Page 96 of The Beast Who Bought Me
He sounds mad at me again. Like he did in the car. “I told you, we can get the suit cleaned.”
“Who cares about the suit!” Sammy breaks in. “That was dumb as hell, Damiano.”
“I fully agree,” Caligula says.
Vito is nodding as well, and Rosa, giving me an evil little pat on the scar she just stitched into me, says, “You need to take better care of yourself.”
I’m about to tell them all to go to hell when I realize that all of them are glancing around at each other with tiny smiles.
“Well,” I say, pain and exhaustion coming over me. “I don’t plan to do it again.”
That actually gets a chuckle out of them. I’m not sure why my misadventure is so funny, but I’ll take that over the atmosphere that’s been percolating ever since I brought the Clemenza into my house.
We all drink our coffees, and Rosa tells us about her late husband, and a time he had to dive off the Brooklyn Bridge. It doesn’t sound very likely to me, but it’s a good story, and I find myself grinning along with everyone when she ends that he was sick as a dog for weeks with some bug he picked up in the water.
We’re all crowded around the counter, huddled over our coffees, and it feels…good. Homey. Like a family. The Clemenza catches my eye, just as he’s laughing about Rosa’s story, and I’m smiling too, and it feels almost natural.
Like this is how things really should be.
I look away quickly. Unfortunately, the direction my eyes go, I end up glancing at Sammy. He obviously saw the Clemenza and me looking at each other, because he’s stopped laughing. His face shutters again, and the moment, whatever it was, is broken.
“Okay,” I say, putting down my cup. “I need a shower. Rosa, can you get together a tray for dinner? I’ll take our guest back upstairs.”
“One or two meals?” she asks innocently.
“Two,” I say after a second. The Clemenza and I need to talk more about this Tiberius, whoever he is. Might as well do it over food.
Caligula follows me up the stairs this time and I feel his eyes fixed on my naked back, on the stitched-up skin that everyone’s making too much fuss about. When we get to my room, I gesture to the bed. “Get in there and eat while I shower.”
“And how exactly are you planning to wash your back without tearing Rosa’s stitches open?” Caligula asks, not moving toward the bed. “You can’t reach it, you can’t see it, and you’re covered in garbage juice that’s teeming with bacteria. If you take that waterproof patch off accidentally, it’ll get infected.”
I open my mouth to argue, but he’s already talking over me.
“You took care of me when I was sick. Consider this repayment.” He’s already shrugging off his jacket. “Unless you’d rather call Rosa up here to scrub your back for you.”
It’s the threat of Rosa that does it. And hell, it’s not like we haven’t been naked and wet in each other’s presence before.
I strip down and start the shower, turning my back to him at the door. I’m glad I’m facing away. He might see the reaction my dick has otherwise. It’s the way he’s washing me down, all careful and soft, that gets my body thinking the wrong thing. I put up with it as long as I can and then I grunt, “That’s fine,” over my shoulder.
He doesn’t argue, for once, just leaves me alone to finish up my shower.
When I come back out, buck naked, he doesn’t look up. And he’s had a few mouthfuls of food, which I guess is a good sign, if he’s hungry.
“So this Tiberius,” I say. “Where is he?”
Caligula pokes at his osso buco in frustration. “I don’t know. And I have no idea where to even start looking.”
“So that’s it,” I say. “Another dead end.”
He says nothing. I guess he’s sulking because he knows what that means. I’ll put him away in his underground kingdom while I sniff around for a new lead.
Not tonight, though. He had a rough day. I’ll keep him up here tonight, but I’ll be damned if I sleep in a bed that’s not my own, because I’ve had a rough day, too.
He’s still poking at the food instead of putting it in his mouth. “Eat,” I tell him. “Or I’ll pour a fucking protein shake down your throat.”
I slide into the bed next to him and take up my own bowl. I’m fucking starving after the day I’ve had. But then Caligula says something that kills my appetite dead.
“We have one last lead. The Obelisk.”
