Page 48 of Soulmate of the Mafia King
“I know a guy in Chicago,” Carp said.
“Where don’t you know a guy?” I replied.
He grinned. “Lebanon, anymore. Dragging your sorry ass out burned any goodwill I had.
“With that smile, I’m sure it won’t be long.”
He shrugged, but his expression told me he was already well on the way. Somehow. None of us had been back to the Middle East since that trip to Egypt eight months ago.
My phone rang, and I picked it up instantly. Rounds tended to mean a lot of calls coming in.
“Conti,” I said.
“It’s finished,” the voice on the other line said. “You should come see it.”
“Thanks.” I swallowed and hung up, then turned to Carp. “Can you go touch base with Teddy? I have to go do something else.”
He raised an eyebrow but nodded. “I’ll tell him you pulled an ear muscle, had to go rest up.”
I rolled my eyes and left. I needed to go get Paige.
God, I hoped she liked it.
CHAPTER 37
PAIGE
“Hey, Annie has the talking wand,” I said over the clamor of three women speaking in group. “We all agreed to respect that.”
They quieted, but Theresa looked at me sullenly. “How the hell are we supposed to be healing together if we don’t all get to talk?”
“You’ll get your chance. We still have”—I glanced at the clock in the corner—“two minutes left.”
Theresa huffed a sigh and sank lower in her seat.
Annie paled. “I don’t have to?—”
Someone knocked on the door. I turned and found Lily easing it open.
“I know you’re wrapping up here, but we’ve got a… situation in the common room.”
“I’m done!” Annie dropped the talking wand, a ribbon-wrapped stick Lauren and I had made when there stopped being enough time in the hour-long groups for the sheer number of women we had to just speak freely, into the middle of the circle and shot to her feet. “Paige can go. No problem.”
Theresa scoffed. Lily met my gaze with an intensity that promised she really, really needed me in the common room. With a sigh, I stood.
“I guess that’s time for today, guys. We’ll reconvene next Wednesday to?—”
The grumbling began before my sentence ended. I winced, but there was nothing to do other than follow Lily out of the room. The problems were mounting, and we couldn’t ignore them anymore. The huge, old Victorian had seemed perfect last year, but as word spread about our shelter, we were packed to capacity more often than not. We’d had to install bunkbeds in all the rooms. Lauren had another therapist—or two? I’d lost track—already picked out to join us, but we didn’t have the space to offer them an office anymore.
We hadn’t gotten as many women from trafficking schemes of late, at least. Very few traffickers bothered to try operating in Philly anymore, now that Tom had “taken over” the Mansion. We’d be talking about what he was going to do in September—hold an auction and round up anyone who came? Pretend to hold an exclusive auction?—but even as June marched forward, we hadn’t settled on anything yet. My mind felt like it was being torn in a thousand directions.
On the upside, I hadn’t thought about Zahur’s blood spilling over my hands in weeks.
Lily led me into the common room where two of our longer-staying women, Holly and Jen, glared at each other over the puzzle table in the middle.
I stepped up to them. “What seems to be the problem?”
“Holly hasn’t even touched this stupid puzzle in three days,” Jen said. “I think it’s too hard, but she won’t just admit that, clean it up, and start this one.” She gestured to a simpler, floral puzzle.
