Page 22 of The Associate

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They weren’t alone.

Gio’s years in and around family business had taught him to remain vigilant at all times. As much as he enjoyed Conor’s company, instinct had forced him to train one ear on their surroundings. Thank all the deities he turned for the missionary position with Conor. Otherwise, he might not have picked up on the soft footfalls and light shadows playing beyond his bedroom door.

Fuck!

Gio slid his right hand to the side of the bed, feeling under the mattress for his gun. He put his left forefinger to his lips, urging Conor to be silent.

“What?”Conor mouthed, his face creasing with obvious concern. To Gio’s relief, he didn’t protest when Gio nudged him to the other side of the bed and motioned for him to cover himself with the top sheet. Gio hoped his hard stare conveyed the urgency of his request.

Stay down. I got this.

Still naked, Gio sat up and retrieved the gun. He ignored Conor’s sharp intake of breath and aimed for the open doorway. “Slowly,” he commanded to the distant shadow, “come here where I can see you.”

Gio counted the seconds in his head, not surprised when Vic stepped out to fill the threshold, hands in the air to give the impression of being unarmed. Bullshit, Gio knew. Vic wore a tight shirt showing no odd bulges, so he guessed his colleague had tucked the gun under his belt behind him.

“Christ, Gio,” Vic said, shaking his head. “I didn’t come here to kill you.”

“What is going on? Is he your boyfriend?” Conor asked. Gio felt the sheet underneath him go taut. He stood but didn’t answer Conor. He couldn’t break eye contact and risk creating an opportunity for Vic to shoot either or both of them.

Vic snorted and gave a sour expression. “Boyfriend? Are you shitting me? I like pussy, thank you very much.”

“Vic, shut up.” Gio then bit back a curse. He’d fucked up, of course. In surveying his apartment, it hadn’t occurred to him to check for the spare key. “Aggie Bertinelli said you might be looking for me,” he said to Vic, ignoring Conor. “I’m thinking you were really wanting to talk to Aldoaboutme, more like reporting back to him after you rummaged through my apartment.” He tilted his head. “Have to admit, you were clever enough not to use my spare key on the deadbolt when you left. I’d have suspected something sooner.”

His friend—if Gio could call Vic that—shot him a grim smile and nodded. “Yeah, he asked me to spy on you a bit. So what? You want to be a made man, you gotta pass muster,” Vic said. “It’s business, G. It ain’t that Aldo doesn’t think you’re not worthy or disloyal, but apparently everybody goes through this.”

“Made man.”

Gio’s heart pounded at the disbelief in Conor’s voice, the sound of the man connecting the dots. For his protection, Gio remained still with his gaze and aim on Vic. He had much to explain to Conor if they got out of this, assuming Conor would listen. The disbelief turned to anger in seconds.

“You two are with the San Gaetanos, aren’t you?” Conor demanded to know. “The people out to screw my parents out of their pub.”

Vic twitched one hand as though to point, but glanced at Gio’s gun and froze. “Your parents wouldn’t be in the mess they’re in if they’d paid on time.”

Conor’s voice turned dark, a sharp ache in Gio’s gut. “Call it what it is. Extortion.”

“Hey, fuck you, fairy.”

“Shut up!” Gio shouted at Vic. The room turned cold, tension crackling all around them. Gio felt silly, naked and still aiming his gun, but damned if he was calling a timeout to get dressed. He was supposed to be rolling in glorious afterglow with Conor Malloy, and right now he doubted he’d ever get the chance to make love with the man again. “Vic, you went through my shit here. Whatever you found, you found, so why take my key? Why come back?”

Vic’s face flushed red. His gaze darted from Conor’s direction to Gio to the floor. “I don’t know why I took the key, G. I thought maybe I’d need it later for something, you know? When Aldo wasn’t home I asked Aggie about you, and she said she ain’t seen you today. Aldo said you were supposed to report back when you…” He glanced in Conor’s direction. “I walked past Lonnegan’s and saw you waiting tables, for fuck’s sake.”

Gio felt Conor’s angry silence on his bare back. More dots connected. Kudos to the man for not losing his shit, but Conor was smart. Gio guessed he was also waiting for the other gun to make its appearance. Meanwhile, Vic bent at the knees and squatted toward the floor.

“Hey, can I at least throw yourloversome clothes?” he asked. “It’s enough I gotta stare at your dick while we’re talking.”

Gio ordered him to get it done fast, and Vic tossed everything onto the bed. Gio ducked at the pair of briefs sailing past him for the pillows. He sensed a dip in the mattress—Conor crawling to retrieve what belonged to him. “Something was up, I knew when I saw you in the pub,” Vic was saying. “I had to take care of some other stuff and I came back when I thought you’d be home. You didn’t answer the door when I knocked,” he continued.

All bullshit, Gio guessed. Vic had either shadowed him or staked out Lonnegan’s, looking for enough dirt to vault himself over Gio in Aldo’s and Don Salvatore’s good graces. More than likely Vic had stood outside his door, listening for cues until he could let himself in and plot his ambush. “You could have slipped my key under the door,” he said. “Walked away.”

“Good thing I didn’t, huh?” Vic’s smile turned ugly. He snapped his fingers. “I got that, what do you call it, gaydar,” he said, “though anybody watching you two interact in the pub would know it. Don Salvatore ain’t gonna be happy when he finds out he’s about to initiate a fa—”

“Are you trying to extortmenow, is that it?” Gio cut in. “Who I like and who I fuck is nobody’s business, and I ain’t hurting the family.” Conor, on the other hand…Gio listened and heard only movement and zips as the man dressed. “Anyway, you’re the one who said last night you had nothing against gays.”

“I don’t like liars, G.” Vic grew bolder, hands on his hips now. Gio tightened his grip, ready to shoot if necessary. “Maybe if you’d confided in me, we wouldn’t be here like this,” he added. “You can’t trust me to keep your secrets?”

“No,” Gio said, “and I wouldn’t ask for yours, because who can say what’s the truth?”

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