Under the Stars

Her shoulders drop, and her lips quirk into a half smile. Stepping forward, she puts her arms around my shoulders. I wrap my arms around her waist, doing my best to fight the heat in my eyes.

“Keep in touch,” I manage through the thickness in my throat.

She turns, catching the handle of her rolling suitcase, and takes off. I only stand and watch her go, disappearing swiftly into the damp night, returning to the streets where I found her.

“Don’t worry, darling, she’ll be fine.” Roland is beside me, and I take Jillian out of his arms. She kicks her little legs, but her eyes are closed as I hug her against my chest, running my nose along her head.

“I hope so.” I allow my baby to soothe the pain in my chest.

“She will.” He places a hand on my back. “Girls like her always land on their feet.”

Warmth swirls behind us, and I glance up to see Mark is with us. “It’s time to catch a plane. It’ll be tomorrow when we get to New Orleans, and we have a lot of catching up to do.”

One last glance up the sidewalk, and I step into the car waiting to take us to the airport.

10

The best view comes after the hardest climb.

Mark

“I never should have worked for him as long as I did.” My eyes follow the swaying of the topless dancers in the private booths behind the bar, but my mind is years away, remembering my role in the sins of this city.

Terrence sits beside me at the bar, a pint of Guinness in front of him. “You can’t blame yourself for trying to earn a living.”

“I could have gone to the Bahamas with you.”

He slaps my arm. “And leave behind the love of your life?”

My eyes drop to my beer. “I was always pretty obvious back then.”

“He took advantage of your character. You showed your hand when you grabbed that rope. It put you on the radar just as sure as a nice rack would’ve in that place.”

I look up at the girls swaying side to side. They wear less clothes at the jazz club now—pasties and thongs instead of skimpy bras and tiny shorts. None of them are as gorgeous as Lara.

“How did you get mixed up in that racket anyway?” He fumbles with an unlit cigarette.

“They let me smoke at work,” he says with a laugh. “No, it was good pay. I knew where to draw the line. When to walk away.”

“You didn’t have to work there. You could’ve charged more for rent.”

“Then how would I have met you?” He gives me a wink. “I’ve never been too worried about money. You get on that hamster wheel and you never get off.”

“So what motivates you?”

He shrugs. “Beauty, freedom.”

“And?”

“Pretty girls showing their tits.”

That makes me laugh. “I have to figure out a way to use what I know to bring them down. Will you help me, T?”

“Why you so worried about those guys now? They’re gone.”

Tension is in my chest, and I can’t tell my friend the whole truth. “Gavin’s holding something over Lara’s head.”

“Always the romantic.” He laughs, taking a long sip of dark beer. “I’ll do what I can, but I stayed away from those guys. I worked for Darby, and when he said we were done, I went fishing.”