“You’re not making a whole lot of sense, Rocco,” she said with a laugh.
Kalen had gotten into my head—just like I knew he’d tried to do. I bit the tip of my tongue and nodded. “I still wanna talkto him when he comes in,” I said, then corrected myself. “If, if he comes in, because he might’ve just wanted the one night, gotten his tips and left.”
Lorna sighed. “Fine, I’ll see if I can get some more people to come in and work.”
We had a high turnover rate. People got spooked by the rumors of who they were working for, and it was something nobody wanted to be around, but some people, the ones who chased being close to criminals, they were the types of people to come in, almost like they were tourists. And then there was the wort type of person. The one looking for a story, for a scoop, or worse, for a fucking police investigation.
I got back to my office with my gin in one hand, and I walked toward my office desk where I’d imagined having some twinky bottom ready and waiting for me under it, someone who could surprise me with a little blow job. I needed a little something like that around this time of the day, after seeing my brother in love, and being teased by a soft, gentle hand. I didn’t really want him to stop when we’d found each other in the secondhand store, but he did, mostly because I’d actually taken his hand by the wrist, and I’d wished for things I knew couldn’t happen with the person he was.
Finishing my gin, I talked to the high rollers coming into the Palazzo this weekend. We got a cut of it, which is why it was important that none of them were spooked. It was normal for me to call them, to check in, make sure they were liquid for the weekend, and if not, they needed the deeds to properties ready and waiting. High stakes meant high stakes.
Just as I finished a call, a knock came at the door.
I didn’t know how long it had been, but it must’ve been a while since I was feeling the incredible buzz of my second gin and tonic of the day. The first one had been much sweeter. I washoping this was the third. “Come in,” I called out, tapping the sleep button to close the computer screen.
Kalen stood at the door of my office with his huge grinning face, in a nice black shirt, carrying a large Tupperware box. He presented it first, walking toward me. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I promised my ma I’d eat dinner with her.”
“I told you not to come in,” I said behind gritted teeth.
“And yet, I felt like you wanted me here,” he said, placing the Tupperware on the desk. “I also brought you dinner, since you couldn’t make it and all. It’s beef stew and biscuits. Although they might’ve submerged a little on the drive over.”
Through the nibble of my teeth, my tongue wiggled free. “You’re walking a dangerous tightrope,” I said. “And it won’t be long until someone around you brings you to me, telling me that you’re a Fed.”
“But I’m not,” he said, pulling out silverware wrapped in white and gold Palazzo tissue. “I’m just here because I wanna be close to my mom, and I’m sorry you don’t believe me. If I were a Fed, do you think I’d come back here? I need the money. I need the work.”
I knew he was lying through his teeth, but I couldn’t prove it. “So, you’ve decided to poison me?”
He rolled his eyes, plucking the sides of the Tupperware free. The smell of it was heavenly. “I’ll take the first bite, then you’ll know it’s not poisoned. But I really think you’ll like it, and maybe you’ll stop thinking I’m out to get you.”
Looking him up and down, the Fed stink was undeniable, and if it wasn’t the stink, it would be that I’d seen his face on CCTV. He’d worked on a case, helping out a friend who was set to turn over secrets on some big pharma company. Unless he had a twin, which he didn’t. I’d already dug into him, but really, I’d just scratched the surface.
“What do you want?” I asked him.
“To work, to make money, to be—someone you can respect enough to stop calling a Fed,” he said, as if it was prepared, waiting for him to say like a pull-string toy. “I’m here to be close to my mom, and sure, I’m overqualified, but not where it counts.”
I hummed and inhaled the smell of the food, and my stomach growled at it. It practically called me weak in front of him. “I told you if you came back, I’d have Lorna work you to the bone,” I said through a growl almost. “So, set the utensils down, leave my office, and go apologize to Lorna for being late. Then, and just maybe then, I’ll let you out in the morning.”
He nodded, presenting a salute with two fingers. “Yes, Sir.”
And just like that, the words slipped off my tongue. “Good boy.”
Kalen’s shoulders shimmied, as if he’d been waiting for it. He didn’t say another word, leaving my office just as Lorna arrived with another gin and tonic for me. She wore the biggest grin, almost like she sensed I might’ve just been flirting with him—and perhaps I had.
4. KALEN
My mom was excited for me to get out of her place and go to “work,” which she put in air quotes. I didn’t want to leave her just yet, though, knowing she was having all these problems with breathing. I was waiting for her to have a coughing episode before I went, but she didn’t. It had become a little predictable—she ate her meal, and then after thirty minutes, a heavy cough would erupt, and I’d have to make sure she had her steams and medication to hand. It was COPD, and she hadn’t always been upfront or honest about it with me. In fact, the moment she was, I went home and made sure she had everything she could need, but then I was needed back at work and her conditioned worsened.
At my “work,” I waited for my mom to call. I was on speed dial, so I was an easy call away. It was getting in the way of me being able to see if there was anything around that I could use to start an investigation. To get something concrete on them would help me stay here, and let me stay near my mom for a while.
Lorna, the bar manager, called me over with a big smile. “Rocco wantsyouto take him this,” she said, pushing forward a large gin glass. It was full and slowly turning purple from the little bits floating around in it. I was doing my best to avoid Rocco, knowing he’d warned me away from being here, but I also knew being near him was the best way to uncover anything useful.
The moment I got near the office, he called me in, and I clocked the camera pointing at the door from above. I walked right in with a smile, placed the new glass down on his desk, and grabbed the empty one. My eyes darted everywhere behind and around him, obsessively blinking like I was snapping pictures.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Then why are you still standing there?” Rocco leaned back in his office chair. It creaked and brought a smile to both our faces, as if to say he’d justlet one rip.“Actually, the food was nice.”
