Page 38 of Secret Baby for the Italian Mafia King

“It’s a big city, Nadia, but a small world,” Sincere says, searching my face, and I know exactly what she means. The mob ties are always complicated, always crisscrossed somehow. I briefly lose myself in how worried she looks, as if it’s all taken too much of a toll. She has an almost alien quality to her face now, so gaunt, the way that’s fashionable with movie stars these days. But I know Sincere didn’t go under the knife to hollow out her sharp cheekbones. “Are you and Ren…together?” she asks.

“I…”

The words stick in my mouth like taffy.

“We are; we’re getting married.”

“Married?!”

I bump into her hard, making her hush before the other two overhear.

“Married, how? Do you want to be married? How has this happened, Nadie, tell me—”

“It’s better for my daughter. He’s taking care of Harper. Financially, anyway.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Luna realizes we’ve fallen behind, turning to face us with a hand on the jut of her hip. “What are you two gossiping about?” she asks. Cali stops, too.

“Boys,” Sincere says with a tone.

Cali wrinkles her nose. “Naaasty.”

Luna’s glare doesn’t soften, and she pulls us up into the group, keeping the pack tighter together as we’re steered into the shop. Sincere and I exchange a final glance before the smell of freshly brewing coffee beans smacks us in the face.

For a half hour, I try to forget about Ren. We catch up with old memories, the good and the bad, because every other night at a strip club is its own bizarre story, and we have plenty of them. Eventually, Cali drags Sincere off to the restroom. Luna watchesthem go, her plump mouth pursed into a frown. The silence weighs.

“…What’s going on with her?” I finally ask. There’s no question as to who I’m talking about.

“She’s on something. Heroin, I think. Says she’s clean now,” Luna says, fiddling with her straw and rattling the ice in her frappe.

“You don’t believe her.”

Luna shrugs.

“I’m not stupid. I don’t believe anything.”

I stare at the square of the distant bathroom door, my thoughts pinched. “Is there anything I can do for her?”

“I don’t know,” Luna admits. “I tried to stop it. They won’t let her dance like that much longer. One day, a new girl will come, and Sincere will go like the others. I don’t know where. But it will happen, soon, I think.”

My coffee tastes bitter as it goes down.

For years, I’ve always felt like I had my hands were tied. Every situation, I was always on the defense. Maybe I’m not on the defense anymore.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I say.

“She’s not your responsibility—”

“I wasn’t your responsibility or Sincere’s.” I shove my cup away. “It’s what Red would do.”

Luna smiles, a pained look on her face at the mention of the dancer who used to be in charge of the girls.

“I get her,” she admits, tapping the side of her head. “When Red stole that money for you, I thought, oh, Red’s fucking crazy. Wondered why the older girls like her didn’t leave. They had a little money. They knew people. So why stay? Why nottry?But now, I get it. Someone gotta take care of the new ones. And now, look, that’s me.” She rolls her eyes, lash extensions fluttering. She mimes a gun next to her head.Bang. “Red, she was the same. That’s why she stuck her neck out for you.”

“…I still wish I knew what happened to her.”

“Fuck that,” Luna sighs, looking out the window, “I don’t wanna know.”

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