Hook (A Hitman's Bait 2)

Yeah, right. I turned my phone off and got out of the car.

Pinelli was in the restaurant where I assumed he would be. As I walked to his table, the smile on his face disappeared. He said something to the pretty blonde sitting with him. She rose to her feet, kissed Pinelli on the cheek, and strutted away.

“Luigi.” I sat across from him in the chair his date had vacated. “My apologies for being late. I had an urgent matter to deal with and just came from the hospital.”

Pinelli swore under his breath. “A man can’t even hold on to his anger when it comes to you, Sullivan. Trust you to have a perfectly good reason for being late.” He studied me. “You look fine to me.”

“It’s not…me.”

“But someone very close to you.”

“Yes.” I wouldn’t say anything more. The less he knew about Kit, the better. “But everything’s better now. I came as fast as I could.”

“We weren’t scheduled to meet until next week. What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait until then?”

“I’m asking for a few weeks off assignments,” I said. “Too many things are happening right now, and I can’t make sense of them. I want some time to see if things change.”

“What do you mean?”

“Unexpected confrontations. What happened in Smoky Vale was a direct attack on me. The Grimaldos are still looking for the one responsible for Ivans’s death, and I can’t shake what happened with Palmer. Then last night… It’s too great a risk right now to continue as planned. If I’m a target, I can’t handle the jobs properly, so it wouldn’t be any use hiring me.”

“You’re sure about this?”

“No, but my gut tells me that something’s brewing.”

“In all fairness, the time I give you off will need to be added to your contract,” Pinelli said. “Make sense?”

No surprise there. “Sounds fair. Does this mean you’ll honor my request?”

He nodded. “I will. You’ve worked hard for me over the past ten years, Sullivan. You can take four weeks off. Now why don’t we order lunch? I have a feeling conversation with you would be more engaging than with my date. Have you ever noticed they’re never blessed with both beauty and brains?”

Kit was. He was an exception. He might not consider himself bright, but in my opinion, he was smart and beautiful. I was lucky to be with him and to still have him in my life.

“I’m sure you can find someone with both, but you might not be looking in the right places.”

He chuckled. “We can’t all be like you, Sullivan. You switched, from what I heard.”

“Don’t always listen to the rumors.” I got up. “I’d love to eat with you, Luigi, but I’ll have to take a raincheck, and it’s on me. I really do need to get back to the hospital.”

“Very well, then.” He picked up his glass and raised it in salute. “I hope you catch who's behind this.”

So did I. So did I.

“Leaving so soon?”

I halted and turned to Tommaso—Tommy—Luigi’s son.

“My business with your father is done. Is there a reason you stopped me?”

I might show Pinelli respect because I worked for the man, but I owed none to his son.

“You think you’re some big shot he treats differently than the rest of us, don’t you?” He stepped close to me, so close he almost bumped my chest. “But you’ll never be his heir, Sullivan Matthews. The keys to the Pinelli kingdom will never be yours.”

He couldn’t be any more off base, and if I hadn’t been up half the night worried sick about Kit, I would have found his idea that I wanted to take his place amusing.

“Is it standing so close to me or the potential danger of me snapping your head off that’s giving you that hard-on, Tommy?” I arched an eyebrow. “I’d rather not make a scene with you because you’re Luigi’s son, but make no mistake; I work for your father, not you. The only thing preventing me from snapping your fucking weak spine in two like a twig is the respect I have for your father. But if you don’t stop rubbing your dick against mine, I’ll lodge it up your colon. You. Are. Not. My. Type.”

Tommy sprang away from me so fast he tripped over his own foot and crashed onto the floor. I shook my head at him. “You need to worry less about me and pull your shit together if you want to take your father’s place someday.”