“Ready, boss?”
Keir told me they would do whatever I said, but I didn’t expect them to be so willing.
“I mean… I should earn enough to pay for this place for a month or so, right?” I ask Keir. Roberto coughs and it’s obvious there’s a problem. “What?” I ask.
“You want to know about money?” he asks.
“How much will we make today doing what we do?” I question Roberto again. He turns his head toward Keir, but I click my fingers in front of his face. “He’s not in charge today.” Roberto looks back to me.
“Half a mill,” he answers.
Well shit! If I had something in my mouth, you can guarantee it would be no longer in there. I gape at Keir, who’s rocking Wren on his hip.
“You earn this daily?” I ask.
“No, weekly,” he answers.
“Fuck me,” I say breathlessly. I kiss Wren on her cheek and smile at her before I lock eyes with Keir. “Look after my daughter.”
“Our daughter,” he corrects.
“Yeah, yeah…” I brush him off and walk to Roberto, smiling.
“Let’s go make some money.”
Probably I should have asked more questions, did more research, and that was a stupid mistake.
However, no matter what I had to win this argument.
Women are just as powerful as men, and our daughter will be too. Of that I have no doubt.
Seeing me wiping my mouth with my hand, Roberto offers me a handkerchief to finish the job. I take it and stand straight, shoulders back. I threw up, and I’m sure they all heard it, but I’m appreciative none of them have commented.
The funniest part? The guy whose finger just got chopped off seems more concerned for me than himself.
“He said he’ll pay,” I tell Roberto, waving the handkerchief at the man in question.
“He’s been saying that for months. The boss extended his time and today is the due date.”
“You can take what I have,” the guy moans, the agony on his face palpable.
I’m with Roberto and two other men—Keir’s men who do the dirty work.
“It’s not enough. We opened your register.”
The guy huffs as he shivers from looking down at where his finger is now located on the floor. “I have a safe.”
“Where is it?” Roberto looks surprised. “You never told us this before.”
“Because you’re monsters,” the guy with the missing finger replies through gritted teeth.
“Well, mister, it was you who made a deal with the monsters, right?” I state not needing a reply.
He bares his teeth at me as the two men—let’s call them Ren and Stimpy—start throwing things around this man’s store.
“I didn’t have a choice!” he screams. “We never do.”
“You always have a choice,” Roberto answers. “You just chose wrongly.” He smiles, showing his teeth.
One of the guys finds the safe, and within minutes has it open.
Wow, that’s a cool trick.
“Jimmy can crack anything,” Roberto says, answering the look of awe on my face.
And he has a name!
“He’s a cousin of Keir’s,” he points out. “But Francis…” he points to the other dude who’s now pulling a huge amount of bills from the safe, “… he’s Paige’s cousin.”
Of course, he is. That would explain why he didn’t want to listen to anything I said earlier and would only listen when Roberto barked an order.
“You guys are close with their family,” I ask him.
“Yes,” he answers categorically, then looks back to the owner of the shop.
“Pete, we’ll be back next week, and payment will be made. Or… you lose the hand. Understand?” I say while taping the barrel of my gun against his temple while bending down so we’re face to face. Pete’s wide eyes swing to me, then back to Roberto.
“You just took all of my money.”
Roberto taps his shoulder. “I’m sure you can make more.” He walks off, smiling.
I look directly at Pete. “You should probably listen. I mean… I think they weren’t as mean today because he isn’t here.” I give the word ‘he’ extra annunciation, then shrug and walk off after Roberto.
“Where to now?” I ask.
“The club.”
“Which one?” Roberto eyes me as he holds open the door.
“Oh, that one.” He nods as I get in. I haven’t been there since the night Dillan was shot. And if I am being perfectly honest here, I’m not sure I’m ready to go back, but I can’t back out now.
Jimmy and Francis sit silently as we drive.
I check my phone to see if Wren is okay, but Keir hasn’t messaged me, so I call him and he answers straight away. “How are we doing today, boss lady?”
I roll my eyes at his words. “How is Wren?” I ask, ignoring his question.
“After you tell me how you are.”
“I’m fine. Now, how is she?”
“She, as you put it, is fine.”
Out of the corner of my eye, Roberto’s watching me so I turn to him. “Have you been telling Keir how my day is going?”