Begin Again

| Chapter Twenty-One |

The wedding party's table was situated towards the back of the restaurant, close to the edge of the rooftop. Secluded and quiet, it was absolutely perfect for them all. Because of their large party, they had more candles along the table, which gave the night a romantic glow. Ruth lose her breath as she moved towards the other end of the table with Raffo in tow. Before she could reach out a hand to grip the chair, Raffo was already there, pulling it out for her.

Ruth beamed up at him and sat down so he could tuck her forward. Raffo took the last chair to her right and wrapped an arm leisurely behind her seat. Her heart raced and warmed at the move, and she subconsciously scooted closer to him as they turned to engage with the rest of the table while waiting to order their drinks. They weren't waiting long, much to their relief, and picked out their meals off the menu as well. Ruth was going for a simple chicken fettuccini alfredo because it was her comfort food and Raffo got lemon chicken with rice.

She made a mental note to herself to snag a piece when he wasn't looking.

But, of course, he was five steps ahead of her. "You're not getting any, Ruth," he warned. She pouted.

"I wasn't thinking about that," she lied. "I was, uh—gonna ask how your sisters are doing? Your mom?"

Raffo cut his eyes suspiciously at her, but gave it up as soon as she flashed him her innocent smile. It didn't take long for him to smile back at the mention of his sisters. "Ava's good. She's enjoying high school. Phoenix is . . . Phoenix."

Ruth couldn't hold back her laugh at that. "Still a troublemaker?"

He nodded grimly. "She's giving mom a run for her money. I try to visit them every few days to help with the girls, but I can't take more than a few hours of being around them sometimes."

"You don't live with them anymore?"

"God no. I moved out as soon as they settled in their new apartment. I'm on my own now."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "A new apartment?"

Raffo's face lit up beneath the stars and fuck if it wasn't the cutest thing Ruth had ever seen. "I was finally able to move my family out of that asshole's house. We haven't seen him in two years."

Ruth smiled widely, her chest squeezing in happiness for him. She couldn't stop herself from reaching over to grab his free hand and giving it a proud squeeze. Raffo's abuse had worried her through the years, despite loathing him, and to hear that he was no longer getting hit was a such a relief to her. She remembered how much it had hurt her when she found out where all of his bruises were coming from, and when Raffo had protected her from Roger's wrath himself. "That's amazing, Raff! I always knew you guys would leave that jerk face."

He chuckled. "It took a lot of overtime at work, but we finally did it."

"What do you do for work?" she asked, releasing his hand to take a sip of her Shirley Temple.

"I work for the BIA, actually. I finished my degree and now I'm a financial consultant and sometimes do economic planning. On weekends if I'm free, I work at Johnny's dad's garage still if Moe needs an extra hand."

She rose her eyebrows, impressed. "It . . . wow, Raff. It sounds like you've done really well for yourself." She was happy for him, truly. She just wished he had trusted her enough to be there for it at the time.

Raffo shrugged modestly. "I did what I had to do. I needed to help my family, and I did. But . . . I also just needed a distraction."

"You needed a distraction?"

"Believe it or not, Ruth, but you leaving left a number on me," he laughed ruefully, his voice tight.

But you left me.