“I held up my end of the bargain, now it’s your turn.”
My spine tingles and I look at my hands. “What do you want, Nolan?”
“I want you to be my secretary.”
I look up like he’s gone insane. “You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not joking at all. I manage a dozen clubs between the suburbs and the city, and I need help from someone with half a brain. You’re close enough.”
“You asshole.”
“I held up my end, Cora. Now it’s your turn.”
“I’m not going to be your slave forever.”
“I’ll fucking pay you, don’t worry. More than you’re worth, too.”
I try to process but it’s like wires got cut in my skull and nothing’s making sense. Why would he want me as his secretary, after all this time and everything that happened? Why would he want me anywhere near him and his business, especially when he said some people in his organization might want me dead?
“It’ll be dangerous, won’t it?”
“It will,” he says with a seductive smile. “But I’ll make it worth the risk. You really want to live in your momma’s trailer your whole life? You don’t think Kady might want better? Might need better? If you’re not careful, she’s going to end up pregnant with a meth-head’s baby and you’ll end up stuck working as a bartender for the rest of your life.”
I sit up straight. “How do you know I work as a bartender?”
His eyes twinkle and he nods at the door. “Get out, Cora. I’ll pick you up tomorrow, same time.”
“Nolan—”
“Get out of my truck.”
I push open the door and step down. I think about telling him to go sit on a fence post and screw himself down, but instead I keep my back turned as his truck rolls off. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
I didn’t do this to get sucked back into his world, but what else did I think was going to happen?
I know Nolan, and I know he always gets what he wants.
And what terrifies me the most is he might want me.
Chapter 3
Nolan
I park out front of the Lonely Cat the next morning and kill the engine. Cora doesn’t say anything, only sits there and glares out the windshield while sipping her crappy coffee from an old beat-up travel mug. She’s in black slacks and a white button-down like she’s a real secretary, and I have a feeling she did it on purpose to try to piss me off, like she thinks it’s funny to pretend like she’s on her way to an office job.
Cora Stone is back in my life and it’s like she never left.
“Do you want to talk compensation now or later?” I ask her, watching the shadows from the trees blow across my building. My building, not the Famiglia’s, not Ben Basuldo’s, but fucking mine. It’s strange how fast my life changed after I did my time, kept my mouth shut, and rejoined the world, but it’s like losing those three years showed the bosses up in New York that I wasn’t some small-time loser that would crumble under the tiniest bit of pressure. It was like I proved myself.
“I figured you’d wait until we were inside the strip club to fuck me.”
I laugh softly. Typical Cora, hasn’t changed a bit. “We can do that too if you want. I can take you into my office and fuck you until you forget all your problems and maybe then we’ll call it even.”
She gives me a flat glare. “I’d rather take the job.”
“Good. Smart girl. The sex would feel great for a few hours but after that? Money’s better.”
“That doesn’t mean much coming from you.”
“Eighty thousand a year. Plus medical benefits. And good medical benefits, not some bullshit. That’s my offer.”
Her eyes widen and I know I just changed her life.
Eighty grand a year is a good amount of money. It’s not going to make her filthy rich, and it won’t mean she can move into one of those beautiful East Cobb neighborhoods, but eighty grand to a girl that lives on twenty is like water to a man dying of thirst. Eighty grand is a future for her and her sister.
Eighty grand is cheap for me, but I’ll buy her however I can get her.
Quickly though, the excitement slips rom her eyes and she turns away, looking straight ahead. “I want a hundred grand plus benefits. Dental too. Kady hasn’t gone to a dentist in a while.”
“When was the last time you got your teeth cleaned? No, don’t tell me, I don’t want to hear it. I’ll go up to ninety and dental, but I’m not negotiating anymore, Cora. If you like, I can call up the ORB and tell them you and your sister are fair game.”
“You would, wouldn’t you?” She shakes her head. “All right, ninety. And dental.”