I’m much more comfortable knowing that I have a twenty-pound note and a few coppers in my purse and have managed not to dip into my overdraft by the end of the month.
“Come on,” she says, pocketing the credit card and reaching for my hand.
“We can’t do this, Jojo.”
“Of course we can, come on.”
She physically drags me out of the booth and across the club.
“Don’t you have to work?” I ask, looking back as if I’m expecting her fierce yet utterly terrifying boss to jump up and stop us.
“Nope. I’m free as a bird as of right now, and I want to go spend some Cirillo money.”
“You know it’s all drug and blood money, right?”
“And you’re arguing about spending it, why?”
My lips part to argue, but I quickly discover I don’t really have anything to come back with.
“Exactly. If it makes you feel any better, you can buy him something special for when you go and confess to being his new teacher,” she teases. “Ow.”
“It is not funny.”
“It is a bit, though. Are you going to make him call you Miss Andrews? Or maybe it’s ma’am there, because it’s so posh.”
“Shut your trap, bitch.”
“Matron? Oh no, they’re the ones who live in, aren’t they?”
“I guess it could be worse, I could be expected to board,” I mutter as we climb the stairs back up to reality.
“I bet all sorts goes on in those rooms.”
“I don’t want to think about it. We know how bad the boys are.”
“Only two left to be wild. Well, until Nico sorts his shit out.”
“Not gonna happen, Jojo. I’m not falling for a man like Nico.” But even as I say the words, I can’t help but wonder if it’s already too late. If it was too late from that very first moment he touched me, kissed me, forced me to look into those wicked dark eyes.
“Sure, you’re not. Brianna Cirillo does have a good ring to it, don’t you think?”
I can’t help but bark out a laugh.
“Even if I ever considered it, there is no way Nico will ever make that kind of commitment.”
“Maybe he’ll have to,” she muses as she unlocks her fancy little car when we get close.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No one knows what’s going to happen now. With Evan dead, there is every chance that Nico could take his job.”
I wait until we’re inside her car to respond.
“They can’t actually think he’s capable. He’s barely emerging from his flat. He can hardly be second-in-command of the fucking mafia.”
“He’s grieving,” she argues, making me feel like the shittiest person in the world.
“I know. I just… fuck.”