Page 50 of Scorned Beauty
Grigori nodded. “We have connections in the New Jersey hospital system. Be a nurse practitioner? A nurse anesthesiologist. Be involved in bespoke healthcare with select membership?”
He looked around him. “You don’t have to clean anymore.”
My body went cold. I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to leave. I forced myself to keep my face neutral.
“You get to enjoy what you want to do.” Grigori looked paler than normal. He had dark circles under his eyes. Stress? But I always wondered if he had a blood disorder. He certainly showed the signs of anemia. “Save lives.” He glanced over at Anton. “Yes, he told me what you said. It was admirable really, and I think I’ve found the right person to be on my team.”
Team. He meant criminal organization. One of his crew. Billy continued scrubbing as if he already knew about it.
I laughed nervously. “I have graduation to think about. And the NCLEX.”
“Yes, yes.” He waved his hand in an offhand manner. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I want to pass it legally and on my own merits.”
“Ah, Sloane. Just think about it.” He tossed an envelope on the table, motioned to Anton, and they left the room.
Billy approached the envelope.
“Don’t you dare touch that!”
“What?” He smirked. “Afraid of blood money?” He gave a low whistle. “This looks like twenty grand.” If there was one thing he was good at, it was flipping through cash to check denominations and then weigh it in his hand to tell how much it was. He was like a human money counter. Probably why Grigori liked using him in his casinos.
“What do you say, sis? Where are we going for dinner?”
Two thousand miles away from here. I snatched the envelope out of his hand. “Let’s finish cleaning.” It took us another hour before we could pack up and leave. We were on a side street when my stomach heaved. Seeing an alley, I yanked the van over, causing Billy to curse and hold on to the handle.
“What the fuck?”
I didn’t even shut off the engine. I jumped out of the van and ran over to the side and retched, narrowly missing my work boots.
Billy’s shoes appeared in my peripheral vision. “Are you pregnant?”
I laughed at the absurdity of the question. Dom always used a condom, and I was vigilant about taking my pills, but because of how hungry we were for each other, we always ended up having frenzied sex. Dom would remember gloving up after already thrusting inside me. There were several bouts of shower sex where the condom safety was in question. Shit. Shit. The last thing I needed was to bring a child into the fucked-up world I was trying to escape.
“No, I’m not.”
Billy popped a can of Coke and handed it to me. I straightened from bending over, but I was still feeling queasy. “Do you mind driving?”
“Not at all.”
When we were back on the road, I asked, “Would you come with me if I wanted to start over somewhere else?”
He hesitated before answering. “That’s gonna be hard.”
“You have to stop owing Grigori money. Do you still?”
“Nope. I was doing well in Florida, so I’m surprised he called me back. So yeah, I’m getting tired of this fuckery. It’s like damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”
My stomach roiled again but for a different reason. It was looking more and more that Grigori was using Billy, deliberately making him fuck up so I would owe them. I was the target.
“Are you still using?”
He cast me an annoyed glance. “I’ve been sleeping on your couch for over a week. Have you seen me using or needing to use?”
“I’m sorry.”
“What’s up with you anyway, sis?” He was staring straight ahead. “You seem…subdued.”
