Page 63 of 10,000 Hours With A Rich Menace

“Yes.”

He folded his arms and looked at me. “Can you really?”

“I can drive… do you want to see proof?”

“Actually, yeah.”

I dug into my back pocket and pulled out the card holder that Skyler had gotten me. “See.” I nearly slapped him in the face with my driver’s license.”

He looked over at Duke and chuckled. “I think we can put you in the Rolls Royce today, Mrs. C.”

“Stevie,” I corrected him.

He grabbed keys from a lock box and then came around the counter, I followed behind him as he showed me to the all-black Rolls Royce Cullinan. As upset as I was from my argument with Menace, I was excited to get behind the wheel.

Frank showed me everything I needed to know about the car, and I was behind the wheel ready to go. Duke got in the front seat and looked over at me. “I’m still not over you kidnapping me.”

“Like I said, nothing personal.” He chuckled and put his seat belt on as I slowly pulled out the garage.

I increased speed down the hill toward the bottom of the hill. “You know I can go to the mall alone.”

“Not being Menace Caselli’s wife you can’t.”

“Not his wife.”

“Yet.”

“I haven’t decided.”

“You decided.”

My head jerked in his direction. “What is with you men telling me what I’m thinking?”

“You like him… just like he likes you. Silent treatment for a week and checking for when he’s coming home.”

“’Cause I need to know not to be near him.”

“Right.”

“You said he likes me?” I asked, almost allowing that to slip through the cracks of the conversation.

Duke chuckled. “I’ve known Menace a long time… I can tell when he tolerates people and when he likes them. Man don’t go out his way for nobody and he has for you.”

“How so? By telling me to shut the fuck up.”

Duke was clearly tickled. “Nah… he knows he’s wrong for that. You won’t allow him to speak to you, so how is he supposed to fix it?”

I pressed the button on the visor and Duke nodded to give them the okay to let us through. “I don’t want to speak with him.”

“Marriage isn’t any easier, Steve-o.”

I looked at him and smiled. “Steve-o?”

“You hollering that you’re not Mrs. C… yet. So, Steve-o fits you.”

I continued to drive and put the window down to feel the breeze. “Is this what my life will look like?”

“Yeah. Menace moves a certain way because he has to… never announcing anything, just appearing places.”

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