Adriano wanders past, his face buried in his phone.
“Coming to dinner?” I call.
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“It’s not a suggestion. We need to discuss things with the girl.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to her.”
“And what about us? Your brothers?”
A look crosses his face. Weariness. Or maybe just plain old tiredness. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing with this girl?”
“Don’t be melodramatic. She’ll be out of your hair soon enough.”
His eyes narrow.
My temper, held back through endless meetings with paranoid associates of Parker, rises. “If you’ve got something to say, say it.”
“Parker pissed away millions keeping that pussy on hold. You sure you’re not doing the same thing?”
It’s a question I’ve asked myself many times today, as I ignored Gio’s calls confirming January’s place in his house. But I’ll be damned if I’ll tell Adriano that. “We took her for the right reasons.”
He looks pointedly at the glossy carrier bags on the chair beside me. “You sure it’s not something else?”
“Areyouquestioning my judgment?”
“No,” he says flatly. “But you need to be careful. Doc and Bobby…” He shakes his shaggy head. “Forget it.”
“What?”
“I said ‘forget it.’”
I trust Adriano with my life, but it’s difficult to know where he stands on anything that isn’t breaking someone in half. He’s not entirely Italian. A criminal with no ties to organized crime. He has few needs and he’s never liked women. Never, to my knowledge, had a girlfriend. But his loathing of January is unprecedented. And irritating.
“You’ll be at dinner,” I tell him. “You’ll dress appropriately, and you’ll behave like a human being and not some viciouscafone. Understood?”
He says nothing as he leaves the room, but I know he’ll be there. Whatever else, Adriano’s loyalty is absolute.
Doc and Bobby wander in. Doc’s wearing a shirt. A black one I’ve never seen before. I gesture at him. “What’s all this?”
Doc tugs at his collar. “You said to dress up.”
I want to ask,‘Since when do you give a shit about what I say?’but it would be poor leadership to question someone obeying orders. I collect the carrier bags beside me. “Sit down and have a drink. I’m going to give January her gifts.”
“What did you get her?” Bobby asks.
“You’ll see.”
Doc can’t meet my eyes. I’m not sure if it’s the shirt or because I know what he did to January last night. He hoped Bobby wouldn’t tell me, but Bobby’s my oldest friend. He tells me everything.
What Doc might not realize is that I’m not mad he touched January. I’m pissed at him for stealing my keys and undermining me, but their little pseudo threesome gives me hope.
She let them touch her, which shows with a little persuading she’s willing to be touched. And if Adriano was trying to warn me that Doc and Bobby are infatuated with her, that’s hardly news. So am I. However this evening plays out, I’m still going to tell Gio she’s a virgin.
I unlock January’s bedroom door, but she’s nowhere to be found. “Miss Whitehall?”
A small squeak from the ensuite. “Mr. Morelli?”
