Page 9

T ony woke to the sound of someone pounding on his front door and he grumbled about the guys wanting to spar too early in the damn morning. They had both left at around two in the morning, so why the hell would they already be back for another bout at six? The guys knew that Mondays were his and Aurora’s only day off. The bakery was closed on Monday—something he hoped to extend to Tuesdays too, but Aurora insisted that they needed to stay open six days a week, and for now, he’d let her win that argument.

He pulled on a pair of gym shorts, not bothering with a shirt, and ran down to answer the door before it woke up Aurora. “What the hell, guys,” he growled, pulling the door open. Instead of finding Rocco and Luca standing on the other side, he found Jonesy and he had to admit, the guy looked pretty chipper for it being only six in the morning. He wasn’t a morning person. Hell, that was an understatement. Jonesy was an ass in the morning, and dealing with him was something that Tony tried to avoid at all costs.

“Why are you standing on my doorstep at six in the morning, Jonesy?” Tony asked, wiping sleep from his eyes.

“You should ask me in,” Jonesy insisted. “I have news and you’re going to want to hear it.”

“Come on in,” Tony mumbled. He made his way back to the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot. If he was going to have to deal with Jonesy, he was going to need coffee.

“Does this news have anything to do with your odd, good mood?” Tony asked, pulling down two mugs.

“What are you talking about? I’m always in a good mood, Tony,” Jonesy insisted. He was so serious that Tony couldn’t help his laugh.

“Okay, whatever you need to believe, Jonesy. So, what’s this news that had you running over here to wake me up at six? You do know that Mondays are our only day to sleep in?”

“I know—don’t be such a baby. It’s not that early. Hell, it's practically lunchtime,” Jonesy teased. Aurora stepped into the kitchen wearing his T-shirt. She yawned and stretched, and it took everything in him not to walk across the room, pull her into his arms, and kiss her senseless. There was something about her in the early morning that did strange things to his libido.

“What’s with all the noise?” Aurora asked.

“Jonesy stopped by,” Tony said as in way of explanation.

“I can see that,” Aurora sassed. “Good morning, Jonesy,” she said.

“Morning,” Jonesy said, helping himself to coffee.

Aurora smiled and shook her head at him. “I’m just wondering why Jonesy is here so early on a Monday,” she said.

“Yeah, I’m trying to figure that out too,” Tony admitted.

“I have news,” Jonesy said.

“He’s also said that about four or five times now,” Tony said.

“What kind of news?” Aurora asked. She was so much more patient than he was. It was one of the things that he loved most about her.

“Good news,” Jonesy said.

“Dear God, just say what it is, or I’m going back to bed,” Tony shouted.

“I guess that explains your good mood. How about you tell us what, exactly, the good news is so that Tony’s head doesn’t explode,” she teased.

“My head isn’t going to fucking explode,” he insisted. “I’m tired and Jonesy is playing games.”

“I’m not playing games,” Jonesy said, “I’m trying to savor the moment.”

“Well, savor it faster,” Tony grumbled. He grabbed one of the mugs that he had pulled out and filled it with coffee, handing it to Aurora. She thanked him and sat down at the kitchen table. He filled a cup for himself and joined her. Tony had a feeling that it was going to be a long morning, and sitting felt like a good decision.

Jonesy sat down next to Aurora and sighed, “I got you a fight,” he proudly said.

“Okay, but I don’t see how that is news at all. You’re my promoter and trainer. Getting me fights is your job, right?” Tony sipped his coffee and took some pleasure in watching Jonesy go from happy-go-lucky to grumpy in just a matter of seconds. Yeah, that worked for him because he could handle Jonesy when he was grumpy. Tony was used to him being that way.

“Yeah, but this fight is a career changer.” Tony sat forward in his chair, suddenly interested in what Jonesy had to say.

“How so?” Tony asked.

“You’re going to be fighting the current middleweight champ for the title and belt. If you win, your career is set.”

“And if he loses?” Aurora asked.

He shrugged, “He can’t really lose,” Jonesy said. “He’ll still get more recognition from just being in the fight. If he can hold his own, other fighters will see that and want to fight him. If he loses, he can work his way back up to the top by fighting them one at a time.”

“Can I win the fight?” Tony asked.

“You’re in the best shape that you’ve ever been in. I know that you’re a bit older than the other fighters in this weight class, but that only gives you more experience. Will you take the fight?” Jonesy asked.

He looked over at Aurora and she nodded her head, “I vote yes, but it’s your decision.”

“I have a feeling that it isn’t really my decision,” Tony breathed. “You’ve already put my name in, haven’t you?”

Jonesy chuckled, “You know me well, kid,” he said. “The fight is in a month. We’ll start training a little harder. Will you both be able to come to the gym for a few hours every day to train? Your basement gym is great, but we need the full facilities that the gym offers.” Jonesy was right, but if they went to the gym to train, it would mean that they would have to close down the bakery for half a day, and Aurora wouldn’t go for that. Since Elio announced that he had cancer, she had been very protective of both him and the bakery. And there was no way that he’d leave her alone at the bakery to take care of things on her own. Joe could go back there and finish what he had started, and Tony wouldn’t allow that to happen.

“We’d have to close the bakery,” he said.

“I would be fine there for a few hours alone. As long as the place is open, customers will be around, and Joe won’t try anything,” Aurora insisted.

“And what if you have a slow day and you’re all alone in the bakery until the next customer comes in?” Tony asked. “Joe will have his chance to do what he wanted to do with you. I can’t let that happen, honey.”

“What if I have either Luca or Rocco hang out with Aurora while you’re training? You three can spar here in your basement. We can work on all the other stuff at the gym.”

“They’ll stay with her the whole time?” Tony asked, mulling the idea over.

“They would,” Jonesy assured.

He looked over at Aurora and she smiled back at him. “I’m good with everything,” she said. “I just want you to be able to concentrate on your fight, not worry about me.”

“It’s settled then,” Jonesy said, standing from the kitchen chair. “I’ll see you at the gym later today.”

“Today,” Tony said, “it’s our day off.”

“Right, and you only have a month to get your shit together. I’m assuming that you’ll be able to come with him today,” he said to Aurora.

“Yep, I’d love to come watch Tony work out,” she teased.

“Great,” Jonesy said, “see you both in about an hour then.”

“Wait, what happened to later today?” Tony asked.

“Well, I figure that we have a lot of work to do to get your shit together, so let’s start early.” Aurora giggled and waved to Jonesy as he walked out of the kitchen.

Tony waited until he heard the front door close before he pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

“What are you doing?” Aurora asked.

“I’m calling my grandfather. I need to talk to him about this fight. I always discuss my fights with Nonno.”

“It’s only six-thirty,” Aurora reminded.

“Right, better to go over to his place. He probably had his ringer down if he was sleeping. He’ll hear me banging on the door though,” Tony said.

“You can’t be serious,” Aurora drawled.

“I am,” Tony said. “If we hurry and get dressed, we’ll be able to stop by Elio’s and then get to the gym on time. I don’t want to piss Jonesy off first thing. He’ll never let me forget it if we’re late.”

“Fine, but the only reason I’m agreeing to this is because I get to see Elio—well, and you are all sweaty in just your gym shorts.” Tony watched as Aurora got up and left the kitchen and he wished that they had more time before they had to leave. He’d just have to make sure to save some energy for when they got back home because he planned on working Aurora out today too.

Tony parked in Elio’s extra parking space, happy that they had gotten to him before the home health care nurse. Parking at that place was tricky at best, and using Nonno’s extra space would give him a few more seconds to spend with his grandfather. He just hoped that Nonno would take his news well because he hated leaving him when he was already going through so much.

“Are you sure that you don’t mind tagging along everywhere with me today?” Tony asked Aurora.

“Of course, I don’t mind,” she insisted. “It sure beats having to sit around the house and wonder if my life would ever go back to normal.” Hearing her say that she wanted to go back to her old life—her normal life hurt his feelings.

“I must be horrible to live with, judging by how much you want to get away from me,” Tony grumbled.

“It’s not like that,” Aurora insisted. “I just don’t want to put you out any more than I already have.”

“We’ve been over this before, honey. You’re not a burden. I mean, I can understand you wanting to get back to a routine and daily activities. Sitting around my place isn’t as exciting as I think it might be.”

“Your place is great,” Aurora insisted.

“Then why don’t you stay?” Tony asked. “I mean, I have the room, and you said yourself that apartments are scarce right now.” A part of him felt bad that he made her give up her place, but he wouldn’t want her going back there anyway. It was in an awful neighborhood, and besides that fact, he wanted her to stay with him.

“Um, I can give your offer some thought, but shouldn’t we do what we came here to do? You don’t want to be late to meet with Jonesy.”

He looked her over as though trying to decide if he believed her or not. He had a feeling that Aurora wasn’t going to think over his offer at all. Tony could tell by her expression that she wasn’t going to give him any more than what she already had.

“Okay, I’ll let you evade my questions and change the topic, but we will be revisiting this conversation later.” She nodded and hummed as though she had no intention of revisiting their conversation at all.

“Let’s go in to talk to my grandfather,” Tony ordered. She followed him into the apartment complex, and he knocked on Nonno’s door. He learned the hard way never to just walk into his grandparents’ place when he was in his early twenties. He had just moved out of the home his grandparents had lived in for over fifty years, and he stopped by to pick up the last of his things. Instead of knocking, he just walked in, figuring that was okay since he still had a key. But he was wrong—so wrong. He walked into the kitchen and found his grandparents having sex. After his initial shock and disgust, he ran out of that house so fast that his head spun. From then on, he knocked and would continue to do so.

Elio pulled the door open, shouted at him to hold his horses, and motioned for Tony and Aurora to come in. “I thought that you might be my nurse,” Elio said. “She ran out to pick up my groceries and medications, and I thought that she’d be back by now.”

“Would you like me to call her to see if she’s okay?” Aurora offered.

“No,” Elio said, “she probably added on a few other stops. She likes to bring me little treats, and I don’t want to rush her if that’s the case.” Aurora giggled at his grandfather and sat down next to him on the sofa.

“It sounds like she speaks your love language,” Aurora teased. “You do love your little treats, Elio.”

“Yep,” he agreed, “so, what brings you two by on your day off?” He was always one step ahead of Tony, even when he was a teenager, and his Nonno didn’t miss anything.

“I have news,” Tony said, sitting down in the chair across from his grandfather.

“Good news or bad news?” Elio asked. “I’m trying to avoid bad news from now on.” Tony really couldn’t blame him for that. It seemed his grandfather had gotten enough bad news for them all for a while.

“Good news,” Aurora insisted.

“Okay, then,” Elio said, “let’s have it.” Tony took a deep breath and let it out. He hadn’t noticed just how nervous he was telling his grandfather about this fight. It had been everything that they had both hoped for since he was just a kid.

“Jonesy got me a fight,” he started.

“Well, that’s his job, right?” Elio teased, giving him his half smile. Tony always loved his grandfather’s sense of humor.

“It is, but this is a big fight. It could change my career. Jonesy booked me a fight with the middleweight champ for the belt.” Tony sat back and held his breath, waiting for his grandfather to give any indication of how he felt about his news.

His smile went from his usually crooked grin to a full-fledged smile, showing teeth and everything. “Hot damn,” Elio almost shouted.

Aurora giggled and nodded, “Perfectly said.”

“I’d love to be there,” Elio said, “just say where and when.”

“It’s in a month, and unfortunately, it’s in Vegas. I’m not sure that your doctors will be okay with you traveling that far, Nonno.” Tony hated that his grandfather was going to miss his most important fight. This was his victory too, and he wouldn’t be able to share it with Tony in person.

Elio shrugged, “So, I’ll have to watch it on television. But I won’t miss it for anything.” Tony worried that Elio wouldn’t make it a month until his fight, but there was no way that he’d tell his grandfather that. “And when you get back, you can tell me all the details that I’ll miss on television.” A part of Tony wanted to tell his grandfather that he had changed his mind and that he was going to pass on the fight. Nonno looked a bit worse today, and Tony was seeing a downward trend with his grandfather’s health.

“Nonno,” he started. His grandfather held up his hand, effectively stopping the rest of Tony’s words.

“I know what you’re going to say, Tony. I know you better than anyone else on the planet, and I won’t let you give up your fight to sit around here and watch me die,” he insisted. The old man was a mind reader too—something that he had forgotten about his Nonno.

“What if something happens to you while I’m gone?” Tony asked. With meetings and press, he’d have to leave at least a week before the fight. That was a long time to be away from his grandfather.

“Did you get your medical degree?” his grandfather asked.

“You know that I didn’t,” Tony grumbled. His grandfather liked to play the drama card when he was afraid that he wouldn’t get his way.

“Well, I’ll have my home nurse here and I’m pretty sure that she has been medically trained. So, you go and do what you do best, and I’ll stay here with my nurse and let her take care of my healthcare needs.”

Aurora smiled up at him and Tony couldn’t help his own smile. Elio was going to give him hell until the very end. Hell, the feisty old bastard would probably outlive him. “Fine, I’ll go to Vegas and win the fight, but then, I’m coming back here to tell you all the details,” Tony said.

“Thank you for that,” Elio said. “Usually, you give me more of a fight.”

“Well, I have to save up all my fight for the actual fight, or Jonesy will have my ass,” Tony said.

“Speaking of Jonesy,” Aurora said, looking at her watch. “If you want to be on time for your workout, we need to be going.”

Elio smiled and leaned over to kiss Aurora’s cheek. “I like this one, Tony. She’s going to keep you on your toes and take good care of your Nonna’s bakery.” Tony already knew all that, but hearing his grandfather say that he approved of him and Aurora being together meant a lot to him—more than his Nonno would ever know.