But as soon as the door closed, I got up to lock it, then took myself into the bathroom to quickly shower.
By the time I came out of the bedroom in slacks and a white blouse, my hair pulled back into a bun, the scent of coffee was already filling the apartment.
Goya was over his food dish, chowing down.
“We grabbed breakfast sandwiches,” Nico said, waving toward the brown bag on the counter. “But I also got a plain bagel, if you’re not an egg and cheese bagel kind of person.”
“Is anyone not an egg and cheese on a bagel person?” I asked. He reached into the bag and held out the foil-wrapped sandwich. “Thanks. Were you a good boy on your walk?” I asked Goya as I passed. His tail wagged, but he was too busy eating to look up.
“He made a friend. And scared some pigeons.”
“What kind of friend?”
“A Golden Retriever wearing a tie-dye shirt.”
“Well, it’s good to know he’s dog-friendly.”
“When I talk to Brio today, I will get more details about him,” Nico promised. He brought me a coffee, then went back for his own drink and sandwich.
“That would be good. And to know I’m not on some list for dog-napping.”
Nico shot me a smile at that. “I’m sure Brio told the shelter. Don’t worry.”
“So are you calling Brio? Or are you… leaving?”
“I have to leave,” he said, regret clear in his voice. “Hopefully just for a couple of hours. I have to check in with Zeno. Which is impossible to do without a visit, honestly. And, unfortunately, I’m going to need to drop in on the Ferraros to see if they have Matt’s laptop or anything like that.”
“I’m sure they’ll hand them right over. If you offer enough money.” My tone was a little bitter. But, hey, I’d been tortured by those people for years. I wasn’t going to feel bad about being glad I no longer needed to have contact with them.
“If they haven’t already sold them,” Nico agreed, clearly also through with the family after what Matt had been ready to do to him and his loved ones.
“Do I have to stay in the house all day?”
“I would prefer if you did. Unless Goya has to go pee or something. But if you want to get out for a bit, I could bring you to Zeno’s place. But, fair warning, you will hate it. It’s a complete disaster.”
“Could we bring Goya?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I’d like to go, if you don’t mind.” I wasn’t about to admit that I was a little freaked out about being in the apartment alone.
“To go to the Ferraro’s too?”
“God, no. Sorry, that was nasty.”
“Honey, from the sound of things, they treated you like trash. You have nothing to apologize for.” He paused to take a bite of his bagel. “Honestly, I’m dreading it too. It’s not going to be easy to fake being nice just to get the laptop. And I’ve yet to come up with a decent excuse for wanting it.”
“You could say I want it. That I have work stuff or pictures on it or something. You can even say I’ll give it back once I get them off.”
“That might work,” he agreed.
“Or it might work against you, given how much they hate me.”
“If there’s one thing I know about the Ferraro clan, it’s that they like anyone whose pockets are deep enough.”
“I don’t know about that. I was always being guilted into paying for things for them. They still made no attempt to be friendly.”
“That’s their loss. And maybe it’s for the best now. If you were close with them and then discovered all of Matt’s betrayals, it would have been hard to maintain that relationship.”
