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Walking up the porch, I took my own assessment of the surroundings. I had arranged for a property manager to come and take care of the house monthly, and I was pleased that he had done a good job with the exterior and no doubt the interior as well. The house was just as I had left it.
As we crossed the threshold of the house and entered, a wave of warmth from the roaring fire in the center of the great room and the fragrant smell of something baking in the kitchen overwhelmed the senses.
Home.
Welcome home.
I placed Aria gently down on the ground and slammed the door intentionally to announce to Tennessee that we had arrived.
The fire roared, and the stacked wood beside the hearth proved that Tennessee had already made himself at home and had found the woodshed out back. He was resilient, and I’d figured he would adjust just fine when he arrived. I looked at my favorite leather chair that sat next to the fire and tried not to answer its call to me. A strong cognac, a good thriller novel, and no noise but the crackle of the fire was a strong pull right now. I could see Aria cuddled under the throw quilt on the leather couch directly in front of the fire with her own novel as it snowed softly outside the floor to ceiling windows to the right and left of the room.
“I was wondering when you would get here,” Tennessee said as he walked out of the kitchen with a towel in his hands. He froze midstep as he locked his eyes on Aria. “I uh, didn’t realize you were bringing a guest.” He went from taking in Aria’s disheveled appearance in nothing but a dirty robe and bare feet to me still in my fancy suit—though wrinkled—with a look of confusion in his eyes. I knew the man well enough to know that he wouldn’t question me in front of a stranger, and that he would wait until we were in private to get the answer that no doubt he was wanting. I also knew that Tennessee would keep his mouth shut and do as I asked when it came to Aria. He may not exactly like the fact that I didn’t tell him I would be kidnapping a mob boss’s daughter and keeping her here for Tennessee to watch over while I was gone, but he would still do what was needed. There wasn’t anything Tennessee wouldn’t do for me or for any of my business partners. This wouldn’t be the first time we asked him to break a law, and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last. It was our world. And since Tennessee lived in our world and worked for the seven of us, he knew exactly what that meant.
“I’m going to show her to her room and get cleaned up,” I said as I took Aria by the hand.
“I have dinner cooking,” Tennessee said. “Plenty for all.”
I nodded as my stomach growled in anticipation. Cheese and salami had long been digested. “Good. We’ll be down soon.”
I tugged Aria forward when she didn’t immediately follow me. She twisted her body and snapped her hand away from mine. “I can walk,” she said, making it very obvious to Tennessee that my guest was anything but.
Tennessee quirked an eyebrow at me as we made eye contact, but he didn’t say a single word. Good man. Good man indeed.
“Come on. I’ll show you your room,” I said to Aria. I started for the stairs and luckily Aria followed. I wasn’t in the mood for confrontation. At least not until I filled Tennessee in on all the details.
“I took the room next to the bathroom on the right,” Tennessee said.
“Good,” I said. “I planned on putting her in the room across from yours.”
“One hour and dinner is served,” Tennessee called out as Aria and I climbed the stairs. “Don’t make me hunt you both down. Dinner won’t taste good cold. So, make quick work of getting beautified.”
When we got to the landing, I pointed at the bathroom. “There’s towels and everything you should need in there.” I then pointed to her room. “I’m sure you can find something to wear. Make yourself at home.”
“Home?” she scoffed. “You’re a real sick bastard you know that? You are just acting like there’s nothing wrong in what is happening right now.” She pointed downstairs. “Is he in on it? Does he know you stole me from my bedroom?”
“He will,” I answered. “Tennessee has worked for me for a long time. We go way back.”
“Great,” she rolled her eyes, “so he’s just as fucked up as you.”
“Aren’t we all fucked up to some degree?” I smiled, knowing I was taunting her. I could see she was reaching her boiling point, but I rather enjoyed seeing the fire light up in her eyes. It was quite the contrast to the quiet woman who’d just seemed sad as she stared out the truck window the entire trip.
