Frisk Me(75)

When they’d told him about the death of his grandfather.

When they were upset about his report card.

When he’d gotten his college acceptance letter.

“Luca…” His dad’s voice was tired. “Beverly Jensen didn’t want a spectacle made of Mike’s death. She and I spoke about it at length.”

Luc lifted his chin. “Mike deserved to be recognized for his service. And his sacrifice.”

“And he was recognized,” Tony said, hitting his knee with his fist. “He damn well was. Hell, you went to the ceremony!”

“Yeah, so a bunch of fellow cops celebrated him. He deserved for the world to know what he did.”

“Yeah?” his father asked. “And how’s that working out for you, son? You enjoying the world knowing what you’re up to? You like being celebrated?”

Well…shit. Luc walked right into that one.

“It’s different,” Luc snapped.

“Is it?”

His mother wasn’t smiling anymore, but her voice was still calm. Gentle. “You knew Mike as well as anyone, Luc. Would he have wanted his face plastered all over the newspapers? His name bandied about on the evening news by talking heads that didn’t even know him?”

Luc rolled his lips inward as he considered. “Mike would have hated that. So would the Johnson family,” he said, staring down at his hands. “They were desperate to avoid media attention during the entire ordeal. They only wanted their little girl back.”

Tony nodded. “You went to see them after the funeral.”

Luc met his father’s eyes. “How did you know that?”

“Because I went to see them too. And I’m guessing they told you the same thing they told me. That they only wanted to be left alone to mourn their baby.”

“They should have wanted justice,” Luc said, swallowing a bitter lump in his throat. “They should have wanted the whole world to know that a cop could have saved her and didn’t.”

“Don’t you dare, Luca,” his mother said, her voice as sharp as he’d ever heard it. “Your brothers told me you’ve been subscribing to this nonsense, but I won’t tolerate it in my house.”

His head shot back a little. “You won’t tolerate what? My remorse?”

“Your misplaced shame. You want to bully your brothers with it, that’s their problem, but under my roof, you’ll leave the pity party at the door.”

“Pity party? Two people are dead, Mom!”

“And those two people deserve more than your sulky martyrdom!”

Luc stared flabbergasted at his mother’s outburst. For starters, Maria Moretti didn’t have outbursts. And second, sulky martyrdom? That’s what she thought he was about?

Something nagged the back of his neck.

Was his mother right?

Before he could process it, she kept going.

“You think you’re honoring people that died, Luca? Wrong. By skulking around like some sort of failure, by thinking you don’t deserve credit for the good that you do, you only give power to the baddies.”

Luc almost smiled at that. Baddies was how the Moretti clan had talked about police business around the dinner table back when the kids were little, and it still was applied to this day to refer to the scum of New York.

“Hold up,” Luc said, not quite ready to roll over and play dead just yet. “If I’m supposed to be so proud of myself, why did Dad get pissed about me dating a reporter?”

“Well not because you have anything to hide,” his dad grumbled. “I just know how reporters can be. They’re more interested in a good story than the truth. If she found out that ‘New York’s hero’s’ former partner had died and that he was first on the scene of a kidnapping-turned-murder, you think she wouldn’t jump all over that to boost ratings?”

“Tony!” Maria admonished. “Ava’s not like that.”

“How do you know? We saw her for, like, twenty minutes,” Tony grumbled.

“She’s not,” Luc’s mother said firmly. “Luca, tell your father.”

Luc ran a hand over his face. “She’s not like that.”

“Oh, that was convincing,” Tony grumbled.

Even Maria’s resolve seemed to have wavered. “Luc, she wouldn’t. Would she? Your father’s being overprotective, she’s a good girl. Nonna and I both like her—”

“Which, we get it, you two agreeing is a bit like spotting the Loch Ness Monster,” Vincent said from the doorway, “but I’m with Dad on this one.”

“What are you doing here?” Maria said, scowling at her middle son. “We’re speaking with Luca.”

“Which was totally fine back when he was twelve and broke the window of the science building with his baseball—”

“Never happened,” Luc interrupted.

“…but this is adult family dinner. In case you haven’t noticed, there are three other people waiting in the other room.”

“Not anymore,” Elena said in a singsong voice.

Elena appeared next to Vin, Anthony loomed over both of them, and Nonna…

“What the ridiculous blazes is happening in here?” she asked, shoving her way forward.