I give her a dead look, but she doesn’t linger. At least it’s unlikely she’s onto me if she’s being a giant nerd.
Rolling her eyes at me, she says, “Anyway, I’ll skip the fun stuff since you hate fun. Gio is fucking Marlena. And Cassandra. And I think Carla, though that doesn’t seem to be relevant. He has curated a harem of troublemakers, and he’s using them to his advantage. I don’t know exactly how or why, didn’t have enough time to get my Veronica Mars all the way on, but I will if you want me to. I have tonight off, so I could use a project.”
I stare, mildly horrified, at the energetic brunette across from me. Deciding to fill the silence with activity, she flips open the pizza box and plates pizza for me, slides it over, then plates some for herself. She does all this casually, like she didn’t just deliver me a fuck ton of bad news. Closing the lid so the pizza stays hot, she asks, “Any questions, or still processing?”
I have a lot of questions, but since she’s never given me bad information before, the one I go with is, “You’re sure?”
Virginia nods her head, lifting a piece of pizza to her mouth. “Positive.” Before I can think of what to do next, who to confront first, what to ask Virginia, she finishes her bite and says, “Sweet baby Jesus, why is this pizza so good?”
“No one knows,” I murmur.
Looking at the basic menu board with blue block letters over the register with faint astonishment, she says, “I never even knew this place existed.”
“You and everyone else. He’s about two months from shutting down. After I finish eating, I have to go have a little talk with him.”
Scowling at me, she says, “A talk? That’s Sin speak for hand-breaking, isn’t it? If you break his pizza-making hand, you’re a legitimate monster. Also, please don’t, because I want to come here more.”
“Hey, you think you can convince him to pay his bills in a more timely fashion, be my guest,” I mutter, grabbing my own piece of pizza and taking a bite. Fuck, it is good. Maybe I can avoid hurting the hands so I can keep buying until he’s out of business.
I was joking, but Virginia doesn’t appear to understand that. Nodding once, she says, “Deal.”
“That wasn’t a serious suggestion,” I inform her.
“I’m gonna take care of it,” she assures me. “Rafe only cares that he gets paid, not that the pizza maker gets hurt. Violence isn’t the answer here. There’s no reason this man shouldn’t be making money. That doesn’t even make sense. I’m going to volunteer my services and straighten out his books for him. With great marketing, you can move a large quantity of shitty product, and this is delicious product, so this guy should be spending his summers on a beach. From the look of this place, he probably needs help marketing.”
“What do you know about marketing?”
“Well, not a whole lot, but I’m gonna talk with—is his name Giordano?” I nod. So does she. “Giordano. I’m going to get the scoop on his financial situation, then I’ll do some research over the next few days. Rafe will get paid next month on time, you have my word. If he doesn’t, he can take it up with me.”
Cocking an eyebrow in amusement, I ask, “You’re going to vouch for a perfect stranger to the mob? You must really like that pizza.”
“I’m exceedingly confident in my abilities. Call me cocky, but I’m not worried. Also, perfect cheese to sauce ratio is worth risking my ass for,” she tells me, closing her eyes in exaggerated ecstasy as she takes another bite.
Shaking my head, I tell her, “You’re crazy.”
With a cheeky smile, she winks at me. “All the best people are.”
30
Sin
After making sure Virginia would be kept busy fixing Giordano’s pizza place, I have a few decisions to make.
One: do I waste more time investigating Gio’s harem of troublemaking mistresses, or do I just go to Marlena’s apartment and confront her? Cassandra’s a psychopath; she’s not going to crack. Carla is useless. Marlena seems like a somewhat normal woman who just got mixed up with the Morelli charm. I don’t see Gio having much of it myself, but women eat their crazy shit right up. He’s never tried to fuck me, so I guess I just don’t get to see that side of him.
Two: do I put some trust in Gio and call him out on his association with Cassandra to see how deeply she has rooted herself in him? She got her hooks deep into Rafe and gutted the guy, so while I don’t understand her appeal, clearly she has some. Then again, I don’t like crazy bitches. Weird and nerdy? Sure, okay. A psycho bitch that’s only out for herself? No fucking thank you. Call me crazy, but I’d rather wake up to a surprise blow job than some bitch with a knife she’s about to plunge into my back.
Three: if Cassandra is part of the deal, is there any way I can handle that? My initial response was an enthusiastic fuck no, but Gio offers Laurel. I really want Laurel. I could arrange an accident for Cassandra down the road and get her out of the way, so she’s not necessarily a permanent problem. As long as Gio can’t trace it back to me, we’re fine.
Four: do I give in to the overwhelming temptation I have right now to go see Laurel? Since my life is in such fucking chaos all because I’m trying to figure out how to get her and also stay alive, it would be really nice if I could see her face. Pulling out the spite photo Rafe sent me isn’t good enough. I want the feeling she gives me when we’re together in the same room. I want her kneeling on the ground at my feet, looking up at me like I’m her sun and she’ll beg for the chance to revolve around me.
I want her mouth aroun
d my cock, her pretty blue eyes looking up at me when she’s already so fucking full of me and I can see how much she craves more. Before I had to stay away because of Rafe, but right now, Rafe is a temporary problem. If I go with Gio, fucking the face of his baby mama is not the worst thing I’m going to do to Rafe, not by a long shot.
Plus, Laurel’s as good as mine, so I’m not stepping on his fucking toes anymore. He’s had more chances with her than he’s earned, and he’s clearly failed to capture her interest or she wouldn’t still want me.
The problem is his security. He must have checked it when I was alone with her last time, so I have to assume he’s checking tapes now every time Laurel is left alone. I could technically sneak in though, because I know where the blind spots are. All I have to do is park my car somewhere else and walk up to the house.