The Venetian and the Rum Runner - L.A. Witt Page 0,117
who didn’t make it,” Carmine went on. “He’s with the church and his family. I’ve made arrangements to pay for a proper funeral.”
“Thank you.” Danny looked at him again. “For all of this. Not letting them…” Oh hell, he couldn’t even speak.
Carmine acknowledged him with a nod. He surveyed the scene, which was now cops encouraging the il Sacchis to leave quietly. To the lads, he said, “I’ll have my drivers take you all home.”
They nodded and murmured thanks.
Carmine turned to Danny. “Why don’t you ride with me? We’ll go by the office so I can pay you.”
“Pay—” Danny blinked. “But we lost all the liquor. Most of… What’s not in the stash…” He stared at Carmine. “We’ve barely got nothing, and you had to pay to—”
“You did the job. I’m not leaving my best rum runners empty-handed.”
Danny glanced at the crew, whose eyes had widened with interest. Well, he certainly wouldn’t be saying no to collecting money for them all after everything they’d been through. And if he was honest, he didn’t want to be away from Carmine. Not yet.
“Uh. All right.” He cleared his throat and told the lads, “Tomorrow at the usual place.”
“We’ll be there.” Bernard glanced past him at Carmine, then looked in his eyes. “Be careful, yeah?”
“Always. And make sure Tommy gets home all right, would you?”
“Of course.” Bernard grimaced. “He’ll be needing a doctor.”
“He will.”
“I’ll look after him.” Bernard gave Danny’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After some more long, tight hugs, the lads followed Carmine’s men to the other cars, and Danny slid into the back of Carmine’s car. Settling against the leather seat, he released a long breath.
A moment later, Carmine joined him. One of his wise guys got into the front seat beside the driver. It took a second, but Danny recognized him as the big Italian who always took him from the butcher shop down to the office. That was surprisingly reassuring. Danny didn’t know quite why, but relief had been in short supply lately, so he didn’t question it.
“Where to, boss?” the driver asked.
“The office,” Carmine said flatly. “And then we’ll take Danny home.”
Danny wanted to insist he’d walk from the butcher shop. It wasn’t far, and he didn’t like the idea of a gangster’s conspicuous car dropping him off outside his tenement. But he didn’t argue. He was exhausted, and he hurt all over. He could barely pull his thoughts into order. Find his way home from Carmine’s office? He’d probably get lost and wind up in il Sacchi territory or something.
He shuddered.
Carmine turned to him. “Cold?”
“I’ll be fine.” Now that Danny thought about it, he was cold, but he wasn’t sure a blanket or even a fire could warm him up right now.
On the seat between them, Carmine’s hand was close enough to his that the warmth teased Danny’s skin. His fingers were nearly numb, and they itched with the need to bridge what little distance remained between his hand and Carmine’s.
It was Carmine who finally moved, lifting his hand away.
Danny had the space of a heartbeat to be disappointed before Carmine pulled off his glove, then put his hand back down…this time over the top of Danny’s.
A shuddering breath almost escaped Danny’s parted lips, but he caught himself and exhaled slowly. Normally. Not doing a thing or making a sound to attract the attention of the two men in front.
He didn’t dare look at Carmine, and he sensed Carmine was, like him, staring straight ahead.
But between them in the darkness, they clasped hands on the seat and held on. There was no telling what Carmine was thinking, but dear God, all Danny could think was how relieved he was to have escaped and that Liam and Giulia were alive, how grateful he was that Carmine had gone to such lengths to save him and his boys, and…
And how damn good it felt to be touching.
After what seemed like days or months in hell, he was alive, he and all but one of his friends were free again—I am so sorry, Francis—and the warmth of Carmine’s hand over his settled him more than anything had in as long as he could remember.
And for the first time in days, Danny wasn’t afraid.
Chapter 24
Fedele slowed the car to a gentle halt in front of the butcher shop.
Carmine turned to Danny, hand still over his. “I’ll take you home, but first, I want to pay you and make sure you’ve got something to keep you safe.”