That was my Lany.
“Why don’t you look into that?” I asked. “I think taking some cooking classes together would be a lot of fun. They just can’t interfere with work.”
“No, I know that. I’ll make sure to find some classes we can take on our days off.”
“Maybe something where we can sign up per class instead of doing a whole season of them? That way, if one of us gets called into work, we wouldn’t have to worry about missing anything.”
“That would be cool,” Lany replied.
I turned when I heard the office door open behind me. Jerry stood there, a dark glower on his face.
“I need to go,caro. Work is calling.”
“Okay. I’ll see you when you get home. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Lany,” I said before hanging up and sliding my phone back into my pocket.
I had no problem admitting how I felt about Lany in public or private. Lany was my soul. If the world didn’t like me telling the man how much I loved him, they could go piss in the wind.
“Look, Chief,” I started, hoping to cut the man off before he got started. “Lany isn’t going to stop being Eddie’s friend. All we can do is try to minimize the fallout.”
Jerry grunted before turning and walking back into his office.
I reluctantly followed him, shutting the door behind me. Neither of us wanted others to hear what we were talking about. That was part of the whole “minimizing the fallout.”
Instead of sitting down, I stood in front of the chief’s desk, crossing my arms over my chest. “Just because Lany wants to be friends with Eddie doesn’t mean we’re going to have anything to do with Eddie’s parents or his uncle. Eddie has been able to create a life outside of his family’s business, one that they all work very hard to make sure he has. We can work at making sure Lany and Eddie’s friendship falls into that same category.”
“The Internal Affairs Division might not see it that way.”
Unfortunately, I knew Jerry was right.
“They are welcome to investigate me and Lany until their teeth ache. They won’t find anything they shouldn’t.”
We had already been deep in shit with IAD once before when a rogue cop went after us, trying to frame me for his own misdeeds. Between the guy’s wife—a cop—and his brother-in-law—an FBI agent—Lany and I had been threatened, attacked, and nearly killed.
I was not fond of the Internal Affairs Division.
Jerry heaved a sigh.
I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling.
I knew the sound of defeat when I heard it.
“I’ll keep an eye on them, Jerry.”
Reassuring the man was the least I could do.
“I know, I just…” Jerry sighed again. “You can see how this looks, Sal.”
“I can.” It was actually a public relations nightmare. “But you know Lany. He doesn’t care that Eddie’s family is a crime family. He just cares about Eddie.”
“Crime family.” Jerry snorted. “You say that like it’s a CSI wannabe television show. It’s the fuckingCastellano syndicate and Gambino crime family. It doesn’t get any more real than that.”
Again, I knew Jerry was right, and that was probably the most unfortunate thing of all.
* * * *
By the time the elevator reached the penthouse level that evening and I stepped out, I was so ready to be home. The meeting I’d had with Jerry earlier that day seemed ages ago, not just hours.
