Page 103 of I Am Sin

“Yeah? And what’s your cut?”

“My cut is fifty percent. But you get forty an hour. I collect eighty from the student and pay you half.”

“Is this on a contract basis or an employment basis?”

“Contract. It won’t include any benefits, and no taxes will be withheld from your income.”

Damn. I can’t live on forty bucks an hour if it’s only part-time.

“Fifty percent is a pretty steep cut,” I say.

“It’s what I charge, Dragon. You’re using my instruments and my studios. You’re certainly welcome to try to get students on your own if you’d rather.”

He makes a good point. Man, I don’t like this guy. But I need the income. Something is better than nothing. And word travels fast among parents looking for music lessons for their kids. Maybe I can find some extra students that I can teach privately for full price.

“Good enough. I’ll take it. Let me know when I can start.”

“I’ll get in touch with the people on my waiting list, and I’ll give you a call tomorrow. I imagine some of them will want to get started right away.”

“So I’ll have ten students. Is that weekly?”

“Yeah, and they have to sign up for ten lessons at once, so that’ll give you four hundred dollars a week for at least ten weeks.”

Who the hell can live on that? At least Diana’s not making me pay rent, and so far she hasn’t kicked me out.

“Great. I’ll look forward to your call,” I say.

“Glad to have you on board, Dragon.”

The call ends, and I think about those words.

Glad to have you on board.

He just hired a man who, for all he knows, solicited a prostitute two nights ago.

He also didn’t ask about my education. Would he be surprised to know I don’t have a degree in music?

There’s only one reason for any of this.

He wants to get into Diana’s pants.

Fuck.

I wish that didn’t bother me as much as it does.

I’m still holding my phone when it rings again.

Another number I don’t recognize…

My heartbeat starts to accelerate once again.

“Yeah?”

“Call off your dog.”

An icy chill runs up and down my spine when I realize it’s the same voice from last night.

“Excuse me?”

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