Page 69 of Made to Sin

I hadn’t touched the Amex since Luciano threw it out. For the most part, I didn’t know what to do with it. Living with Marco was horrible, but everything I could’ve ever wanted came prepaid and was delivered straight to my room by Maria, so I had no real understanding of the value of money. For Luciano to give me an unlimited budget was a recipe for disaster.

I hated myself for it, but I ran into my room and took out the remaining cash I had. If I wanted to have the possibility of living by myself, I needed to learn eventually. Money was the source of everything these days.

There was slightly less than nine thousand dollars left in my stash, and I rationed out two thousand for shopping. That should be enough for some clothes, right?

A stern set of knocks came through the front door with a male voice that followed. “Miss Katarina?”

I froze, not knowing who could be looking for me. I didn’t think I did anything wrong, but who knew when it came to the mob? It was possible for them to get rid of people simply because they were no longer needed.

“Who is it?” I yelled back, cautiously inching toward the door with no intention of opening it.

“I’m the driver Mr. Beneveti sent.”

Oh, thank goodness.

My shoulders relaxed from their uptight position. “Give me afew minutes, please. I’ll be right out.”

“Of course, I’ll wait by the car.”

I listened as his loud footsteps left the porch and fell distant. For the sake of paranoia, I peeked through the window to see if he really was a driver and not somebody waiting to kidnap me.

Satisfied with the professional-looking man on the other side, I packed the cash and Luciano’s card into a small wallet.

Guess it was time to test how well I would do in the real world without the glitz and glam of theCosa Nostra.

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My wrists burned from the weight of shopping bag handles eating into the skin. Thirty-two stores and five bags later, I was thoroughly done tearing the mall inside out.

I thought the trip was a success if I said so myself.

Though he said I could swipe freely, I only used Luciano’s money on a new phone because it was going to be over half my budget. I had wiped and thrown my old one out of the taxi yesterday because I didn’t want the Camellos to have any means to reach me once I was free of their grip.

Everything else I indulged in was from my savings. If only I hadn’t cared about using his money because, after the clothing frenzy, I was running low on cash. It was too easy to put money on Marco’s tab, I hadn’t noticed how ridiculous inflation was.

My stomach grumbled, reminding me it was near dinner time. With the chaotic morning and the height of my first solo adventure, I had forgotten to eat.

To save the little money I had left, I went back to the house and see if there was anything I could cook. Plus, a home-cooked meal would be a thoughtful way to thank Luciano for his generosity thus far.

It was dark when the driver dropped me off, but there was still no car in the driveway. I frowned at the thought of beingalone for who knew how long. At this point, even Sofia’s snappy attitude would comfort me.

I scrummaged the kitchen and got ready to prepare dinner. Maria had taught me a few recipes whenever I watched her cook, so I could pull a small meal together.

From the lack of ingredients I found, the best I was going to get was a simple fettuccine. There weren’t any meat choices, but the pasta itself was filling enough.

I ate my serving first, not knowing when Luciano would be back, and saved his in the fridge.

Except he still wasn’t back from work when I finished. I blamed the impatience on sheer boredom, not wanting to think of the possibility that I wanted to see him.

That sounded an awful lot like having a crush.

Nope, there wasnoway. I might lust for him, but I couldn’t like him. We could hardly stand each other, and one sexual encounter didn’t change that.

There had to be a sane explanation.

Yet whatever it was, it didn’t explain why I didn’t go to my room as I should have. It would have been smarter, would have stopped the confusion in my mind.

Instead, I sat in the living room and turned on some random channel to pass the time as I waited up.

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