Page 90 of Lethal Vows

Angel seems sad when she picks at her half-eaten burger. “We leave tomorrow,” she adds, her voice breaking a little as she sniffs.

I grimace. “I’ll come and visit.”

“You’ve been saying that for almost fifteen years now, bitch.”

An exhausted laugh escapes me. “Right back at you. But I know… I will try harder.”

“Especially now that you have a goddaughter to meet soon.” She looks down at her stomach. “One who has an appetite for America’s greatest burger chain, apparently.” She chuckles and sobers again.

“I’m sorry to ask, but do you know anything about the Torrisi mansion going up in flames?” I question.

She shakes her head. “Nope. Even Dominic’s staying quiet about that one. But I have no doubt of Crue’s involvement. Why? Does it look bad because you were defending one of them?”

I shrug. “Kind of. There’s another thing, though…” I glance around to ensure no one is paying us attention, and then I show her my bank balance. It’s not like I’m not used to money. But I always made a point—besides my father paying for my education—to earn everything my way while trying to become as independent as possible.

And this type of money…

… it is blood money.

It reeks of it.

Angel looks from my phone and back to me. I have forgotten she’s used to this amount of money, so I change the screen to the balance in there only one day ago.

“Oh, wow, that’s a big difference. You were living off that before?” she asks suspiciously.

I give her an unimpressed look.

“Sorry.” She winces.

By standard wages, I earn a fuck-ton more than most. But this is old money. Money, I’ve been advised, is a generous bonus. But to me, it smells a lot like Crue Monti. And I don’t want his charity. In fact, I don’t want anything else from him again.

“Couldn’t you open your own firm with money like that?” she asks around a mouthful of her burger.

That hadn’t crossed my mind. “Maybe.” I tuck my phone away. “So, when do you leave tomorrow?”

She rolls her eyes. “Early. Apparently, we have to go to the family home for some big announcement.”

“Sounds serious.”

“It usually is. But it could just be because Crue is returning.”

My nail tapping resumes at the mention of him returning to Italy.

She watches me cautiously. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I laugh. “No. This motherfucker is getting a bill forallmy therapy.”

She laughs, holding her belly.

“At least I can leave knowing you’re okay,” she says.

“You know me, I always get back on my feet. There’s no way I’m letting any man get the best of me.”

She lifts her thick shake to my soda water in cheers. “To all the men who should go fuck themselves.”

I laugh. At least she was lucky. From what I’ve seen between her and Dominic, they are made for each other. Despite the name and his family, he treats her like a gift from God, and I have no doubt this little bundle of joy is going to be spoiled all the same.

“Can we also just talk about how you shot Crue?” she whispers so the guards don’t hear us and then takes a huge bite of her burger. “You are one crazy bitch.” She places the burger down and then applauds while she chews.

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