Her Man Friday(73)
Author: Elizabeth Bevarly

"Ah… okay," she said, spinning around again, evidently trying to make the best of a fast degenerating situation. She cleared her throat discreetly when two men at the bar rose and began to approach her. Then, once again, she directed her comments to the entire room. "I wonder if you… lovely gentlemen… could help me out. I’m looking for someone. Have any of you… lovely gentlemen… seen, um…"

She faltered a bit when the first of the two lugs from the bar stopped within a foot of her. Then, suddenly, she brightened.

"My husband?" she finished. "Have any of you seen my husband? He’s a big, hulking guy, about six—" She hastily sized up the man nearest her before continuing, "Uh, six-five." She cleared her throat again when another man began to approach. "He weighs about, ah, two-fifty? Two-fifty-five? And he has big, beefy fists and hair all over his back. And no neck. None whatsoever. He, uh… he carries a switchblade in his sock. And… and numchuks, too. His name is, um, Rocco. Rocco Corleone. Do you happen to know if he’s come in here tonight?"

The man nearest her reached out a hand to clamp it over her shoulder, chuckling evilly as he did.

"Did I mention that he’s also insanely jealous?" she added halfheartedly as she recoiled from the man’s touch. "And that he’s out on parole for killing a man who tried to sell me some encyclopedias?"

"Here I am, honey!" Leo called out from the back of the room, wondering when he had decided to intercede on behalf of a criminal. Probably because she was a really cute criminal, he thought. That was why.

He took a step out of the shadows, tugging Eddie Dolan along for the ride. "And I brought my friend, Vito, with me," he added as the two of them strode forward. "He’s in town visiting his godfather."

She was obviously more than a little relieved to see him. "Oh, darling!" she cried in a pretty convincing June Cleaver voice. "I’m so glad you’re here. It’s your Aunt Sybil. She’s got an ingrown toenail again, and you know you’re the only one she’ll let near her with a pair of tweezers."

"Damn," Leo said blandly. "Oh, well. Duty calls. Gentlemen?"

He made a dismissive gesture with his hand, hoping the men who had formed a ring around Lily would let them all leave with their lives—and limbs. Evidently, the guys at Smoky Joe’s had bigger fish to fry that night—or else they were stupid enough to believe that bit about Eddie’s godfather—because, as one, they parted to allow Leo and Lily and Eddie through.

Leo pretended that his heart wasn’t pounding in his throat as he passed through the throng, nudging Lily ahead of him, hoping like hell that Eddie would pull up the rear. The moment they were outside, however, he grabbed her by the upper arm and propelled her forward as fast as he could, toward Eddie’s apartment building at the end of the block.

But Lily struggled free and stopped dead in her tracks. "Chloe," she said.

"She’s safe," Leo told her.

Her entire body seemed to relax at his assurance. "Oh, thank God. Where is she?"

"She’s with… her father," Leo said.

Lily eyed him warily. "Schuyler made it in time?"

Leo nodded. "The guy came through. Big time. He and Chloe are going to have a lot to talk about during their ride home."

Lily nodded. "Good. As bad as this was, maybe, ultimately, some good will come of it. Now then," she added quickly, "how about the two of us make an example out of them and do likewise?"

He studied her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"How about the two of us do a lot of talking on the way to your place? And even more after we get there?"

He shook his head adamantly. No way was he going to let her take advantage of his emotions right now. No way was he going to let her talk him into doing something he knew better than to do. No way was he going to let her get under his skin again. No way was he going to set himself up for that kind of fall.

"Forget it, Lily. It’s over."

She expelled an impatient breath, running a restless hand through her bangs. "Leo, you have got to give me a chance to explain," she told him.

"No. I don’t."

She dropped her hand in front of her, curling it into a fist. "Yes, dammit, you do." She snarled at him. Actually snarled, he noted. How incredibly… arousing. "You will give me a chance to talk about this before you take your findings to the board. You will."

"Why would I do something like that?"

"Because I deserve the opportunity, that’s why. You know I do, Leo. You know it."

"Hey, kids, if I’m interrupting something here…" Eddie began, edging backward a bit, in an obvious effort to free himself of what was promising to be a pretty rabid confrontation.

"You’re not interrupting anything, Eddie," Leo snapped. But he kept his gaze fixed on Lily. "Nothing except the usual farce that is my life, anyway."

"Oh, well, in that case," the other man said, jutting a thumb over his shoulder, "I think I hear my mother calling."

"Wait," Lily said, reaching out to curl her fingers around the other man’s arm to prevent his flight.

Leo became unaccountably jealous at the sight, curling his own fingers into loose fists, before he remembered that he wasn’t letting Lily Rigby under his skin again. He wasn’t. He wasn’t.

"Mr. Dolan," she continued, her voice much softer than it had been when she’d been addressing Leo, "I can only assume that you’re the friend Leo called to help out. Thank you for what you did tonight, helping Chloe."

Eddie bunched up his shoulders and let them drop. "Don’t mention it. I just hope everything works out okay for the kid."

Lily nodded. "Look, why don’t you come to dinner at Ashling tomorrow evening?" she said. "It’s the least we can offer you after your contribution tonight." Before Eddie could respond, she added, "And bring your friend Leo with you, would you?"

Eddie smiled, letting his gaze wander between Lily and Leo. "Yeah, okay. I think he’s available."

"Eddie…"

"But ya know, Miss Rigby, he don’t got the greatest table manners in the world. You sure you want him?"

Lily smiled, too. "Yes, I want him. And he’ll have you there to keep him in line, won’t he?"

Eddie smiled back. "Yeah, well, one of us will keep him in line, anyway."

She turned to face Leo again. "Will you come?" she asked him, her voice urgent now, instead of threatening. "And will you wait until after dinner tomorrow night to confront the board of directors? I promise you, Leo, it will all make sense to you after tomorrow night. You just have to give me the chance to explain."