“How do you take it?”
“Black,” he said. “Please.”
I filled two mugs, one for him and one for me. I added milk to mine and brought them out to the table. He frowned at it, but took a sip, and smiled.
“What can I do for you two?” I asked, sipping my own coffee, hoping it would steady my hand. Instead, it only made the shaking more obvious.
He sat down and I sat across from him.
“We got a problem,” Aldo said as he sat. Davide lingered a few feet behind him, hands in the pockets of his windbreaker, eyes narrowed in a strange glare. “I know you’ve been a very busy girl, very busy, doing things outside of your specific job description.”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” I said, shifting in my chair.
“Oh, come on, Fiona, can we skip that whole stupid game where you pretend like you have no clue what I’m talking about, and I don’t have to beat the shit out of you until you admit it?”
I stared and nodded once.
“Good,” he said with a sigh. “All right then. So you’ve been busy.”
“Yes.”
“Maria says you’ve been snooping. She says you might’ve found something. Did you find something?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?” He arched an eyebrow. “Come on now, Fiona. What did you find?”
“Financial reports, some spreadsheets, but we don’t understand any of it.” I tried to tell him as much of the truth as I could, skating right along that fine line. He grunted once, nodding slightly.
“And what does your boy think? Dr. Dean?”
“He’s as confused as I am, but we’re both pretty sure Maria’s financially involved with you people.”
Aldo’s eyebrows went up. “Now who do you think we are?”
I hesitated. “Mafia.” I felt silly saying it out loud.
He didn’t smile. “Okay, I guess you figured that one out pretty fast.”
My blood went cold. “What do you want from me?”
“I think that much is obvious.” He leaned closer. “I want you to stop snooping. Leave Maria alone. Stop getting involved in things that don’t concern you.”
“She’s stealing from patients. People might die because—”
“Nobody’s dying,” Aldo said, rolling his eyes. “Look, will it make you feel better if I said that any money we touch is money that never would’ve seen a patient to begin with?”
I shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Then take it from me: we’re not stealing shit from nobody.”
“That’s good then.”
He snorted. “You don’t sound convinced.”
I felt my temper rise and my stupid mouth got the better of me. “You stalk me on the street, you come into my apartment uninvited, and you expect me to do what, believe you? Take your word for it? Sorry if that’s not going to happen.”
Aldo grinned huge and looked over his shoulder at Davide. “Can you believe the balls on this one?”
“Huge balls,” Davide said. “Enormous.”
“Just enormous elephant balls.” Aldo looked back at me. “All right, I hear what you’re saying, Fiona. Here’s the thing though. I don’t give a fuck what you think. I don’t give a fuck that you’re annoyed we’ve been giving you a hard time. I want you to back the fuck off, and if you don’t, I’m going to hurt you. Me, personally. I’m going to hurt you very badly.”
I swallowed once and stared at him. “Get out of my apartment.”
He shrugged and stood. “We said what we came to say.” He nodded down at the table. “Thanks for the coffee.”
I stayed where I was, hand trembling as I tried to pick up my mug. Coffee dribbled down the side and I cursed, putting it back down. Davide looked over his shoulder at me, eyes almost glazed over, and he gave me a wicked smile. I stared back at him, heart racing.
Aldo opened the door and stepped out, then stopped.
“Who the fuck are you?”
I jumped to my feet. That was Dean’s voice in the hall.
“Well, well,” Aldo said as I hurried over. “Looks like Dr. Dean’s here.”
“I said, who the fuck are you?”
I stepped into the hallway, just behind Aldo and Davide. Dean stood near the front door, hands balled into fists, eyes hard. He looked like he was ready to spring to action.
“Dean,” I said, holding up my hands. “It’s okay.”
He stared into my eyes then back at Aldo. “I’ll ask one more time. Who are you?”
“I’m a friend, for now,” Aldo said. “I’d listen to your girl there, pal.”
“Let them go, Dean.”
He stood there in the doorway, his body outlined and silhouetted by the light from outside, the sounds of the street spilling into the cramped hallway. The walls were bare and white, scuffed by time and neglect, and the two mobsters looked like they were ready to do something violent.
Dean finally stepped aside. Aldo went first, grinning madly, followed by Davide who said nothing and gave no indication that he cared much about what had happened. Dean lingered, staring at them as they left, then turned to me.