I put down the cotton ball but kept his chin. “What do you mean?”
“Forget it.” He pulled out of my grip. “Thank you for everything, Teo, but I really should—”
“Nope.” I put a hand on his shoulder as he made to rise from the seat. “You know how much Mr. D would kill my ass if anything happened to you?” It wasn’t just Mr. D’s reaction I was thinking about. It was my own, too. Seeing someone lay hands on him out there in the church had filled me with righteous anger. I’d started feeling protective of Aidan over the last few months. He was so gentle, he needed someone to stick up for him sometimes.
Aidan ducked his head. “It’s—it’s got something todowith Finch,” he said awkwardly, and then I understood better, though I was surprised.
“You saying this is Family business?”
Under my hand, Aidan gave a tight shrug. “I suppose that’s one way of putting it.”
That made my mind up. There had been no way I was going to let him go off on his own after a shake-down in his own church, but the idea that this had something to do with the Family made up my mind. “I’m taking you back to the townhouse. You can stay with Mr. D and the Boss tonight. They’d want you to, once they hear what happened. And you can explain this business to them.”
He looked up, startled. “No! I can’t do that. It’s not—I’m fine, and anyway, it’s their Date Night.”
“I don’t care if it’s their fucking—excuse me, their wedding anniversary. The Boss will want to hear if it’s about the Family, and you need to be kept safe.”
“I’m perfectly safe,” he insisted.
“Uh-huh. Well, once Mr. D and the Boss have agreed with you that you’re perfectly safe,thenI’ll take you back home after.”
Aidan’s lips pressed together and I felt like telling him to stop being so stubborn or he’d open the cut up again.
“I ain’t taking no for an answer,” I told him, and folded my arms.
He glared for another few seconds, then he seemed to deflate. “Fine. I suppose—I suppose theyshouldknow.”
He was still quiet on the way out, I guess because I’d made him come with me. But there was no way I was letting him go alone, and as I opened the passenger-side door for him—out of habit, from driving Mr. D—I did see a look of relief on his face. It was a quick drive to the D’Amato townhouse, but I still had some time to think things over with Aidan silent beside me.
And what I most wondered was this: who the hell could possibly have a problem with Aidan O’Leary?
Chapter Three
Aidan
Ishivered in the seat though the car was warm and comforting. I was grateful to Teo, who had not only saved me but also insisted I come with him. But I still wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing. The only reasons I could think of anyone wanting to threaten me were around the death of Sam Fuscone.
I’d not said a word about that day to anyone. Ever. When Father Benedict had insisted I come with him to the police, or live forever with a mortal sin on my soul, I’d refused. Even when Father Raphael had suggested I might want to share something in confession, I hadn’t.
I’d made my own penance and reconciled my own soul to God, because I’d seen greater sin in talking about that day than in staying silent. Even during my friendship with Finch, we had rarely mentioned that day again. We’d skirted around it once or twice, but never discussed it in detail.
I certainly wasn’t looking forward to speaking with Luca D’Amato about it now. I didn’t know the man very well, although recently I’d spent more time with him in the presence of Finch—and, of course, at Mass, although he’d never put priests in the awkward position of refusing him Communion. He seemed to me to have his own kind of honor. Still, I didn’t like to think how, in his role as Don Morelli, he would react to my story.
Teo pulled up in front of the townhouse. He put on the brake, unclipped his seat belt, turned to open the door—but I put a hand out to stop him. “I just need a minute,” I said, still looking straight ahead. “Please?”
“No need to be nervous,” Teo said, but he stopped and waited.
“You don’t know,” I muttered, and let out a bitter laugh. “You just…you don’t even know.”
A warm hand descended on my own where it lay on my thigh, and I looked at it before turning my eyes to Teo. “You say what you gotta say and trust Don Morelli. He’s a fair man. And Mr. D, he’ll stick up for you. So will I.”
Was it my imagination, or had his hand moved slightly as he said that last part? His fingers almost caressing my thigh? Either way, I felt calmer. “Thank you,” I said to Teo, and he gave a quick smile, ducked his head, and took his hand away. My hand felt strangely cold without his touch, but I ignored the feeling, took a deep breath, and nodded. “I’m ready.”
“You stay there one more minute. I wanna scope outside before I let you out of the car.”
As Teo got out, I felt once again the unease that had engulfed me at Our Lady right before I’d turned to see my attacker. I stared around myself, wondering if there was someone hiding behind the parked cars, and then flinched when the door on my side of the car opened and Teo leaned in. “All clear, Father.”
“It’s just Aidan,” I said, for what must have been the tenth time in our acquaintance. Teo had the habit of calling me “Father” now and then, even though I hadn’t yet earned the title. I got out of the car and put my hand on his arm. “Please, Teo. Given that you just saved my life, you can call me any old thing you want. But I’m not ordained yet, and even if I were, just ‘Aidan’ would still be fine.”
