anything about the immunity deal until we sit down in the living room for coffee, my plate of cookies sitting in the middle of us.

"Nero," she begins, swallowing a bite of chocolate chips, "Last night at dinner, Rosalyn and I got some news."

He raises an eyebrow, looks from her to me, curious. I rest my head in his shoulder, and his hand gently squeezes my thigh. "Oh?"

"I didn't know how to tell you," I mumble, and I let Natalia do the rest of the talking.

Brushing crumbs from her fingers, the look on her face is one of determination. She's as stubborn as he is. She's not going to let him make this decision on his own. "You might have heard. Apparently, the police are looking for someone to come forward and tell them everything they know." She sighs. "Someone like you. They're offering full immunity."

We let it sink in. I straighten a little, give him some space. I've been thinking about whether or not he'll be up for it since I heard the news, and a part of me is anxious, hesitant, to see what he thinks.

I hear a sigh from him, feel him bring a hand up around my shoulders, a finger brushing distractedly against my arm. "Natalia," he begins, and he sounds tired. I lean into him, and he leans a little closer, too. "It's not that simple," he says finally, though he doesn't sound sure.

"Isn't it?" There's a sudden vulnerability to her expression. She still cares about him. Those carefully constructed walls are breaking, one by one. "You pin it all on Marco and the rest of those bastards, and the Santirellis. You and Angelo and Gabriel and Luca can get off free. Everyone else is already behind bars, or dead."

Only pieces of this make sense to me. Hearing Marco's name makes me alert, a gut reaction, but in my mind it all feels like so long ago. A lifetime. I watch as Nero brings a hand to his face, rubs a palm pensively across his mouth. I can see the gears turning in his head.

"They would know it was me," he says finally. "I would never survive it."

Natalia leans forward. "They can protect you, Nero." His name slides fluidly from her tongue, like she's said it thousands and thousands of time before, like family.

"Of course they can't." His voice is soft, thoughtful. I don't know what I was expecting. Anger, maybe. But it seems like it just exhausts him. "As soon as anyone finds out, I'm a dead man, Natalia. You know how it works."

She bites her lip, not saying anything.

"They will never get everyone. And whoever's left will have no choice but to put a bullet through my head. It's no way to live."

Natalia's runs her hands against her face tiredly. "What's the alternative, Nero? Any day now, they could walk through that door and arrest you. You and I both know it. They'd have every reason in the world."

I feel something in my chest clench. I've never actually thought about it. In my head, Nero has always been above the law, for better or for worse. Imagining the heavily armed SWAT team breaking in and dragging him away would, once upon a time, have been all I wanted.

But now the thought of it makes me sick. I don't know all the details of the crimes he's committed, the people whose lives have been lost at his hands. But I do know that he's past it. He deserves to be able to move on. If I can forgive him, can't they?

"You could leave the city," she suggests, but then she glances at me on his couch, tucked beside him, my head in the crook of his shoulder, and she looks guilty to have mentioned it.

"Natalia..." It sounds like he's considered all of these options, many times before.

Silence.

Eventually, I say softly, "We can ask Daniel. Or my dad. I'm sure they know something."

I feel his warmth shift a little, feel his long fingers gently at the back of my head, drifting through my hair. "What would you say, dolcezza?" There's almost defeat in his voice. "What would they say?"

After another long stretch of silence, Natalia says, "I'm going to tell him, Rosalyn." Her voice is quiet, wobbling, but sure. "I've been thinking about it for a while. I can't keep it from him anymore. He's going to know who the rest of my family is, and it might kill him, but..." Her eyes are glassy.

I ache for her. She's going to be brave and do what I should have done, tell the truth. But, I can't do regret anymore. I can't pretend to know what would have happened, if things went differently in the past. "He loves you, Natalia." My brother will have no choice but to accept it. "He'll understand."

She gives me a small smile. "I hope so."

I let a small chuckle fall from my lips. "If he gives you any crap, I'm going to make his life hell."

Nero's breath tickles my ear when he speaks, low and rough. "You're not exactly standing on any higher moral ground, carina." There's humor in his voice.

I push his head away gently with mine, letting out an indignant huff. "First of all, that's very funny coming from you." His nose presses softly into my cheek, and I try to seem offended, ignore the flutter in my stomach. "And second, my brother isn't a model citizen either."

When I look at Natalia, she's focused on the two of us, a thoughtful, dazed expression on her face.

More silence.

"We're all going to hell," she says eventually.

"Thanks, Nat." I don't sound impressed.

A couple beats later, despite everything, the three of us succumb to soft laughter.

But at the back of my mind, I wonder if I'll ever be able to share the truth about Nero with my family. If they would ever understand. If they would ever accept him.

Natalia sets her eyes on Nero again. "How's the job search going, by the way?" I feel him roll his eyes, the rise of his chest as a sigh leaves his lungs.

"I've been busy."

Yeah right. I blush, hoping Natalia doesn't notice. Busy giving me a few dozen mind-blowing orgasms.

"Oh yeah?" There's skepticism in her tone. "Do tell."

He runs a hand through his hair, and he seems a little flustered. "I've been working on a project," is all he says. This piques my curiosity.

I turn to face him, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of project?"

He just gives us a dry half-smile. "I have a lot of making up to do, Rosalyn." Mhm. Of course, images of all the 'making-up' he and I have been doing flash through my mind, sending warmth to my cheeks, and lower. He must see the look on my face, because his smile turns crooked, a glimmer igniting in his eye.

"Can you two stop thinking about fucking each other in front of me, please?" Natalia groans.

Nero raises a surprised eyebrow, and I let out a short laugh. She's not usually so crass.

"I've been helping with a library in the inner-city." He seems uncomfortable saying it aloud.

I play with his fingers, a warm feeling filling my chest. He is really trying to make up for it all, with more than just words.

"You?" Natalia scoffs, but I can tell she's secretly impressed. "Reading to school children?"

"I never said anything about reading to children," he says, shifting in his seat. A pause. He seems reluctant to share the rest of the story, but I'm sure he knows we won't let him off the hook. "The municipality can't afford a library. I'm... helping them build one."

Oh.

Of course he is.

Natalia, for a moment, is speechless.

"I forgot you were loaded," I mumble, teasingly. But really, I'm thinking about what an incredible thing he's doing. He studied English literature and now he's making sure that kids who can't afford books have a library. To read, and learn, and stay off the streets. Into his ear, I whisper, "That's amazing, Nero." My hand rests gently on his thigh, I lean into him.

He covers my hand with his, squeezes my fingers.

"Rosalyn. I'm giving you full credit," Natalia says, trying to keep any hint of emotion from her voice. "You've rescued him from the land of the dead. He's human again."

She meant it as a joke, but the look on Nero's face is so thoughtful and serious and full of wonder as he looks at me. I meet his eyes, and they sparkle. "She's right, you know." For a few moments, it's like Natalia's not even in the room. It's just him, and me. He leans in closer, so his breath tickles my nose, warm and fresh. "I owe you my life, cuore mio."

I can't think of anything to say to that. My lips part a little, in disbelief. I haven't been considering the fact that I might have changed him, too. I bring a hand up, softly, brush through the waves of his dark, messy hair. "You owe me nothing," I whisper. I almost lean in to kiss him before I remember Natalia, and we both pull away at the same time, a little sheepish.

"You guys are going to make me sick," she says. But the look on her face says she doesn't mean it.

Suddenly, the fatigue hits me, a little. The room is warm and Nero's shoulder is soft. All I want right now is for him to take me to bed, wrap himself around me. Kiss me into the night.

Nero sweeps a hand through his hair, sighs. "I'll think about it, Natalia."

She sighs too. "You don't have much time. I'm sure Marco is already scheduling a meeting with the RCMP."

I feel Nero stiffen at the mention of him, feel his hand grip mine a little tighter. "He doesn't know enough for them. He's just a thug."

Natalia doesn't look too sure about it. "He's a sneaky bastard, Nero. Don't make the mistake of not taking him seriously."

After a moment of heavy silence, she stands up from the couch, places her mug on the coffee table. "It's getting late," she says, eyes drifting back and forth between the two of us.

Nero and I get up, follow her to the door. "You don't have to go so soon," he says quietly.

Natalia glances at him, then to the door. She looks conflicted. And then, she sighs and rushes towards him, her arms wrapping around his chest in a tight hug. She looks so young suddenly, so vulnerable, face buried against his chest.

I watch the surprise on his face, watch his hands come up to her back, the disbelief and the relief.

I feel like I'm interrupting a private moment. Just as I wander quietly away into the kitchen, I hear her mumble, "I missed you, Nero."

My heart melts. He replies, "I missed you too, Nata."

I watch from a distance as she disconnects herself, looking embarrassed. Her eyes search for me, and from across the room gives me one of those warm, kind smiles.

"You call me if he gives you any trouble," she jokes with a small, tired chuckle.

Turning back to Nero, she brings a hand up to his face, looks at him with a small smile, her mouth quivering a little. "Take care of her, okay?"

He rolls his eyes, but his expression is soft. "I will."

And when she leaves, we both stand there, the air heavy but light at the same time. Neither of us were expecting her forgiveness, at least not so soon.

Even after everything that has happened, my faith in humanity, in our ability to forgive and to love, is still in tact. All I feel, in that moment, is peace.

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