Legacies

16.

"Jack!" Gia said as he opened her front door. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

She wore a quilted robe over a long flannel nightgown. As soon as the door closed behind him, Jack wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Gia returned the embrace and they stood entwined in her foyer for a long time.

"I needed this tonight, Gia," he said, absorbing her warmth. "Really needed it."

"What's the matter? What happened?"

"Stuff," he said. "Please don't ask me to talk about it."

After their nice little chat with her sweetheart of a brother, Jack had taken Alicia back to the town house, then he'd headed straight for home. But after a few subway stops, he'd changed his mind. He made a couple of unnecessary transfers to make sure he wasn't being tailed, then walked down Fifty-eighth to Gia's place on Sutton Square. She'd finally given up her apartment and moved into the elegant town house Vicky had inherited from her aunts.

He'd found that session with Alicia on the other side of town far more harrowing than some of the tight spots he'd got himself into over the years. Jack saw a lot of the underside of city life here, but he'd only heard about what Alicia had been through. And all the while as he'd sat there watching her shred those pictures and negatives and talking ninety miles an hour, he'd kept wondering if she might go blooey and start jamming her fingers into the shredder. But she'd held it together.

The whole thing had exhausted Jack, though.

Seeing those pictures, being in the same room with Thomas Clayton… the whole thing had left him feeling dirty. Pounding on the bastard's face a few times had helped him feel a little better, but Jack felt he couldn't end the day without seeing Gia.

He heard running footsteps and a little voice crying, "Jack-Jack-Jack!"

Vicky.

"What're you doing up?" he said, breaking free of Gia to catch Vicky as she leaped into his arms.

"Christmas vacation started today," she said. She threw her arms around his neck. "No school tomorrow! Isn't that neat?"

"As neat as can be," he said, hugging her.

He couldn't help but think of how Alicia had been about Vicky's age when her father… If anyone ever even thought of trying—' "Jack, you're holding me too tight," Vicky said.

"Sorry." He loosened his grip and stared at her innocent face. A sob nestled in his throat. His voice sounded thick as he pushed his words past it. "I just missed you, is all, and I can't tell you how glad I am you're up."

"She's got A Charlie Brown Christmas on for the umpteenth time," Gia said, watching him closely.

Still holding Vicky, Jack put an arm around Gia and pulled her close. Her sky-blue eyes asked if he was all right.

Jack shrugged and nodded. He was fine. His ladies, the two most important people in the world, were here with him, where he could watch over them and keep them safe. Everything was fine.

"Can I watch A Charlie Brown Christmas with you guys?" he said.

Vicky clapped her hands. "Yay!"

"Not again," Gia said, rolling her eyes.

"If nothing else, you've gotta love the music." They followed the scampering Vicky down the walnut-paneled halls to the library. Gia hadn't changed the place much yet, except maybe for removing the antimacassars from the velvet chairs. It took a whole twenty minutes of sitting snuggled between Gia and Vicky on an overstuffed settee before Jack felt clean enough to doze off.