Page 4 of Unbreakable Vow

At least I wasn’t until my entire world imploded and I had nowhere else to turn.

“No.” I swipe my hand through the air and try to chuckle. “Of course not. I’m just saying I might have information that you’d like to have and that I’m willing to sell it to you.”

He stares at me in silence.

I’ve just defined extortion to the mobster glaring at me.

“How much?” he finally asks. I can breathe again. At least for the moment.

“Fifteen thousand.” I’m starting high and hoping he’ll land around ten.

“I’d need to know what the information is to know if it’s worth that much,” he says, very businesslike. Good. We’re negotiating.

“I’ll need to know what the amount is before I give you all of the information.” I raise my chin. Time to be a businesswoman. Something I’ve never had any intention of being in my life.

The closest I wanted to get to business was working in one while getting through college. The plan was to get a teaching degree, find a good school with a good English department, and settle in for a long career of discussingRomeo and Julietwith a class full of students.

Not once did I ever consider having this sort of conversation with a hulkingly hot Russian mob boss.

“What is the information about?” he presses.

“It has to do with the police.” I can give him that much.

“You’ve been talking to the police?” he demands, his hands turning to fists on the desk.

“No!” I wave both hands in front of me. “No. Absolutely not.” I need to make that clear. “I overheard a cop’s conversation, and he mentioned your family.” I rush to get that out before he thinks I’m some sort of police informant and pulls out a gun to remove me from his troubles.

“What did you overhear?” He leans back again, but his eyes remain firm.

“Do we have a deal on the amount?” I answer with my own question.

“What do you need that much money for?” he counters, tilting his head to the side.

“That’s personal.” Telling him about my mother will only give him something to hold over me. Right now, I have some power, maybe not a lot, but some. He can use my mom against me.

“Do you owe someone? Are you a gambler?” He doesn’t believe that—I can see it in his eyes. He’s just grasping, trying to make me answer.

“What I need it for is my business. Do you want the information or not?”

His stare grows more intense. It’s unsettling. I wish he’d think faster, but I know enough not to push. As desperate as I am on the inside, I can’t let it show on the outside.

“Are you in trouble, Coraline?” His question is steady and smooth when he asks it. I freeze for a moment when I realize he used my full name. I hadn’t given the guy downstairs my full name.

“No one calls me that,” I say.

“I do,” he says flatly.

“How did you know my full name?” And what else has he been able to find out about me in the ten minutes I was alone in his office?

“Are you in trouble? Don’t make me ask a third time.” There’s a definite warning in his tone.

I clear my throat. Would I be here if I wasn’t?

“No one is after me if that’s what you mean. I’m not in any danger or anything like that. I just think the information is worth the money.” I push the strap of my purse over my shoulder and stand up. “But if you’re not interested. Fine.”

I have never been good at bluffing. I’ve never won a hand of poker, or even gotten away with a lie because my face tells on me every time. So I keep my eyes on the floor as I make my way to the door, taking slow steps.

“Coraline.” Again, my body freezes at the deep sound of his voice. It’s like the man holds a remote control to my body. “Sit back down.”

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