Page 43 of Tommy
“Fuck,” I say with a shake of my head. We don’t even need a damn trash bag. This is sadder than foster kids being moved from one place to the next.
Even more than Milly had.
The sobering thought of what my sister went through is clear in my mind. I fear it’ll never go away. And it shouldn’t. What happened to her and my nephew, Ollie, is something that shouldn’t happen to anyone. Especially not a woman and child. But at least Milly had the Crazy Eights. Payton had no one.
No one till me.
I turn and walk out of the room, not stopping till I get to the bottom of the stairs and hold the front door for her. The only thing in this place that has any weight to it, but that’s just because it fucking sticks at the top. When I open the back door of the SUV, she drops her small pile of clothes onto thefloorboard before stepping back and letting me open the passenger door for her.
Once I shut it, I pull my phone out and send a message to my team to keep a lookout on this place. Not only to find the people who owe me the money Payton saved for her payment last night to the Kings that’s now mine, but for those who Payton cares for. The only people who seem to care for her back in this world, it seems.
Once I get a confirmation that my team understands what I’m asking, I walk to my side of the vehicle and get in.
“Now we get to work.”
Work consisted of dropping Payton back at my place and demanding she rest before her performance tonight. Something she argued very little about since she was a walking nap waiting to happen before we got more than a mile from her place.
For me, it meant a trip to Bobby’s office.
My brother takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Let me get this straight. A stripper who works for you—”
“Performer,” I correct him.
He gives me a dull stare that speaks volumes on how he thinks it’s the same thing as what he said. But it isn’t true since Payton keeps her clothes on. Which is the big difference. And something I’m appreciating since I’m finding her more and more… enchanting as the time goes by and I get to know her a bit better. I would hate to have to kill anyone who saw her naked if this continues between us. Whatever this is. But it’s more than a transaction deal; that much I know.
Not that I’ll admit that or ever say anything to my brother about it. Any of them.
“Sorry. Thisperformerwho works for you had a transaction with the Kings, and you thought it was a good idea to just buy out the debt without talking to me about it first?”
“Vinny wants me to be the face of the company,” I say with a shrug.
“The face. Not the decision-maker. You are to get details and bring them to the table, not just make us bankrupt.”
I roll my eyes. “Bankrupt? Dramatic much?”
He glares, and with the huff he gives, I get an idea of his past self. The termdragonwould fit him to a T. Hoarding his gold, going crazy over one cent missing, and shooting fire out of his mouth. Completely dramatic and over the top, just like Bobby.
“You at least had Danny look into thisperformer?”
“Give me some credit. I had Dante run her through our system.”
He snorts at that.
“You don’t trust Dante?” I ask with an easy smile.
“It’s not about trust but being thorough in the work. Even you can admit Dante’s let things slip before because he didn’t want to do all of that, what did he call it… legwork?”
“It was a three-hour round-trip drive for him that time. Even you wouldn’t have been too happy about doing it just to double-check on somebody’s meal.”
“Ah, but it wasn’t justanybody’smeal, was it? It was Ma’s. And she really wanted to make sure she had the correct tomatoes. And did she? No, thank you very much. That’s the extent of my trust in Dante. I’ll be bringing in Danny to do a complete job on the matter.”
I sigh heavily. “Fine.” Really, it’s probably for the best, but I keep that to myself.
“How is this debt getting paid? You have a thought on that?”
“Adjusting how she earns.”
He nods in agreement, then shakes his head as he looks back at the file Marco, his second, sent him. Probably something to do with his legit side of the business, Leone Holdings. Bobby is always working on something when it comes to it. “It won’t be enough, even if she works for you for years.”
