Page 27

Vivian

The chime of a bank alert woke me at exactly seven a.m., and I lay with my eyes closed tight, not wanting to look. But then I realized there was no way I was overdrawn, I hadn’t spent any money.

My account better not have gotten hacked again. I groaned at the thought.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep until I faced this head-on, so, still groggy, I fumbled for my phone on the nightstand. Then blinked at the screen.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and blinked again.

The message hadn’t changed.

Deposit: $60,000

Description: ZRE Enterprises

I sat up straight, my heart pounding.

I knew Kit’s paychecks came from ZRE Enterprises. They owned Velvet Underground.

That had to be a mistake. The contract was null and void. Jeff had said so himself. I wasn’t entitled to anything.

I stared at the number as I tried to make sense of how this could have happened. The only thing I could come up with was someone must not have entered that Jeff had canceled our agreement before they paid me.

One thing was certain; I needed to get my ass to the bank and withdraw that money before ZRE Enterprises had a chance to reverse the deposit.

I was going to be waiting at the bank’s door when they unlocked it at nine a.m.

I’d rather owe a sex club sixty thousand than a guy named Lorenzo who’d threatened my mom’s fingers and the family dog. I think the worst Velvet Underground would do was make me work the debt off. Either that or send me to collections.

Big whoop.

~~~~

I double-checked the address as I pulled into the lot. The building looked more like a mechanic’s shop than a place where backroom deals went down. Although, I guess I wasn’t sure what that should look like.

I parked, shut off the engine, and double-checked the envelope was still in my purse, even though I’d driven there straight from the bank, so I didn’t know where it would have gone.

My heart rate had kicked up with each thousand the teller had counted out, but it wasn’t exactly like I could ask for a cashier’s check. Who would I have had them make it out to? Lorenzo’s Loan Shark Services?

I’d stuffed the envelope in my purse, then looked around as though the police might appear to arrest me as soon as I walked away from the bank window.

That wasn’t my money, and I knew it.

I got out of the Malibu and muttered, “Too late now.”

Inside, the waiting room was empty except for a peeling green vinyl couch and a guy behind a glass window who looked annoyed he had to pause the game on his phone to talk to me.

“I need to speak to Lorenzo,” I said.

He gave me a once-over, then buzzed a door open without saying a word.

Lorenzo was exactly as my sister had described him, minus the two goons. His small office had no windows, and the air smelled like a mixture of cigarettes and cologne.

He didn’t acknowledge me when I entered, just kept flipping through scraps of paper in a manila folder until I cleared my throat.

I tried to sound confident when I said, “I’m here to make a payment on Ray Dempsey’s loan,” but my shaking knees might have given me away.

He didn’t even look up. “Loan’s been paid in full.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

Finally, he looked at me. Of course, he talked to my chest when he replied, “Guy came in yesterday and covered the entire amount.”

My mouth went dry. “Did he leave a name?”

His gaze finally climbed to my face, slow and smug, and made my skin want to crawl. “Nope. Porsche. Nice watch. Sound like your sugar daddy?”

I stared at him while my heartbeat was in my ears. Now was not the time to try and unpack why Jeff would have done something like this.

“Are we done, then?” I asked as I took a step back before he even answered.

“We’re done,” he said, then opened the folder back up. “You’re free and clear.”

Maybe as far as this debt went. But I had a feeling the other shoe was going to drop soon enough.