I leaned forward, catching her eye. “Whatever your differences with your brother, I would urge you to stay close with him. You don’thaveto make bad decisions, even if they seem like the only options you have.”
I did not like to think of Tara feeling she had to go down the path of criminality just because that was what the Donovans had done before. I knew that Luca D’Amato was trying to diversify Morelli business into more legitimate streams. Finch seem to think this was more a matter of convenience than moral conviction, but I liked to think that God could work through any man to improve the world.
Or woman, as I looked at Tara Donovan before me.
“Thank you for your counsel, Father,” Tara said, with faint irony in her voice.
I sat back at once. “I’ve overstepped. Forgive me. These are things I know nothing about and I shouldn’t presume to give you advice.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that. And it’s not just Finch. You saw yourself the other night, the way Luca—“
“What in the hell are you doing sitting out here?” a voice demanded behind us. I froze rather than turned, for I recognized it at once.
Teo Vitali had found me.
Chapter Seventeen
Aidan
Teo came storming into the quiet peace that Tara and I had made, a look of thunder on his face. “There’s a price on your head and you’re sitting out here in the open like a—“
“Oh, he’s quite safe here,” Tara said quickly. “I know it seems that I have no protection at all, but I own the surrounding buildings as well. We do have guards posted in all of them.”
Teo turned on her and I cringed for moment, thinking that he might say something rude. But all he said was, “That’s good to know, Ms. Donovan, and it sounds like you got a real good setup. But Aidan ismyward and I don’t like him being out here in the open without me.” He turned back to me, scowling. He was obviously annoyed, but my heart gave a little stutter at the way he said it, the hint of dominance.Aidan ismyward.
Behind him, Tara gave me a smile and rolled her eyes. I wondered if she’d had similar conversations with her own bodyguards, her own protectors. And it occurred to me that my darker thoughts regarding the direction of the Donovan Family must be correct, if she had guards posted all around the block and protectors of her own.
“Why don’t we all go inside for breakfast?” Tara suggested.
The staff had set up a buffet-style service along the kitchen counters and Teo and I moved along it with plates in hand, taking what we wanted. I stared hard at the food without seeing it, and jumped when his hand brushed mine to take the serving spoon in the scrambled eggs.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
I wondered what he was thinking. I wondered if last night had meant as much to him as it had to me. I wondered if nights like that were meaningless for him, just a physical exchange with no emotional involvement—and that thought was the worst of all.
I managed to get through breakfast before I found a moment alone with Teo. By then I’d decided I needed to be brave and honest, and own up to how shamefully I had treated him. He was very cross with me, and I thought it seemed an overreaction to finding me outside in the garden that morning. So I followed him up to the bedrooms again and called his name.
“I thought we should talk about what happened last night.”
He gave a mockingly confused expression. “Why, what happened last night?”
“I’m sorry if I made you feel that you had to…” I swallowed. “To service me.”
The shock on his face was no act this time. “Isthatwhat you think that was?”
“I…” I spread my hands, wishing that I could be more eloquent. But I did not know how to apologize for what seemed to me something unforgivable, and I couldn’t bear to admit to feeling something beyond the physical. That would be far too dangerous. “I was very selfish last night, and I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was…using you. Using your, uh, your body. Experimenting.”
“I didn’t feel like that.”
“Well. That’s good?”
“But I’m sure starting to now.” He stalked closer to me, and I backed up a little. “Do you regret what we did? Is that why you snuck out of bed this morning?”
I shook my head no, even as my mouth said, “Yes. It was inappropriate and I put you in a position where—“
“Forgetappropriate,” he snapped. “Did you enjoy it? Did it make you feel good?”
“Of course,” I snapped back. “And I’ll never forget what we did, because it was amazing, but—” I broke off when Teo grinned.
