“I don’t think so. I have more interesting things to do. Gene has offered to take me back to my hotel. But you shouldn’t be alone tonight, darling. Come to the Bellamy for dinner, and we can have a tête-à-tête.”
“I’m afraid I can’t. I have work to do.”
She makes a tut with her teeth, the way only my mother can, that suggests irritation, disappointment and concern all at once. “Well, if you change your mind,” she says. “I’ve invited Gene and Vito and a few others over for dinner as well.”
“What?” I ask sharply. “Why on earth would you—”
“They’re old friends,” she says, her voice just as sharp as mine. “And you do not command me, Sandro, no matter what titles you might have inherited from your father. Do not forget that.”
She walks off, leaving me alone with my temper. It’s true that I don’t command her. She is her own woman, with power of her own that I cannot touch. But Idocommand my own Consigliere and Underboss. I could order them to stay away from her, show her I don’t intend for her to play puppeteer while she’s here.
“She’s right,” says a voice behind me, and I whirl around, eager for a chance to let out my annoyance on a fair target. “You shouldn’t be alone tonight. You just buried your father.”
With a sneer, I say, “You’re offeringyourcompany, Jacopo? Shall we reminisce about old times?”
He doesn’t quail under my glare, which only angers me more. “I know what it’s like to lose a father, especially without warning. You’ve been going hard at it these last few days, but you should pause and reflect tonight.”
“Save your pity for someone who needs it,” I spit at him. “I have better things to do than wail and whine like a woman.”
He grins. “You think your mother is off to wail and whine? Maybe you remember her different than I do.”
His insouciant attitude is the pinprick to my anger, draining it away into nothing, no matter how I try to hold onto it. “Don’t talk about my mother,” I tell him, but there’s no heat to it. “Or my father, for that matter.”
“Fine. Then I’ll come over and we can talk sports.”
I’m tired, suddenly. So tired. Tired of all the emotions that have been swirling around me this day—my own, and those of others.
“No,” I say. “Go home to your boy. Enjoy your night.”
He puts a hand on my arm, making me look at him. “I mean it, Sandro. You should take your mind off things tonight. Hell, I’ll even let you take a few swings at me, if it’ll help.”
“It would,” I tell him truthfully, “but I won’t be alone tonight. I have…a guest.”
His eyebrows go up and he drops his hand. “Okay, then.”
He thinks I have hired company for the evening. Most days he wouldn’t be wrong. Most days, my companyhasbeen hired. But not tonight.
Tonight, I can go home to a beautiful, strange boy who kisses like a welcome breeze during a hot summer night. Just thinking of him makes my mouth water for his taste.
I wonder what he has been doing all day.
I wonder if he has been thinking of me.
CHAPTER19
TEDDY
Despite Alessandro’s permission,it takes a while to get comfortable with the idea of prowling around Redwood Manor. I call down for a cheese sandwich around lunch, and that’s provided by someone I’ve never seen before, an older woman who smiles automatically at me, but makes no small talk. I wonder where Wilson is today—but since he kind of freaks me out, I’m also relieved it wasn’t him.
The way he acted when I was down in the cells with Julian is what creeped me out. Like having the two of us locked up down there was the most normal thing in the world. But itwasn’tnormal, and him acting so formal and polite just mademewonder if I was going crazy.
After my sandwich, faced with the fact that I have no idea when Alessandro is coming back, and since I’ve looked through all the books in English in the bookshelves in my guest room, I start exploring.
Alessandro’s bedroom first, of course. But it’s empty of personal items, doesn’t even seemlivedin. The dressing room, exactly like the one in my guest room but bigger, holds only minimal clothes. I can’t help pressing my face against some of them and breathing in, just to smell him again.
In his private bathroom—and this was something I didn’t notice during my shower in there—there’s a sponge bag on the two-sink marble vanity. It’s empty, but tucked neatly to one side.
Almost as if…yes, almost as if he was staying in a hotel.
