Page 520 of The Sinner: James

She walks out of the room, leaving us alone.

Tiago gives me a furtive glance.

“Did you get your money?” I ask.

“Mm-hmm... I have it here with me.”

“What about a bank?”

“Don’t trust them.”

“Good thinking,” I joke.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. You can’t drag around that kind of cash unless you want a bullet in your head.”

“It hasn’t happened before.”

“It only needs to happen once,” I say, scooping out my phone from my pocket.

“I can’t put them in a bank. I’ve seen the kind of shit they pull on people when something goes wrong with the economy.”

“They won’t,” I say, my gaze tipped to my phone. “Here. I’m sending you the information on this contact of mine. He’s a banker in Zurich. Give him a call, and tell him you’re my brother, and I’ve sent you to him. He’ll show you what to do.”

His phone chimes with a notification.

“Try not to act like a thug,” I say, gauging his reaction.

“Thank you,” he says.

My words sink in a moment later.

“Don’t worry. I won’t. How soon can I call him?”

“Monday morning.”

“Good,” he says, relieved.

“So, what’s the plan?” I ask, tucking my phone back into my pocket.

He tips his gaze down.

“I’m not going back to London for a while.”

“What happens to your lady friend?”

He looks up, his cheeks flushed, his eyes sparkling with a swirl of thoughts.

“She knows. She’ll have to get used to it,” he says with the easiness of someone who’s never experienced that kind of heartache.

I refrain from commenting.

“What about you? Are you going to be okay?”

He tosses me a questioning look.

“Breaking up with her,” I clarify.

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