“Would you pay money for me?”

“Of course I’d pay money for you. Mommy loves you. She’d really be unhappy without you. My goal in life is to keep Mommy happy.”

“Do you love Gabe?”

“Lots of questions, Juleen.”

“Do you? Love Gabe?”

He rolled his eyes. “Gabe is my son. I’d do anything for him. If that’s love, then I guess I love him.”

“Why is Gabe’s last name Whitman and your last name is Donatti?”

“I was born Christopher Whitman. When I met your mother, I was Christopher Whitman. When I started working for my uncle, Joseph Donatti, he asked me to change my name to his.”

“So why didn’t Gabe change his name?”

“I didn’t put the name on your brother’s birth certificate, Mommy did. Now no more questions.”

“Mommy loves me, you know, even if you have no use for me.”

“I do know that.”

Her chin jutted outward with defiance as she spoke. “She loves me more than she loves you.”

“That is for damn sure. For the last time, what do you want for dinner?”

“I thought we agreed on spaghetti.”

“Yes, we did. My bad.” He started to walk away. This time she caught his arm. “What?”

“Thank you for helping Mommy. And thank you for helping me, especially since you don’t have any use for me. And no, I’m not being sarcastic.”

He took his arm back and studied her. “You’re a pretty girl, Juleen. One day you’ll be a beautiful woman. My sole advice to you is to keep your legs together. You don’t want to end up like your mother with a dog like me. You can do better.”

“I don’t like boys.”

“Yeah, you already told me that. One day you’ll change your mind.”

“No, I won’t!”

Donatti thought a moment. “Do you like girls?”

“No. Gross! I mean I love Mommy, but she doesn’t count.” She sighed. “I’m sorry if I was rude to you, Chris.” Tears in her eyes. “I’m … I’ll do better. I’m sorry.”

He knelt down, put his hands on her shoulders, and stared into her eyes. “It’s hard to live in chaos. You’re holding up well.”

“Thank you.”

“But you’ve got to remember that I’m the boss here. You don’t mouth off to the boss. It’s not good to be mouthy, period. It pisses people off.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not chastising you, Juleen. I’m just telling you that it’s a poor strategy to disrespect anyone. It’s a really poor strategy to disrespect me.”

“I know.”