Chapter One
Aidan
“‘Friday Fun Club’ is a real misnomer, that’s all I’m saying,” Finch D’Amato grumbled at me.
I’d just handed him a wet cup to dry, but he was waving it around instead, dripping more water onto the floor than into the dish towel. I’d have to mop after we were done. “And yet you still turn up, dare I say it, religiously.”
He started to dry the cup. “I like to remember how the other half lives. Makes me all the more grateful when I escape back home for Date Night.”
I turned my attention back to the dirty dishes in the sink. We were in the kitchenette of the community hall at the back of the church, washing up after another cooking session for the Friday Fun Club, an afternoon where underprivileged children could come and enjoy themselves and, on days like today, cook or bake a treat for their family. And have fun doing it. That was the idea, anyway.
Because Finch had a point, although I’d never admit it to him. Friday Fun Club had been decidedlylessfun for the kids since Mrs. Murphy took over planning. Celia D’Amato, Finch’s sister-in-law, had always had great ideas. She’d turned what had been a once-a-month drag into something the children really looked forward to. Mrs. Murphy’s ideas were depressingly impoverished in contrast. I’d noticed a decline in attendance since Celia had left New York.
I would have tried to overhaul the whole program if I could, but after my upcoming ordination to the priesthood, I might be moved on from Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church. I could be sent anywhere there was need of a priest. There was no guarantee I’d stay in New York, even. In all likelihood, I’d have to leave Our Lady, the Friday Fun Club, even Finch D’Amato and the entire Morelli Family behind.
Before I’d met Finch, I knew people, but I didn’t havefriendsin this city. Although I loved living here and considered myself a New Yorker, I was a Boston transplant, and I liked to think that was one of the reasons Finch and I got on so well. I was happy serving God—of course I was. I’d had my vocation since I was very young, and I’d made friends here and there at the seminarian college. But until I’d met Finch and struck up an Odd Couple friendship with him, I hadn’t realized how much I missed close human companionship. Having a friend was…really nice.
Even if hewasthe husband of the local Mob Boss.
Andeven if Finch’s morals were rather far apart from my own. I did try to set a good example for him. The Ladies’ Committee had, if notacceptedFinch, grown used to him. Mrs. Murphy had allowed a détente of hostilities once Finch had toned down the most snide of his comments. And I was there to smooth the waters when necessary.
Andto do the dishes, which no one on the Ladies’ Committee ever seemed to be able to stay around afterwards to do. Finch was never very excited about it, either, though it had to be done. I set the next clean plate in the drying shelf since he wasn’t done with the cup yet.
“Teo,” he called over his shoulder. “You wanna take over for a while? My wrists are getting sore. And I gotta save them for—”
“Sure thing, Mr. D,” Teo said, before Finch could finish whatever dirty thing he’d been about to say. I knew it was going to be dirty, because around this time every Friday, Finch’s mind began to stray back to his husband and their Date Night.
Finch swapped positions with his bodyguard, and I made room for him at the sink. Even after all this time, I wasn’t really used to Finch’s guards. They all seemed very pleasant, but Matteo Vitali in particular had some watchful quality about him that made me feel…well,watched.
Finch took a seat at the table just outside the kitchenette area, already pulling out a phone to check his messages. The smile on his face told me his husband had texted him.
I shuffled across another step at the sink, trying not to crowd Teo. It really was a very small room. I could smell his cologne, quite different from Finch’s modern, quirky preferences. Teo’s was smoky, subtle, classically masculine.
“The floor’s wet,” I said awkwardly, scrubbing again at the dishes. “Sorry.”
“No bother,” Teo said.
He was a man of few words. In the parish I would try to put that kind of man at ease with my own chat, fill in the silence until they relaxed. With Teo, I got the sense that he wasn’t taciturn so much as naturally quiet. It made sense that a bodyguard would watch and listen more than interact and talk. But there was something about him that made me shy, made me trip over my words.
Teo had shoulder-length blond hair that he kept pulled back in a neat ponytail when he was on duty, emphasizing his sharp cheekbones. He always wore a wooden cross around his neck. It was hard to tell if he was really a believer, but he occasionally attended Mass with other members of the Morelli Family.
I gave him a sideways glance now. He was turned around, leaning against the cupboards as he looked out at the room, keeping an eye on Finch. I couldn’t blame him. Finch had a gift for trouble. He could get into it in a matter of seconds, so it made sense Teo wouldn’t want to turn his back. But as I passed him the next dish, his dark gaze slid to me.
Teo might have been much lighter-haired than most of his compatriots, but he shared their deep brown eyes. Those eyes were as guarded as usual, and as they met mine, I wondered what he was thinking.
The wet plate slipped from my fingers, and Teo dived to catch it with his usual grace and precision. “Careful, Father,” he said, and gave me a slow smile. His fingers brushed mine as he handed it back.
“I’m not—I’m not a—” I babbled. “Uh…”
“Not a priest,” Finch sang out, his eyes still on the phone in his hand. “Not yet. And he ain’t your Daddy, neither. You guys nearly done? Luca’s on his way.”
“Why don’t you go on and wait outside,” I suggested quickly. “There’s not much more to do here.”
“Don’t want to leave you in the lurch,” Teo said, but Finch had already shot out of his chair.
“Thanks, buddy,” he said. “Luca and I have a big night planned. You still on tomorrow night?”
I slapped my forehead with a wet hand. “Oh, I’m so sorry—” I started.
