Page 4 of The Enforcer

I thought Zahra and I were the only ones who hated Steve.

Our grandmother moves in front of us. She squeezes my shoulder but then cups Shae’s face in her hands. She smiles and then kisses her on each cheek carefully. “Never waste your time on a man who won’t use his mouth or his wallet to improve your day.”

“Nana,” Shae gasps.

“Oh, I’m writing that shit down,” I whisper.

“Watch your language,” my grandmother says before returning to her seat.

“Yes, ma’am,” I laugh.

“We’ll have your cousins move you while you’re gone,” my mom says, already on her phone.

“But I’m not packed,” Shae whines.

Karin waves her hand. “Your cousins will handle it.”

Shae turns to me with big, wet eyes, but all I can do is shrug. When our mothers have their minds set on something, there’s no stopping them. And there isn’t anything I need less than to waste useless breath trying to get them to chill out. They won’t.

Besides, this is the only thing they’ve said today that I like. Shae’s wasted enough of her time letting Steve play on her tendency to be too nice. I’ve watched him guilt-trip her into taking care of him for years, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try and do the same while she finally left his sorry ass. Taking Shae completely out of the equation really is for the best.

“So, then it’s settled. You two are on a six o’clock flight to Rome tonight. You can take the train to Naples, grab Zahra, and if you’re so busy,” Mildred says, focusing her gaze on me, “you’ll get this handled quick as you please. Are we clear?”

Shae and I take identical deep breaths. “Yes, ma’am.”

“But maybe take a little time to try some Italian noodles while you’re there,” Mina says.

The entire room groans, but I laugh loud as hell.

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