“Excuseme?” he said, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
I looked at the Boss. “Don Morelli, I’d like a word in private.”
Mr. D’s mouth dropped open and his eyes bugged out. “What the fuck—” The Boss held up his hand without looking at his husband and Mr. D actually fell silent, but he had a smug look on his face, like he expected the Boss to lay into me.
Carlucci’s shoulders were shaking as he snickered silently behind a hand over his mouth, and he shook his head. Hudson Taylor had gone pale, his mouth a thin little line as he bit both his lips. Ms. Donovan went on looking like she’d rather be anywhere else, but she kept her back straight and her eyes steady as she waited for the fallout.
Aidan was staring hard at me, but I couldn’t read his face.
The Boss gave a shrug. “Say it here, Vitali, if there’s something you want to say.” He kept my gaze and then added in Italian, “Perhaps it needs to be said, eh?”
Mr. D shot a frown his way. Feeling a little more bold, I held out a hand, palm up. “Then here it is. From now on, I’m calling the shots around Morelli security and defense. And we arenotcalling a bunch of our men down to Boston to use as cannon fodder.”
Mr. D snorted, and I turned my eyes on him, not letting anything break my resolve. “Mr. D, I mean this with no offense, truly, but your plan from the start to come out here to Boston was—” I paused, wondering exactly how much rope the Boss might be giving me before he hanged me. “Well, it wasn’t a smart play. If Angelo Messina had been here, heneverwould have allowed it.” I looked back to the Boss, appealing to him. “You know that’s the truth, Don Morelli. He woulda told you and Mr. D to stay in New York where you can be protected. And frankly, you should be halfway back there by now, regardless of Ms. Donovan’s explanation. No offense, Ms. Donovan.” She gave a slight, stiff incline of her head. “I should have insisted from the start. But I’m insisting now. You all need to go back to New York tonight.”
“You want me to leave my sister and my best friend to be assassinated?” Mr. D said shrilly. “I don’t care what Angelo might have said, we would never have agreed to that. And we’re not going to do it just becauseyousay so. Sit your ass down, Teo.”
The Boss looked from his husband to me and raised an eyebrow, as if daring me to go on.
So I did.
“That’s not what I’m saying, Mr. D, and I’d never leave—” I cleared my throat. “I know how important Aidan and Ms. Donovan are to you. I also know Mr. Messina would understand the strategic importance of shoring up her power here in Boston.”
“Oh, yeah? You seem to know an awful lot about what Angelo would think,” Mr. D said sarcastically.
“Yeah, I do,” I said, calling his bluff. “Because hetrainedme. He trained me specificallyfor this joband he taught me what he knew before he left. And if you don’t believe me, ask Carlucci.”
That wiped the smirk off Carlucci’s face, when every face in the room turned to him.
“Well?” the Boss asked.
Carlucci went red. He stood up off the wall where he’d been slouching. “Uh,” he started, and then looked at me. “I mean. Vitali’s not wrong, Mr. Messina trained him hard. And weshouldbe smarter than this. Not that your idea to stay here wasn’t smart, Mr. D,” he added quickly, holding up placating hands.
“That’s not the impression I’m getting,” Mr. D said, so coldly that Carlucci winced.
“I’ve made some bad choices myself recently,” I offered. “I should have run checks on Innisfree before we even got here. And I never should’ve taken Aidan with me to check it out.”
“But if you hadn’t—” Aidan began, but I held up my hand and gave him a soft smile.
“It put you in danger. We’ve been sloppy since we got here, and maybe before that. We’ve gotten lazy since the Clemenzas went down, since Mr. Messina left town and things seemed to roll on without him. We’ve let things slide. Well, no more. From now on, everything gets run by me. I get first and last say on any plans—especially anything to do with Aidan.”
Mr. D exploded. “Who thefuckdo you think you are, tellingme—” he began, but the Boss turned to him.
“Baby bird,” he said in a warning voice, “this is about business.” Somehow, that seemed to shut his husband up. Then the Boss turned back to me. With a half-sneer, he looked me head to toe and then back again. “You think you can stand in Angelo Messina’s shoes?” he asked softly. Dangerously. “You, Vitali?”
I lifted up my chin. “Yeah, Boss. I do.”
I locked my knees so they wouldn’t shake under his gaze. “Mm,” he grunted after a moment. “Maybe wear a few extra pairs of socks while you grow into them. But…you’re not wrong.” I tried not to sag with relief when I heard that. I hadn’t been sure how this would end for me. “Angelo trained you for this and he wouldn’t like the way we’ve been conducting ourselves. No, angel,” he added more softly as Finch tried to interrupt again. “I told you. This isbusiness.” It seemed to be the magic word. Mr. D stared daggers at me, but said no more. “So what do you propose, Vitali?” the Boss asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs.
“First of all, you and Mr. D go home to New York—”
“I’mnotleaving Aidan here alone,” Mr. D said loudly.
“He won’tbealone,” I told him. At the fierceness in my voice, Mr. D blinked, and looked between me and Aidan, his forehead creasing. Then he tipped his head to one side and gave a slow smile.
Chapter Thirty
Aidan
