“So,” Vinny said, not hiding his disdain for the diner, “this is where you work when you’re not at the casino, huh?”
I smack his leg before climbing out of the Lincoln. “Had to pay for my apartment somehow. Vegas isn’t cheap.”
After I close the door, he shifts over so he’s sitting where I was and speaks to me through the open window.
“I can’t believe you were paying nine hundred a month for that dump.”
It may be a dump, but it was all my dad and I had had for such a long time, I can’t help but feel a twinge of offense pass through my chest.
“Can you open the back? I need to get my stuff out.”
“You really didn’t need to bring all of that,” he says. “I’ll have Theo bring you round some of Bee’s things. They’re much nicer.”
I frown at him. “I happen to like my clothes, thank you. And who’s Bee? His wife? Won’t she mind?”
I walk around to the back of the car and tug uselessly at the handle. “Can you tell your driver to open this, please?”
“Nah, sweetheart, don’t you worry about it. If you want to keep these rags, you’re welcome to them. Whatever makes you happy. But I’ll take them home and unpack for you.”
I make my way slowly back around the open window. “Vinny,” I say eventually, “how will my dad know where to find me?”
His smile is kind, but I can’t square it with the man I’ve heard so much about.
“I’ve heard stories about you, you know,” I say. “And none of them involved you being a gentleman.”
He smirks. “While most of what you heard is true, I assure you, I am a gentleman at heart.”
“If the stories are true, then you don’t have a heart.” I smile so he knows I’m joking, though I’m not entirely sure if I am.
The car starts to pull forward slowly.
“Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself,” Vinny calls out.
Panic strikes like a viper. “W-wait! I just remembered, I left my car parked in the garage back at the apartment. I’d forgotten about it ’cause of the car ride, but it’s my pride and joy.”
“If it’s anything like your apartment, I think you’ll be better off without it.”
I run up to the car window and take Vinny’s hand in mine. “Please, Vinny, it’s a ’67 GTO. It was my dad’s before he couldn’t take care of it anymore. It’s…important to me.”
Vinny winks at me. “The landlord mentioned it. I had Theo take it to a guy to get it fixed. The body needed some major repairs.”
I don’t know what to say. This strange guy, this gangster who is nothing like the stories, has asked one of his goons to get the most precious thing in my world fixed without asking me.
All I can think to say is, “What am I supposed to do in the meantime? I can’t afford to take cabs until I can get it back. I know it’s not as nice as your car, but it’s mine and it means a lot to me.”
He strokes the back of my hand. I can’t help but enjoy his touch.
“Relax, baby. If I can’t make it, I’ll have someone come and pick you up at the end of your shift. What time do you get off?”
“There you go again, treating me like I’m some kind of possession or a trophy.”
“Just answer the question, Sid.”
I feel my cheeks warm a little under his intense stare. “Three a.m.”
Vinny’s mouth drops open. “Three in the morning?”
I shrugged. “Those late-night truckers need someone to serve them their coffee.”
“Then I’ll see you at three in the morning, beautiful.”
I expect him to slip his arm back inside the car and close the window, cool-guy style. But he doesn’t. As the car pulls away, he keeps his smile, and his eyes, on me.
My stomach does a flip.
As I pour the well-dressed gentleman at the bar the last of the coffee, I finger the tips in my apron pocket.
“Thanks, doll,” the man says. He’s bleary-eyed and keeps slapping his face to stay awake.
“You’re not the usual type to be the last customer of the night in this place,” I say, wiping down the tables. “Wife kick you out?”
“Boss’s orders,” he says into his mug, creating a small echo.
I stand up straight. The suit, the polished shoes, the close-crop haircut. “Do you…work for Vinny?”
The man turns his head to smile at me over his shoulder. “I’m Angelo, his brother.”
Angelo turns back to look ahead, over the diner and toward the kitchen hatch. “Vinny likes to protect his property.”
I clench the dish towel until I can feel my nails digging into my palm. “I already told him, I’m not an object for him to own. I don’t care how rich and powerful and scary he is.”
Angelo downs the last of the coffee in his cup. “Yeah, yeah, doll. Look, I’m the last one here and it’s ten to three. Can we get out of here yet?”
I want to slap the man, but he has a point. No one has stepped into the diner for half an hour, the cook has gone home, and it is too late to put a new pot of coffee on.
I let out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, okay. It’s not like Richard has any cameras in here to check on me, the cheap bastard. Give me a minute while I go change.”
No sooner have I walked through the swinging kitchen door that leads to the locker room when I hear the ding of the bell above the diner’s front entrance.
I throw my clothes on as fast as I can and hang my apron in the locker. Just before I leave, I can’t help but glance at my reflection in the mirror.
I shouldn’t care, I know, but the thought of going to see Vinny at this hour with such greasy hair and big heavy bags under my eyes makes me a little sick with myself.
And the fact I’m even thinking about that makes me even more ashamed.
I compromise by tying my hair back into a ponytail. I’m too tired to do anything else.
“Angelo,” I call out as I make my way through the kitchen, “I’m ready. Did that customer he—”
As I step through the swinging doors into the main area of the diner, I see Angelo sprawled out over the counter where he’d been sitting. He’s been knocked unconscious.
Behind him is another man wearing a dark suit and a purple shirt and tie. He strokes his pencil-thin goatee as he looks at me and then to my right.
Hands wrap themselves around my throat. I want to cough on my choking breath, but whoever has me in their hold is squeezing too hard. I can feel my head filling with blood.
“Hello, Sid.”
If his overpowering cologne isn’t enough of a giveaway, hearing Carlos’s raspy, all-too-familiar voice in my ear is.
“You didn’t think you’d seen the last of me, did ya? We’ve still got so much unfinished business, you and I.”
He runs his tongue from my chin and up my cheek. The tobacco on his breath makes me want to gag, but I can’t move.
He uses his other hand to tug my ponytail back so I’m forced to look at the diner’s stained ceiling, then releases my throat to run his fingers over my shirt, cupping and squeezing my breasts.
“Mm, yes, I’ve had my eye on these girls for a while.”
“Boss…”
Carlos lets out an impatient sigh. “Yes, I know, Olan. We’re going.”
He releases my ponytail, and the sudden intake of air into my lungs begins a violent coughing fit. I try to crawl away, but Carlos grabs my hair.
“It looks like the new head of the Markizo family got to this one first. No matter, I don’t mind sharing.
“Fortunately for us, I can kill two birds with one stone. I’ll be back for you, Sid. And next time, I’ll take my time.”
He steps up to my side and launches a kick into my abdomen, knocking the air out of me. I clutch my stomach in pain.
“For now, tell that new boyfriend of yours to keep his nose out of my way.” Carlos crouches next to me. “If he’s gonna take my job and woman from me, I’m gonna take his business from him.”
I sense him getting to his feet and hope he’s done. After gasping in a few more lungfuls of air, I turn to see him pulling his arm back and making a fist with his hand.
“Goodnight, Sid. See you real soon.”
