“Shiiit. No way.” Standing, he walks to where I sit and looks over my shoulder, playing with my hair until shivers run down my back.
“I guess we need to take her allegations more seriously.” I angle my monitor and he leans in, lips pursed, smelling fine.
“Huh. I thought you verified Gallo’s husband is in the Bahamas.”
“Obviously, my dear Watson, the man who was killed was not her husband.” Removing an imaginary pipe from my shirt, I tap it on my palm, then place it in my mouth.
He tickles me until I can’t stop laughing. Slapping at him, curled up in a ball, I struggle to get at his underarms, the only place I can retaliate.
“Hee hee, Uncle. Uncle. Uncle. Stop!”
“I told you, Sam. I get to be Holmes.” Holding both my wrists, he grins while I try to break loose.
As I uncurl from the fetal position, I shoot him an evil eye. “Paybacks are a…”
Bang!
We cover our ears as a huge crack forms in our living room wall. My mouth drops open, picturing the wrecking ball breaking through the bricks.
“I think we need to talk to our landlord.” I say this dryly but inside I’m freaked.
“On it darlin’. I called the city, too. Enough is enough.”
“Tough guy, I know it’s not optimal, but I asked Joey if we could move back in with Rose and Mia and he said it was okay.”
He cups my cheeks and does his Spock mind-meld thing. “Would you have to agree to Vincent’s blind dates?”
“Uh… maybe… probably.” Unable to lie under his scrutiny, I drop my gaze, and he lets go.
“Well, if we do, we’re going to need a hell of a lot more money.”
“What for?
“To bail me out of jail. No man, other than me, gets to touch you.”
“They won’t. I promise. I can handle myself.” I walk back to the table and pat my purse, feeling pretty confident until he growls and opens my bag.
He grabs my pistol, and hands it to me. “How many times have I told you to keep your gun in your holster?”
“It gets in the way. Who needs a gun to wash hair?”Honestly, the man can be so unreasonable.
“What if Mrs. Rossini’s daughter had a weapon?”
“My Aunt Marion would’ve knocked her out with a baseball bat. Believe me, I’m safe.”
“Your family is too much.” He shakes his head back and forth, runs upstairs, and returns with my shoulder holster.
As he buckles the leather around my chest, he caresses my breasts and kisses me, making everything all better.
Moaning, I sigh and close my eyes. “I should call Mrs. Rossini.”
“Go ahead.” He kisses a sensitive part of my neck and nibbles an earlobe. “Ain’t nobody stopping you.”
Giggling, I push him away so I can call. With my phone on speaker, Suds can hear, too.
“Martha? This is Sam. Suds and I have a few more questions. Do you have time to talk?”
“Yes, dear, but not here and not now. I’ll text you, later.”
