Page 22 of Mafia and Gold Digger

I slip out of the bedroom and gather some ice from the fridge to bring back to the room. Unsurprisingly, my mother is nowhere to be seen now.

Getting our own place is going to cost a lot. Much more money than the cash I have in my bank account right now. Rents in New York are eye-wateringly expensive, plus there’s the deposit, utilities, and everything else. Thank God that I’ve got my nest egg of stolen dresses. That’s therealreason I steal—to have money when disaster strikes. I already saw what happened when my dad was killed and we were left with absolutely nothing, and since then, I’ve been determined to never be in that situation again. I know what I do is horribly wrong, and I promise to myself that I’ll stop stealing after we get over this hurdle. But tonight, I’ll be putting all my dresses up for sale on ebuyer.com, and those sparkly outfits are going to be our way out of here. I should have sold the dresses instead of running those stupid guns, but now I thank God that I didn’t because it means I still have the dresses as a fallback.

I make a mental note to also get one of those machines so that I can cut the security tags off the dresses. A finality settles over me. I’ll do whatever it takes to get the kids to somewhere away from harm. They deserve to grow up in a place that’s warm, safe, and full of love. They deserve so much more than what our mom can give them right now. We deserve more than that.

* * *

I’m on an early shift which means I’ll be home before the kids get back from school, so at least I won’t have to worry too much about Enzo today. But tomorrow and the next day, I’ll need to find someone to keep an eye on the kids until I finish work. If I can’t get a friend to do it, I’ll have to pay a sitter, and that’s something I really can’t afford.

I’m already anxious about how I’m going to find an apartment to rent and how I’m going to afford it. Places around here are far from cheap, and I don’t want the kids to have the upheaval of moving schools again. But a bartender’s salary doesn’t go far in this city, especially when it has to support one adult and three kids.

I pluck a dress off the hanger, admiring the shade which the tag describes asSunset Hues. I’m desperately hoping what I get for all my dresses added together might be enough to get us out of here and well away from Enzo. But until they sell, I may as well wear them.

I slip the dress on before rushing around the room to quickly apply a little make up. My phone beeps with an incoming video call, and checking the phone, I see it’s from my best friend, Jacquetta.

“Hey,” I say in a rush.

“Hey, is this a bad time or something?” Jacquetta asks. Nicki, my other bestie, waves in the background.

I run a brush through my dark locks as I give them the short version of what happened with Enzo last night.

“That sucks,” Nicki says when I finish, sympathy soaking her words.

“I can’t imagine how hard that is,” Jacquetta adds.

“Yeah, it is, but I’m used to it by now. I just hate that I can’t shield the kids from my mom’s constant messed-up relationships, you know?”

“I understand,” Jacquetta says. “Well, I was calling to see if you wanted to hang out with Nicki and me, but I didn’t know you had to work.”

I close my eyes for a brief moment and sigh inwardly. “Trust me, I’d much rather hang out with you guys than deal with wealthy, entitled creeps at the casino. I hate to cut this short, but I’m running late. Can I text you later?”

“Sure. Talk to you later, Em!” Jacquetta says, and Nicki blows me a kiss as they hang up.

I slip my feet into a pair of stilettos and give myself a quick glance in the mirror one more time before I rush out of my room.

By the time I reach the living room, I find my mother already asleep. I exhale softly, walking over and putting a blanket over her before leaving the apartment.

When I arrive at the casino, I slip my bag into my locker, pausing to take a quick photo of the two dresses I have in there. There’s a bronze dress and a blue dress, and to my shame, they were my steals last week. Then bringing up ebuyer.com, I add a new listing for each dress. The proceeds from the bronze dress will go into my apartment fund while what I get for the blue cocktail dress will go to the single moms’ shelter.

Jacquetta has told me so many times that stealing two dresses at a time is dumb because it doubles the chances of getting caught. But I don’t see it like that. And it’s always been the way I operate, so that I have one dress for my rainy-day fund and one dress to sell for the single moms’ shelter. I know stealing and then giving some of the proceeds to a charity isn’t anywhere near enough to absolve me from my sins, but I just feel I have to do something to help those families out there, especially after my family ended up at one of those shelters. I still remember what it was like arriving at the shelter with my mom and siblings after we were left with nothing when my dad died. The feeling of desperation everywhere around us and the fear of what the future would bring. I know my reasons and methods are completely messed up, just like everything else about my life. One day, I’m going to figure out a proper way to help the shelter. I already volunteer one evening a week there, but it never seems enough.

Finishing the listings, I clock in and head to the bar. “Get me five glasses of champagne, and hurry up,” a nasal voice demands, and I turn around to face my first customer. It’s Ria Gioberti.Just great.I catch sight of the table she indicates, and I see that she’s sat with a handful of our ex-classmates from St. Saviors. I smother a sigh. Ria’s dad is an Imperiosi captain, so she has plenty of money to spend at a place like this, but I really hope that she isn’t going to spend my entire shift hanging out here.

Things are busy, and I make up drinks swiftly, trying to keep up with the orders. A while later, things calm down a little, and I’ve just finished rearranging the vase of fresh red roses that’s on the bar. I take a moment to inhale their heady scent. The casino has black and red décor, and there’s always fresh red flowers throughout the place.

The supervisor is on her break, and there’s no customers to serve, so I take out my phone and check the latest chess game I’m playing. It’s an online chess website where you can play to win money. It’s a useful side hustle for me, especially when I’ve got so many bills to pay.

I check my opponent’s latest move. I’m playing the Sicilian Defense, but I’ve chosen to go with the Taimanov Variation. After my most recent moves, I can tell that my opponent is off balance. My excitement is mounting because we’re not far off the endgame.

I’m pondering my next move when I sense a customer approaching the bar. Looking up with my usual welcoming smile, my expression suddenly freezes. Because I find myself staring into the eyes of the last person I expected to see here today…

I snap the phone’s off button to make the screen blank. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that how you greet all your customers?” Saint drawls.

“I don’t like liars,” I blurt out.

He raises an eyebrow. “I lied to you?”

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