Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“I’ll double your cut.”
“Double?” I sat back down. “And what does that involve from me?”
“It means you work for me every weekend and sometimes a few hours during the week. Usually nights.”
“I can’t.”
“You can,” he persisted. “Especially since you won’t have to work your other shit end jobs. I can’t imagine you like earning pennies when you can be making hundreds, if not thousands of dollars working for me.”
“Yeah, but…”
“It’s no different from what you’re doing for me now. It’s just more hours and more money. How can you pass that up?”
“And what if I get caught?” I argued. “I mean, it’s one thing to do this once in a while, but doing it all the time? I can’t ris—”
“Being thrown out on your ass? Is that what you can’t risk? Those bills are going to keep adding up. They come every month. You want to end up with the state again?”
“I know, but—”
“That night at the gas station, what did you tell me? Huh? You told me you’d do anything to stay out of foster care and keep you and your brother together, and what did I do?”
“You gave me a job.”
He smiled. “You see? If you trusted me then, you can trust me now. I have your best interests at heart, kid. You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age. It's men like us against the world. We gotta stick together, you know?”
“What’s the catch?”
“The only catch is that we make a shit ton of money.”
“I don’t—”
My stomach dropped when he interjected with…
* * *
“What about the girl?”
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Julius
“Relax,” Marco reassured with a slight grin. “She’s not my problem, but she is yours. I’m offering you a solution that benefits us both. Women are expensive. You want to lose yours because you can’t provide for her?”
I shook my head. “She’s not like that.”
“They’re all like that.” He wavered for a moment. “Does she know what you’re doing? All the risks you're taking? How much are you playing fucking hero in her fairy tale?”
“Like I said, she’s not like that.”
“No shit. The girl’s jaded, but what do you expect when you’re raised on the streets? And trust me, it takes one to know one.” He cocked his head to the side. “We all have that in common, and look how well I turned out. You want to live like me? Because I can make that happen for you.”
I thought about what he was saying.
“You love her?” he asked. “It doesn’t matter what they say. They want to be spoiled rotten and feel adored, and that takes a lot of money. If you don’t make it happen, she’ll find another sucker who will. It’s just the circle of life, kid.”
“It’s not like that between us.”
“And what do you think it’s like?”
My head was spinning. He knew how to drive a point home.
Isla isn’t like that, right?
I knew nothing about women and even less about her.
Inhaling a deep, reassuring breath, I changed the subject. “For how long?”
He negotiated. “As long as we’re both making money and happy, I don’t see a reason to put a deadline on it.” Abruptly, he stood, gesturing to the doors. “Why don’t you think about it? You let me know when you’re ready to do some real business.”
I followed his lead, standing. “Alright, I’ll head out to the club—”
“No,” he snapped. “That won’t be necessary. You can head back home. It gives you more time to decide on our future together.”
“Oh,” I strained. “So I either work for you full-time or I don’t work for you at all? Is that how this is going to go?”
He extended his hand for me to shake. “I’m just a businessman after all, Julius.”
In the blink of an eye, I lost, surrendering.
I had no choice.
“Fine.” I bargained, “But only until I’m eighteen.” I shook his hand, declaring, “Deal?”
“It works for now,” he noted, shaking my hand back.
Feeling as if I just made a deal with the devil, I got the hell out of there. On my way to the door, I turned back around, and without second-guessing myself, I demanded, “If you do see my mother, tell her to stay dead.”
I meant every last word.
* * *
Isla
* * *
I listened to Kraven play the piano for hours, feeling in my heart that he was playing just for me. Fully aware of how much their music meant to me. There was no hiding it from them or anyone, for that matter.
The power it held over me was apparent, and I wanted them to see it. Being able to control a person’s emotions through music was a special gift. Every time I got lost in their indescribable talents, everything else faded away.
My problems.
My worries.
My shame.
Showing my vulnerability to Kraven was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, and the fact that I shared the same sentiment with his brother the night before made me feel like shit.