Page 27 of Forbidden Hearts

“I don’t know anything about that. She seemed normal to me. About the money,” he says, changing subjects. “Now that you know where it comes from, I assume you’ll keep it and use it.”

I glance up at the wall behind him. Ireallywant to believe the money he gave me comes from his legitimate businesses and not from killing people. It seems there is more to Alonzo than what Jacob told me. Maybe Jacob doesn’t know Alonzo as well as he thinks.

“I guess I can accept it,” I reluctantly say.

“Good. Call Jacob tonight and tell him you quit.”

It’s not that simple.

What am I supposed to tell Jacob when he asks me how I will pay for my apartment and college tuition?

“Well, remember the guy I’m supposed to seduce and rob blind? Yeah, he gave me a shit-ton of money, so I don’t need you anymore.”

No, it won’t be that simple. Jacob knows Mom’s situation. He knows I need the money and will find it suspicious if I quit out of the blue without having a legitimate reason.

And yet…I want to quit so badly. I don’t want to set foot at The Den again. Or that stupid stage. Or Jacob’s house…

I tighten my hands into fists under the table, carving the nails into my palms.

“I don’t know if I can quit.”

“You will,” Alonzo says. “Unless there’s another reason you like to work there. Are you seeing Jacob?” He asks with a hint of accusation in his voice. I do my best to bottle up my annoyance.

“Jacob pays my bills. That’s it. There’s nothing between us.”

Alonzo studies me with suspicious eyes, then leans back in his seat and relaxes. “The money I gave you should be enough to pay for the rest of your school year, but if it’s not, I can give you more.”

I can’t believe he’s willing to give me more money. I’m just a random college girl. Does he always shower his flings with money? I find that hard to believe. Even if he is wealthy and owns multiple businesses, dropping tens of thousands of dollars on multiple girls would surely drain his bank account.

“I don’t need more money,” I finally say. “And I hope the money you gave me doesn’t have any strings attached.”

“The only string is for you to quit working at Jacob’s club,” he says, sitting back up and boring his eyes into mine.

“Trust me, I hate it there,” I say, both because it’s the truth and to throw him off my scent in case his mafia sense is detecting something suspicious.

“So you’ll quit then.”

I don’t know why he’s so adamant that I quit, but I nod and say yes. Jacob is going to throw a fit when I tell him I’m quitting.

Chapter 13

Alex

About ten minutes later, Aurora returns with our food. She carefully places Alonzo’s plate on the table, eggs in a pool of red salsa and a side of hash browns. She gives me an indifferent glance and slides my plate in front of me.

“Thank you, Aurora,” Alonzo says.

Aurora smiles at him but gives me another icy stare before looking away. She leaves to serve a group of men who just came in and sat at the table behind me. She addresses them with a friendly voice, making me wonder what I did to piss her off.

“I like to have breakfast for dinner sometimes,” Alonzo says. “It’s my comfort food. My mom used to make us breakfast for dinner when there wasn’t money for meat.”

“We weren’t well off either,” I say. “I grew up in Harling. It’s a small nearby town. Just my mom and me.”

As we eat, Alonzo tells me he grew up in a border city called Laredo. I hadn’t heard about it before, but it turns out it’s one of the largest cities in south Texas.

I probe a little here and there, trying to see if he’ll mention anything about his time working for the mafia. But that’sridiculous. No mafia person will ever publicly tell you about their crimes.

During high school, the father of one of Alonzo’s friends became his mentor. This friend’s father taught Alonzo everything about business and growing wealth. I can’t tell for sure, but I suspect by “business” he means “mafia dealings.”

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