Page 4 of Forbidden Wish
“Come here.”
The door by them went to the corridor that ran from the back shop to the showroom. From there, he took the second on the left into their breakroom. One of the three doors in the far corner was open an inch, but she had no idea what was back there. Jagg was his best friend and had been forever, but it wasn’t like she hung out there or ever went exploring.
Curiosity would wait. “I need your help,” she said, getting to the point as soon as Ford closed the door they’d just come through.
“What’s up?” he asked, coming in close. “You’re amped.”
“Yeah, I am,” she said. “Do you still do work for Evander Manzani? Vex they call him, right? Never mind, I know you know people. I need to get into his place.”
“What place?”
“He has a club.”
“More than one. Vex likes to have a good time.” Her brother used the mafioso’s street name. Everyone did. “His family has a lot of business interests. Why do you want to get mixed up with a guy like that?”
“I don’t care about Manzani. I care about getting into his club.”
“Why?”
“None of your business.”
“It’s one of your stories, isn’t it? You wanna write about Vex Manzani? Do you have a death wish?” His fist went to his forehead for a second before it leaped out into the air. “No. I won’t help you.”
“I will do this with or without your help. Showing up with my brother, who does work on the side for the club owner, I might be saved from pawing hands or crazy gangsters.”
“Not going at all saves you from both.”
She shook her head. “Not an option.”
“Me coming with you is not an option,” he said and came to lay a hand on her shoulder. “If Dad found out—”
“If Dad found out you abandoned me there…”
His head relaxed. “You spoken to him yet?” She said nothing. “Hard for him to find out if you don’t speak to him.”
“It’s complicated.”
“No, it’s not. It’s about the cop.”
Not entirely. Her brother didn’t know about her latest run in with their father. And she didn’t have time to loop him in.
“You know, you don’t have to call him that,” she said. “He has a name.”
“Never learned it while you were with him, don’t plan on learning it now.”
“And it’s that kind of attitude that drove a wedge between me and Dad.”
“Mom didn’t like him either.”
“How would you know? You never visit her.”
“I don’t like leaving the city.”
“Yeah, it’s like you’re worried you’ll die without the pollution, crime, and overcrowded-deprivation infecting you every second.”
“I like the pollution and it likes me,” he said, sauntering around the kitchen island to the counter in the corner. “Want coffee?”
“No. If you’re not going to help me, I need to find someone who will. I don’t have time for coffee.”
