Anna turned to walk out of the room and was a little startled to find Danny watching her in the doorway. "Hey. You shouldn't sneak up on a girl like that," she said as she walked toward him and started to put her hands on his chest.

When she touched him, he recoiled as if as if she'd burned him. "My brother was here?" he asked in a hurt tone.

She looked up at him in surprise and wasn't sure what to say. His eyes were filled with anger. "Um…"

"Don't try to deny it. Stan escorted him up here."

"I wasn't going to deny it. I just…"

"You just what? Did you call him?" he asked raising his voice slightly.

"No…no…of course I didn't call him."

"Then how the hell does he know where you live?" he asked skeptically.

"I have no idea. He said you told him. He just showed up here a few nights ago. I was surprised when Stan called me from the lobby and said Raffi was here. I didn't know what to say…"

"How about saying that you barely know the man and you wouldn't feel right about having him up to your apartment while I'm not here?"

"That would have been rude, Danny. I went to his wedding just a few days ago."

"I know, and you shouldn't have gone to his wedding in the first place. We agreed that was a mistake. So why the hell would you let him come up here?" he asked accusingly.

"I don't know. I thought he was looking for you. I thought I would just tell him that you were gone and…"

"And you couldn't do that from the lobby phone? What were you thinking? Were you thinking you could fix his relationship with me? Were you thinking he could tell you more nasty details about my tragic past? Tell me? Tell me what you could have gained by letting him come up here?" he asked as his voice rising after each question.

Tears started to fall out from Anna's eyes. She hadn't seen Danny this angry since his drinking days. "I don't know. I don't know," she shouted back. "I shouldn't have let him up here. I know now it was a mistake. I was just trying to be nice. I just wanted—"

"Why do you know now it was a mistake?" Danny interrupted training in on that one part of her response. "What happened while he was up here?"

Anna shook her head. She didn't want to tell him about feeling uncomfortable around Raffi. "Nothing. Nothing happened."

"Tell me. Did he try something? Did he touch you?" Danny asked as his voice hitched.

"No," she lied as her voice cracked with emotion.

"Then what? Did he make you feel uncomfortable? Did he ask you for something? Did he…"

She wanted him to stop. She felt like she was one of his suspects. "At first, he said he wanted to apologize to both of us."

"At first? Then what? What else?"

She sighed in frustration. "He ended up asking for..."

"Asking for what?" he asked still in a raised voice.

"Money. He said he was going to ask you for money to pay for a birthday present for Nicky," she finally answered.

"Tell me…Please tell me you didn't give it to him," he said as he ran a hand over his face and hair.

"I felt bad for him," she answered, not wanting to tell Danny the truth—that she actually just wanted to get Raffi to leave her apartment.

"How much?"

"$200. He said it was for a new bike. I didn't see the harm--"

"No. You wouldn't' see the harm," he responded in angry frustration. "I told you to stay out of it. We talked about this. You knew how I felt about this. How the hell could you let him up here? And how could you give him money? He's a junky--"

"It was for Nicky," she yelled back.

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Nicky's birthday isn't for three months, Anna. Three months. Raffi lied to you. I told you…you can't trust him. But you didn't listen…just like you didn't listen when I said I didn't want to go to that damn wedding. I am so sick…"

She took a deep breath and waited for him to finish the statement, but he didn't. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you. I'm sorry for everything," she said as tears continued to stream down her face.

"Were you planning on keeping this a secret? You weren't going to tell me, were you?"

"I don't…"

"Did Raffi tell you not to tell me? Did you two plan to keep this a secret together?"

"No. Don't be ridiculous. I just didn't want you to get mad. I knew after I did, it-" She paused searching for the right words, then finished, "After I gave him the money and he left...I knew that I shouldn't have done it. I knew it was-"

"Promise me…promise me you'll stay out of this from now on," he pleaded. "I don't want him near you, especially if I'm not around. I don't want to talk about him anymore, and I don't want to hear about how I should rebuild my relationship with him. I don't need that—not from you," he said trying to remain calm and not raise his voice again.

She bit her lip as he looked at her. She could see the anger and disappointment in his eyes. "I promise," was all she could say.

He didn't leave that night, but he didn't sleep with her either. He slept on the couch. He knew she genuinely thought she'd been helping, but it was hard for him to get past the fact the she hadn't trusted what he'd said. He couldn't understand how she could, at times, have so little faith in him and yet seem to trust his brother without any grounds for doing so.

The next morning they did their best to pretend the night before hadn't happened, but the tension lingered between them. They experienced an awkward goodbye outside the lobby of her building. He hailed her a cab and opened the door for her.

"Will I see you tonight?" she asked. Normally, it was a given that she would see him.

He shook his head. "I left a ton of paperwork when I came home early yesterday. I'll be there late tonight finishing it. It'd probably be best if I just crashed at my place."

"I guess last night didn't go quite as I planned," she responded. Then she tightened her lips together to keep her tears at bay. "I am sorry…"

"Don't. It's over. I don't want to discuss it anymore," he said in an annoyed tone.

"When will I see you again? We still need to talk," she asked trying not to sound desperate.

He wanted to tell her he needed time. He wanted to tell her he needed space. But he couldn't. He couldn't look in her eyes and hurt her like that. "Dinner tomorrow? Russo's at eight?"

Her lips softened into a slight smile as she internally breathed a sigh of relief. "Sounds good."

He kissed her forehead before she got in the cab. He knew he needed to do a lot of thinking between now and when they met for dinner. Somehow they had to figure out a way to communicate with each other, or he knew it would never work between them. But before he could see her again, he had to get the rest of the details about what happened during her visit with Raffi.

Danny didn't have time to find Raffi until the next day during his lunch hour. He walked in to the auto shop that Raffi worked in and nodded to a couple of the men that he recognized from the wedding. One of them motioned over towards the office. Danny saw that Rafael was sitting at a table in the office area.

He took a deep breath before he entered the room. As he walked in the door, Rafael looked up from reading the paper and smiled. "Danny boy. This is an honor," he said sarcastically as he stood up.

Danny rolled his eyes and smirked. "Raffi. This isn't a social call. I'm here to get a couple of things clear."

Raffi laughed and shook his head as he walked over to a refrigerator. He took out a beer and then looked at Danny. "You really clean and sober?" he asked as he dangled the beer in Danny's direction. "'Course with a girlfriend like that…who needs to get drunk…"

Rafael's remark made Danny snap. He rushed him, tore the beer out of his hand and put his forearm into Raffi's chest as he pushed him against the refrigerator. "Shut up. You don't talk about her. You don't look at her. And you definitely don't go near her. Is that understood?"

Raffi just laughed as Danny gave him one more shove and then moved away from him. "Is that what you wanted to clarify?" Raffi asked.

"How do you know where she lives?"

"What?"

"You showed up unannounced at Anna's apartment the other night. Why were you there and how did you know where to find her?"

"What did she tell you? Did I scare her or something?"

Danny frowned and shook his head. "Tell me what you did."

"Nothing. I didn't do anything. Maybe the princess is overreacting. I know where she lives because I followed you there one night before I came to see you at your apartment. I wanted to talk to you, but then I lost my nerve. When I saw her with you at your place that day, I assumed that she lived in the building that I followed you to. That's how I knew. I'm not stalking your girlfriend, Danny."

"Why did you go there?"

"To apologize to both of you for losing my temper at the wedding. I am sorry, Danny. I didn't mean those things I said."

"Sure you didn't," he answered skeptically. "What else happened?"

"Nothing…"

"You're lying, Raffi. What else happened when you were at her apartment?"

"The money," Raffi answered as if he just remembered.

"Right the money. You told her it was for Nicky's birthday gift."

"It is…"

"His birthday isn't for three months, you lying son of bitch. Are you using again?"

Raffi looked up at Danny as anger flashed in his eyes. "No…I'm not."

"Then what was the money for?"

"I didn't think she'd give it to me unless it was for a good excuse. I didn't think that someone like her would understand that I would just need help making the rent. I thought if she knew it was for Nicky, she wouldn't question it. And I was right. She didn't question it."

"How could you do that, Raffi? How could you ask someone in my life for money? Why wouldn't you just wait to ask me?"

"Because I walked into that apartment and it was a freaking palace. I've never seen anything like it. I figured she must have money to burn with a place like that. I saw an opportunity and I took it."

"Still trying to con everyone, aren't you?" Danny replied quietly. "Did you even think about me once while you were up there with her? Did you think about how doing that might affect my relationship with her? You didn't, did you?"

"Danny, I…" he started to respond.

"I know you didn't. You haven't thought about my feelings since I was twelve years old. Maybe you're not using anymore and maybe you're staying on track, but you still haven't changed. Do you really hate me that much, Raffi? I never asked you to protect me. You want me to be a part of your life, but then you go behind my back to ask my girlfriend for money and making her uncomfortable in the process? You wanted to try to screw with my relationship with her, didn't you? You don't want to see me happy, do you?"

Raffi didn't answer. He just looked down at his feet.

"Stay away from her, Raffi. She's all I have," Danny said before walking out the door.