What the hell? Was he terminating my contract? It wasn’t my fault Mario had stormed into the shop. And what was I supposed to do when he threatened my bestie?
“I thought he was going to hurt Bella,” I said, thinking fast. “He was violent and I was trying to protect her. I’m worried for her after they get married.”
“The marriage is my concern,” he said. “What happens between them is not.”
I couldn’t imagine my father ever saying anything like that. When he’d found out about Kyle, I had to hold him back from hunting Kyle down. But what did I expect of a Mafia boss who was forcing his daughter into marriage? He wasn’t a normal dad. This wasn’t a normal life. She deserved better. She deserved to be loved.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” I reached for my bag, and he gave an irritated grunt that froze me in my seat.
“I appreciate your discretion.” He nodded at the envelope.
Taking the hint, I opened the envelope and thumbed through the wad of bills inside, wishing I had Anil’s gift for math. This wasn’t a send-off; it was a pay-off.
“Is that enough?”
I stared at him openmouthed while my brain went into overdrive. How much was in the envelope? Was it polite to take it out, or should I count it in the envelope? Should I use the calculator app on my phone, or would he think I couldn’t count by twenties and fire me on the spot? What did normal people do in this situation? Did normal people ever get into this situation? Was this legal? Would I have to declare it on my taxes? What should I say? Would I be underselling myself if I said yes?
“No? You want more?” Misunderstanding my silence, he gestured to one of the guards. “Gino, open the safe.”
I hadn’t paid much attention to Mr. Angelini’s bodyguards, but Gino was the kind of guy who sucked all the light out of a room. Well over six feet tall, his arms and chest thick with muscle, Gino was dressed in all black, his dark hair shorn to a fuzz. His face was hard, cold, and chiseled with menace. If anyone was going to chop me up and stuff me in a gym bag, it was him.
“Gino’s the head of my private security team,” Mr. Angelini said when he caught me staring.
I suspected Gino also headed the Assassination Squad, the Body Disposal Team, and he probably enjoyed mixing different types of concrete the way Chloe and I liked to mix different types of cocktails on a Saturday night.
Gino slid his hand over the top of the bookcase behind the desk. I heard a click, and the bookcase swung open to reveal a safe embedded in the wall, just as Anil had described. Gino spun the dial and the door swung open to reveal a bundle of papers, a stack of white envelopes stuffed with cash, and a large blue velvet jewelry box, the perfect size to hold the Wild Heart.
I stifled a gasp. There it was. Only five feet away. The key to Chloe’s salvation and our financial freedom.
Gino’s head snapped to the side, his narrowed gaze locked on my face. Without missing a beat, he shoved the jewelry box to the back of the safe before taking out an envelope and handing it to Mr. Angelini.
“Another five thousand for your continued discretion.” Mr. Angelini slid the envelope across the desk and my brain finally clicked into focus mode.
“Thank you.” I stuffed the envelopes in my purse like I accepted bribes every day. “I won’t say anything.” Had he paid off the staff at the bridal shop, too? What was the going price of silence these days?
“I know you won’t.” He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Gino checked you out. You sell suits and candy and live with your parents. You’re a good girl, nice and squeaky clean as they come.”
“You investigated me?” Did he know about the heist? The meetings in Rose’s garage? Was he toying with me? I glanced over at the bag in the corner, wondering if I would fit, considering I’d already gained a few pounds since I’d moved back home. And then there was my candy addiction . . .
“I like to know who I’m doing business with,” he said. “If I’m happy with your work, things will go well for you.”
“And if you’re not happy?”
“You don’t want me to be unhappy.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t suppose I do.”
* * *
◆ ◆ ◆
?“How was it?” Jack asked as we drove away from the mansion.
“I’m alive. I’d call that a win.” I pulled out the envelopes and showed him the cash. “He paid me to keep my mouth shut about what happened at the wedding dress shop. I’ve never been bribed before. It was a surreal experience. I was so shocked that I didn’t answer when he asked if it was enough, so he had his bodyguard open the safe to give me more. You’ll never guess what I saw.”
“The necklace.”
I gave him the side-eye. “Way to ruin the surprise.”
“It was kind of obvious,” Jack said. “The only surprising thing is that he let you see it.”
“I saw a box; not the actual necklace. But what else could it be?”
Jack stopped at the intersection leading back to the highway. “Where to next?”
Right would take us back to Evanston—Rose, Chloe, my apartment, my family, and the garage that had become a second home for my crew. Left would take us back into the city, where I could walk into the police station and confess to the crime so Chloe could be free. She wouldn’t have to worry about lawyer’s fees or trials or prison, and she’d get my share of the wedding planning money to keep her going over the next little while. But did I really want to go to jail for something I didn’t do? Six weeks ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I’d spent most of my life struggling to prioritize my needs, thinking so little of myself that I would always give up what I wanted for the greater good.
You didn’t want anything.
My father’s voice echoed in my ears. I had wanted things, but I’d been afraid to ask—love, attention, time, even small things like age-appropriate movies on family movie nights or five minutes at dinnertime to share my day at school. I wanted things now—a wedding planning company that made me excited to get out of bed in the morning, a bestie who showed up with bleach, a bunch of oddballs who had suddenly become friends, my flawed family who loved me and was desperately trying to make up for the past, and Jack, who was so wrong for me and yet so right.
I wasn’t going to get what I wanted if I went to jail. I loved Chloe, but there had to be another way to save her besides throwing my life away. And that had to start with speaking my truth.
“You’re thinking too hard,” Jack said. “I can hear it all the way over here. Whatever you’re trying to decide, follow your heart. That’s what my grandmother always told me.”
“You hurt me when you left me to face those strangers alone,” I said, speaking up for the first time in my life. “I trusted you. I felt safe with you. I have issues with abandonment and that was pretty much the worst thing you could do. You made me feel like I wasn’t important, that I wasn’t worth protecting. I’ve been trying to fight that feeling of worthlessness all my life.”
I expected Jack’s usual evasiveness. He gave me honesty instead. “I’m sorry. I knew you could take care of yourself, and I knew they wouldn’t hurt you, but there was no excuse for leaving the way I did. You were scared, helpless, and alone—”