Page 40 of The Mafia's Captive

“No, it’s not.”

“Jesse.” My tone says leave it alone, and she sighs and raises her hands in surrender just as I open the door to my bedroom. Her jaw drops. “Wait? You have your own room?”

I shrug. “He likes his own space.” This mollifies her. Maybe this is a normal arrangement within the sugar daddy/sugar babe world. I watch her as she walks around, taking in the white and cream that’s more dominant in this room and strikingly different from the rest of the penthouse. A sharp contrast to the rest of the apartment. “It’s so you? If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he made this room especially for you.” That was odd. Since entering this place, I have never thought about it like that. I was fearing for my life and not at all thinking about the decor. I take a second look and notice what she’s saying. It is decorated to my tastes. Probably a coincidence. He’s probably had a string of girls come in and out of this room, and I’m just the latest.

“Corina!” I look around for her. Where did she go? She calls again. She’s inside the closet. “You’ve gotta lend me some of these clothes,” she adds. “Do not restrict yourself,” I say when I enter the closet. She’s holding a cocktail dress against her body and admiring it in the mirror. “Your boyfriend will probably gut me on the casino floor if he sees me wearing your things.” She returns the dress back onto the rack. Her face is serious when she faces me. “Did he say anything about the money? I heard from Sal that he was looking for a thief.”

“You and Sal talk?” I’m glad she’s the one to bring it up first, because I had no idea how to confront her about that. However, this Sal thing is new.

“We talk occasionally. But he came to me wanting to know if I knew about you stealing. What did Dante say?”

“I didn’t think you two are fucking. Just thought it odd, but you know what, never mind. I told him I took it. He was a little angry at first. But he’s forgotten about it.”

Her eyes widen. “Really?” A mischievous glint flashes in her eye. “Or did you suck his memories away?” I blush. In a way, that happened, wasn’t it? I don’t even need to say it. She can easily read my face. “No fucking way?” She giggles. “You should stop hanging around me. I am teaching you to be bad.”

“Can we talk about something else, please? My cheeks are about to flame up.”

“Thanks anyway. I don’t know what my sister would have done without you.”

“It’s fine. But you should have told me it was for your sister. And how much money did you steal, anyway? Apparently, you’re on the hook for,” I lower my voice, “five hundred grand.”

“I didn’t mean to! Take that much at least. But with Jackie’s mounting medical bills and the debt from her previous hospital stay accumulating, I had to do something.”

“You should have told me!”

“I tried to, but it was hard. I hated living with the secret. You practically saved her life. I don’t know what I would do if I was caught.” Jesse looks remorseful enough for me to want to forgive her. She has such a burden when it comes to Jackie, who is constantly in and out of hospitals due to her chronic illness.

“How is she? Is she doing well?”

Jesse nods. “The new treatment and the rehab place is working wonders. She even says she likes New York now.”

“That’s amazing! But won’t you need more money? Because he took three hundred from the apartment.”

“Oh that. I need a hundred more, which I’m sure I can get from another source.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t know what I was thinking when I did it—”

“You were thinking of Jackie,” I cut in, “And that’s all that matters.”

She must be embarrassed that she had to resort to stealing to pay back those debtors. She’s not telling me, but if I have any idea, the people she borrowed from were threatening her. I can see how the topic is hard for her. I don’t blame her. Loan sharks were some of the worst types of human beings to ever walk on earth.

“Did you pay them everything?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Promise me to never do something that stupid.”

She raises her little finger. “Pinky swear. I think it’s my turn to say let’s not talk about this anymore.”

“How did you do it though? Steal the money, I mean. Where are you swiping?” That’s how most dealers steal. Taking a few of the chips that the customers have won before handing them. But still it wouldn’t explain how she got that much money unless she’s been doing it for a while. And I doubt Dante would know the exact figure as he did when he questioned me. Jesse doesn’t respond. She shrugs. “I’m embarrassed by it as it is,” she says to me, “I don’t want to distress you anymore.” She is right. Talking about this here when Rob and Bruno are in the next room is not wise.

“I wanna know more about you and Sal,” I say, changing the subject. “I don’t get how you two would talk.”

“Well, not talk, talk. You know, he’s not the ghoul people make him out to be.”

“I can’t imagine what you would have in common. Since when did this friendship blossom? I feel like I should have known about this.”

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