Page 57 of Lawbreaker

“I thought it was just a threesome,” he said curtly.

“Oh, it was, but you see, I mean, I can’t actually go...”

“Neither can Angel,” he said at once. “You get me? You call him off it right now, right this minute, or I’ll make your worst nightmares seem like Saturday at the amusement park!”

Connie’s breath caught. “Now, Tony...”

“Now nothing! You hear me?”

She let out a breath. “But she likes him,” she muttered. “And he likes her. They got along like a house on fire!”

“She’s going to be an opera star,” Tony shot back. “She is no way going to get mixed up in any sleazy business with Angel! You know what he’s into—I don’t have to tell you why it’s a bad idea. She’s got enough problems with that idiot who’s after her older brother. I’m not letting you put her in the line of fire with Angel!”

“But she’s nice and I like her. Angel’s not bad...”

“Angel is bad,” he corrected. “And shame on you for shoving them together!”

“She’d make the nicest in-law,” she argued.

“She wouldn’t. I mean it. If I see Angel within a city block of her apartment, I’m coming down there. And I’ll tell Odalie he’s seeing someone already.”

She groaned. “Oh, all right! I’ll call and tell her something came up. It will break her heart! She likes Angel!”

“I like Angel, too, as long as he’s in Jersey. And you keep him there!”

“All right, spoilsport,” she muttered. “I love you anyway.”

“Yeah. Me, too. Stop interfering in things you don’t know about.”

“Angel is going to be very disappointed.”

“I’ll send him a sweepstakes card. He’ll get over it. Now, goodbye!”

He hung up in the middle of her next word.

Rudy pursed his lips. “So, she liked Angel, huh?”

Tony glared at him.

Rudy got to his feet. “Well, I guess that puts your two-man detail back on the job.” He paused. “I could take her to see the show on Broadway...?”

Tony’s eyes started to glitter.

Rudy threw up his hands. “I’m going, I’m going. I’ll be in touch.”

Tony glared at him all the way out the door.

9

Connie was all apologies when she called Odalie the next morning to cancel the Broadway-show date.

“Angel and I were really looking forward to it,” she wailed, “but we just can’t make it. I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay. Really,” Odalie assured her. She hadn’t been enthusiastic about the evening out anyway. “Another time, maybe.”

“Another time,” Connie agreed. “Angel says he’s really sorry to miss it.”

“He’s nice,” Odalie replied.