Page 21 of Illicit

“As long as I eat, I don’t care what it is. Anything beats being hungry.”

“I only like cheese or pepperoni.”

He sits up and hops to his feet faster than I can blink.

I work my toes back into my flip flops and scramble to stand much slower.

“Sounds good to me. If your parents are going to feed me, I’d better do something to work it off.”

Rocco towers over me and this time it’s my turn to squint in the sun when I have to lean my head back to look up at him. “Why do you think you have to work off pizza? It’s just pizza.”

He huffs. “For you maybe, but nothing is free in my world. The last thing I want to do is piss off your daddy until I can get out of here.”

“Dad is never…” I pause and do my best to make this one sound more natural. “Pissed off.”

Rocco moves around me in his dirty, worn sneakers. “He will be when he hears you talking like that.”

He’s already at the back door, and I’m forced to skip to keep up with him. When the cool air hits us, I yell into the house. “Rocco said he likes cheese or pepperoni!”

Mom must have found her teacher patience while I was gone. She shakes her head but does it with a smile. “Did you convince him of that?”

“No. He said he’d eat anything, because it beats being hungry.”

Mom’s smile changes into something I don’t recognize.

I’ve never seen this look on her face before. I didn’t know a smile on my mom could be sad.

“I’m used to feeding two finicky girls. I’ll order you a whole extra pizza to make sure there’s enough. No one will be hungry in this house—I’ll make sure of it.”

Rocco stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Tell me what to do. I’ll carry boxes or some shit for you.”

Mom doesn’t get onto him for his language. Instead, she takes him up on his offer. “There are some heavy ones in the garage I could use your help with. I appreciate the offer.”

Mom turns and Rocco looks down at me before he lightly bops me on the head with his bandaged forearm. “Don’t get me in trouble with the cussing.”

I smile. “I won’t. I promise.”

With that, he lifts his chin and heads to the garage without giving me another glance or thought.

5

GOVERNMENTY

Rocco

New York City.

That wasn’t her plan until I announced my transfer back to Miami.

She did a hell of a job selling it to everyone as the opportunity of a lifetime that would open doors for her. A dream job. She couldn’t pass up the chance to work in the news hub of the country—maybe the world.

So she said.

I know better.

No one loves their family like Teagan. And that’s saying something with a group like ours.

Tim and Annette are heartbroken.

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