Maddie made her way through the lobby of the Crime Lab, clipping the visitor's badge to her blouse as she walked, intending to pay a quick visit to Danny. Before she knew what had happened, strong arms wrapped themselves around her and warm lips caressed her neck.

"Hey, aren't you the future Mrs. Messer?" he murmured in her ear.

Her laugh was low and throaty as her fingers ran through his hair. "Maybe," she told him. "Or I might be the future Mrs. Parrish-Messer…or maybe I'll just stay Ms. Parrish…or maybe you can change your name…"

"Mr. Daniel Parrish," he smirked. "Yeah, that's gonna happen."

She laughed and he leaned in, kissing her deeply right there in the middle of the lobby, making her blush as she pulled away. "Danny…"

He grinned and kissed her again quickly. "I know, I know—a little over-the-top for work. I just couldn't help myself," he winked.

She smiled appreciatively. "'Sokay," she replied. "I needed that."

"Rough day?"

She sighed and nodded. "I was just over at the 2-7 helping one of my kids file a domestic abuse complaint against her boyfriend."

Danny pulled her close again and held her in his arms. "Is she okay?" he asked softly.

"They're taking her to the hospital to get checked out. He beat her up pretty badly." Maddie closed her eyes and laid her cheek against his. "You think she could stay with us tonight? The boyfriend'll be out on bail in a few hours."

"Of course she can stay with us," he told her. He kissed her hair and smiled gently. "I'll swing by Luigi's on the way home and pick up dinner, and we can hang out and watch TV, just the three of us."

She drew back and kissed him tenderly. "You're a good man, Charlie Brown," she smiled.

He grinned. "I have a good woman."

She opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Mac's presence as he passed through the lobby on his way out of the building. Danny bristled in her arms, taking a step back and shifting nervously as they three exchanged pleasantries. When Mac left, Maddie turned to Danny and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You haven't told him, have you?"

He looked at his feet and shook his head.

"Look, you're an intelligent man, and you're completely capable of making your own decisions, so this is the last you'll hear out of me. But I think you should tell Mac about your family."

"Maddie, you don't understand…"

She brushed a hand over his face. "I understand more than you think, and so will he. He cares about you. Besides, if you don't tell him, somebody from the family will and they'll have won. If you tell him, they got nothin'." He didn't reply, so she squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek. "I gotta get over to the hospital. Just promise me you'll think about telling him?"

He nodded. "Okay, I'll think about it."

"Married, yeah," Stella said into the phone as she sat in Mac's office watching him work. "Can you believe it?"

On the other end of the line, Aiden chuckled as she stepped out of her car in Virginia. "Who knew Danny would be the first one of us to get married?"

"No kiddin'," Stella laughed, noticing the way Mac's eyes kept wandering across the desk to where she sat. "But they're both really happy."

"I always knew they would be," the younger woman smiled. She pulled the mail from the mailbox and glanced through it. "Hey Stella, I got a letter here with the return address of the lab…looks like your handwriting…"

Stella's eyes went wide and Mac sent her an inquisitive look. "Open that one when you're alone, Aiden."

"Why? What is it?"

"Just trust me on this one."

"Okay. I better get goin' then. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

Stella flipped her cell phone shut and met Mac's questioning expression. "I think she got Don's letter today."

"Oh," Mac replied softly, making his way around the desk and leaning against it. He ached to hold her in his arms, to touch her just for a moment. But in his glass-enclosed office, he dared not even think those thoughts for fear of giving away their secret. "I hope it isn't too painful for her."

"Do you know what it says?" she asked curiously.

Mac shook his head. "I didn't read it either, but I know how I'd feel if something like that happened to us." He glanced out the large windows and, satisfied that no one was watching, brushed his fingers over hers. "Stella, promise me you'll never run off like that," he said quietly. "Promise me that no matter what happens between us, we'll always talk it out. I couldn't bear to lose you…"

"You won't, Mac," she smiled. "Everything's connected, right? That includes you and me." She rose from her chair and boldly kissed him on the cheek. "You couldn't get rid of me if you wanted to," she grinned lightly.

She bounced out of the room, leaving Mac to try and conceal the faint blush that had crept across his face and the silly smile he couldn't seem to wipe from his lips.

At that moment, almost four hundred miles away, Aiden sat on the floor of her living room staring at the return address on the only envelope she had yet to open.

New York City Police Department Crime Lab…New York City, NY…

She took a deep breath and slit the top, pulling out the letter inside and unfolding it slowly. It was typed, but the author had signed his name at the bottom.

She recognized the handwriting immediately.

Aiden,

This letter's probably going to come as a surprise to you…

Her hands began to shake, and tears welled up in her eyes.

… you hurt me when you left…maybe that's my fault…it wasn't just your clothes you took to Virginia with you…you took my heart, too…

She was crying now, but kept reading, unable to stop even as a part of her pleaded for her to do so.

… I still love you…you were the only woman I told all my secrets to…my life is empty without you…

The letter slipped from her fingers and she could no longer control the emotions welling up inside her. She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in them, sobbing.

"Don…"

Danny stood around the corner from Mac's office, his gaze fixed on the Caller ID display on his cell phone.

Sassone, Michael

718-555-0329

He frowned at the phone, replaying the message Michael had left on his voicemail threatening again to expose his past to Mac if he didn't come back to the family business.

"If they tell him, they win," he reminded himself. "If I tell him, they got nothin'."

He took a deep breath and walked as casually as he could toward Mac's office, where he knocked on the door frame.

"Hey Danny," Mac greeted him with a trace of the smile Stella had left him with still on his lips.

"Hey Mac," Danny returned, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Mac caught the difference in attitude and stopped what he was working on. "What's on your mind?" he asked, rising from his chair.

Danny pressed his lips together and studiously avoided Mac's eyes. "There's something I need to tell you. I…I don't…know…how…exactly…to say this…" he said haltingly.

Mac wrinkled his forehead. "Whatever it is Danny, you can tell me."

Danny took another deep breath and forced himself to meet Mac's gaze. "Maddie and I are being threatened…"

Mac's eyes narrowed with instant anger aimed squarely at the guilty party.

"…by the Mafia…"

The eyes widened a bit in surprise, and Danny could almost see the wheels turning in his mind as Mac tried to make the connection.

"…because I used to be a part of it."

The older detective took a moment to process the news. Then, "Okay. Start from the beginning…and tell me everything."

With his shoulders slightly hunched and his eyes flickering around the room, Danny filled Mac in on his past his father, the Utzielis, the murder and cover up, his mother, everything.

When the last words has passed his lips, he stood, head bent, hands once again stuffed in his pockets, waiting for the verdict.

"And they've been threatening you with exposure?" Mac asked.

Danny nodded silently.

"Have they threatened you with bodily harm?"

"Not this time around," Danny told him in a flat voice. "There have been hints dropped, and they've already tried to intimidate Maddie, so violence is the next step."

Neither spoke while Mac again turned the information over in his mind. This time, though, his response was easy.

"Danny, I don't know what to tell you or what to do about your past. We'll have to sort that out, probably with the District Attorney…"

Danny's face fell, and he braced himself for the blow he knew was coming.

"…but whatever happened, these people have no right to threaten you or Maddie. As far as I'm concerned, you are a member of the New York City Police Department and you both will have any and all protections it can offer. Your safety is priority."

Danny looked up, surprised. "Really?"

Mac took a step forward and rested a hand on Danny's shoulder. "We're a team here, a family. And I will not stand by and watch while one of the members of that family is harmed in any way. Not when there's something I can do about it."

Danny looked at his superior with a mixture of gratitude and relief. "I don't know what to say," he replied softly.

"You don't have to say anything," Mac told him simply. Then he winked. "Now go home to your fiancée."

Danny smiled, his first genuine smile since Maddie's visit. "You got it, boss."

When he arrived home later that evening, he found Maddie curled up on the couch with a very battered teenaged girl. They both looked up and smiled as he slipped off his coat and shoes and carried the take-out he'd promised to get into the living room.

"Hey babe," Maddie smiled. "You remember Shayla…"

"Yeah, I do," he smiled encouragingly at the girl as he sat down beside her. "Shayla's a Mets fan, too. Has a little thing for Mike Piazza."

He winked at her and her smiled widened as far as the bruises on her face would allow.

"So what'd ya get for dinner?" Maddie asked, thrilled to see Shayla smiling. "We're starving."

"It's a good thing," Danny laughed, "because I brought home half of Italy."

He began opening containers with a flourish, making Shayla giggle a little. Maddie smothered another smile as she rose from the couch to fetch plates from the kitchen.

Danny followed her. "Don't forget the parmesan cheese," he told her, snaking an arm around her waist.

She turned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I won't," she smirked.

"So what did the hospital say?" he asked, lowering his voice so Shayla wouldn't hear.

Maddie frowned. "He beat her with a baseball bat," she replied quietly. "Welts and bruises all over her body, couple of cracked ribs, broken arm, and a concussion." She could see the anger rising inside him, so she reached up and ran a hand over his face. "Don't Danny. Getting upset doesn't help her right now. She needs us to take care of her."

He leaned his forehead against hers, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "It's just…how could somebody do that…and to someone they claimed to care about?"

"I know, I did my share of cursing and throwing things before I went to the hospital," she admitted. "But Shayla needs love and support, someone to protect her, and that's what I intend to do."

He pressed his lips together and frowned. "Yeah, okay. But if I ever get my hands on the boy who did this…"

She pulled him closer, laying her cheek against his in unspoken agreement.

"Speaking of protection," Danny continued, drawing back after a moment, "I talked to Mac today."

"'Bout what?" she asked. He arched his eyebrows and realization hit her. "Ohhh. You told him? I thought you weren't…"

"I wasn't," he confirmed. "But you were right. If Sonny or Michael or my father got to Mac before I could explain, they'd get exactly what they want. If I told him, they got nothin' on me anymore."

"So you told him."

"Yep."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

She was quiet for a moment. Then, "How'd he take it?"

Danny's smirk was almost cocky. "Let's just say, if we have anymore trouble with the Sassones or my father, they're gonna have to deal with Mac and the entire New York City Police Department."

She grinned, both happy and relieved. "Oh Danny, I'm so glad," she told him, hugging him again.

"We still have to deal with the fact that I may go to prison for covering up a murder," he added, then whispered softly, "but now I know you're safe, no matter what."

She smiled and peeked over his shoulder into the living room, catching a glimpse of Shayla lying on the couch, grimacing slightly at her battered body as she shifted positions. "How 'bout we go make someone else feel safe tonight."

He squeezed her affectionately and kissed her hair. "You got it."