“Not if you’re good at it,” I said. It was what Angelo Messina had always reminded us newbies when we were training under him. “And I am.”
Aidan was staring at me, a little starry-eyed, and I shot him a smirk. As though sensing that the danger had passed, Tara and Róisín began eating again.
“But not much room for advancement?” John said. When I looked across at him, his gaze was moving back and forth between me and Aidan thoughtfully. “Or are there different levels of protection?”
“Well, I just got a promotion recently.” Why the hell had I said that? Somehow, all John and Nancy’s questions made me feel like I was trying to prove myselfworthyof something. Nancy, clearly on my side, nodded at me to go on, her eyes wide and a smile on her face. “I started working on wider strategic defenses for, uh. For the company.”
“And which company do you work for?” John asked.
“Yes,” Nancy said. “Who should we call next time we need protection?” Only now did her smile waver. “You were very calming under stress, I must say, when…well. Do you have a business card?”
“Uh…” My mind scrambled for an appropriate answer.
“He’s not really supposed to say, Mom,” Aidan supplied. “It’s a private company. Teo’s not supposed to talk about it.”
Nancy looked impressed. John gave me an inscrutable look but said nothing. The conversation passed on to other topics—less risky topics. But I noticed a few times that John glanced my way, a slight frown creasing his brow every time he did.
* * *
Aidan’s parentswent to bed early that night, and of course, Aidan was also an early-to-bed type. He claimed he’d been sleeping in since we’d been in Boston, but if that was the case, I didn’t want to know what time heusuallygot up.
I was relieved to finally have him alone, though, when we got into the bedrooms. “Listen, I’m sorry I made you go with O’Hara,” I said, as soon as the door was closed behind us. We were in “Aidan’s” room, where he still kept his clothes to make it seem at least as though he were using that part of our quarters.
“No,” Aidan said, and hugged me. I stood there in shock. “I’msorry.” He pulled back and said, “You were totally right. I would have just gotten in the way and distracted you.”
“Okay,” I said, still surprised at his immediate forgiveness. “Well. Good.”
“Let’s head to bed,” he said with a warm smile.
“Hold up.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him back gently.
“What is it?”
I let a heartbeat go by before I replied. “I think you should sleep in your own bed tonight.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Aidan
Hearing Teo tell me I should stay out of his bed made my heart plunge so fast it felt like it punched a hole in my gut. “Why?” I managed to get out, although my lips felt numb.
“Oh, hey, not because of anything—I mean, we’re fine. You and me. We’re good,” he said hastily.
But how could we possibly be good if he wanted to break with the tradition we’d started? “Then why?” I asked. “Why don’t you want to… Is it because of last night?” For a terrible moment I contemplated the idea that I was just another score for Teo, and now that he’d had me, he was moving on.
Teo ran a hand through his hair in agitation, but he seemed to have forgotten it was tied back. He succeeded only in pulling part of it out of the hairband, which he then tugged out of his hair altogether. “No, nothing like that. It’s just…”
“Thenwhat?” I demanded. I knew somewhere inside me that I shouldn’t feel so hurt. So saddened by this turn of events. That Teo had every right to ask me to leave him alone.
“Your parents are sleepingright below us,” he said, his eyes going wide.
I frowned. “So?”
“So they might, you know. Hear something. If we, uh. Did anything.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed him. “Is that the only reason? Or do you not want to—”
“Are youkidding?” he laughed. “Going to bed each night has been the highlight of my damn day this last week.”
