Page 14 of Little Sunshine

“I brought her to get some food.”

He slow blinked. “She stole from a guest, so you rewarded her with lunch?”

“She stole so she could eat. Then she nearly passed out. It was feed her or call an ambulance.”

“You sure she wasn’t playing you so you wouldn’t call the cops?”

People could be human-shaped piles of garbage who lied as easily as they breathed—especially if it meant saving their own asses. I knew when someone was lying straight to my face, but her tears and pain hadn’t been bullshit.

My sunshiny thief was starving—and not just from a day or two of not enough food. She was skin and bones with dark circles under her haunting blue eyes. When I’d held her wrist, I’d had to keep my grip loose for fear of grinding the bone to dust.

It was a safe bet she hadn’t eaten anything of substance for a long while.

“Positive,” I said, without a hint of doubt.

“That changes things.”

“What things?”

“I was coming to tell you the man with the wallet filed a complaint. He’s demanding to see the security footage so he can press charges.”

That fucker.

I knew the cameras and angles like the back of my hand. There were two that would capture the area perfectly and one that would be obstructed but still show enough. “Have you watched the footage?”

“Not yet. I came to see if you knew where she was.”

I wish like hell I did.

“What’d you tell him?” I asked.

“The truth. I need to speak with the owner first.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

Maximo Black—my boss and closest friend—may have been a hard-ass, but he had a soft spot for the broken. His wife said he collected strays, and she wasn’t wrong.

“Make it fast.” He started to walk away before turning back. “I’ll call you if I see her again.”

I nodded, but I already knew he wouldn’t. Neither of us would.

She’d dance into hell before she returned to Moonlight.

Not stopping to talk or bullshit with anyone, I quickly made my way through Sunrise. It was one of four—soon-to-be five—Black Resorts properties. Taking the private elevator up, I paused to knock on my boss’ door.

Before Maximo met Juliet, I’d have let myself in with barely a knock. But with her in his life, I knew better.

Walking in on my boss and his wife wasn’t an experience I was anxious to repeat.

“Come in,” Maximo called.

Even if I didn’t want to see them making the beast with two backs, I was glad to see his wife on the couch.

Juliet had lived a rough life before Maximo. If any of us could understand the mystery woman’s motives, it was her. I doubted I would need the backup, but it was good to have it.

Maximo tore his gaze from her to look at me. “What’s going on?”

Starting at the beginning, I told them about the woman, the wallet, her hunger, and how she’d almost passed out. I finished by relaying what Miles had shared. “And now the man wants the footage so he can press charges.”

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