"Hey, sexy," Tito
said as Pia appeared from the back hall of the restaurant. "Sneaking in
again?"
"I don't sneak, and how
would you know if I'm sexy or not?" she replied with a grin.
"Well someone's in a
good mood today." He gave her a hug. "And I may not be a connoisseur
of beautiful women but I still know what constitutes sexy in a straight man's
eyes and you're definitely it."
She smiled up at him.
"Thanks, amico. As for my mood, I figured after inflicting my bad one on
you for the last three months it was about time I took hold of myself and got
over—things."
"I'm glad. I missed the
'you' I know and love. So, you want to eat and tell me what's in the works with
you these days?"
"The same old same
old," she replied, pulling out a chair and sitting. "I have another
job."
Tito cocked an eyebrow,
spinning another chair around, straddling it with his arms crossed on the back
as he looked at her. "Day job or otherwise?"
"Otherwise, and legit.
Well as legit as working for the cops can be."
"That was some
trade-off," he said with a chuckle.
"Keeps my ass out of
jail and still lets me do what I'm good at. And," she grinned, "they
turn a blind eye when I do one on my own as long as the victim is insured up
the ass."
"You need any
help?"
Pia shook her head. "I
might have a pass in case of trouble; I don't think that would apply to you
though. Besides, Harry would kill me if I took you along."
"That I would,"
Harry said, coming up behind Tito. When his lover looked up at him, he got a
kiss that curled his toes.
"Break it up, boys,
virgin eyes here," Pia said with a laugh.
"Hey, that's not my
fault. You need to find your own knight in shining armor," Tito joked
without thinking. He regretted it instantly when Pia immediately sobered.
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
"Nothing to be sorry
about," she told him with an decent attempt at a smile. "Now what was
it you said about feeding me? I'm starving."
* * * *
"Harry?" Tito
said, rolling on his side to look at his lover.
"Mumm?"
"Do you know where to
find him?"
"I'm presuming you mean
Detective Reede, considering what happened earlier tonight. Pia's got it bad
even if she won't admit it."
"She doesn't, not even
to herself I think. So, do you?"
"No, but I can find
out." Harry rubbed his knuckles along Tito's jaw. "First though you
have to tell me why, not that I can't guess."
"I want to talk to him.
I may be way off base since I've never really even seen the man except for
those few seconds between the time he shot Demarco and when he left the room
afterwards but—"
"Go on," Harry
said when Tito went quiet.
"The look on his face,
Harry, when Pia saw him, then swore at him before telling the cop in charge
she'd rather go to jail rather than stay in the same room with him. I know that
look, Harry. It was just like the one I had on my face when you left because I
betrayed your trust. He betrayed her, and he knew it, and he hated himself
because he loves her."
"So you go out there
and talk to him, then what? Just because he loves her, if he does, isn't going
to change how she's feeling. It's not easy learning to trust again, and quite
honestly, my love, what he did was much worse than what you did, from what I
understand of the situation. He knew he was using her, manipulating her into doing
what the police wanted as part of the whole setup. The moment he figured out
that something was developing between them he should have stepped away. And
then that stunt he pulled at the end, it could have gotten both you and Pia
killed."
"But it didn't. He
probably saved our lives!" Tito told him emphatically before he said
quietly. "I understand what you're saying, but damn it Harry, she's
hurting. Other than you, she's my best friend in the world. I have to do
something."
Wrapping his arms around
Tito, Harry kissed his temple. "Alright, I'll find out where he is."
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