Ch. 36

In their bedroom, Dante and Val were sitting side by side on the edge of the bed. "So we're really gonna do this?" she asked. "What, are you regretting asking me already?" "Not even a little bit, but it is a big step…" "One I think we're ready to make. I'm just wondering, though-" "Wondering what?" "What I should do with the loft." "Hang on to it for now, I think." He scrutinized her face closely, asking, "Really? Are you sure you're not having second thoughts?"

"I'm not having second thoughts, Dante. I'm thinking I don't want you to give it up and end up wishing later on that you'd held on to it. I have confidence in us but we can't see the future…" "How well we know that. Ok, for now, I'll keep it. It's not like I can't afford the rent on it. I need to talk to Sonny, though." "Talk to Sonny? Why?" "I don't feel right about just moving in without telling him about it first. Most likely he won't care but getting his permission seems like the right thing to do." Val nodded in agreement and then changed the subject as she remarked, "You know, you never told me—how'd things go with Lulu? Was she pissed off that you weren't at the loft when she got there?" "She started off that way. She even brought up going to court to have the custody agreement altered." "Wow. Just because you were late? Sounds like a bit of an overreaction to me."

Hesitantly, Dante replied, "No, it wasn't just because of that…" His voice trailed off. "Oh, ok, tell me." "Her main issue seemed to be because we were here with you. It was weird. At first she was all adamant about Rocco not being near you but when I refused to give in to her and told her I'd fight her if I had to, she suddenly changed her tune." "Dante, I don't want to be the reason you lose your son-" "Listen, Angel, I'm not losing Rocco or anything else, ok? I'm not gonna be blackmailed into giving you up, either. I'm thinking she's so used to me giving her whatever she wants that she thought I'd roll over because she asked me to and agree to keep you and Rocco apart. I plan to call Joe Stewart about it tomorrow, just in case." Sighing, Val said, "Nothing's ever easy, is it?"

"Not when you're going after the things worth having, no. Regardless of what she does or tries to do, I know this much. I'm not losing Rocco, and I'm not losing you, end of. Now, before I get too sidetracked, you kind of made me a promise before you left for your girls' day out." "I don't have a clue what you mean." "Oh, yeah? Something about showing me how you were covered in black from head to toe, including underneath—you don't remember saying that?"

"I do vaguely recall saying something like that but now that I think about it, I'm not sure you could handle it, after all."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that? Go ahead, show me." Val leaned down and tried to remove her boots. Struggling, she told him, "Wow. If I can't get these boots off, I guess the rest of the show can't go on." Quickly, Dante was at her feet, grabbing ahold of a boot and tugging strongly. "You're not using that as an excuse, lady," he informed her, adding, "There you go" after having removed the other boot. Teasingly, Val walked over to the mirror and slowly began pulling the pins out of her hair while watching him through the glass. When the last pin was gone, she bent at the waist and gave her head and her hair a hard shake. She straightened up and tossed her hair, which was now a wild, tousled mane, over her shoulders. Flashing him a sultry gaze, she crossed her arms at the bottom of her sweater and unhurriedly lifted it up and over her head. Meeting his intent stare, their eyes locked as she unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. Nonchalantly, she slid her jeans down and off, leaving her in two miniscule scraps of black lace. Dante softly exhaled as he took in the low cut bra and lace G-string thong before shaking his head. "You were almost right; my heart can barely handle that. And speaking of barely, the only things that little bit of lace are supporting are my very fertile imagination and my increasing desire to get my hands on you. What's the point of wearing that, again?" He gestured for her to come closer to where he sat on the bed.

"Two points, really," she responded with a smile, continuing on, "One being the fact they make me feel sexy."

"Not that you need frilly lingerie to make you sexy. And the second?"

"To get that reaction," she answered, pointing to the center of his body where his erection was swiftly growing. "Well, since you were looking for a reaction," he said, grabbing and lifting her in one move before slamming her down onto the bed and leaning over her, "Let's see what you're gonna do with the one you just got."

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The next morning, Dante was tensely sitting behind the wheel of his car, casting occasional glances at Randy Hill, who seemed to be studiously staring out of the window to avoid eye contact. Unable to take the strained atmosphere any longer, Dante finally broke the silence, saying, "Ok, look, we need to get some things straight here. You don't like the way I handled things in Jersey. Fine. I don't like the way you went tattling to my lady about what happened out there-"

"I didn't run tattling to Val; I just wanted to discuss-"

"And that's another thing," Dante said, cutting him off, "we're supposed to be partners for the next few weeks. What happens in this car, what happens on the street stays between us unless it needs to go into a report. If I can't trust you to keep your mouth shut, how am I supposed to trust you to have my back?"

"Yes, sir, Detective Falconeri, sir. You got it, sir. I'll be sure to inform you beforehand the next time I talk to my friend."

"Sarcasm noted, Hill. Not appreciated, but noted. If you're gonna have a problem with me or the way I work, you might wanna talk to the Commish about giving you another assignment. I don't need some pissy, whiny newb bawling about everything I do out here to get the job done."

"Well I don't need some officious, overbearing cop who thinks busting heads and intimidating witnesses is good policing telling me that his way is the only right way. So I guess we're both stuck, 'cause I'm not a whiner, no matter what you believe. You'll go to the Commish before I do. You can trust me to have your back because it's my job to have your back. I don't have to like your methods to do my job."

"Then I guess we know where we stand, huh? Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut—maybe we'll make it through this."

For the first time that morning, Randy turned and looked squarely at Dante, wondering, "What's with all the 'mouth shut' business, Falconeri? You go around doing things on the street you'd rather not have people find out about?"

"I don't do any more or any less than any other cop who tries to get results. I just don't need some 'rat in training' questioning every move I make." "Rat in training, huh? I happen to think Internal Affairs serves a noble purpose so that wasn't exactly the insult you intended it to be." The car slid to a stop at a traffic light and Dante glanced over at Randy, nodding his head in sudden understanding, muttering, "Don't tell me. One of your cop family members was IA. That explains a lot."

"My father was IA—so what? Rogue cops and rotten cops bring down the tenor of the whole force and they shouldn't go unchecked. IA exists to police the police—to keep things balanced." "Yeah, you can go preach that IA gospel to some other convert, 'cause I'm not tryin' to hear it. What can a bunch of suits who've either forgotten or never known what the streets are like tell me? Nothin', that's what. I don't need them questioning my methods when I'm tryin' to get a child molester or serial rapist or even murdering scum like Joey Robbs, who tried to have my partner killed, put away."

"I don't see what your problem is. You're the one who told me you stay on the right side of IA, didn't you? Nothing I see you do or say about what you do should be an issue, then." As Dante accelerated again, he replied, "It's about trust, Hill, plain and simple. And I'm not sure I can trust you. And I'm not sure how much of that is you not liking the way I work, and how much is you being jealous that Val's with me and not you."

"This isn't that kind of personal."

"You sure? Couldn't prove it by me."

"I'll just repeat—you can trust me to do my job, which means if we have to go through a door, I'll be there to back you up. As for that other thing, you're flash, Falconeri. I know; I was blinded by it, too, once. Eventually, you show yourself, though, and you're not so much. Val's around you long enough, she'll see that for herself. And when she does, I'll be waiting, and for her, I'm willing to wait as long as it takes."

"I hope you can wait a long time, Hill, because that's what you're in for—a long, long wait. I have no intentions of letting her go and she feels the same way about me. I can deal with a man who speaks his truth, so you got that one. If we can make it through the next few weeks without wanting to kill each other, so be it. First sign that you're gonna cause problems for me, though, and you're gone, assignment or no assignment."

"Fine."

"Great." Once again, Dante cursed his misfortune. Having to deal with Hill for one day was already proving to be torture; he couldn't fathom having to put up with several weeks of this crap…

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Hoping to catch Sonny in his office, Dante decided to take part of his lunch break at Pozzulo's. He knocked on the office door and was told to come in. He hesitated when Sonny motioned for him to have a seat while raffling off some instructions into the phone in Spanish. When Sonny hung up the phone, Dante asked, "Why do I have the feeling that whatever you were saying had nothing to do with the restaurant business?"

"Couldn't tell you. You don't speak Spanish?"

"I can understand some words and phrases here and there. I'm much better with Italian."

"Well that works for me, then. You don't need to know what I was talking about. What can I do for you? What brings you by?"

Dante rubbed his brow self-consciously. "I've gotta ask you something, Sonny. Or tell you something. Whatever."

"Shoot. What's up?"

"Val asked me to move into the penthouse with her. Before I even thought about it, I told her I would but then I realized I should have asked you for your permission first—what are you grinning at?"

"Nothin', nothin'. I'm happy for you, that's all."

"You're happy for me? Are you kidding me right now? What're you happy about?"

"I like Val, you know that. She makes you happy, which makes me happy. You're moving on, which is good to see. Sounds like things are gettin' serious for you two."

"Don't jump to any conclusions, ok? We're still taking things slow. It's just that we want to be together more often and I'm spending so much time over there anyway, it kind of makes sense."

"Hey, well, I don't have a problem with it. Whadda you plan to do with the loft?"

"Val wants me to hold on to it, so I'll do that for the time being."

"VAL wants you to hold on to it? That girl's got brains—I like that about her."

"You do, huh? Well I thought it was strange, as if she didn't have faith in our chances of making it."

"I doubt that's it at all, Dante. She's been through a lot of changes lately so she knows how quickly a situation can flip. Sounds like she's just bein' cautious, not unsure. Don't read too much into it—that's the fastest way to mess somethin' up."

"Either way, we're gonna go for it, see what happens. Thanks, Sonny."

"Thanks for askin', even though you didn't have to. I hope it works out for you both. Findin' someone you can love, wantin' to be with that person no matter what, dealin' with the joy and the drama of havin' that person around—that's what it's all about, kid."

"Are we talking about me and Val or you and Carly?"

"Both, kid, both. Carly and I, we've been through a lot together. At some point, you just realize that the reason you can't totally quit this person is because there's a deep love that's got ahold of you, and it ain't lettin' go. Inevitable, meant to be-type stuff, right? Once you stop fightin' it and accept it, it's the best thing goin'. Check this out." Sonny slid a brochure across his desk toward Dante, who picked it up and read, "The Inn on Broadway. Hmm. Rochester, Sonny? What's up with that?"

"Carly and I've been married four times already. This time we wanted something different and new, to go somewhere we've never been before, to get married. We're lookin' at the eighteenth, finally. This's the plan. We all go down on the Saturday before and check in at the inn. There's a steakhouse down there that supposedly has the best steak goin'. After that, since Josslyn will be with us, we're all goin' to see some play, 'Potted Potter' or somethin' like that. Next mornin', get up and get ready, early afternoon, get married, reception at the inn, we take off for the honeymoon, everyone else does whatever. We kinda wanted to turn it into an event, somethin' everybody will remember for a long time. So now you've got the heads' up. Invitations should be in the mail in the next couple of days."

"So you're finally making it happen? It sounds like we're all gonna have a great time. Who's marrying you?"

"I got a guy who's a judge and owes me a favor. He's traveling over with us to perform the ceremony."

"You guys thought of everything."

"Hey, that's why it was takin' so long for us to set a date. Everything had to be perfect, especially with this inn deal. Had to make sure everything would fall into place the way we wanted it to, when we wanted it to."

"This guy, this judge. He only owes you one favor?"

"Why, you need somethin'?"

"I might. I was late getting Rocco back to Lulu this weekend and she was waiting for me at the loft, which was where we'd planned to meet. I'd forgotten about that and overslept, though, so when she showed up, she was pissed that we weren't there. She left me a text to meet her at Maxie's and when I got there, she started talking about going back to court and having the custody agreement changed because she doesn't want Rocco around Val and she was angry that I had him over at the penthouse. I told her I'd fight her if I had to. Told her I'd involve you if I had to-"

"Damn right. Whadda she think, that she's gonna take your kid away from you 'cause she doesn't like your girlfriend? That's not gonna happen, Dante, you don't even have to worry about that-"

"Hold on, Sonny, slow down. I think I talked her down, but I'm not sure. I'm hoping she meant what she said about thinking better of it and not going to court after all, but I don't want to take any chances. I figured I ought to let you know what's going on in case I need your help."

"Wow—she's really somethin' else, isn't she?"

"She's just used to me giving in to whatever she wants, that's all. It's amazing, though. I didn't even know that's what I was doing all that time. Of course you want to make your wife happy so you do whatever you can to make that happen. I don't think it hit me until after we broke up that I always went along to get along. Since that wasn't happening this time, I think she thought she'd scare me into doing what she wanted, which was keeping Val away from Rocco, by threatening me with a custody battle. When she realized I wasn't gonna budge, she totally flipped the script and started talking the 'we both just want what's best for our son' stuff. I can't tell where she's coming from on this but I did tell her I would fight her, and fight dirty, if I had to."

"And 'fight dirty' means involvin' me?"

"Not necessarily, Sonny, but I needed her to know I wouldn't hesitate to use every resource I had to make sure I don't lose my son. And that does include you."

"I'm glad you felt you could come to me with this, son, I really am. I'm hopin' she sees sense and works somethin' out with you but if she doesn't, anything you need, you got."

"Thanks, Sonny. I'm thinking it won't get to that but in case it does, it's good to know you'll have my back."

"Always, kid. Always. Because I'm your dad, and that's what dads do, right?"

"Right. Thanks, Sonny." Looking away for a moment, Dante briefly closed his eyes before reopening them and turning back to Sonny. "Thanks, Dad," he finally said, adding, "I appreciate it."

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