Page 48 of When Sinners Rise
“But I’m on shift till three?”
“Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn’t be. This isn't a life.”
Leaving her, I walk the perimeter of the room until I’m out on the sidewalk and nodding at two of the security guys at the door. We talk for a few minutes, but other than that, there’s no reason for me to be here. This place runs smooth as you like without me. Knox makes sure of it, despite not being here lately.
I walk for a while, directionless, and think too much about Miri and where she’s at and why she’s there. The fact that I know Abel’s already got a buyer eats at me with every step, and some kind of jealousy flows through me about that possibility. Confusion beds in further the more I consider it, and not just because of the image of another man fucking her. It’s all wrong. Stealing them, branding them up like animals, usingthem. Every inch of this life we lead is cursed to hell and back. Add someone like Miri into that, and my part in getting her here, and I’m a lost soul searching for a way out that isn’t coming any time soon.
I end up following my feet to Mariana’s place, unsure how that happened. I get into the elevator and stare at the door as it climbs the floors. Some guy’s coming out of the door to Apt B when I get to it. He looks up at me sheepishly, like he’s embarrassed to have been in there. Shouldn’t be. We all like to fuck, and my sister sure knows how to pick the right girls for some class and sophistication in a whore.
Pushing into the place, I listen to the low ebb of music swinging around. Three girls are over to me before I even reach the bar, offering themselves up. I dismiss them all and try for more drink to help me on my way to a hell I’m already bound for.
“Hello you,” Mariana’s voice says somewhere behind me.
I turn back to look at her, taking in the outfit. Sleek as fuck. “Hey.”
“Come to pick some fun up?”
“No. Just …” I shrug my shoulders. “Just making sure you’re good.”
“Me? I’m fine.” Yeah. She always is these days. Solid business model going down, money coming in. A good man by her side. A purpose. Safe. “Security’s tight and we’ve got a full house tonight. With all this happening in New York, Abel’s all over me being well guarded.” She sits and puts her champagne on the bar. “You okay?”
“The fuck do you keep asking me that for?”
“I’ve asked you twice. Mainly because you’re not, and I’m trying to be a good sister. But, you know, fuck you if that’s better.” My lips tip up slightly, and I stare at some guys heading through to the back rooms. “Or, how about you talk, and we can see what’s going on?”
“I’m fine.”
“No. You’re struggling with something.” I frown and look at some girls nearby rather than acknowledge that truth. “You want to go downstairs?”
“Why?”
“The office is down there now.”
“Right.”
“We can drink, and you can offload whatever’s going on.”
She’s up and moving before I get a chance to answer, and, much as I hate to admit it, I’m following her. She talks to a few men on the way, smiling and using her skills to coerce the higher-priced rooms to them. They drift off with whores as we pass by, all ready to fuck their few hours away like life outside these walls doesn’t exist. It does, though, doesn’t it? Real life always exists. It does for these girls, too. I doubt any of them wanted this life. We made it for them – forced it.
“So,” she says, as we get to the office. I look around the plush interior, trying to work out if it’s an actual office or another fucking room considering the bed in the corner. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Shaw, it’s me. Cut the bullshit. Talk.” She puts a bottle of whiskey on the table with a couple of glasses, pouring. “Drink. Your tongue gets looser when you do.”
We drink for a while. Can’t remember the last time we did that. She tells me about her side of this business and how it’s going, and I just keep drinking and listening. She’s so fucking on it. Everything. Every minute detail seems ordered and precise, like she got all of Mother’s organising genes and is running with them full tilt since she killed her. I should be pissed about that, but I’m not. Wasn’t when it happened, not now, either. Might even have expected it at some point.
“So, you know, there’s room for another Apartment B in Dallas the moment I get the first one running. And then, when you boys have dealt with New York, maybe there, too.” I nod and sink another whiskey. “Why aren’t you there yet?”
“Going soon.”
“Well, that’s good for you. Away from all this and doing what you do best.” Yeah. “You never were much good with this side of the business.”
I frown, still unable to shift the thought of Miri out of my head. “I’m pretty good at fucking anything I want. That is our business.”
She smiles and raises her glass. “Yeah. No one disputes that, from what I hear. You’re quite the machine between the sheets. Not that I want to think about that. At. All. Ugh.” We both smile a little and a bitter laugh comes out of me. “When was the last time you got tested for disease?” My head rears up. “With the amount of pussy you get lost in, you must be riddled with-”
“Screw you. I’m clean.” I make sure of it. Monthly.
