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Val was pregnant. To Joseph Morelli. My mother had warned me about staying away from that Morelli boy (for all the good that did) but clearly hadn't had the same talk with Valerie.

My father stared at them with his mouth open. Grandma sat there eyeing off Joe like she was wondering what he was like in bed. She probably was wondering what he was like in bed. My mother recovered first, jumping up in delight. "Oh, a baby! Congratulations! Will you get married? When is the wedding?" she asked.

"We can't get married, Mom."

"Why not?" my mother asked, then I could see the realisation on her face as it dawned on her. Val couldn't marry Joe because Val was still married to Steve.

Joe cleared his throat. "I need to talk to Val," he said. Grandma grabbed the cake and we all filed out into the living room.

"Why are we eating cake in the living room?" asked Angie.

"Because it's too cold to eat it outside," Grandma Mazur said.

"Where's Mommy and Joe?" Mary Alice asked.

"They're just having a chat," I told her.

We all looked at the kitchen door. I knew that Grandma wanted to have her ear pressed up against the door, and possibly Mom too, but we had to behave ourselves with Angie and Mary Alice watching. After ten minutes of hearing the occasional raised voice, the door opened and Joe and Val stepped out. They weren't holding hands, but they didn't look angry with each other either.

"Girls, grab your coats, it's time to go home," Val said. Angie and Mary Alice found their coats and boots and got ready to walk the two streets home.

"I'll drive you home," Joe said.

"Thanks," Val said softly, not quite looking at him, then they walked out the door together with the girls.

We all sat there in stunned silence.

"I can't decide," my father said, "Do I get the shotgun out or not?"

"I'll get mine!" said Grandma.

"No!" Dickie and I both yelled at her. I went into the kitchen, packed up cake, and decided it was time to go.

Dickie and I said goodnight, and walked out the door together. We got in the car without speaking. Dickie's family were boring – mother, father, no siblings. His grandmother played lawn bowls and knitted. They were perfect for his future senator career. My family, not so much. Did they hold the crazy in while Dickie and I were dating, or did he overlook it for me? I squeezed his hand.

"That wasn't the pregnancy announcement that your mother was hoping for this year," he said. I laughed. My poor mother. Saint Valerie had fallen. I'm sure a neighbour had managed to overhear or sense the news and phone lines would be ringing right now.

The next night Dickie had a work function on, the annual firm Christmas party. It was scheduled to be a much fancier night than his other work Christmas parties, and since my firm of me and a pregnant Val wasn't really up to a big night out (nor did we have the budget for it), I was looking forward to it. I'd bought a new dress on sale the week before, had my favourite heels to go with it, and was trying out my new intergalatic space princess lingerie.

The party was being held at Dickie's boss's house, and it was huge and overwhelming. It made our own house look tiny. No wonder Dickie was always telling me that we'd have a bigger house someday. I would need a team of Ellas if this was what he had in mind.

This was a different crowd to what I was used to. Dickie's work as a public defender meant that while there were usually a lot of important people in the room, none of them were that wealthy. Powerful, yes, wealthy, no. The people in this room looked like a mixture of both. I saw politicians, wealthy clients, and some that I recognised from the Burg as Family. I nodded to Connie Rissoli's uncle and was hugged enthusiastically by my cousin Vinnie's father-in-law Harry (aka Harry the Hammer). Dickie squeezed my hand, then left to go and talk with clients.

"Stephanie! How are you? Any children yet?" Harry asked me.

"No, not yet," I said, hugging him back. I liked Harry. He hadn't killed Vinnie yet, and most of us were tempted to even without having access to Mob hitmen.

"None for Lucille and Vinnie yet either. Lucille says they're trying though. We'll see that if little weasel can reproduce," Harry said. Harry loved children, and his daughter Lucille. Harry didn't understand what Lucille saw in Vinnie (none of us understood what Lucille saw in Vinnie), but he accepted her choice anyway and did his best to make sure that she was happy.

I chatted to Harry for a few minutes, then moved off to get a drink. I tried to be a good corporate wife and practise for my future role of a politician's wife by chatting politely with Dickie's co-workers, and with anyone that I vaguely recognised in the room. We weren't too far out of the Burg, so there was a few people for me to talk to. News about Valerie and Joe seemed to be keeping quiet, and I wondered how they'd done that – had Joe snuck into her house while out walking Bob? Come in through the alleyway?

There was a flurry of noise and whispers and I turned to see that Alexander Ramos had entered the party, accompanied by his eldest son, Hannibal. I wondered if Ramos would recognise me from the brief car ride that we shared together and decided to stay out of his way the entire evening, just in case. I didn't want to explain that one to Dickie. Or to anyone, really.

I decided to move out of the room and went looking for Dickie. I eventually found him in what looked like a study with other people from his office. They were gathered around a desk. Ah so I see we're up to the cocaine part of the party, where we make it a white Christmas.

"Steph!" he said. He was a bit too loud and bright. He sniffed.

"Hey there. I was looking for you," I told him. He grinned at me.

"We were just chatting in here. I'll be out soon. Go get another drink." I nodded and left the room. I hated Dickie's drug use. He kept it to a minimum, mostly at parties where it seemed that almost everyone was doing it, or had done it in the past, strictly recreationally. It wasn't that much different from drinking alcohol, Dickie had told me when I brought it up once.

I went out to the main room, and got another drink, and filled a tiny plate with tiny snacks. What I really wanted was a bucket of fried chicken, or pizza. I could probably talk Dickie into stopping on the way home.

I chatted with Dickie's boss's wife Simone, assured her that I was having a lovely time and her house looked fantastic, was introduced to a few more people, and then finally stocked up on more snacks and retreated to a quiet corner. Tiny snacks do not a dinner make, and I was hungry.

I felt a presence behind me and turned, noticing an expensive black suit, hair long enough to go back into a ponytail, diamond earrings that were large enough that I wished they were mine and a neutral expression. Ranger.

"Ranger! Hello!" I said. I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before remembering that we didn't really know each other that well. Good one, Stephanie, you just kissed the mercenary on the cheek. He likes you though, so he'll probably let you live. "I haven't seen you in a while. I've been thinking about getting an alarm system. Or at least upgrading my lock. How have you been?"

"Busy."

"Is your business going well?"

"Yes."

"Chatty, I see."

He smiled briefly. Good to see that I still amused him.

"I've had to travel for work the last couple of months. Luckily my second in command can run it without me there. How is the lingerie business?"

"It's great!" I beamed. "It's selling well for Christmas. And I'm designing a new line. In fact I'm wearing my new stuff right now a trial to see how comfortable it is." He raised one eyebrow at me.

"Do I get a preview?" he asked me. I blushed. Note to Stephanie, don't play with the hard ass mercenary when you're a few drinks down. This isn't a game that you'll win.

"What are you doing here? Are you a client of the law firm?"

"The old man wanted me along. So I came."

"Ramos?" I asked. He gave me a quick nod in return.

"It's best to do as he asks if you want to stay on his good side."

"Yeah. That's why I took him for a drive that time," I told Ranger. Ranger did not look impressed. Probably I shouldn't have brought that one up.

"I heard congratulations is in order for your sister and Morelli," Ranger said. I looked up in surprise.

"How did you hear that already?"

"Gazarra is a gossip."

"Shirley the whiner strikes again. Mom must have been talking to dad's sister, probably swore her to silence. Everyone will know by tomorrow," I said.

"Probably."

His eyes flicked around the room, then back to me.

"Where's your husband?"

"Busy."

"You deserve better than that."

"It's fine. This is a work function. He has people to talk to."

"And coke to snort."

Ouch. That one actually did hurt.

"You deserve better," he said. "If you were my woman I wouldn't leave your side."

"How alpha male of you," I told him. This Ranger wasn't as relaxed as the version I'd previously met. I couldn't imagine him sitting at my kitchen table drinking coffee and ignoring cookies. This one was on guard and on edge. I could see where his mercenary reputation came from. I wouldn't want to be on the bad side of this Ranger, and I suspected that Dickie was.

I looked around the room, and then turned back to Ranger to make an excuse to leave but he had proved that I wasn't his woman by disappearing from my side. When I looked back around Dickie was making his way across the room to me. He kissed me possessively and I rolled my eyes. The last time he did that was when Morelli was lurking around my parents' house before Val appeared back into our lives.

"Brad said that you were talking to Manoso," Dickie said.

"Who?"

"Carlos Manoso."

"Is he a partner at the firm? I don't remember being introduced to him."

"He was wearing all black, he always wears all black. He came with Alexander Ramos."

"Oh, Ranger! He's a friend of Morelli's. I met him when I took Grandma to Stiva's for a viewing one time."

"Manoso was at a funeral home?"

"It was when Moogey Bues was shot. Remember, I told you how Grandma tried to lift the lid and I got banned from chocolate pudding because I didn't stop her?"

Dickie looked a bit confused. I didn't blame him.

"I see you found your husband," I heard. Old man, Greek accent. Alexander Ramos. Uh oh.