I did not.
I was keeping careful track of my debt to the Margarellis. I had a distinct feeling that Sal was dropping payments somehow. I wanted to ask him to show me the accounting, but I was afraid of being alone with him. I knew he’d use it as an excuse to paw at me. I shuddered and parked off to the side of the Garage. It was already dark out, but there were very few cars in the lot. I glanced at the clock and realized I was a few minutes early.
I took a sip of water and ate a package of saltines. I lived off the damn things. They were free at a lot of diners and surprisingly tasty with spray cheese or peanut butter slathered on.
Until I paid off my debt, I couldn’t afford more. All the good stuff went to Jacey. I’d give her my lungs if I could. I’d do anything for my perfect, sunshine girl.
I slipped on my heels and went up to the gate. Joey was out front. He nodded and grabbed my arm when I got close.
“Paulie said to lay low. He’s in a mood.”
“Thanks, Joey.”
I didn’t need to ask who was in a mood. I knew. Sal was a moody sonofabitch. If he was on the warpath, it was best to keep my head down and avoid him entirely.
I said a silent prayer of thanks for Paulie and Joey. At least they were looking out for me a little. It made me feel less alone in the world.
Chapter 7
Lucky
“Man, this place is a dump.”
“Shut up.”
“I can’t believe that you have to come out here to meet chicks. You used to be a legend.”
“I still am.” I sneered at Drake and climbed off my bike. “Don’t you forget it.”
“So, why the fuck are we here again?”
“This girl is special.”
“Special. Riggghht.”
I rolled my shoulders and patted my pocket.
“You’ll see, assface.”
Drake snorted.
He was not an assface and he knew it. He was almost as pretty as Dev or Callaway. I smoothed my hair back and smiled.
But no one was pretty as me.
Nobody except my Angel.
“I bet you a hundred bucks she doesn’t live up to your drunk ass memories.”
“Oh, you are so fucking on.” I handed him a thousand bucks to gamble with. “I hope you win, because you are going to need the extra money.”
He leaned in as we approached the large man guarding the door. His gun holster was prominently on display under his open jacket.
“Point her out to me.”
“Remember, we can’t draw attention to her. We could fuck things up for her.”
“Right. So how do I know who she is?”
I smirked. The dumb fuck was about to eat his shorts.
“Oh, trust me. You’ll know.”
“Holy fuck.”
Drake was stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth hanging open.
“She can’t be real.”
“Told you.”
“Jesus, man.”
I held out my hand, and he wordlessly put a hundred bucks in my palm. It was my money, but I didn’t bother to point that out. It was the principal of the thing.
He’d insulted my Angel and now he had to pay.
“Just lay low. Don’t win too much. Keep your eyes open.”
He tore his eyes away from Kirsten to look at me. He nodded. I slapped his back.
“Keep what you win.”
I lined up to get my chips with Drake behind me. They had a rudimentary bar. But I wasn’t drinking tonight. I had a thermos of coffee from Mae’s instead. Drake got himself a beer and found a spot at one of the tables. I sat across the room from Angel, where I could watch her and not cause a problem. It was a low stakes table but I didn’t care.
For once in my life, I wasn’t there to play.
I played a few hands, watching her without being too obvious about it. I would play at her table, but not until later. For now, just seeing her was enough.
This time I wasn’t as stunned by her beauty. Not that I was used to the way she looked. I was still in awe of her, but I took in more details. She stood like a dancer, I realized. Janet stood like that. The two of them were proud and elegant and way too good for mere men. Her expression was guarded and she looked weary. Not tired. She was far too radiant for that. But there was something in her face that tugged at my heart.
My Angel was being worn down by this world. I wanted to save her from it. I wanted to let her save me.
Her body was absurdly, almost ridiculously flawless. Lean and toned with perfect handfuls of femininity in all the right places. She turned to get a fresh deck of cards and I frowned, looking at her in a new light.
My Angel was thin. Thinner than I’d thought. Her face was so lovely you wouldn’t guess it but she looked almost… gaunt. It did nothing to detract from her beauty though. In fact, it had me thinking about how crazy her already slamming curves would be if I could fatten her up.