “The cousin who was drugged at The Loop. What’s she like?”

Nico paused, and inside that pause Bennett wondered if this was strange to talk about, or maybe an invasion of privacy on Bennett’s part. He waited, still skating, allowing Nico time to answer or say forget about it.

“She is surprising,” Nico finally answered.

“In a good way?”

“Yes. I have spent my life around men, no mother or sisters. The other wives were older, not included much. I had women, of course⁠—”

“Women you fucked, you mean.”

“This is to say I never spent much time around women, capisce? Then my first cousin is killed and his daughter is an orphan. I felt too much guilt over it, maybe mixed with some of my childhood feelings, and decided to take her in. It was never a hardship, this decision. She has been a bright spot in my home.”

“I didn’t realize she lived with you. I thought . . . Well, I just didn’t know.” He hadn’t known how close Nico was to her, this young woman preyed upon by one of Bennett’s teammates.

“She has been away at school, but recently came back, you know, afterward. Now she forces me to watch these reality shows where people are terrible to each other. And Madonna mia, so much ice cream. Never have I seen someone eat so much. But she laughs and teases me, and there is a joy she brings to everything that is refreshing.”