Page 114 of Manny

I roll my eyes. “Let’s just cut to the chase; what do you want?”

He reaches for his cup, blows on the caramelized liquid and then takes a leisurely sip. “Mmm, I see your barista skills are as good as your accounting skills.”

“Mr. Judice, please…”

“Mateo,” he corrects. “Won’t you take a seat?”

I glance around. “I really shouldn’t, my boss won’t be happy.”

“Just for a second, please.” He spreads his arm toward the booth seat opposite him.

I wince. I don’t want to do anything he says, but I’m afraid he will shoot Louisa in the head and I’ll be responsible. “If another customer comes in, I’ll have to get up.”

He does that crooked, heart-thumping smile again. I can see why they call him the Casanova of Arizona. He has class and manners, even if he is an evil, corrupt son of a bitch. “Always so conscientious.”

“Did you come all the way here to tell me that? You could’ve just emailed.”

“You always did have a smart mouth, though. It often strikes me as odd that the people who I treated the most fairly are always the ones to betray me.”

I stifle a laugh. “The last time I checked, I’m allowed to leave. You might own most of the souls in the casino,Mr. Judice,but you don’t own mine and you never will.”

He leans toward me and I automatically lean back. “Just tell me what you did with the money.”

I frown. “What money?”

His eyebrows knit together. “Don’t play coy with me, little girl. I don’t play games.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say. “I didn’t do anything with any money. Your brother kept asking me to do underhanded things, and he pushed one button too many and when I refused to be involved in embezzling money, he threatened me. I got scared.”

“So that’s why you ran?”

“I didn’t run.” Okay, that may be a bit of a lie. But they’re the mob, why wouldn’t I run? “I just wanted out, and I didn’t exactly want to be carted out in a body bag, or be buried out in the desert.”

His lips twitch as if he’s fighting a smile. “You think I’d do that to you?”

I level him with my gaze. “I know you would.”

He chuckles. “I only do that to people I don’t like. That doesn’t include you, or it didn’t until my money went missing.”

“I didn’t take any money.”

“That’s not what my brother told me.”

“Well, he’s a liar.”

“He’s also dead.”

I sputter. “What? He’s…dead?Who killed him?”

This time he flashes me his teeth. “We never did see eye to eye.”

My stomach clenches and my heart thumps so hard in my chest, I’m pretty sure you’d be able to hear it all the way in Arizona. “You killed your own brother?” My voice is low, barely a whisper.

“Our mom was a whore, so he wasn’t my real brother or a Judice. Plus, he thought he was smarter than me. I gave him too much leeway. I should never have given him the casino to manage.” He dusts off his hands, like he’s just put out the trash. “But that’s on his head.”

My hands begin to shake and I consider sitting on them. I glance around, but nobody is paying us any attention. “So you’re here to what? Kill me, too? For the record, your brother?—”

He holds up a finger. “Half brother.”

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