Page 53 of Mafia and Gold Digger

Life is pretty good for me here. That is, everything except for not being with the kids. My heart feels like it’s going to splinter in two whenever I think about them, and I’ve cried myself to sleep more than once. And my repetitive handwashing is through the roof.

But at least I know they’re safe—and that has to be the priority right now.

Because if anything ever happened to them, I’d never be able to forgive myself…

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

SAINT

I drum my fingers on the desk in front of me as I stare at my laptop. She must have run out of money by now—she didn’t withdraw any money before she left and hasn’t touched her bank account since.

Where is she getting money to live on? She must have found a job. She’s most likely to have got a job in a casino, given that’s the only experience she has. But there’s hundreds of casinos over the country, and she could be in any one of them.

I access a back door to the IRS computer system, but my search shows no new employer or new information for Emerald Fiorelli.

I exhale in frustration. How else could she be earning money? What else is she good at…?

And then I have a brainwave.

* * *

I’m not sure if I’ve found her, but I’m going to drive to the town where I have a lead. It’s an area where there’s been a string of dress thefts from department stores and boutiques. It may be nothing, but I know I have to check it out.

But if it is her, I might just have to kill her after all the worry she’s caused me.

Arriving in a small sleepy town, I wrinkle my nose. This isn’t the sort of town I’d imagine Emerald being in. There definitely aren’t any casinos here, and it doesn’t have any of the glamor of New York.

After getting myself a coffee, I start casually asking questions as I wander around the town. Have there been any new arrivals recently? In particular, has anyone seen a beautiful woman with inky black hair and mesmerizing green eyes?

The only response I get is from a couple of people saying that there’s a new woman in town who’s working in the pet store. I sigh heavily. That won’t be Emerald. That doesn’t sound like her at all, and I can’t see a pet store owner considering someone like Emerald as being a suitable candidate for a job in their store. I’m imagining the store must be frequented by old dears who are buying bows and treats for their precious dogs and cats—and there’s absolutely no way Emerald would ruin her clothes by working around animals.

Nevertheless, I decide to check it out before giving up on this town and going back to the drawing board.

Walking intoWinifred’s Pet Supplies, my suspicions about this being a quaint little store are immediately confirmed. The owner looks to be in her seventies, and the youngest customer looks to be at least sixty-five. The customers all have various pets with them who are either yapping or meowing away. It’s like a fucking zoo in here.

The old lady behind the counter is wearing a very glamorous blue dress which looks rather out of place in the pet shop. “Can I help you, dear?” she says.

“Yeah.” I gingerly step around a cat who has alarmingly sharp claws. “I heard you have a new employee here—a woman who recently arrived in town.”

“That’s correct. You must be her boyfriend, McKinley!”

I have no idea what she’s talking about, but this woman definitely doesn’t sound like Emerald. Because Emerald is on the run and will be too busy to think about snaring a new boyfriend, so I know I’ve struck out.

I’m about to give up and walk out of the store when I halt in my tracks as I hear something going on in the back room. “Hector, stop pawing at my dress!”

And I charge into that back room as soon as I hear Emerald’s voice—heading straight for Hector so that I can tell the asshole to take his fucking filthy hands off of her—and I find Emerald sitting in a cozy armchair with her high-heeled feet on a foot stool, drinking tea from a dainty antique teacup while a cat snuggles up on her lap. As she looks at the animal and strokes his fur, a full-wattage smile is on her face, and I realize how much I’ve missed seeing it.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” I grit out, irrationally annoyed because she certainly doesn’t look to be in any real trouble which warrants all the time I’ve spent tracking her down. If anything, she looks to be rather too goddamn comfortable in the new life she’s found for herself.

Her face falls. “Valentino, um, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

I close the door behind me. “Carmine wants you dead. You’re not safe here. I’ve come to take you back to New York.”

She shakes her head. “You’ve just said yourself that Carmine is after me. New York isn’t safe for me anymore. It’s better that I stay hidden here.”

“Look, we can’t talk about it here. It’s too open. Tell me where you’re staying, and I’ll come by after work.”

Her lips remain resolutely shut.

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