Her face paled. "You knew," she said, her voice a whisper. "You spent time with us, with Joey, you took me out on a date, you knew I was attracted to you. You kissed me," she said, and a bit of the color came back into her face. "You must have realized that if I knew who you were, I'd hate you."

"I didn't know. Not until the baseball game when Joey mentioned his brother. His brother who was serving time in prison."

She sat there, just staring at him.

"Obviously, there was a good chance I'd prosecuted him. The timing made sense. So I looked up the file."

"You don't remember it."

"I prosecuted a lot of people. Gangbangers and drug addicts and pushers. So no, I can't put a name and a face to them all."

"Tito was different," she said, and he cut off the sharp retort he'd intended when he saw the sudden tears spring into her eyes. "You destroyed his life, and you don't even remember his face."

He imagined her brother hadn't needed any help in destroying his own life, but he didn't say so.

"Joey is what matters now. I'm offering to get him out of trouble and back on track. You want to walk away from that because you think I'm responsible for where your brother Tito ended up, go ahead. But Joey's the one who'll suffer for it."

He could see the struggle on her face. "I get that I'm the last person you want to accept help from right now. Joey needs a more stable environment, structure, a new school, activities, all the things I can provide. But he also needs you."

She looked up, surprise and a hint of resignation on her face. She knew she'd run out of options.

"Of course he needs me. We could come up with a schedule, have him spend some time at your house and some time at home with me each week."

Ritchie shook his head. "That's not going to cut it."

"Then I don't know what you're suggesting."

"I'm suggesting that for the next six months, the most convenient arrangement is for both of you to move out of your apartment and move in with me."

* * *

"Are you out of your mind?" She spoke so loudly that other people in the café turned to look at them. She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "You must be out of your mind."

"Think about it," Ritchie said, "and you'll see it makes perfect sense."

"It doesn't make any sense at all. Why are you doing this? It's not enough that you've taken one brother away from me, now you want to take over Joey's life and control mine?"

"Look, I understand how you feel about your brother Tito, but– "

"You don't understand anything."

"I understand that Joey needs help, and he looks up to me."

"He won't once I tell him who you are, what you did."

"Maybe not." He leaned forward. "Maria, did you ever think that part of Joey's problem is that he sees his brother as a victim, not someone who made some really bad choices?"

"Well, since you don't even remember Tito's case, I don't know how you can say that."

"I didn't make a habit of prosecuting innocent people. I went back and looked at the file, Maria, and there was plenty of evidence against your brother. But from what Joey told me it was all some big mistake. Tito was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the only reason he's in prison is because some overly zealous prosecutor wanted to make a name for himself. Me."

"Tito was just a kid! He deserved a second chance. You could have recommended probation, made a plea bargain. He didn't have to go to prison for ten years. You didn't care about anything but how many convictions you could get."

"First of all, Tito was not a kid. He was eighteen, and that's an adult. Your brother was dealing drugs, and he was right in the middle of it when the police raid came up with not just drugs but illegal guns being sold. People don't just stumble into a major deal like that. Just because you don't want to believe it doesn't mean it wasn't true.

"What's your excuse for Joey shoplifting? Going back and vandalizing the store? Skipping school? Fighting in the hallways? Coming home drunk at thirteen?"

"Shoplifting was the first and only time. He was just going along with his friends, and he knows it was wrong. He didn't start that fight at school. He– "

"Do you even hear  yourself? If he's drinking at thirteen, what's he going to be doing at fifteen? What's your excuse going to be when it really is his drugs they find in his locker at school?"

"That's not going to happen."

"That's right. Because for the next six months, Joey's going to be living in my house under my rules. And I'm hoping you'll be there with him, and we can turn this around together."

As Joey walked back to the table, traces of chocolate ice cream still on his chin, Maria grasped a futile hope that he'd put up an argument about moving into Ritchie's house just to be obstinate, but no such luck. Wouldn't you know, the one time she needed him to be churlish, moody, and disagreeable was the one time he couldn't be more cooperative. She could have wiped that eager smile off his face with a few well-chosen words about Ritchie's role in Tito's conviction, but she didn't have the heart. Ritchie thought he had the answer to everything? Fine, let him figure out a way to tell Joey, and she'd be there to pick up the pieces and take her brother back home where he belonged.

But it had better be soon. The last thing she wanted was Joey finding this out from somebody else. Not that the wealthy lawyers and socialites Ritchie hung out with were likely to make a connection between Joey and one more in a long string of forgotten defendants from Ritchie's days as a prosecutor.

At any rate, Maria figured Joey had had enough to handle already today. And she was feeling guiltier by the minute that she hadn't entirely believed him when he'd told her the drugs in the locker at school weren't his. She had to admit, having Ritchie stand up for him in court had made an impression.

"So when do I move in?" Joey asked. He looked over at Maria belatedly. "It's okay, isn't it? I mean, it's not like I want to move out of your place, but the Judge said so, right?"

"Right," Ritchie said smoothly.

"So," Ritchie continued, "I was just telling your sister she's welcome to move in too. I've got plenty of room, so it's no big deal."

"Awesome," Joey said, looking over at Maria. "You're gonna do it, right?"

"I don't know," Maria said.

"Come on, Sis, it makes sense, you know? I mean, we're supposed to stick together, right?"

"I'll think about it."

"What's there to think about?" Joey said, pushing.

"I said I'll think about it," Maria said more sharply than she intended, and Joey shrugged his shoulders.

"All right," she relented and saw his eyes brighten. "I'll try it for one week. Just to help you get settled. But I'm not giving up my apartment," she said, turning to look at Ritchie. "Not that I could anyway, 'cause I signed a lease for a year, and it's only been a few months."

"Then it's settled," Ritchie said, nodding.

She hated the smug look on his face. Sure, she needed to be there for Joey, but she hadn't bought into the idea that Joey had to live at Ritchie's house full-time. It still seemed to her that rotating him back and forth between Ritchie's house and her apartment would be a workable solution. It would also give both her and Joey a little distance from the guy who seemed intent on deciding what he thought was best for her brother and just ignoring her objections. Joey was her brother, and it was her decision what was best for him.

"I'll give it a week," she said to Ritchie, "and then we'll see."

https://youtu.be/wT3RhIJZu4k

* * *

"This is where you live?" She'd figured out by now that he was seriously wealthy, but still, she hadn't expected to be moving into a...mansion was the only way she could describe it.

"I used to have a condo, but I have fundraisers here sometimes, and it just made more sense for entertaining."

"I bet," Maria said, as she walked through the marble entranceway and gazed though the open floor plan to the wide terrace that spanned the back of the house, looking out over the water. Ritchie's house was huge. But she doubted if the size was going to do anything to reduce the awkwardness she felt staying here with him.

"Come on," Ritchie said, "I'll show you your rooms."

Ritchie headed up the stairs carrying one of Joey's boxes, and Joey hurried along behind him. They stopped at Joey's room first. It was at the rear of the second floor, with a wide bay window that faced the water. The full-size bed had a headboard of dark mahogany and matched the chest of drawers and the desk that angled out from one corner to take advantage of the view. There was a window seat in the bay window, Maria noticed, with a thick cushion. Photos of sailboats were framed and mounted on the wall.

"Wow," Joey said, dropping his duffel bag on the floor.

"We can get some posters, fix it up for you," Ritchie said.

"Dude. This is so cool," Joey said.

"Your bathroom is through there," Ritchie said, gesturing toward a door, as Joey's eyes bugged out.

"I get my own bathroom? No more girl stuff all over the counter?"

The corner of Ritchie's mouth twitched. "You get your own bathroom."

"Cool."

Joey flopped onto the bed and laid on his back, his eyes widening again, when he noticed the flat screen TV that was flush to the wall opposite the bed.

"Don't get too comfortable," Ritchie said.

"Huh?"

"You've got more boxes to bring up from the car."

"Right," Joey said, leaping up and tearing out into the hallway.

"Don't run in the house!" Maria called after him, but his feet were already flying down the stairs. "I'm sorry," she said, turning to Ritchie. "I think he's just a bit overwhelmed." And so am I, she thought. After six months of living here, how was he ever going to adjust to her small apartment again? She hoped she was doing the right thing, even as she admitted to herself that Ritchie really hadn't given her any other option.

She followed him down the hallway to her room and tried not to look as star-struck as Joey had.

She wouldn't say this room was exactly feminine, but the colors were softer. The walls were a muted peach color, and both the window treatments and the thick cover and fat pillows on the bed were pure white. The bed itself looked like an antique, with a painted wood headboard and intricate carvings along the top. It was a bed for romantic dreams, and she suddenly felt keenly aware of Ritchie, standing in the hallway behind her. An image came unbidden of Ritchie lowering her onto that bed, slowly undressing her, his eyes dark with passion. Rolling with him over and under the thick covers, sinking into the softness of the bed, pressed against the hardness of his body...

She pushed the image resolutely from her mind and turned back quickly, only to find herself against his chest. She saw the awareness flicker in his eyes and felt the pull in her own center, and she stepped back abruptly.

"I'll go get your bags," he said.

Maria walked across the room and stared out at her own view of clear blue sky and water as calm as glass, taking several deep breaths to steady her nerves.

This was not going to work. She couldn't be in the same room with him without conflicting feelings of physical attraction and immediate guilt because of what he had done to her family. To Tito. Tempered by what he was doing to help Joey. But his way, always his way.

If she ended up in bed with him, she didn't know how she'd ever forgive herself.

And she was afraid that if she stayed here that was exactly what was going to happen.

Author's Note:

Music: Bars and Melody - Hopeful.  This song captures how Joey is feeling about moving in with Ritchie. 

Maria is waaaaay less optimistic. But is it Ritchie she's angry with?  Or is it that she can't trust her own feelings when she's around him?