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Peter opened his eyes and smiled up at me. “I’d love to go with you some time.”
“When things quiet down, I’ll have Lola pack us a picnic and we’ll go.”
He was silent for several moments, then he said, “I wanted a Shetland pony named Clover.”
“Clover?”
“Yes. That was the name I gave my stuffed one because it came with a book about a pony named Clover. I read it until it fell apart.” Color rose in his face. “I told you it was—”
“It’s perfect.” I pressed against his arch again, and he sighed. “Relax and enjoy this.” For a few moments, he did. I wondered if he might fall asleep under my attention, but then he said, “My parents were killed right in front of me, and all I did was hide. I didn’t do anything to try to stop it. So if you ever think I’m brave or—”
“Who killed them, Peter?” I needed to know. Whoever it was wouldn’t be around much longer.
“A dealer my dad had crossed.”
“Where is he now?”
“He was dead when the police found him.”
He’d probably betrayed someone himself or called too much attention to his boss’s operation. “How old were you when they died?”
“Fourteen. It wasn’t like I was a baby or anything.”
“Fourteen-year-olds aren’t expected to go up against killers. No one is.”
He frowned. “Was that true of you at fourteen?”
“I am an exception in almost every way.” That made him smile as I’d hoped it would. “If you want to tell me what happened, you can.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve never told anyone else. I’m sure my uncle knows I stayed hidden, but he doesn’t hate me for it.”
“No one should hate you for hiding from a killer.” As the words came out of my mouth, I realized I was expecting him not to run or hide from me. Was that at all fair?
23
Peter
A few days later, Lucien came to my desk in the middle of the afternoon. It was unusual for him to come to me rather than summoning me to his office, usually for some illicit activity.
“Come with me,” he demanded without further explanation.
I stood, but before I’d come out from behind my desk, Angelo stormed out of a conference room.
“Where are you going, Luce? We’re supposed to meet with Vinnie and Stefan in a few minutes.”
“You and Devil can handle it.”
Angelo looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “What the fuck do you mean? You never let us handle anything. You always think you have to be in charge.”
“Well, I don’t think that today. Today, I think I’m leaving, and you’re going to handle things.” He turned back to me. “Peter, I said come on.”
I took a step, but Angelo didn’t back down.
“Lucien, what the fuck has gotten into you?”
“I have some important business, and I need Peter to help me with it.”
Angelo made a circle with his fist and moved it up and down, clearly indicating what he thought Lucien was going to do with me. “That’s not important business.”
“You’re walking a fine line, Angelo.”
Angelo snorted, but he didn’t say anything else. Lucien turned to the elevator, and I quickly slipped around my desk and followed him.
“You better not be pissed off if the meeting doesn’t go the way you want it to,” Angelo called as the elevator doors slid open.
Lucien’s eyes turned to ice as he turned to face his brother. “You will make the meeting go the way I want, or there will be serious consequences.”
“What if they don’t—”
“Then make them.”
Lucien had a car waiting for us. Once we were settled in the backseat and the driver had pulled away from the curb, my curiosity became too much to contain. “Where are we going?”
Lucien smiled. “You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”
“Do you really need to be at—”
“I don’t need to be anywhere but right here. I run this business. The point of being the boss is making whatever decisions I want.”
I knew that wasn’t completely true. Lucien had responsibilities he couldn’t ignore, especially now when the Riccis were trying to move in on his territory. But I also knew nothing I said would change his mind. He took a few phone calls while I simply watched the world pass by outside the windows. We headed out of town, and my mind raced as I tried to figure out where we were going.
After about half an hour, the driver turned off the road and headed up a long gravel driveway which appeared to lead to a farm.
Lucien abruptly ended his call as the driver pulled the car into a small lot near the barn.
As I stared out the window, some horses came running up to the fence beside the car.
No way.
Lucien was not getting me a pony.
How the hell would he even pull that off this fast?
