Page 15 of Blood Money

That deer-in-the-headlights look was adorable on her.

“Nonnegotiable. As your number one friend, I insist.”

“How about we meet in front of Walgreens?” she asked before she captured her lip with her teeth.

Holy hell, I wanted to suck it free. Then I wanted to sweep my tongue through her mouth to see if she tasted like that fluffy pink frosting.

“Okay,” I murmured, because in that moment, I probably would’ve insanely agreed to just about anything she asked.

That morning I made about five deliveries. I could deliver cocaine, heroin, ketamine, or Xanax on any given day. Some of the deliveries were for The Family, but a lot of it was my own now. They took a share of the profit, but what I got for it wasn’t chump change. I easily made five to ten grand a month. Gabriel was going to college, but I had another life plan. We’d both end up in the same place, and I’d be making more money sooner than him.

My grandfather pretty much made us all start at the bottom. Not that I ever dealt directly, but none of us got shit handed to us. We had to prove ourselves to the old bastard one way or the other. As the oldest, Gabriel was expected to go to college to earn a degree in business. My grandfather had dreams of a patrilineal succession, though that wasn’t how things worked with La Cosa Nostra. If Gabriel ended up taking over one day, our grandfather wanted him to have a solid background to make everything seem more legitimate. As the second son, I was supposed to support Gabriel, so my education was expected to be the same.

Screw that. I had plans.

Basically, I saved my allowance for several years. No shit.Years. Then I bought bulk in a few things and started making “deliveries.” At eighteen, I had about fifteen to twenty people who sold my shit. They bought from me and then made a profit when they sold it. I can say I’ve never seen the end user. Didn’t want to.

“Thank you, Mr. Edwards,” the sales associate said as she handed me my bag. “I hope your girlfriend likes her birthday present.”

“Me too,” I told the woman with a wink. She flushed, and I walked out of the store. A quick glance at my watch told me I had about forty-five to be at the Walgreens down by my neighborhood. As I passed by the flower shop I “delivered” out of, I stopped in and debated. Finally, I grabbed a pretty little bouquet and brought it to the register.

“Are those for your mama, or do you have someone special?” Mrs. Bianchi asked me. Despite the fact that her business’s protection money came in the form of letting us make our deliveries, she loved me. Besides, they were still making money, because our customers were required to actually order the flowers from them. We weren’t total assholes.

“They’re for a friend,” I replied with my best smile as I leaned on the counter.

She raised her brows and pursed her lips. Then she whispered conspiratorially, “Okay. If you say so.”

“That’s my story and I’m sticking to it,” I told her with a smirk, then paid her and was on my way again.

By the time I got to the store, I had about fifteen minutes to spare so I went to the side of the building and pulled out my cigarettes and lighter. I shook one out, held it between my lips, cupped my hand over the end, and lit it. It wasn’t often that I smoked. Mostly when my nerves were bad—and for some reason they were frazzled. I took a long drag, held it in, then blew it out. One guy passing me on the sidewalk gave me a dirty look. As he walked away, I rolled my eyes and flipped him off.

Every two seconds, I glanced in the direction of the bakery. I scanned the crowd for curly hair that looked like it would burn me. Somehow, I had a feeling if I ever touched it the way I wanted to, it would.

Finally, I saw her coming up the street, so I stubbed my cigarette out on the exterior of the store. I stuck the flowers in the bag so they were blooming out of the top, then hid it behind my back.

“I almost didn’t come,” she admitted when she stopped in front of me.

“Why not?” I asked her with a tilt of my head.

“Because I don’t really know you,” she replied in a tone that saidduh.

“Oh really? Then why did you?” I dropped my head to look her in the eye with a smirk.

She pushed her face forward until her nose nearly touched mine, and my breath caught. “Because you’re a friend of my cousin, and you were nice to me. Besides, if you turn out to be a jerk, Luciano will kick your ass.”

The girl was ballsy, and I really loved that. I didn’t bother telling her that Luciano wouldn’t lay a finger on me because he knew who my grandfather was.

“Well, it’s a good thing you did, because I brought you something,” I told her without pulling away.

Though she tried to play it cool, I saw the slight widening of her bright emerald eyes and the way the corner of her mouth twitched as she tried to hide her smile.

“Then hand it over,” she murmured as she held out her hand and wiggled her fingers in agimmemotion.

“Ah, ah, ah, not so fast. I want to take you somewhere first.”

Immediately, she drew back and eyed me warily. “Where?”

“Trust me.”

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