***LONDON’S POV***
I need to set my day straight. Zane says he has a meeting with his mafia brothers this morning and I know what that means for me. I have to find a way to snuggle money.
I don’t know how I will have fifteen thousand dollars, but I better be getting my wits to work.
“You are going with me to the club,” Zane says naturally, as he fastens his tie.
I had taken a shower but had put on a dress. It was a yellow summer dress with spaghetti straps.
My eyes fixed on Zane’s face. I wasn’t dressing to accompany him anywhere.
“I have something to do in town today, Zane,” I explain.
“That’s bad because I wasn’t asking for your opinion about the matter. I want to see you close to me,” he mutters out.
“No, Zane. You are not the boss of me, I have my own life and decisions to make,” I finish.
Zane was putting his cufflinks on, he stopped and looked at me as if I just sputtered rubbish.
“Want to come again, little girl?” he asks his voice spending menacing.
I know freaking well that I need to choose my next words keenly. I should though, but I just stay calm, opening the shoe closet and taking out a slipper.
He needs to be distracted so that I can search the house. I bet Zane has money at home, I just don’t know where.
“Zane?” I call out gently.
“Yes, baby,” he replies turning towards me.
Staring at Zane makes me gawk in shock, he is handsome, and his beautiful eyes make my legs crease with warmth.
“Nevermind. Can you just send one of your men? I promise to be good while you are not around. I can even take a car, I promise to ride prudently,” I beg.
Riding is something I had never tried, I don’t have a driver’s license, and with Zane, I haven’t ever had the chance to really explore that part because he always makes sure I am a passenger princess.
“You are not driving. And I already said you were following me to work. That is final,” he brushes past me as he removes his polished shoes from the rack.
It was past ten o’clock, I needed to be fast.
When I walked towards the door, the silence in the room was loud, I felt Zane cracking behind me.
“Fine, honey. But you don’t stroll past where Sinner can see you, understood?” he asks.
Slowly, my smile spreads across my face and no matter how I try to suppress it, that doesn’t work because my face turns bright red and Zane just huffs at how cute I look.
“Thank you, Daddy,” I screech happily as I rush to him, hugging him.
Although I was scared to wrinkle Zane’s suit, he didn’t hold me at arm’s length. He gives me a full-body hug.
“You are welcome. If you are being naughty, I won’t give you any of these privileges ever again,” he states.
I know I am going to Zane’s trust. I just feel bad but I shake my head, making sure that it isn’t too evident on my face.
“I have to hurry now, angel, Sinner will be here in less than no time,” he says.
Excitement fills my face until Zane stops, calling out to me.
“Where did you say you were heading to, little human?” he asks his brows pulled up at me while he takes my dressing in for the first time since I wore it.
I gulp, knowing that I couldn’t tell him I was late for a rendezvous with Michael, or that I just wanted to steal to give it to Micah.
Those reasons were fucked up big time.
“I just want to spend some time outside, I swear I wouldn’t run, my butt knows better than you disobey Daddy,” I muse out.
Zane holds my cheeks in his hand and kisses my lips.
“Sinner’s card would be able to afford you anything you want to buy, okay?” he says staring at me.
“How much is at my disposal?” I quickly ask.
I feel bad for letting my intrusive thoughts win the best out of it, I should calm down before Zane suspects me.
I wouldn’t want that to happen when my plan was just fucking starting to take shape.
“Don’t worry about that, little human, just enjoy your day,” he lets out.
I don’t push my luck on asking anything again, I just shut up, making sure that I look like the everyday me. His words pull me out of my thoughts.
“Don’t forget to wait inside the house until Sinner gets here. If he calls me to inform me that you aren’t at home, I swear London, you wouldn’t be able to sit on your ass for a month. I will roast those soft buttocks of yours,” Zane threatens.
I stare up at him, my mind going haywire with what he just said. I know he will do it if he just said.
When I don’t reply, Zane kisses me and leaves.
The moment Zane’s car zips out of the mansion, I lock the door and move upstairs, the hunt for money starts fucking now.
**
Thirty minutes later I am staring at this nearby upper drawer in Zane’s bedroom. I hadn’t noticed it until my hand had brushed through it. It was then I realized that the wall was facing.
Money was inside, maybe like thirty thousand dollars.
“I am not stealing the money, I am just borrowing some cash from Zane,” I repeat the chant in my head until it becomes true to itself.
I grabbed fifteen thousand dollars and closed the drawer. It shocks me why Zane will keep such a huge amount of money at home. It was small compared to everything he owned, and it made me think that maybe he had kept others elsewhere.
I would do the same if I had much money and wanted to save some for days when shit hit the fan.
It always does when you are a mafia lord.
*
Sinner arrived at the house twenty minutes later and I stepped out of the house clutching my new leather bag. It wasn’t suspiciously big but if I acted out of place, Sinner would know something was off with me.
“Hey London, nice bag you’ve got there,” Sinner greets politely as he opens the side door.
“Hey Sinner,” I answered and ignored the comment of him talking about my bag.
When Sinner is behind the steering, I know where I am going, so, it is easy for me to strike.
“City Square,” I called out to him.
Sinner nods his head, ignites the engine, and pulls out to town.
While I was waiting for Sinner, I called Micah and he said he would meet me at the City Square center. He would wear a black cap and hoodie, plus a face mask, in case Sinner would recognize him.
When we pulled into the City Square Center, I slipped out of the car and looked at Sinner.
“I will be back in less than five minutes,” I muttered.
The man gave me this cold look as if I just slapped him across the face.
“I don’t have to leave you out of my sight, orders from the boss,” he says.
“Well, your boss isn’t here now, is he, Sinner? Just let me have some fun,” I blurt out walking out and increasing my steps.
When I take a bend, I rush towards the old house Micah had asked me to meet him there. Sure enough, he was there. I hug him tightly.
“You got the money, London?” Micah inquires, not even having a moment to greet me.
Asshole.
“Chill, Micah, at least, greet me,” I blurt out.
I watch how sadness flashes through his face but he reconsiders and hugs me warmly.
“Hi, baby sister, now please answer me, do you give the money or not?” he questions.
I don’t have a problem that Micah uses that tone on me, he is so far the sweetest person I know on fucking earth. He is blood though.
“Yes,” I answer.
I remove the packet of money and slide it to Micah. He puts it in his bag.
“Thank you, London. I have to go now if I have to make it on time and hand over the money. I will see you tomorrow at our normal time by the lake, okay?” he says.
I don’t have the time to form answers for Micah, he kisses me on my forehead and leaves quickly.
I hate to have to say it but I rush towards the car and find Sinner sitting there with his phone to his ears.
When he looks at me, his eyes dilate and he curves his lips upward.
“London, the boss would want to talk to you,” Sinner says.
Somehow, I wish it was Caleb who was behind the steering because he wouldn’t blatantly sell me out to Zane, but he wouldn’t have let me go as well.
If I say I don’t want to talk to Zane right now, I know what will happen to me. My ass will be roasted.
Nope, I am not ready for my ass to be tender.
I took the phone from Sinner, it didn’t mean I was going to talk to Zane as well.
“Hello Zane? Zane?” I spoke into the phone not hearing what Zane was saying.
That was because I put the phone on airplane mode. It was the shittiest thing to do but I knew I had to save myself from this embarrassing situation. At least, I have a brain that is still working and it can save me in times like this.
“The network is bad, Sinner, I think he dropped,” I tell Sinner handing him his phone.
When he doesn’t check it, I release a sigh of relief. I don’t know how long it would take Sinner to figure out what I had done to his phone, but I know this is just the beginning, Zane wouldn’t even find it funny, to say the least.
“Zane was worried you left me out here, he almost bit my head off when he realized I didn’t follow you,” Sinner says.
I know I should be sorry for dragging this guy into my twisted issue, but I shut up knowing that opening up would lead to him snitching up on me with Zane.
“You can’t follow me around, You are not my dog,” I call out.
Well, typical me, that came out rudely. I shouldn’t have bloody said it like that, but now that the words are out, I can’t take it back.
“That’s not something polite to say to me, London,” Sinner says tapping in his phone as he looks at the road. When he seems satisfied with the phone, he sets it down and focuses his attention on the broad road before him.
His eyes are staring at me from the windshield, I know better than to behave myself, but I push on the last of his goodwill.
“Then, shut the fuck up and drive, Sinner. You are here to chauffeur me around town, and not babysit me. If Zane wanted me to have a babysitter, he would have employed one for me,” I brush out rudely.
Sinner stays quiet for the rest of the way, I had given him the next location and it was a block before I could reach Michael’s bakery. I asked Sinner to stop the car and I went down.
“I will stroll around the neighborhood, catch me at the bakery at the end of the block and we can go home,” I bit out at him.
I wasn’t giving him an out to the things I said, nor was I explicitly telling him where I was.
“Have a nice time asshole,” I call out at him before leaving.
It doesn’t matter if Sinner has been nothing but good to me, I bet I was still under the influence of last night’s alcohol.
Looking over my shoulder, I noticed Sinner wasn’t following me, but his phone was up as if taking a picture of me.
Shit! I move fast, trying to be out of his sight.