TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) by Kallypso Masters (the false prince TXT) 📕

morning expecting to get an answering machine, but her receptionist picked up and said the counselor could see him Tuesday afternoon. Somehow, Tony suspected that appointment had been on the books already—arranged by his brother before the intervention. Had Rafe also consulted with her on the reason for the appointment?

While having his brother interfere in his personal life normally would have bugged him, it also made him feel loved. The Giardanos always had each other’s backs. Being the baby boy, Tony had been on the receiving end of a larger dose of overprotectiveness over the years from his older brothers, so he was used to it.

He’d texted his lieutenant and Rafe soon after to let them know about his appointment to get them off his back. Rafe had encouraged him to go to Mama’s for dinner Monday evening after catching a few hours’ sleep after shift change and to let her know he’d be there. Tony expected to have someone checking up on him regularly now and hadn’t been off the mark.

Last night, Mama had hugged him at the door and told him how proud she was that he’d taken the first step.

Matt and Franco, as well as Marc and Angelina, had all been around the table, which didn’t usually happen except on Sundays. While no one said anything about Tony’s issues, everyone hovered over him more than usual, so much so that Tony had to leave before dessert to keep from being smothered.

Late that night had been his first opportunity to be alone with his thoughts since his decision to see the counselor, but he’d managed to avoid the bottle. That was perhaps in large part due to his family’s caring about him, but he didn’t want to have them continually babysitting him.

A decent night’s sleep had still been impossible, although he’d managed to catch a few naps here and there.

Rafe had insisted on coming to the shrink’s office with him this afternoon, since both were off duty. But his brother’s shift last night had been a busy one, and he’d gotten even less sleep than Tony had. He thought he’d gotten away clean until Angelina showed up at his apartment on the pretense that she wanted to catch up with him on her honeymoon trip.

“I know what you’re doing, and I’m not letting you inside that room with the therapist.”

She smiled. “I just want to be there before and after, in case I can help.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “Okay, but no questions about what we talk about in there.”

She made the motion of buttoning up her lips.

While they sat in the waiting room for him to be called back, she showed him photos from her phone. Her presence probably kept him from bolting while he waited.

“You have to visit Zio Vincenzo’s place the next time you get to Sicily. It’s like heaven on earth.”

The photos she shared barely registered with Tony, but he grunted softly at regular intervals so she’d think he was paying attention. His gaze kept drifting to the inner office door, waiting for the therapist or someone to come out and haul him in for the interrogation. No way did he intend to spill his guts to this stranger who, despite what Rafe and Ryder said, probably had no clue what he’d experienced.

All too soon, the door at the far end of the reception area opened and a woman of about thirty-five came across the lobby to greet him. “Hi, I’m Lisa.” She smiled broadly as she extended her hand, and he stood to shake it.

“Nice to meet you.” He took her hand. “Tony Giardano, your two o’clock appointment.”

Lisa nodded. “My pleasure, Tony. And who have you brought with you?”

“My sister, Angelina.” That Angelina hadn’t already consulted with the woman surprised him. Maybe he should add paranoia to his growing list of problems.

“Nice to meet you too, Lisa,” Angelina said as she shook her hand.

“Tony, would you like your sister to join us?”

Hell, no. She didn’t need to hear the gory details. “No, it’ll just be me.”

“Okay, well, please come inside.” To Angelina, she added, “We’ll be about fifty minutes.”

Not even an hour long. He could get through that without too much difficulty. Right?

When she told him to sit wherever he was comfortable, he chose the chair nearest the door, expecting her to sit behind the desk. But instead, she pulled a chair to within five feet of him and sat down. He crossed his arms and sat as far back in the chair as he could while they did some easy preliminary chitchat. After a while, Tony relaxed a little. He glanced at his watch. Ten minutes had passed. Forty to go.

“What brought you in to see me, Tony?”

“Besides my lieutenant, mama, brother, and baby sister?” He chuffed in an attempt at humor.

She laughed. “I see you have a strong support system. Good. Why do you think they wanted you to come here?”

Tony sobered. “I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.” When she didn’t say anything, he added, “And drinking a little more than I used to in order to unwind faster.” He’d leave it at that.

She nodded. “How long have you been having issues with your sleep, Tony?”

“Over two weeks.”

“Did anything happen that might be the root cause—perhaps a death in the family, a relationship ending, loss of a beloved pet?”

Tony swallowed. Surely someone had already told her. “No. It’s work-related.” Just in case she really didn’t know, he added, “I’m a firefighter and had a bad call on June twenty-third that I’d rather not talk about.”

“Okay, we don’t have to talk about that today, but it helps me to know that’s part of the time frame for when your sleep issues began. Thank you for sharing with me.” She wrote something on her yellow pad before glancing his way again. “Prior to this event, your sleep was good?”

“Yeah. Normal for me, anyway. I work a twenty-four hour shift every three days.”

Again, she nodded and jotted something down. “Tell