Teddy gives a little wave. “Hello, Jack.” He glances nervously at me, and comes closer. “Um. How are you?”
Teddy is wearing the cream satin pajamas I bought him and no robe. I doubt he will ever wear a robe again, after what happened with Julian. His hand rises up to pull the neck of the shirt closer to, a nervous, furtive gesture that Jacopo doesn’t miss.
Around his neck, clear even from this distance, is the raw, red mark of Julian’s strangling attempt.
“What are you doing here?” Jacopo asks, and then he looks at me.
I don’t know how he knows Teddy, and that makes things difficult. But we’re in my house, so I will play by my rules. “Teddy is my guest,” I tell him, adding lazily, “Isn’t that right,topolino?”
Teddy comes closer, his eyes flicking between Jacopo and me.
I wonder if he’ll ask for help. I wonder how Jacopo will respond if he does.
In the matter of my father’s murder, I trust Jacopo implicitly. But when it comes to other matters…he has an unfortunate sense of morality for a hitman, a compass that turns north a little too truer than it should. It’s gotten him into trouble before.
Jacopo’s face is stony. “Teddy,” he says softly, “what happened to you?”
“Nothing!”
Jacopo pauses, glances at me, and looks back to Teddy. “If you need my help…”
I wonder where that sentence would finish, if Jacopo was to finish it.
“I’m fine!” Teddy says.
“Someone’s put his hands on you,” Jacopo counters. “Around your neck, looks like.”
“A love-game,” I tell Jacopo with a shrug. “That’s all.”
His hand is still hovering over his gun. If he pulls it, this situation will get out of control. To break the tension, I sit again, lean back, rest my hands along the arms of the chair. “Do you need something,topolino?”
“I don’t,” he says, biting at his thumbnail. “I just wondered where you were, Alessandro.”
“Teddy,” Jacopo says, his voice low and dangerous, “if you want to leave, you can leave with me.”
I really can see why my father thought it might be better to eliminate Jacopo. But then Teddy does something extraordinary.
He smiles.
Bright and cheerful, he smiles at Jacopo. “Why would I want to leave, Jack?” He crosses the floor to me and climbs into my lap, one hand around my shoulders as he turns that smile on me. I run a hand through his hair, rest a protective arm around him. Teddy leans into my chest as Jacopo watches in stunned silence. “I’m very happy!” Teddy goes on. “Very happy with Alessandro. How’s Miller?”
Jacopo’s hand still hovers, but a little further away from the gun. “Miller is…fine. How did you—” He breaks off, looking at me again. “How didthishappen?” he asks coolly.
I’m about to tell him it’s none of his goddamn business, when Teddy surprises me again. “I think it must have been fate, Jack,” he coos, snuggling even closer. “But it’s a long story.”
“One I’d be very interested in hearing.”
I don’t know what comes over me. “Then come to dinner, and you’ll hear it. You and Miller. Tonight.”
Jacopo’s eyes narrow. “Oh, I’ll be here.”
“And Miller,” Teddy insists. “Miller has to come, too.”
“Yes, bring your lover. He and Teddy can entertain each other after dinner while we talk strategy,” I say casually. “But right now, as you can see, I have my hands full.” I slide a hand up Teddy’s inner thigh to make my point.
And Teddy blushes, right on cue.
CHAPTER25
