“Ifound this earlier.”
“What'sthat?”
Iwent to stand beside him as his hand dipped into his shirt pocket, and cameblack out with something in a fist. “Here,” he said, opening his hand to revealmy black Zippo.
“Oh,shit, where was it?” I asked, taking it from him to tuck into my pocket.
“Foundit at the pizzeria. Almost threw it out.”
“Well,thank Christ you didn't,” I laughed.
“Youwoulda lived.” His eyes bore into mine, raising his brows.
“Maybe.”I winked, before clapping a hand against his shoulder. “Thanks, old man. Enjoyyour show, all right?”
“Whatare you gonna do?”
Ichuckled as I walked to the door. “Well, I was gonna hang with Z and Grey for awhile, but first, I think I'm gonna have a smoke.”
CHAPTERTWO
VINNIE
“Idon't know what the hell is gonna happen. But what Idoknow is, thatman has never held a hammer before in his life. I'm willing to bet good moneythat he's gonna lose a thumb before the bathroom is done.”
Mysister, Jenna, blew out a breath and sent the thick, curly hairs laying acrossher forehead flying. An expression of annoyance held firm to her face, but thelook in her eyes betrayed her. She was worried, and I couldn't blame her. Herhusband, Nicky, wasn’t the most handy guy on the planet, and he’d been doing agreat job proving that point ever since they bought their house on Long Island.
“GetGrey to help him out,” I suggested, slathering a ladle of sauce onto a perfectcircle of dough.
“Yeah,okay,” she fired back sarcastically. “In what spare time? They're talkin' aboutadoption, Vin. They don't got time to help my idiot husband.”
“Kittens,Jen. They're adopting kittens.”
Sheleveled me with a stern glare. “Yeah, and once they see how cute fur babiesare, you know a real baby is comin' A-S-A-P.”
“Okay,and adopting a kid takes time. They can help Nicky put in a damn tub.”
“Whosaid anything about adopting?”
Ishot my sister a questioning look as I slid a peel underneath the pizza. “Howelse are they gonna have a kid?”
“Thereare other options, Vinnie.”
Carryingthe pie to the oven, I said, “Sis, I dunno what you know about the birds andthe bees, I know it's been a while for you, but uh, two dudes can't exactlyhave a—”
“They’rethinkin’ about a surrogate, you moron.”
Withthe pizza now in the oven, I turned back to her and cocked my head, intriguedby this new bit of information. “You're shittin' me?”
Sheshook her head. “Nope. I mean, they haven't made a firm decision yet or anything.They’ve mentioned checkin’ out a couple adoption agencies, but ...” Sheshrugged, casting her gaze downward. “They asked me if I'd be willing, just incase, and I said yes.”
“Holyshit,” I breathed, shocked and wondering why my brother hadn't said anything tome. “You're actually willing to have another baby?”
“Well,I mean—”
“Areyou pregnant again?” Pops asked, hurrying out from the kitchen.
Jennashot me a look, one that said she needed a change in subject, andfast.So, I said, “Nicky needs help redoing the bathroom.”
