Page 22 of Blood and Penance
“Did he give his name?”
“No, Father.”
“Hmm… okay. Thank you, Sister Lolita. Take him to my office. I’ll be right there.”
When I smile at her, she nods, then walks aways as I close the door. I head back to my bedroom and knock on the door when I reach it. “It’s me.”
I hear her footsteps move across the hardwood floors as she approaches the door. It inches open and panic is burning in her eyes. “There’s a visitor. I have no idea who it is. So, I want you to stay here until I come back.”
She’s already shaking her head before I can even finish my sentence. “I have to go home, Gianni. I don’t like being away from Giancarlo too long especially at night.”
“Please, Phoenix. I need to ask you some more question and make arrangements to meet him.”
There’s no way I’m going another day without seeing my son. I’ve already been away from him far too long. I also don’t want to alarm her about this visitor either. If she thinks it’s something out of the ordinary, she’ll be in the wind. I want to have a relationship with my son, and if she disappears, I’ll never get the chance.
She nods, “Thirty minutes. That’s all the time I can give you.”
“I love you,” I say without even thinking then kissing her lips. It had been the most natural thing to do, but the weight of myactions crashes down on me. I instantly understand what I’ve done.
I practically leap away from her, my eyes wide with embarrassment and my heart pounding against my chest with something I’ve been trying to fight for so long—desire. “I’m so sorry, Phoenix. Please forgive me.”
Her beautiful, soft skin flushes as she waves me off. “It was just muscle memory, Gianni. It’s nothing. Please handle your visitor, and we’ll talk when you get back.”
She steps back inside the room, then closes the door, and when the lock clicks back into place, I let out a breath of relief. Dealing with her will be difficult because our relationship will be drastically different from what we once had. We have a child together and she will always be in my life now.
How am I going to handle that?
When I reach the front door of my office inside the parish, I take a deep breath and release it before pushing the door open. I’m met with three sets of eyes glaring at me, raising my hackles.
I hope this isn’t who I think it is.
“Gentlemen, I’m Father Puglisi. How may I help you?” I ask as calmly as I can.
“You don’t look like I thought you would,” he says with anger in his voice.
The man sitting in the chair in front of my desk looks me up and down with a scowl on his face. His voice grates on my nerves, and I don’t like the way he looks at me, but I school my features. I can’t react the way I used to. I’ve killed men for less. Disrespect is something the old Gianni would have never tolerated. He should thank the Almighty I’m no longer that man.
He’s Italian with a hint of an accent, but I can tell from just those few words that his first language is English. I have family members who were born in the States and moved to Italy who speak just like him.
“Excuse me?” I ask, sitting behind my desk. “Do I know you?”
“No, but you do know my wife. I’m looking for her and my son.”
I lace my fingers together on top of the desk to keep from reacting to his statement. Even though Phoenix is his wife, Giancarlo is my son, not his. He’s just trying to goad me into reacting to his claim on both of them.
I won’t do it. That will put her and Giancarlo in danger if he knows that she came to see me.
“And who is your wife, Mr. …”
“D’Amico. Lio D’Amico.” He brushes his hand down his tie. “You may have heard of me.”
“Hmmm, I’m sorry. I can’t say that I have. And who is your wife?”
Anger fills his eyes. “My wife is Phoenix. Phoenix D’Amico. Phoenix Blaine as you would know her.”
“My ex-girlfriend?” I lean back in my chair, raising my eyebrow. “I haven’t seen Phoenix since I broke things off with her years ago. As you can see, my life went in another direction.” I point to my collar. “How is she?”
He just stares at me like he’s trying to read my body language. While I’m a priest, I will always be a Puglisi. His mistake is not knowing or not recognizing the fact that I’ve grown up in the same world he’s a part of. I know how to hide my tells. He will never know if I’m lying or telling the truth no matter how hard he glares at me. That will not intimidate me into me telling him anything.
