Trulo opened it and gestured for him to come inside where he found Christina seated on the sofa, looking tense and anxious. He’d done that to her. In the year they’d been together, she’d gone from free and unencumbered, to insta-motherhood and partner to a wreck of a man. On many a day lately, he wondered why she stayed when she certainly didn’t have to.

Gonzo took a seat next to her, attempting a reassuring smile that apparently fell flat. She didn’t look reassured at all. Rather, she looked as if she were about to jump out of her own skin.

“Sorry I was late. Parking is a bitch around here.”

Christina reached for his hand. “It’s okay.”

Trulo zeroed in on Gonzo. “Christina filled me in on some of what’s been going on at home.”

Gonzo felt his face heat with embarrassment and shame over what he’d put her through. “She’s a saint to stay with me.”

“I believe she stays because she loves you.”

“She’s a saint for that too.”

“Why would you say that?” she asked, her voice catching. “I’m exactly where I want to be, with the man I wish to be with.”

Gonzo withdrew his hand from her grip and bent forward, elbows on knees. “It’s not really fair to you. It hasn’t been from the beginning. We were barely dating when I found out about Alex, and we went from a twosome to a threesome practically overnight. Then his mother was murdered and everyone thought I did it.” He ran his hand over the jagged scar on his neck. “I got shot and nearly died. My partner got shot right in front of me and actually died, when it should’ve been me in his place. What woman in her right mind would stay with someone after all that shit in just over a year?”

Trulo turned his attention to Christina. “What do you have to say to that?”

She sounded unusually composed when she said, “What about all the time in between those events? What about all the days and nights the three of us spent together as a family? Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“It counts for everything, but you can’t deny I’ve put you through a lot in our short time together.”

“You’ve also shown me love like I’ve never known. You’ve shown me it’s possible to love someone else—two someone elses—more than I love myself. You’ve given me the family I always wanted, and even in the worst of times, I’m happier with you, Tommy, than I ever was without you.”