Page 62 of Corrupted Pleasure

“I'm doomed with photography and arts,” Ivy muttered dryly. “I guess I could be the photographer for our new school. Make it sexy and all.”

“Because parents want to send their kids to a sexy school,” Wynter snickered and we threw our heads back, laughing wildly.

“Actually, I think we can use your skill set too, Ivy,” I announced. “Whatever we end up doing, we’ll have you deep dive into learning the ins and outs of the building. Spot where the cameras are, the routes the personnel take.”

“That’s brilliant,” Wynter announced. “Ivy can take pictures of all that so we can get oriented before we even get there. Ivy would have the best knowledge on how to get good shots in order to make sure all potential problem areas are laid out.”

“Holy crap,” I murmured. “We’re really doing this.”

This whole thing seemed unreal.

“Okay, if we are doing this,” Juliette commented, her eyes shining excitedly. “I think we should rob the Italians.”

I frowned. “Why the Italians?”

She shrugged. “Well, if we steal from the Irish again, they might blame the Italians.”No, they won’t.“So we’ll steal from the Italians. You know, spread the wealth.”

Wynter scoffed. “More like steal the wealth.” The three of us turned to face her and she smiled her innocent smile. “Not that I’m complaining. I’m just being technically correct, you know.”

“Won’t they blame the Irish if they see you two?” I questioned. After all Juliette and Wynter were family members of the highest ranking Irish mafia man.

“There aren’t too many people in the mafia who know our faces,” Wynter explained. “My mother didn't want to be part of the underworld. She moved to L.A. and cut all ties to the mafia world with the exception of Uncle Liam, Killian, and Juliette. And Juliette spent more time with us in California than in New York.”

Their family relationships were complicated for sure. Just as mine was.

“So where do we rob the Italians?” I asked, my tone slightly exasperated. I couldn’t even believe I was asking. The four of us were batshit crazy. Maybe four years of Yale got us certified diplomas in crazy.

“We shouldn’t do it in New York,” Wynter answered.

“Why not?” Juliette inquired. “We robbed the Irish in New York.”

Ivy’s and my eyes darted between the two cousins, anticipation building.

“Because we don’t want to start a war,” Wynter explained patiently.

“Nobody would know it was us,” Juliette protested.

“It’s safer if we do it somewhere else.” Wynter had a point, I thought in my non-expert criminal experience. “Too many robberies in one area will have people looking around here. And we want them looking anywhere but here.”

“Then where do we go to rob the Italians?” I asked her.

“Not sure,” Wynter murmured. “Philadelphia? New Jersey? Chicago?”

“Geez, Chicago would be a stretch,” Ivy complained. “We’d have to fly, then rent a car.”

“We can’t fly and rent a car,” Juliette said, pondering the choices. “It’s traceable. We’d have to drive; it would be an in-and-out job.” Gosh, maybe Juliette knew a bit more than she led on about criminal activities. “Chicago might be the best option, if we are doing this.”

“Why Chicago?” Ivy questioned her. “Chicago is so fucking far away.” Especially if we have to drive there. “What about Philly?”

Philadelphia would be more manageable. For sure an in-and-out job.

“Or Baltimore?” I added. “I read Nico Morrelli owns quite a few casinos there. We could rob one of his?” I suggested it hopefully.

We’ve all been doing research on mobsters. Though, Google wasn’t really a reliable nor vast resource on the topic.

“Nico Morrelli, huh?” Ivy retorted. “You know they call him the Wolf. No, thank you. I’d rather go to Chicago.”

I snickered. “I bet you there are different kinds of wolves there too.”