Page 108 of Craving Francesca

“I trusted him.” I blew out a frustrated breath.

“You’ve heard a lot of the stories,” Myla said, stretching out on the daybed. “But there’s so much family lore that you’ve missed. Shit that no one really talks about anymore.”

“Like what?”

“Well, one of the old timers was married to a man who beat her. The guy disappeared, if you know what I mean. Another one was abused by her stepfather, and I think you can guess what happened to him. Those aren’t the only stories, just a couple off the top of my head. And don’t ask me who they are because it’s not my place to tell you.”

“Jesus,” I muttered.

“We take care of our own,” Myla told me gently. “Gray’s the one who realized what was going on, but if it had been any of my brothers? My dad? Bas? The outcome would’ve been the same, Frank. Youknowthat.”

“I’m not done being angry,” I replied stubbornly.

“Cool,” she said with a shrug. “I like angry Francesca better than depressed Francesca—which is who we’ve been dealing with for a while.”

“I wasn’t depressed,” I argued dully. “Just stressed the fuck out and backed into a corner.”

“You’re really going to quit?” Myla asked. “For sure, for sure?”

“I’m really going to quit,” I confirmed. “Just thinking about going back there makes my skin crawl.”

“Okay, well just a second,” she mumbled, pulling out her phone. She put it up to her ear.

“Hey, go ahead and ask her.” She paused. “I know what I said…yeah, yeah…okay, bye.”

Seconds later, my phone rang.

“Frank,” Myla’s dad Tommy boomed in my ear. “You’re comin’ to work for me.”

“I’m what?” I asked, glaring at Myla.

“Want you to come do for me what you’ve been doin’,” he explained. “My daughter wouldn’t let me offer because she said you’d feel like youhadto say yes. Fuckin’ bullshit, since you’ve never listened to me before. I’ll pay ya the same you’re makin’—”

“Can you afford that?” I asked, making him laugh.

“Don’t worry, doll, I can afford it. You’ve got the contacts, and you’ve been managin’ vendors for jobs much bigger than ours so it’ll be easy to settle in. I’m a fuckin’ fantastic boss—just ask my daughter-in-law. You can make your own hours. Work from home. I don’t give a shit as long as you’re gettin’ it done.”

“Are you serious?” I stared at the rain pouring off the gutters.

“Come by the house one night this week,” he replied. “We’ll feed ya and do the paperwork.”

“What if I’m terrible at my job?” I asked. “How would you ever fire me?”

Tommy was quiet for a moment. “You’re terrible at it, you’ll train until you aren’t,” he said, his voice more serious than it had been before. “Won’t need to fire you. I know you, kid. It’ll be good.”

“Thank you,” I sputtered.

“Set up dinner with my wife,” he ordered before hanging up.

Myla’s smile was all teeth. “Did I fuck up?”

“Your dad just offered me a fucking job.”

“I know.”

“Oh, cool,” Lou said happily.

“If I’d known he was looking, I could’ve quit a month ago.”

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