“I was watching you!” Brady pointed his finger at Gio like it was a gun. “And that pat-down you gave Ziggy was some bull-fucking-shit.”
Gio tilted his head and made awhat-the-fuckface. But before he could reply, Brady was moving again, stalking towards Hudson, who backed up fast but had nowhere to go. “Andyou, you little shit. This is all your fault. We all know you did it. I ain’t going down for you.” He moved fast to close the last few feet between them and grabbed Hudson by the neck with both hands.
“Whoa, whoa!” Dino shouted, moving forward.
“Cut it out!” Ziggy snarled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Hudson would have protested, but the hands around his throat were squeezing too hard, and he was concentrating on breathing instead. But then Brady collapsed. Gio had kicked out the back of his knees, and he wasn’t finished there; he grabbed Brady by the head, kneed him in the face, and threw him to the floor.
Brady let out a mewl and rolled over onto his back, nose streaming blood. Gio crouched down next to him, drew out his gun, and pressed the barrel into Brady’s forehead. “Apologize,” he hissed.
“W-what?” Brady moaned.
“Apologize to Hudson, here. Tell him you’re sorry you’re such a dumbfuck and that you’ll never touch him again.”
“Gio,” Hudson coughed. “I’m okay. It’s okay, don’t?—”
“No, it’s not okay,” Gio said, giving Hudson a long look.
“I’m sorry,” Brady said, spitting out his own blood. “Fuck, I’m sorry, alright?”
“Apology accepted,” Hudson rasped out. “Get off him, Gio.”
And Gio did, right away, as fast as he ever responded to orders from Finch. “Here’s what we’re gonna do,” he said, putting his gun away in its holster. “Ziggy, you get back here, I’mma frisk you again, just so this motherfucker has nothing more to complain about.” He prodded Brady, who was still on the floor, with his toe. “Then you all can watch while I pat down Brady and Dino. And no one can say fairer than that.”
There was a mutter of assent. No one helped Brady up, but he managed to stagger upright on his own. And then Gio made good on his word and patted them all down.
“What about him?” Dino asked, thumbing at Hudson when they were done. “Just ’cause Finch trusts him don’t mean the rest of us do.”
Gio shook his head. “Hudson’s clean.”
“Just do it,” Hudson said, putting his arms behind his head. “Come on. For the sake of team cohesion.”
Gio snorted. Brady was still wiping away the blood from his nose, and gave Gio a hate-filled glare. “Okay, Blondie. For team morale and all that shit.”
Hudson held his breath as Gio’s hands moved over him. He half-expected Gio to grope him a little, but he was as professional with Hudson as he had been with everyone else.
“Everyone happy?” Gio asked afterward. “Good. Then you can all fuck off upstairs. And remember, Mr. D will be just as happy to shoot anyone who goes for him as I will. You all heard what he did in Boston.”
Yeah, Hudson decided, remembering the Boston outcome. Finch was definitely Scary D’Amato #1.
Gio and Hudson watched them all go towards the stairs that led up to the office. “What’s next on the list, Blondie?” Gio asked, once they were all gone.
“I wish you hadn’t done that,” Hudson said, ignoring the question.
“But you asked me to!”
“No, not pat me down. I mean laying into Brady like that. He’s only gonna hate me more, now, and—and it made me look weak to the other guys.”
“Blondie,” Gio said affectionately, “I hate to burst your bubble, but ain’t no one who works here thinks you’re some kind of badass. You got other qualities that make ’em respect you.”
Surprised, Hudson asked, “Like what?”
“Haven’t you noticed you’re always the one they check in with? Or they make you deliver the bad news to Mr. D? Like if we didn’t break even on the night, or if some asshole walks out without paying his tab, they get you to go tell him.”
“I guess?”
Gio gave a crooked smile. “You’ve got a way about you. You can speak truth to power and not get whacked for it.” Gio reached out to touch his face again, and Hudson had to fight not to nuzzle into the warm hand. “You sure you’re okay?”
