“I guess so.” He sighed again, his breath fogging on the window. “Father Raphael told me he’s going to recommend me as parish priest for Our Lady, once I take my vows. He said…he said I’ve done so much for the community there that it would be a shame for me to move on before I get a chance to really take a leadership role.”
My heart lifted. “That means you don’t have to go somewhere else, right?”
“Right.”
“And you like it here, right?”
“Right.”
I pulled up at the next set of lights and looked over at him. “So why you being such a downer?”
“I lied to Father Raphael,” Aidan blurted out.
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”
He was twisting his fingers together in his lap, staring at them like they were a tangle he was trying to undo. “I told him nothing happened last night with that guy. That…that it’d been an accident that the cameras were turned off.”
“Okay?”
“Ilied.”
“Don’t know what other option you had. You couldn’t get him involved in Family business, after all.”
Aidan made a noise that sounded like a huff and a tut rolled into one. “That’s the thing, though, isn’t it?Ishouldn’t be involved in Family business, either. I didn’t even see that Iwasuntil…” He took a deep breath. “Until just now, when I lied about it.” He looked up at me, his big eyes crinkling in sadness at the corners, just about breaking my heart. “What kind of priest would I be, caught up in Mob business? That’s not okay. That’s the furthest thing from okay.”
The lights changed, and there was honking behind us. I ignored it. “You’re not caught up in anything. And if you ask me, Our Lady’d be damn lucky to have you.”
Aidan looked anxiously behind us. “The lights—”
“Yeah, yeah.” I hit the gas and left the honkers behind. That was the other nice thing about the Morelli town cars—they sure could boost when it was asked of ’em.
“Thank you,” Aidan said when we were a few blocks down. “For saying that, I mean.”
“It’s not like Mr. D’s in any of the bad stuff, anyway,” I pointed out. “And he’s really the one you hang with. Right?”
“I don’t think Father Raphael approves any more of running a nightclub than he does of running a Mob Family.”
I laughed. “Good point, there. Good point.”
And after a moment, Aidan laughed as well. I glanced across at him to share the joke, enjoying the way his eyes had lit up, and that’s when it hit us.
Bam.
A Hummer coming through the intersection smashed into our hood side-on, and I jerked hard to the side at the impact. The town car spun out, crashing side-on into another coming the other way before I got the steering back under control and brought the car to a stop, pumping the brakes to make sure the wheels didn’t lock up. “Shit.”
Aidan looked dazed. The side airbags had deployed for him, but he put a hand up to his head, blinking. His glasses were askew, and he took them off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You okay?” I asked, but before he could reply, I looked beyond him, out the window.
The Hummer was bearing down on us again, aiming straight at Aidan.
I slammed my foot hard on the gas pedal, and the car responded as beautifully as if she hadn’t just had her engine and wheel well partly caved-in. She roared away, leaving the Hummer to screech and fishtail behind us as it tried to swing around and follow us.
“Fuck.”
Whoever this asshole was, he wasn’t planning on letting us get away easy. I tried to keep one eye on the rearview while I checked ahead for any more cars that looked like they wanted a piece of us. And while I did all that, I hit the call button on the dash and called Carlucci, hoping like hell he was still at the townhouse with Mr. D. The Boss was out tonight, but if we could make it to the townhouse, the house guards would make three of us, Carlucci a fourth.
“Yeah?” Carlucci answered. I could hear Mr. D’s laughter in the background.
“It’s Vitali. I’ve got the priest. Someone’s on our tail and they’re looking to take us out. We’re coming in hot to the townhouse. Might need a gauntlet.”
