Page 10 of To Die For

“I’m listening.” He marveled at how neatly the young girl had turned the tables on this conversation and, in effect, taken charge of it.

“Okay, here it comes, get ready… Duh, of course I want to be adopted by him.”

“Why?”

“He’s loaded, has a bunch of homes and his own freakin’ jet.” She held up her phone again. “At least according to Google.”

“So wealth, that’s what motivates you?”

She picked up her burger. “Who wants to be poor? Do you?”

“No. But it doesn’t drive all my decisions.”

“Good for you, Boy Scout. It does mine.”

“Do you know how he made his money?” he said.

“How does any rich person make their money? They screw over everybody else.”

“I’m not sure it’s healthy to be so fixated on wealth.”

“You ever been homeless? Or hungry?” she asked.

“No.”

“Okay, then shut up. So I’ll go see him and tell him how much I love him. And how great he is. Yada-yada, blah-blah.”

“He might be going to prison.”

“Then I’ll get to stay at his mansions and use his jet all by myself. Even better.”

“You seem to have an answer for everything.”

She wiped her mouth and abruptly rose. “I need to go back and get some sleep for my fav uncle. I want to be raring to go.” Odom dead-eyed him. “Just to be clear, you fuck this up, Travis, I fuck you up.”

“You’ve got a sailor’s mouth all right.”

She smirked. “Actually, I’m on my best behavior because you seem so fragile.”

“My job is to just escort you over and back. That’s it.”

“But the thing is, I think you might turn out to be Meatball Number Two. Let’s go.”

She strode off, making Devine leap up and hustle after her.

I just got my ass handed to me by a twelve-year-old going on forty-two.

CHAPTER

5

AS THEY WALKED BACK TOthe hotel, Devine said, “Don’t look now but two guys are following us. I spotted them outside the burger place, watching.”

“Meatball’s boys?” she said casually, without looking behind her.

“They actually look homeless.”

“Are you afraid of them?”

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