Sunrise

Tommaso

I paced back and forth in front of the line of chairs by Lauren’s door. I couldn’t hear anything, as always, but I’d never really wanted to before. When Paige told me she wanted to bring Lauren in on the shelter project, I saw her vision immediately. Lauren was a bulldog on the phone with me, refusing to give up anything that would compromise Paige, but by the way Paige described her, she was a sweetheart in session. I couldn’t imagine someone more perfect to round out the shelter.

Of course, just in case Lauren said no, I’d spent the first half of the session gathering a list of other female therapists with mob connections. It was a short list, at least inside the city, and none of them had the trauma specialization that Lauren did, but Paige was going to need someone with her. The mob connections were just so the women asked fewer questions when the rescues came in. I knew Paige wanted her own thing, away from the life, but I needed to keep both of us safe.

The door opened b