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Tim snapped his fingers. “That’s it. You weren’t victimized by a succubus last night, were you, Dom?”
“Jesus,” I muttered, because this conversation was too stupid to acknowledge.
“I don’t think Melanie would appreciate that anyway,” mused Adam, one of the cooks, as he sprinkled mozzarella on a pie. Usually he was a nervous guy who seemed to jump at his own shadow, so I was surprised to hear any commentary coming from him. Adam wouldn’t have dared to be so bold unless he was stating something that he thought was completely obvious.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I snapped, forgetting my resolve not to frighten the staff.
Adam glanced up, startled. “Uh, nothing,” he stammered.
Tim cut in matter-of-factly. “You guys seem like you have a thing, that’s all.”
“Who told you that?”
“No one,” he shrugged. “It’s pretty obvious, though.”
“Totally obvious,” Isaiah piped up.
“Yeah,” Adam agreed and then shrank back when I shot him a look.
I didn’t have much time to dwell on the implications of that statement because closing time loomed. After I slid the last few pies into the oven, I clapped my hands together briskly to get the attention of the entire kitchen staff. Briefly I thanked them for a hell of an effort on a busy opening day and asked for an organized cleanup.
Melanie was the last one to leave. Just before she left, she said a sincere thank-you to Gio for taking a chance and hiring her in the first place. I could tell Gio was touched. But I couldn’t quite read the meaning behind the cold glance he threw in my direction. We’d have to talk about that.
When Melanie retreated to her office, I figured she’d be in there for a few minutes, so I took a final minute to assess the kitchen to see whether anything else needed to be done. I had planned on walking her to her car, but then I heard the front door close, and a minute later Gio returned.
“Did Melanie leave?” I asked.
“She did,” he said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Why don’t we call it a night, Dom? Anything else that needs to be done can be taken care of in the morning.”
“Sounds good.”
He eyed me. “You going straight home?”
I eyed him back. “Nope.”
Gio looked away. “All right then. See you tomorrow.”
I couldn’t let this go another day without being straight with him. Gio deserved that.
“Gio,” I said haltingly, “I think there’s something we need to get out on the table here. I just wanted to wait until the opening was out of the way. But Melanie and I—”
“I don’t need to hear it,” he interrupted. He crossed his arms and fixed me with a glare. “I’m not going to deliver a lecture, Dom. I’m not as clueless as you think I am, and if you really don’t know any fucking better, then nothing I say is going to make a dent anyway.”
I swallowed. “Giovanni, it’s not like that.”
He shook his head and sighed. “I love you, Dominic. You’re my brother, my partner, my best friend. But sometimes you can be careless about people without considering the fallout.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
He gave me a flat stare. “You know.”
I couldn’t answer immediately because I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. But as soon as the words left his mouth, Gio’s face fell with obvious regret. He didn’t mean to lash out. And this wasn’t his fault. We should have hashed out that messy history a long time ago instead of pretending like it never existed.
“Gio,” I said gently, “no one is gonna get hurt here, not this time.”
He nodded tiredly. “All right, Dom. All right.” He looked a little bashful. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to go on the attack and make it sound like I believed those old garbage rumors about you.”
“It’s okay.” I coughed, feeling uneasy. And guilty. “We should talk about this some more, though.”
