“Then get one. Just stay away from mine.”

“New watch. Dire warnings. She must be quite the party in bed.”

Mace snarled and Smitty held his hands up. “Kidding. Calm yourself.”

Taking the watch handed to him, Mace placed it on his arm. “Let’s get this straight, Smitty. So there are no misunderstandings down the road. I love that woman. You even look at her wrong, I’m snapping your neck like a twig. Is that clear enough for you, hillbilly?”

Smitty sniffed in disgust, sounding more like a cat than a dog. “Crystal.”

“So.” Sissy Mae sipped her hot chocolate. “Is Mace good in bed?”

Dez choked on her black coffee. They sat at a small table in front of a quiet café. A chilly December day, but Dez wasn’t in the mood to sit inside. She felt restless. She needed the fresh air, the energy of the people-filled streets. She loved the Village. Always had. And if she had a large fortune, she’d live here.

“Oh, I’m sorry, darlin’. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Yes, you did.” Dez wiped her chin. She couldn’t believe she liked Sissy Mae Smith. But she did. Sissy reeked of warmth, honesty, and a slight insanity that made Dez completely comfortable.

“Yeah. All right. I did.” Sissy smiled. “I’m sorry, Dez. My brother’s driving me crazy. It makes me mean-spirited.”

“Why?”

“He’s worried about this new business he’s startin’ with Mace. He’s worried about me and our kin. And he needs to get laid.”

“You know”—Dez leaned back in her chair—“that’s a little too much information for me.”

“That’s too much information for anybody.”

“And yet you felt the need to share.”

“I worry about him, ya know? I mean, Mace got himself a nice little girl. I want the same for my brother.”

Dez slammed her coffee down, startling her new friend. She should have known Mace had another woman. Some poor Navy wife waiting for him to come home for the holidays. “What’s her name?”

“Who?”

“Mace’s ‘nice little girl.’”

Sissy raised an eyebrow. “I’m talking about you, darlin’.”

“Me?” Now it was Dez’s turn to be startled. “I’m not nice, Sissy Mae. I ain’t little. And Mace does not have me.”

She waited for Sissy to say something, but to her growing annoyance, the woman only folded her arms in front of her chest and stared at her.

Bitch.

Smitty bit into his hot pastrami on rye with spicy mustard. Mace almost laughed at the absolute rapture on the man’s face.

“Like it?”

He receivedthe thumbs-up, since Smitty was enjoying his food way too much to answer. For the next ten minutes, the men ate without once speaking. Although they did occasionally grunt at one another.

When their plates were clean, they leaned back with their sodas and sighed in satisfaction.

“So, hoss. Have you actually told her you’re in love with her?”

“She won’t let me. When I tried, she threw me down a flight of stairs.”

“And you’re not concerned about that?”

“There weren’t that many steps.”

“Mace…” Smitty rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “She ain’t a village of well-armed rebels, ya know. You can’t just invade under the cover of night.”

“But I have. And I will. Again. As many times as I have to. Until she admits she’s crazy about me.”

“And if she ain’t?”

“If she ain’t what?”

“Crazy about ya? Then what?”

He didn’t want to think about it. He couldn’t. He loved her too much to think about it. To worry she didn’t love him. True, he could always find another woman, but he’d still always be alone. He’d be alone because he wouldn’t have Dez.

Mace looked at Smitty and shrugged.

Dez answered her cell. “MacDermot?”

“It’s Vinny.”

Dez slammed her phone shut and took another bite of chocolate cake.

“Problem?” Sissy asked as she studied all the activity on the busy Village street.

“Nope.”

The phone rang again. Dez answered it. “MacDermot.”

“Don’t hang up.”

Dez hung up and took a sip of her coffee.

“How long are you going to torture them?” Dez had filled Sissy in on her friends bursting into her house and putting a gun on Mace. Although she left out the astounding blow job she gave him beforehand.

“Until they learn better.”

“Sounds like they were trying to protect you. Friends like that are hard to find, darlin’. You should be grateful.”

“I am.”

“But you’re going to make them sweat anyway?”

“Yup.”

Dez’s phone rang again. She glanced at caller ID. The number looked familiar to her but it wasn’t one of the guys unless they grabbed someone else’s phone.

“MacDermot.”

“You fuckin’ bitch!”

Dez grinned. “Ms. Brutale. Is there a problem?”

“Why are the cops here? Why are they tearing my fuckin’ club apart?”

“Gee. I don’t know.” Dez licked her chocolate-covered fork.