“What are you talking about? Has someone threatened you, Esme? Because if they have, they just breathed their last breath and they don’t even know it. I will chase them down in a heartbeat and break every fucking bone in their body.”
“Sure. Isawyou, Vito. I saw you with that guy from myinterviewthe other night…never mind, doesn’t matter, I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to think about the two of you comparing notes and—”
I slam my fists on the steering wheel in a rage. FuckingSalvatore. I should have put it together, but she said she wentto a restaurant to interview, not a seedy office in the back of a warehouse. Still, I should have asked more questions.
The cab speeds up to get through traffic lights before they change to red, and I follow suit, running through the next light, but I don’t care. I’m not losing her.
“Don’t act like you don’t know, Vito.You, him, Nadine, that guy from your house yesterday. You all looked pretty damn cozy. Nadine said it was just going to be a hostess job, but of course, all of you were planning to draw me in from the start, weren’t you? So was I just another girl, or did you look for me specifically? Did I fit some sick bastard’s requirements or—”
“Esme, I didn’t have anything to do with any of this. We used to be in business together.Used to. I severed ties with him as soon as he said he was going to start running girls. I always said that was my line, and he agreed for a long time. As soon as he broke that pact, I called off our arrangement. We were finalizing things, that’sall.”
“Sure, of course, you did, I’m really that gullible.”
I grab the handwritten agreement off the seat beside me and slap it against the windshield. “This is an agreement. It’s a kind of contract between Salvatore and me. It says that I give up all claim to his parts of the business and he gives up any claim to mine. We’ve parted ways, Esme. That’s what that meeting was about. We settled everything. I don’t know those girls. Truth is, I was fucking pissed when they showed up and sat down. Fucking Sal disrespecting me is what that was, as his final fuck you.”
She laughs. “This was all too good to be true. You had your fun with the stupid, naïve girl.”
I let out a low growl. Fucking Salvatore. I don’t understand how he’s fallen so far so quickly.
Once upon a time, we were childhood friends, and he was a decent man. Neither of us was always on the right side of the law, but we still had a code.
I sigh, gripping the steering wheel with my left hand as I take the note down off the windscreen and drop it back on the seat, then meet Esme’s eyes. “Stop the goddamn cab and come back here and read it for yourself. Then decide.”
Chapter Thirteen
Esme
“Sure, so you cankidnapme. Is that part of yourwork?” I shake my head. “No, thanks.”
“Do you really think I’d do that? Look at me, Esme, tell me what you really think.”
I meet Vito’s eyes, and even with the space between the two vehicles, my heart melts. He’s so strong, but I can see the pain in his eyes.
“Pleaseread the note, Esme.”
I let out a sigh. “Fine.” Hanging up without another word, I turn to the driver. “Stop the car, please.”
“Are you crazy, lady? If I stop now, that guy’s going to run right into the back of us.”
“No, he won’t. Just stop the car.”
“If he runs into my cab—”
“Stop being such a drama queen and stop the car!”
He grunts, but I feel him tap the brakes, and Vito falls back behind us. A few moments later the cab driver stops, and I jump out.
“Hey!” he shouts. “You gotta pay me!”
“One sec. I’ll be right back, please just wait. I’ll pay you, just wait…” He rolls his eyes, throwing up his hands, but puts the cab in park at the curb. I don’t want him to leave because I’m sure I’ll be back in the cab and on my way in a minute.
I march back to the Suburban and climb in beside Vito. He thrusts the handwritten note at me, and I start reading.
The note says that he and Salvatore agree that neither has any claim on the other’s businesses, nor will they be liable for any bad debts or legal problems. It’s a clean break without prejudice or bad blood between their families.
He was telling the truth.
I pinch the bridge of my nose as I finish reading what’s written there. “Is this real?”
