AMELIA
I can last forty-eight hours with Leo Rossi. At the end, I get the winnings from the casino. That much money means I can keep the shelter going forever. I can become a vet, buy my own place, have the freedom to work with animals for the rest of my life. A million dollars means a lot of things.
That’s the thing about money. It means the freedom to make choices. Right now, I don’t have many. He might not have said it out loud but I’ve no choice about him staying for the weekend.
“I told you to make your place more secure,” he says as we walk up the path.
“Oh, I meant to mention,” I say, turning to face him. “You’re very welcome to get fucked.” I lift my middle finger, “With this.” I lift the matching finger of my right hand. “And this to help.”
He looks at me and I think he might be about to yell at me, but then I see the slightest flicker of a smile. It’s right at the corners of his mouth and he clamps down on it a second later, but it was definitely there.
Now I know there is a crack in his shield and better still, there’s a human behind it. Maybe I’ll get to meet him sometime.
I unlock the front door and walk in. Molly’s sitting on the couch. “How did it go?” she asks.
“What are you doing here?” I reply. “You’re supposed to be at work.” “Got sent home. Who’s this?”
She nods toward Leo, and he ignores her, turning to look at me. “Told you the place needs to be more secure,” he says. “Anyone else hiding in here?”
“Just me and my six football-playing mates,” Molly says. “They play for Rochester Invisibles. Heard of them?”
Leo turns to look at me. “You two suit each other.” He heads upstairs. “I’m going to case the place.”
I shout after him. “Make yourself at home, Leo. Oh wait, you already have.”
“Is that…?” Molly raises her eyebrows. “Well, you work fast, don’t you? Last time I saw you, you were heading to the casino and you appear to have brought your winnings back here to bone.”
“It’s not like that,” I reply. I tell her about Rex and about my trip to the casino. I don’t tell her about the deal. No need to tell her about that.
“He’s staying for a couple of days to sort out the cremation and find somewhere to scatter the ashes,” I add loud enough for him to hear from upstairs. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”
“Told you. Got sent home.”
“What did you call Clive?”
“Nothing. I was just working, and he turns up and sends me home out the blue.”
“What did you call him this time?”
She sighs. “A lazy, useless motherfucker with the arms of a filo pastry and the head of a midget submarine.”
“That doesn’t even work as an insult.”
“Yeah, but I was angry. He accused me of stealing food. Then told me I wasn’t working hard enough. Me? Can you imagine? Then he fired me.
Again.”
“Think he means it this time?”
“I doubt it. Give him a couple of days and he’ll realize, especially when no one else will work the graveyard shift.” She lowers her voice. I can hear Leo moving around upstairs. “So is the plan to fuck him before or after you get some sleep? Also, can I join in?”
“No, you cannot!”
She giggles quietly, pointing a finger at me. “Aha. So you are planning on fucking him then.”
“No, I am not.”
“Why not? He’s hot as fuck.”
“His dog just died. He’s grieving.”
“Didn’t look like he cared much if you ask me.”
“He does, trust me.”
“So fuck him out of his grief. Best way. When my foster mom died, you want to know what I did?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me, anyway.”
“Went out and got hammered and then found myself mucho cocko.”
“The famous Mexican wrestler?”
“Hilarious. Trust me on this one, Milly. Go latch onto that shaft and ride it like it’s the Kentucky Derby, and he’s coming from behind. Hey, that means two things.”
A shadow falls over me. “What means two things?” I turn and Leo is standing there in the doorway, looking amused with us both.
“Nothing,” I squeak out, making evil eyes at Molly. She looks at me and then at him and then slaps her hands together. “So, mystery man. You want to introduce yourself?”
“Leo Rossi,” he replies. “Any coffee in this place?” “I’ll make it,” she says.
“No, you won’t,” I tell her. “You’ll go home.”
“Ooh, okay,” she says, making a smooching sound with her lips. “I know when I’m not wanted. I can take a hint.” She points at Leo. “Just make sure you use protection, big man. My friend here sleeps around a lot and who knows what diseases she might be carrying.”
“Molly!” I shout, shoving her toward the door. She’s laughing as she goes. “Get out!”
“Fine, I’m going.”
“You’re not. You’re literally standing there not going.”
“Be good to her,” she shouts through to the lounge. “Or I’ll cut your nuts off.”
I get her out the door before she can embarrass me any further, and then I walk back through to the lounge. “Black or white?” I ask. “The coffee, I mean.”
He’s standing by the fireplace, looking at my photos. “Black,” he says.
“Make it strong.”
“I’m making decaf,” I tell him with a shake of my head. “It’s late and I will not sleep while you’re down here bouncing off the walls.”
The flicker at the corner of his lips is more pronounced this time. “Yes, ma’am,” he says, doffing an imaginary cap.
I walk through to the kitchen and fill the kettle. While it’s heating, I lean back on the counter and notice my hands are shaking.
Why’s that?
Could it be because it’s the first time I’ve had a man in my house for years? Could it be because we’ve just dealt with the trauma of Rex dying?
He’s dead. It hits me a second later. For a while I’d almost forgotten, but suddenly I think of the blanket in the lounge and the fact Rex is gone. Then before I know what’s happening, I’m crying.
He appears in the kitchen doorway a second later. I look up trying to think how to explain, but he doesn’t pause. He crosses the space between us and puts his arms around me.
He holds me tight to his chest and the first thing I think is how good he smells. Earthy, crisp, manly, all at once. Whatever aftershave he uses, I like it.
My next thought is how solid he feels. It’s like being hugged by a brick wall. His arms are pressing into my back and I feel if he squeezed much tighter, he’d break my spine.
If ever there was a man who didn’t know his own strength, it’s Leo. Then I think about Rex and I’m crying again.
He holds me for a long time, saying nothing. When I finally stop my tears, I wipe my eyes in time to find him making the coffee.
He’s added whiskey from a flask in his pocket to both drinks. He puts a little sugar in mine and then he’s sliding it over to me.
“Drink up,” he says. “You’ve had a long day.”
I drink and we walk back through to the lounge. I take the sofa and stretch out. He sits in the armchair, both feet planted on the ground.
The coffee steams on the little table next to him as he presses his fingertips together and examines me closely. “This friend of yours,” he says.
“She around here often?”
“Sometimes, why?”
“Just wondering.” He picks up the bills piled up next to the sofa. “Still working at the shelter?”
“I run the place now.”
“What happened to your boss?”
“Who knows? Disappeared with the money, I’m guessing.”
“That means you get paid or you don’t get paid?”
“I wish. I keep it going though.” I see his eyebrows raising at the red capital letter final demands. “Kind of.”
“This one looks serious.” He taps the open one on top of the pile.
“Bank wants to shut us down next week unless I can pay the figure at the bottom of that letter.”
“You’ll be able to after this weekend.”
“If you honor your side of the deal and if Cam doesn’t come back to take over again.”
“He won’t.”
“You sound very sure.”
“I am.”
“Did you kill him?”
“Did I what?”
“Did you kill Cam Oakley?”
He looks me straight in the eye. “No, I did not.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“I’m many things, Amelia Dooley, but I am not a liar. I honor my deals.
Whether or not I find the snitch, you’ll get your money.”
“We’ll see.”
“And you can use it to keep the place going, right?”
“I guess. Maybe.”
“No maybes in this life. Yes or no, Amelia. You going to do it?”
I take a deep breath. “Yes,” I say after a second.
“Good girl.”
His praise shouldn’t please me. I shouldn’t care what he thinks. So why does a little bubble of warmth appear in the pit of my stomach and spread through me when he says that?
“I’m going to bed,” I say, getting to my feet. “The guestroom is at the top of the stairs on the left. Bathroom next to it. My bedroom door will be locked.”
That flicker of a smile again. He doesn’t know my bedroom doesn’t have a lock, so why’s he smiling? I kick myself. Of course. He’s already been up there. He knows I want him to think I’m willing to lock him out, that I fear him. I want to tell him I’m not afraid of him, but that’ll only make things worse.
I walk upstairs and brush my teeth. Once I’m done in the bathroom, I head into my room and shut the door. I can hear him downstairs, talking low into a cellphone. Nothing more than a murmur. I leave him to it. Suddenly forty-eight hours seems like a very long time.
I think of the kiss we shared at Moira’s. It meant nothing to him, I can tell. Meant something to me, though. Tingled on my lips for a long time afterward.
I change into my pajamas and climb into bed. I pick up my Kindle and read. I’m waiting for my eyes to close but nothing happens. I’m wide awake. I realize I’m waiting to hear him go to bed.
It doesn’t happen for over an hour. Then I hear the guestroom door closing. I didn’t even hear his feet on the stairs, not even on the third step up, the creaking one. He’s silent as a ghost.
Two days. I can get through two days. I close my eyes and at once I’m imagining him bursting in, shoving my hands down onto the bed, plunging his tongue into my mouth, his hand roughly sliding between my legs.
I blame the booze for these thoughts. The kiss comes back to me. I tried to erase it from my mind and I thought I’d done a good job, but now it’s back.
I need to forget about it. It was clear from the way he acted that he regretted it the moment our lips touched. Which was a shame because I felt something pass between us when we kissed, something I’ve not felt kissing anyone before.
Just my luck, the spark that Molly always talks about happens with a guy like him. A guy who clearly wants nothing to do with me, who’s only using me to find his snitch.
Who is Leo Rossi? Is he a criminal? He clearly runs the casino, the one the town whispers things about. Have I let a criminal into my life? A dangerous man?
The thought should scare me and I know it’s meant to but as I drift off into some really filthy dreams, the only thought I have is, no matter how much I don’t want to admit it, the idea of being in debt to him turns me on. I dream about repaying that debt in the dirtiest way imaginable.