I saw my life flashing before my eyes, or at least my bank balance.
I turned to Lee and whispered, “Lee, that espresso machine cost thousands of dollars…” I stopped speaking and winced when Tex banged something, loud, “If he breaks it, I’m totally screwed.”
“Come on! What’ll it be? Give me orders. Woman, what’s your order?” Tex was pointing the portafilter at me.
“I am barista. I am the best barista in Milan. I make coffee!” Antonio shouted and dashed behind the counter. “Signorina, I make you espresso.”
Lee was ignoring me so I yelled, generally, “Someone stop them!”
“She drinks vanilla lattes,” Duke called.
I grabbed Lee’s arm.
“Lee!”
Lee was watching Gary and The Moron. He didn’t look at me when he said, “He breaks it, I’ll buy you a new one.”
I pressed up against him.
“When I say ‘thousands of dollars’, I mean, like, seven of them!”
Lee’s eyes moved to me. “Indy, honey, what did I say?”
Yikes.
Okay, Lee was concentrating and obviously it was best to leave Lee alone when he was concentrating.
“Ha ha!” Antonio crowed watching Tex slam around. “You know nothing about espresso. I am barista, my father was barista, my grandfather…”
“Shut the f**k up and make coffee if you make coffee, turkey,” Tex boomed.
Wilcox took two steps toward us, Lee moved in front of me and Duke closed ranks.
“That’s close enough, Coxy,” Lee warned.
Wilcox was looking at me but he stopped at Lee’s warning.
“You keep sending back my presents,” Wilcox said to me.
I got a chill up my spine, his eyes were weird, intense and frightening.
“Thank you, you’re being very nice but it would be rude for me to accept them.”
“You accepted the one I gave you yesterday.”
Lee’s body tensed and it seemed as if electricity sparkled in the air.
Then it came to me, in a flash.
I was on the phone to Lee yesterday, telling him about Pepper Rick’s body and Lee had said, “A present.”
I hadn’t thought of it again, but that’s what he meant. Wilcox had killed my kidnapper and brought him to me as a present.
Oh… my… God.
How totally gross was that?
I was standing mostly behind Lee and grabbed bunches of his t-shirt in my hands but I didn’t take my eyes off Wilcox.