I swept them back into my drawer, and Hannah’s mouth dropped open. “Sit.” When she stood there staring at me, I added, “Now.”
She slumped back into the chair and glared at me.
“Let’s talk about you,” I said easily. There was no point in losing my temper unless I had to. I preferred Hannah complacent, not spitting mad.
She was still angry, but she was calmer. Things were looking brighter for me now that she’d lost that righteousness and knew things weren’t going to be easy. As for her, things were starting to look gloomier, and she recognized that.
“What about me?” she muttered.
“I can’t have you making these sorts of decisions on your own, Hannah. It’s my job to take care of you, and I will do that.”
She shook her head. “No, I need to have a future, Richie, a future that belongs to me, that I make for myself. I can’t depend on you for everything I need or want in life.” She glanced around and sneered. “I certainly want more than this dump.”
“And Danny O’Shea?” I asked. “Is he part of this grand scheme of yours?”
“Danny and I barely know one another,” she said quietly.
“That may be, though I don’t quite believe it.” I pulled my phone toward me. “I want you to hear something.” I pressed a button, and Steve’s voice came through the speaker.
“Just a heads-up, boss. Hannah asked for O’Shea’s help with something tonight. He was gone about an hour. After that, it was back to business, but something seemed off to me.”
The message ended, and I tossed the phone back to the desk. Hannah had paled a bit, and she folded her hands in her lap, but not before I saw the tremble.
“Care to explain that?”
“I gave that fucking prick all my tip money to keep his goddamned mouth shut. Rat bastard.”
“Steve’s my man, Hannah, not yours.”
“Jesus.” She raked her hair back from her face, drawing in a long breath, and then gestured toward my desk. “I needed help with some of that course work. Danny mentioned once he took some accounting in junior college.”
“That’s a lie, little sis,” I said softly.
She shook her head, and Butch moved across the room to stand by the desk.
I leaned back in my chair. “It’s a lie because on Friday evening there was no course work in your apartment,” I said, feeling greatly satisfied she was so easy to trip up. Hannah couldn’t lie her way out of a paper bag. It was one of the reasons I’d kept her clear of the business. The other was I thought she just might be good at it, and I couldn’t have that.
She blew out a breath. “That explains why Carmen looked so unhappy on Friday. He gave someone the keys, didn’t he? What did you threaten him with?”
“The usual,” I said. “But Carmen only played a small role in my little caper. Don’t be too hard on him.”
“I don’t blame him at all. Carmen’s first loyalty is to his family. But you? You have no loyalty to anyone or anything, especially family.” She leaned forward. “Why are you so threatened by the fact that I might get an education, that I might actually be good at something?”
“You’re good at a lot of things, Hannah.” I studied her. “I just don’t want you too good. Now”—I gestured to the phone—“what are we going to do about your little interlude with O’Shea?”
“Stay the fuck out of my life, Richie.”
I shook my head sadly. “I can’t do that. I’m afraid both of you are going to have to pay—in one way or another.”
“You’re a complete and utter fuck.”
“I am,” I said with a nod. “I’ll deal with O’Shea later. First, I have to deal with you.”
Hannah gulped, but she kept her eyes on me.
“I’ll let you keep your flash drives.” Her eyes widened, and for one moment, she looked hopeful. “But you’ll have to do something for me.”
There was that look of hopelessness I wanted. It fell over her face like a dark veil. She cast a glance toward Butch. “Not that.”