Page 26 of Stealing Iris

Despite telling Conny, time and again, he doesn’t understand that once your stock goes low, your customers will stop coming. And once you sell the last item, no more money will come in. How does he expect to stay in business? How do you pay the employees? How do you pay utilities? It’s all I can do to keep the place afloat and not go hungry. But if I bring it up now, he’ll blow his lid, and I can’t let that happen.

“Okay.” Carol comes out from the storage room, swinging her backpack over her shoulder and holding my messenger bag. “I’m punched out and so ready to go.”

“Thanks.” Bag in hand, I head over to turn off the lights. I want to run to the door again and see if he showed up. Instead, I fight the urge and plug the code in to set the alarm. The beeping starts, ratcheting up my anxiety. Carol’s waiting at her usual spot by the exit, but she doesn’t mention Tino.

The door opens to the empty parking lot, and I’m both let down and stressed.

“Your driver didn’t show up today?” she teases.

“No. But I told him not to come by,” I reply as I pull the gate closed and shut the lock.

“Why?” Her eyes open wide. “Did something happen yesterday?”

“No, nothing happened,” I assure her. “I told him I usually hitch a ride with you.”

“Oh.” I swear there’s disappointment in her voice.

“Only if you can, Carol. If not—”

She presses the button on her fob, disarming the car alarm. “No, it’s not that.” She tosses her backpack and purse in the back seat then closes the door. Sighing, she looks back at me. “I guess I got this kind of fairy-tale image about you and this guy. He seems like he cares, you know, not just wants to get in your pants.”

My jaw nearly drops. I never would have expected her to say anything like that. “I suppose heissweet, but I don’t expect anything from Dante.” Despite him already getting in my pants. “We just met.”

Her head rears back. “So you don’t like him?” she demands, incredulous. “I saw your face when he—”

“I didn’t say that.” In fact, I’m not sure what I’d say because I’ve been a little too into him, yet not wanting to get more involved than what I am. In a matter of days, I’ve learned to miss him. If circumstances were different, I would have gone out with him, regardless of what Dad thought.

“Well.” She smiles, her doubts settled, at least for the moment. “You two make a cute couple.”

The last word sent warmth through my chest. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Though I don’t know whatever this thing between us is, it’s not what Carol is imagining.

“Come on.” She opens her door. “Let’s go.” I go around the little car, glancing toward the street one last time before settling into the passenger seat. We pull out of the parking lot with my stomach still feeling disconnected from the rest of me. When we turn off the main road, Carol glances over, a big grin spreading across her face. “Looks like he ran late.”

I turn in my seat and instantly recognize the silver BMW in the side mirror. Sweet relief flows through me, leaving me weak. True to his word, Tino follows us to the house, slowing down when Carol pulls over to the curb.

“See you tomorrow,” she says still grinning.

“Thanks, girl.” I rush out then all but jog back to catch up to Tino.

“Everything all right?” He puts the gearshift in park, looking around with a note of concern.

“Yes.” I exhale in a rush of relief. “Um.” I couldn’t help but fidget, pulling the strap around my fingers and twisting it until it’s as tight as my insides. “I need to… Well, things changed, and I’ll be able to go on Saturday after all.” The relief of actually accepting out loud leaves me a bit light-headed.

He searches my face for a moment. “Good,” he says, sounding as detached as usual.

“Do you have the address?” Maybe that would be enough for Conny.

“I’m scheduled to be here at eight.” Annoyance wells up inside me. I made myself sick for most of the afternoon, yet Tino already counted on picking me up. “Will you be alone?”

Heat spreads up my neck and across my face. “No.” I had to choke down the word. “Conny—Conrado is going with me.”

“Remind him you’ll be there as guests only,” he adds in an ominous voice.

A sense of unease settles over me. Is this part of Conny’s big score? Am I helping set up Dante? My stomach tightens again because deep down I know things won’t end well if Tino has to get involved.

CHAPTER TWELVE

IRIS

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