Cut and Run 3 - Fish and Chips

pulled it away from his face before it could spill across his lap.
    “A tango! Del, you must dance with me! Please, tesoro , let us dance while you do your boring things,” Norina said as she turned to her husband.
    “Ah, the whims of a woman,” Bianchi said fondly. “If you must.”
    Norina turned to Ty, one graceful hand outstretched. “You promised me a tango while at sea.”
    Ty stared at her, eyes slightly wide. “I did?” he asked, obviously caught off guard. “I did,” he repeated more confidently, trying to cover his initial reaction as he took her hand gingerly. He glanced at Zane as if seeking rescue.
    Zane raised both brows and shrugged, though he felt a wash of anxiety. He had no idea if Ty knew how to tango. On a dance floor, anyway. It wasn’t exactly the type of thing one learned in a bar. “Go ahead, doll. I’m sure there will be more songs for us to dance to this evening.”
    Ty gave him the most evil glare Zane thought he had ever seen, but he stood and held Norina’s hand as she rose. The others stood as she did, and Ty escorted her away from the table like a perfect gentleman, leading her out onto the open dance floor in the middle of the dining room.
    “Ah, our loved ones are such delights, are they not?” Bianchi said as he swirled the liquor in his glass.
    “Delights. Right,” Zane murmured as he kept his eyes on the couple. There weren’t many brave enough to dance the tango, which made Ty and Norina all the more conspicuous. Zane would bet his recent windfall that Ty wouldn’t have walked out there without at least some idea of how to tango, but he was still worried. There was nowhere for Ty to hide.
    The melody restarted.
    When they started dancing, it was a slow, almost tentative start. More stop and go than a smooth flow of steps. But Zane knew that was how most tangos started. They didn’t miss any steps, and Norina was smiling as they turned in a half-circle. Then the music picked up, becoming more robust, and Ty whirled Norina around in time with the music and dipped her grandly as she laughed. That was when they truly began dancing.
    Zane almost broke cover and showed his surprise as he watched. Ty could tango. And pretty damn well. Surprise, surprise.
    The diners at the tables nearest the dance floor were watching the four couples dancing. All of them were quite good, but Ty and Norina were the only ones who were truly fun to watch. Two attractive people with shining personalities who knew what they were doing and enjoyed doing it — they were hard not to watch.
    “Ah, he makes my gioia smile,” Bianchi remarked, his voice full of pride. “She is so beautiful,” he added, almost to himself. A man truly in love.
    That thought shakily in mind, Zane spoke. “They both are,” he agreed with no doubt at all.
    “What about you, Mr. Armen? Why did you not bring someone with you? Perhaps someone as stunning as my Norina… or as handsome as Mr. Porter?” Bianchi asked.
    “Beautiful people are in general a distraction,” Armen said stiffly. “And more trouble than they are worth.” He made no effort to qualify the statement or excuse their spouses from the broad generalization. He glanced out at them, now dancing a more vigorous version of the tango as each grew familiar with how the other moved.
    If Lorenzo Bianchi had known the fake Del Porter on the dance floor was actually bisexual and had the reputation Ty did at home, there was no way he’d sit passively by while his wife danced with him like that. Zane found himself swallowing on no small amount of jealousy as well, especially upon seeing the real enjoyment on Ty’s face. Ty and Norina grinned widely at each other as they moved in graceful box steps and the occasional twirl or dip.
    “A distraction, perhaps,” Zane started before forcing himself to turn back to the table. “But also motivation to conduct a successful business.”
    “Leave it to the American to skip the small talk and move right on to the business,” Bianchi remarked bemusedly. He picked up his glass, holding it up to Zane. “I salute your ability to ignore beautiful things in favor of business.”
    Zane nodded once and leveled an expectant look at Armen. “While they’re otherwise occupied, no time like the present.”
    “To business, then,” Armen murmured as he raised his own glass. He and Bianchi touched their glasses together.
    After a moment’s hesitation under Bianchi’s expectant eye, Zane went against his earlier