Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
And I know, deep down, that Serena’s been gone for a while. She might’ve been gone since the first night Rodney crossed the line. I could’ve lost her then without realizing it, and I’ve been so angry and so intent on bringing her back that I haven’t been able to see the truth.
She doesn’t want me anymore.
I’m still her sister and I still believe she loves me, but she doesn’t want my life anymore. She moved on, found something else, found drugs and parties and whatever else. She found a way to drown her misery, to escape all the bad shit that happened to her when we were younger, and no amount of self-sacrifice can take away her pain. She’s hurting, and it kills me, but I can’t change it.
She has to want to come back. I’ve always known that, but now I can see so clearly. She has to want it, but she doesn’t.
“I don’t know if I can,” he says and I hear how hard that is for him to admit. “It consumes me, baby. What they did to me back then. Tommy’s been free all this time, he’s been living a life while I was rotting in jail and I hate him for it.”
“You can’t change that, just like I can’t change my sister. We have each other now, and what if that was enough? What if that was more than enough?” I kiss him gently as tears roll down my cheeks. “We could just walk away.”
His face is hard in the dark half-light leaking in through the blinds. Slowly, he strokes a thumb down my face, wiping away the tears. He leans forward and kisses me, and he lets out a low sigh.
“I made you a promise. I swore I’d put things right. I told you I’d get your sister away from Tommy, and I’m going to follow through.”
“This isn’t for me anymore. This is your choice.”
“I know that, and I hope you can forgive me, but I have to see it through.”
He kisses me and I kiss him back, because of course I can forgive him. I understand better than anyone else in the world, but something shifted inside of me earlier, something irrevocable and solid and real. It’s like a switch flipped, and now I can see what’s right in front of my face.
I have what I want. He’s right here in bed. Only I need him to survive this terrible journey he’s on, otherwise, I’m not sure what I’ll be in the wreckage.
Chapter 36
Angelo
Ifeel like I have ten consecutive hangovers. My skull pounds and my throat’s a raspy mess. The wire cut across my neck is an ugly gash, and I wear it proudly. Let the bastards stare. I waltz into Cage the following day and I feel the eyes on me right away. I’ll wear my wounds like jewelry. Glittering and blood red.
Bianco and Quinn men enter in my wake. The bouncers say nothing. I think they’re too afraid of what happened to Skinny to open their mouths at this point, and I can’t blame them. Cage is still running, it’s still ticking along, even though I doubt Tommy’s been in contact with anyone here. The place isn’t very crowded, but it’s still early in the day.
I find Rodrigo in the manager’s office. He’s sitting in Tommy’s chair watching the CCTV monitors with a grim stare, his eyes hollow and staring off into an unimaginable distance. He focuses on me when I close the door with a click and swivels in my direction.
“Mr. Bianco,” he says, spreading his hands. “I take it you’re in control of the club now?”
“That’s right,” I say, running my finger down the front of Tommy’s filing cabinet. “I’m going to comb through this place. Every folder, every piece of paper, all the computer hard drives, everything. We’re going to interview all the employees. We’re going to find out every secret, every stain, every broken rule. This can go much easier on you if you’re up front with me from the start. Do you understand?”
He nods once. “What do you want to know?” he asks.
I appreciate a man like Rodrigo. He’s effective, judicious, and his loyalties are flexible, given the situation in which he finds himself. That’s a kind of practical survival I can get behind.
“The third floor. Tell me everything.”
Rodrigo sits with his back straight and his hands folded in his lap, and he starts talking.
It started two months after Tommy took over. The third floor was more club space, but he had it converted into private rooms, and began catering to specific sexual needs. The girls came soon after, girls Rodrigo didn’t know, many of whom did not speak English. He didn’t ask questions at first, but soon he heard stories. Small towns in Serbia where men offered poor girls a lot of money to move to America for the chance at a better life. Only to find themselves trapped in a terrible situation. The girls came and went, and Rodrigo never asked what happened to them, but he knew. Everyone on the third floor knew. Money sloshed around that place, filling pockets and bank accounts, and it kept mouths shut, but it was hard to ignore.