“You need to eat,” Tara says, once the joy and the chatter has died down, and I’ve answered as many questions as I can, although to most of them the only answer I can give is,I don’t know. “You haven’t had anything for, oh, ages. Will you come to my hotel, Howie, just for an hour? You can shower, we can get room service—”
“Not tonight, Tara. Or today, I mean. Whatever time it is right now.” But I smile at her, hug her to show her I appreciate the thought. “Right now I just want to go back in with Luca. And I think all of you could do with some rest as well, am I right?”
None of them want to admit it, but the collective exhaustion is clear. They disperse. Tara and her men leave first with promises to return tomorrow; Aidan and Teo head out with Snapper and Vollero; the guards return to their usual position near Luca’s door with my blessing; and then it’s just Carlo and Nick left there with me.
“Okay,” I sigh. “What’s the next crisis?”
They exchange a glance.
“Frank,” I say.
“He’s cutting up rough,” Nick says. “Making a lot of noise he shouldn’t be making. Saying things he shouldn’t be saying, real loud, in places where walls have ears, you know what I mean?”
I rub my hands across my face. “I’ll speak to him.”
“Problem is,” Nick says, and hesitates, looking again at Carlo. Carlo gives a nod, and Nick goes on. “Problem is, he’s trying to stir up the troops to get rid of me—so I hear.”
“So youhear?” I ask sharply. “Frank’s not a Morelli anymore, andyou’rethe fucking Acting Boss, Nick. The only one who should be stirring the troops—”
“Is me,” he agrees. “Believe me, I am not unaware. But Frank…” Nick spreads his hands. “His absence has made hearts grow fonder, and he’s still got a lot of pull in the Family. Plus that old shithead Vollero is backing him up, and you know he’s got his own problems with me. Is there any chance I can speak to Luca about it? If it was anyone else but Frank and Vollero, I wouldn’t hesitate to pull them into line. But…”
“As it happens,” I sigh, “I think I might have a solution to your Frank problem—tomorrow, though. In the meantime…”
I don’t want to bother Luca with this, but I know, too, that Frank will only listen to his brother about something like this. I know Frank, and I know the way he holds a grudge. “I haven’t spoken to Luca about any Family business,” I hedge. “It’s not really…my place.” This stupid arrangement that Luca and I have, where I keep my nose clean, and he does wicked things in the shadows, is something I agreed to only in the aftermath of killing my own sister, Maggie, to save Luca.
But I was shellshocked back then, and some days I feel like Luca took advantage of that to reposition me, keep me at arm’s length from the Family.
“Then what about Nicky?” Carlo, who has said nothing so far, finally speaks up, eyes narrowed. “It’s definitelyhisplace to talk Family business to Luca.”
Maybe, but I’m not going to let it happen right now. “Luca is still very weak. We only spoke for a few minutes before he fell asleep again.” And I’m getting antsy that he might wake up and not have me there by his side. “All I’m saying is, he might not even remember what went down right before or after he was sh-shot.” My mouth struggles over the word. I still can’t believe it myself, what happened that night. “And I don’t want to bother him with this kind of thing until he’s stronger.”
Nick looks like he wants to object, but he can’t see another way to handle the matter. “Alright,” he says at last.
Carlo looks doubtful. “Can’t we just quickly ask—”
“No, you fucking can’t,” I snarl. “Luca isin recovery. I think he’s earned a few goddamn days off, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Carlo murmurs. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” He shrugs.
“It’ll hold a few days, Harvard,” Nick says. “I can’t stomp Frank without a blessing from the Boss—and I don’t particularly want to, either. But I can give a tug on Vollero’s choke chain. The Boss needs to focus on his recovery, not this infighting bullshit. And if anyone should talk to Luca first, it’s his brother. Not—not me.” He looks away at the last words, and I hope again that Luca and Nick will be able to make it up,reallymake it up. Hopefully Luca’s brush with the afterlife has given him a new perspective.
“Thank you for understanding,” I tell them.
Nick gives a nod, and they turn to leave, but then Nick turns back. “Please tell him, when he wakes up again, tell him I…” His gaze flickers from side to side as he hesitates.
“I’ll tell him,” I say. “I will.”
“Thanks,” he mutters, and this time when they turn to go, he puts an arm around Carlo’s shoulders and pulls him close. I bet every Morelli man is holding his loved ones a little closer these days. And it’s time for me to get back to mine.
Tomorrow I’ll deal with Frank, one way or the other. That’ll be theeasyjob.
The much harder thing on the To Do list for tomorrow will be persuading Luca that we need to leave New York City in the dust.
Chapter Fifteen
LUCA
This next time I wake, it feels like much less effort, and instead of someone shining a light right into my eyes, I’m staring into Finch’s lovely face. I smile, then wince as my lips crack. Finch disappears for a second, and when he comes back into view, he also smears something on my mouth.
