Page 44 of Giving It to the Man-Whore

“She’s everything that I don’t deserve. She’s beautiful inside and out. To the world, she’s plain, but not to me. Don’t ever use her against me again.”

“Noted,” Saint said. “Who is Autumn?”

Big Ricky finished off his whiskey, and stood up. “Autumn is the bastard child of the Lorenzo family. As you probably already know, the men must marry to further their bloodline, but like always they take mistresses. Some women who just want the money and rep of fucking the bad guy. Autumn’s mother was … different.” Saint listened intrigued. “Her mother owned a ranch out in the sticks. One of my bosses, and no, you don’t get to know which one, fell in love with her. She was everything the Lorenzo family wasn’t, and for a long time, she didn’t know the man she’d given a child to was first married, and second, a member of a vicious crime family. Six months ago, Autumn’s mother was discovered raped and murdered as retaliation while Autumn was at school. My boss loved that woman more than anything in the world. He doesn’t want Autumn to suffer the same fate.”

“So he put you on babysitting duty?”

“Yes. I will not let any harm come to that girl, Saint.”

“You used my town as cover.”

“I used your name as cover. Everyone thinks I’m a monster, that I’m capable of the worst things in the world, and you know what? To the people that deserve it, I am their worst nightmare. But to innocent people of this world, the Autumns, the Prues, fuck, even the Mels of this world, they’re innocent, and they have nothing to fear from me. She doesn’t deserve to die because of who her father is. You above everyone should understand.”

Saint gritted his teeth. Big Ricky was speaking the truth. “Next time, come straight to me. I’ll talk to the club. Don’t keep her a secret. It’ll make her stand out more. Get her to join in and be part of the town. It’ll hide her more.”

“You’ll help?”

“Of course. I know why I’m helping now. All you needed to do was ask.”

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