Page 8 of Married to the Mafia

I shrug. “That was two years ago. Will everyone please stop waiting for me to get traumatized by that?”

Eddie points a finger gun at me. “That better?”

“Much. Now, can we please get hammered? There are only so many hours left in the day.”

I drink and I laugh and I enjoy the rest of the afternoon. I think about telling them about the casino chip, but I decide against it.

Amelia told me the story of what happened to her because of the one she was given. How it ruined the friendship between her and Molly. I don’t want this one to do the same to me.

I’ll just wait until I’m twenty-one and then have a decent nest egg. Go off to college myself. Become a dog trainer maybe. I haven’t gotten any further than that in my ambitions. Something with animals like Amelia.

I’ve always looked up to her. She’s always been good to me, trusting me with the dogs while she’s away training to become a veterinarian.

Not today, though. Nothing to trust me with. Moira’s got the dogs and she won’t let me take them back to the shelter until the demolition is off the table. Doesn’t want to stress them out.

The door to the bar opens, and a man walks in. He’s wearing a gray tracksuit, and he’s scanning the room. His eyes lock onto me, and his expression changes. Then Larry’s yelling at him. “You’re not welcome in here. Out!”

The man makes as if he’s going to stay, but Larry’s already pulling a shotgun out from under the bar, pointing it at him. The man turns and leaves without another word.

“What was all that about?” Eddie asks, looking pale.

“No idea,” I reply. “Hey, Larry, who was that?”

“Douchebag from out of town,” he replies. “Not welcome in my bar.”

He picks up the phone next to him and dials, starts talking into it in a low voice. I turn back to my friends, who have returned to their drinks. I join them, doing my best to forget about my day.

I know I said they wouldn’t have to carry me home.

I’m wrong.

4

Dino

Dino

She’s trying her best to push me, but she will get nowhere. If I haven’t given away any secrets to the Feds despite their best efforts, I’m hardly likely to confess to a live TV news show.

Corrado thought it was a bad idea, said it was too risky. But he’s my advisor, not my master. His job isn’t to tell me what to do, it’s suggesting things.

I decide.

What I say goes.

I’m happy to be interviewed. It’s child’s play flirting with this one, unlike with Rose Silver, who seemed weirdly immune to my charms. Just made me want her all the more. This one I know what she’d be like.

The same as all women. Rose? She is something new. Something innocent. Something for me to corrupt. To inject with my brand of darkness. I know she would love it. I also know it is a bad idea to fuck an outsider. So I sit here and answer questions instead of breaking into her place to run off with her.

The station wants to know if there’s any truth behind the rumors. I could have sued them into silence, but I’m going to sweet talk them onside. It’s how I’ve got to my position. Charm. Needed nothing else.

She sits opposite me. Carol Thompson. Anchor of the evening news. “I’m surprised you said yes to this,” is her opening statement while the cameras are still getting set up.

“Happy to do it.” My winning smile, the one that gets panties melting wherever I go.

She’s wearing a suit that doesn’t fit her as well as she thinks. It also doesn’t look as expensive as she hopes. Her makeup is overdone. Jewelry that smacks of desperation. She wants to impress me, maybe get me relaxed with the way she’s unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse.

Sure, I can see her cleavage, but it does nothing for me. She’s not my type. I think back to Rose laying under the wrecking ball this morning.

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