“Please tell me what’s going on,” Angelo said as I took the plate from him.
“There’s nothing going on. I just needed to get out of here last night. I was too restless to deal with everyone.”
“Even when you go off the rails, you never ignore us for that long. I know you’re lying. You usually tell me everything. Why won’t you talk to me now?” He studied me for a moment as I worked my way through the plate of eggs and bacon.
I sighed. I really hated keeping this from him. “I just… I’m fine.”
“What happened with Detective Daniels?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. I’m taking care of the situation.”
I put my now empty plate on my nightstand, and Angelo sat on the bed. “Talk to me, Devil.”
I wasn’t going to get rid of him without giving him something, so I decided to go with a half-truth. “I met someone.”
“What? You mean—”
“I met someone I think could be… Fuck, I think he could be to me what Cam is for you.”
“Whoa. So that’s what’s got you all messed up? I thought it was this shit with Sergio.”
“I told you I’m handling that.”
“How?” He narrowed his eyes. “Devil, what did you do?”
I reached into my pocket, pulled out his ring, and handed it to him.
“How did you get this?”
“Don’t ask me that.”
“Wait. Is the person you met involved in all of this?”
Fuck. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Just ignore me.”
“I haven’t been able to ignore you since you shoved me out of bed when we were two.”
I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t actually remember doing that, but I’d been told the story so many times it was like I did. Angelo and I had been put down for a nap together in his toddler bed. For some reason I’d shoved him onto the floor. Maybe I’d wanted more room. Maybe he hit me in his sleep. Who knows? When his mother rushed in, I’d been frantically trying to entertain him by making faces, and he was trying not to laugh at me. We’d been inseparable ever since.
I sighed. “I’m a mess right now.”
“No shit.”
“Fuck off.” I pushed at his shoulder.
His expression turned serious. “I can’t help you if you won’t tell me more.”
“The guy I met… he’s all wrong for me.”
“Do I get any more details?”
I shook my head.
“Why is he wrong for you? Is he a sensible reasonable person who refuses to put up with your shit?”
“Close. He’s… a good man. He’s not going to put up with any of our family shit.”
“A good man like Cam or Peter? You’re the one who told me not to worry about Cam hating what we do. You were sure he’d come around, and he did.”
“Yeah, but that’s not going to happen with this guy.”
“Why? Shit. You’re not dating a priest, are you?”
When I didn’t say anything, Angelo’s eyes got huge. “Jesus, Devil. Tell me it’s not a priest.”
“No. It’s worse.”
“Worse?”
A priest couldn’t arrest us. I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s fucked up.”
“You’re killing me, Devil. Who the fuck is it?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not going to work.”
“So make it work. If he’s the right man for you, if you honestly think you feel about him the way I feel about Cam, then do whatever’s necessary to show him you’re exactly what he needs in his life.”
“But what if I’m not?” I was more likely to fuck up Joe’s life than make it better.
“Devil, you can be an asshole and an idiot, but anyone would be fucking lucky to have you.”
“Lucien doesn’t think so.”
Angelo shook his head. “He loves you. Do you want me to go get him and bring him up here right now?”
“No, and don’t tell him about this.”
“I won’t tell him you met someone, but he’s going to notice the ring is back. At least he never noticed mine was the one that was lost.”
“Shit, you’re right. I need to tell him I recovered the ring.”
“He’s going to want details.”
Lucien was just going to have to back off this time. “He’s not getting them. There are people involved I need to protect.”
“From us?”
“They won’t help me again if they think I’ve told you.”
“I don’t like you keeping secrets from me.” I didn’t like it any more than he did.
“I know. Just give me a little more time, okay? Then maybe I can tell you.” As if with a little more time I’d work a miracle that would make Joe accept me and my family accept him.
We found Lucien in his office. Usually he would’ve left to go downtown by now. Was he waiting for Angelo to report back after talking to me?
“I got the ring back last night,” I said as I entered his office.
Lucien glanced down at my hand.
“I see you two traded back.”
Angelo’s mouth dropped open. “You knew?”