Page 9 of The Wages of Sin

And I wanted more of it.

Maybe that was why I’d covered for her—another surprise—when Rose came knocking. Though, to be honest, I never could stomach a snitch, and the older cleaning lady looked like she was itching for a reason to turn her new partner in.

A few minutes after Mary (there was no way that was her real name) fled my bedroom, I overheard Rose talking to her as they were packing up to leave.

“Here’s your pay for today.” There was a rustle of paper as Rose handed over one of the sealed envelopes that I’d left out on the kitchen counter for them.

“Thank you,” Mary said, her voice as soft as before. There was a slight pause, then, “Wait. This is too much.”

Rose tried and failed to muffle a cruel-sounding laugh. “You can always give me what you don’t want.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said. “I’m just surprised.”

“I take it your usual clients don’t like you enough to tip.”

“Some do,” Mary said, ignoring the other woman’s taunt. “But never like this. Does this client always pay like this?”

“Don’t get greedy, girl,” Rose said, her voice taking on a sharp edge. “This is Helen’s regular gig, not yours.”

“I didn’t think it was.”

“Good,” Rose doubled down. “Because if I thought you were trying to poach our client, especially one with pockets as deep as this one, I’d have to do something about it. Understand?”

The hallway was dead silent for a second.

Anger began to coil deep within my belly at the sound of Rose’s petulant threat. That was the second time today she’d tried my temper, acting far too presumptuous.

Clearly, it was time to contact Jane and request a new crew.

Not that this place ever got dirty enough to need two cleaners. Just one would be enough.

And now I knew exactly which one I wanted.

Chapter Four

KIERA

The following Tuesday, I found myself back in that same building across from Central Park. Standing in the lobby clutching my cleaning caddy, my stomach twisted into worried knots.

At least this time, my anxiety wasn’t caused by a (gorgeously) naked client.

It was because I was about to be late.

Well, I wasn’t.

I’d shown up a full ten minutes before the scheduled appointment time, just like always. It was Rose who was late.

I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the woman’s way of protesting Jane substituting me for her usual partner again. At least, that’s what I assumed had happened when I’d received the text early this morning instructing me to report to this address again at ten a.m. sharp.

I couldn’t stand being late. It was a trait I’d developed back in my first year of medical school.

My life might have drastically changed in the last eighteen months, but some lessons stayed true as ever. Back then, I didn’t want to be the last student to walk into class on the day that the professor handed out dissection specimens. Today, I didn’t want to face the consequences of ringing a dangerous criminal’s doorbell fifteen minutes late.

I glanced down at my phone—two minutes to ten.

Screw it. Rose was on her own. She could come up whenever she arrived.

I headed for the elevator.

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