Hook (A Hitman's Bait 2)

Pinelli chuckled. “You’ve caught yourself a feisty one, Sullivan. Lovely indeed.” He released Kit’s hand. “Something tells me we’ll see more of each other. Sullivan, you simply have to bring him around the house sometime for us to get better acquainted. It’s been a while since you’ve been.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Good god, man. I’m not going to compete for your affections. As lovely as he is, I’m only into women. Although I suppose…” He must have seen the ticking of my jaw. “I’m simply pulling your leg. I won’t touch your boy, but onto other matters. Would you mind joining me at my table for a few minutes, Sullivan? It’s to talk business. I don’t suppose you want your young man involved in such tedious matters.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Good. It was a pleasure to meet you, Kit.”

He walked to a table where his son sat. I needed to get Kit out of here. I didn’t like the way Pinelli talked to him and about him.

“Sully, calm down.” Kit laid his hand on mine and squeezed. “You’re making it obvious that we’re so much more than just a fling like you wanted him to believe.”

“I don’t like this, Kit. Why is he here?” Had he known I was here, and was that the reason for him showing up?

“It’ll be fine. Just go talk to him.”

“Don’t leave this table,” I said.

“I won’t.”

If only I could avoid talking to Pinelli, but wishing there was another way didn’t make one. I sighed and walked over to Pinelli’s table. Someone had added a third chair.

“I am terribly sorry for pulling you away from your date and leaving him so lonely,” Pinelli said when I sat. “Why don’t you keep him occupied, Tommy, while Sullivan and I discuss business?”

“He’s fine,” I said.

“Nonsense. Go ahead, Tommy.”

“With all due respect, Luigi, your son’s openly homophobic. He goes anywhere near that boy, and I’ll break his fucking legs.”

Tommy’s face turned red. “Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that?” he snarled.

“Sullivan’s right,” Pinelli said. “You see what happens when you make trouble everywhere you go, don’t you, son? Just stay where you are.”

I relaxed just a little. “You wanted to see me about something specific?”

“How’re things?” he asked. “The last time we spoke, you wanted some time off because too many things were happening. Did you have any luck finding out what’s the cause of your problems?”

“No lead yet,” I replied. “I suspect Javier Grimaldo might be gaining a little more insight than I wanted about the night Ivan died.”

“Surely you’re not worried about Javier. He’s a notorious weakling who might not be the head any longer if members of his family have their way.”

“What do you mean?”

“By right, he’s the next successor, but he doesn’t instill fear in the people the way his older brother did. They will always compare Javier to Ivan and find him lacking.”

“Hmm.”

“So put your mind at ease, Sullivan. Javier Grimaldo has a lot more to worry about than who killed Ivan.”