Page 22 of Morally Black Betrothal

My eyes almost popped out when I saw the amount. “Selena! What in the—” My palm fell over my mouth. “Why did you take so much? Mushrooms cost like twenty bucks in high school.”

She toed her scuffed black boot into the sidewalk. “There are a lot more expenses involved than in high school, obviously. You have to get a business license, find a storefront to rent, then furniture and marketing and, and, and… I made a business plan. Do you want to see it?”

My ridiculous sister almost looked hopeful. Like I’d pat her on the head and say “good try.”

“No!” I exploded.

At the wall, Kylie finally turned around. “Aunt Simone, are you okay?”

Oh, Kylie, you sweet child. You have no clue what okay even looks like.

“Fine, honey bug,” I called back. “Keep counting, okay?” I turned back to Selena. “You think I have this kind of cash?”

“You have savings, don’t you?” My sister propped one hand on her hip.

“Not that much!” I shoved the paper back to her and turned toward the lounge.

“Simone, please.”

That tone, that stupid, cracked, broken note in her voice stopped me. Just like it always did. When I turned, Selena was blinking back tears.

“I just need a little bit now to keep Ezra at bay,” she whimpered. “My first payment is late, and I had to leave Providence because he kept sending his goons over.”

“You left your apartment?”

“I know, I know…” She pushed tears away with fingers tipped with glittering fake nails. “Please, Simmy. If not for me, then for Ky.”

At the sound of her name, Kylie stopped counting and skipped back to wrap her pudgy arms around Selena’s legs. “It’s all right, Mommy. Aunt Simone’s going to make it all better. You said, remember?”

And then those little blue eyes turned upward to me.

Damn. Oh,damn.

With a heavy sigh, I pulled my house keys out of my pocket. “Go to my place and lock up. You remember the address?”

Selena nodded as she took the keys.

“I’ll be there when my shift is over. You and Ky can take my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch. We’ll figure out what to do in the morning.”

Selena threw her arms around me and squeezed.

I hated how good it felt. I hated how the best hugs I ever got from my sister were when I was saving her butt.

“You’re the bestest sister in the whole freaking world,” she whispered fiercely. “I knew I could count on you. I’ll see you after work.”

I watched them walk toward her car with a heavy heart.

“Simone?”

I turned to find my boss standing in the lounge entrance. “Hey, Herb. Sorry, I know I’m running a few minutes late.”

My grumpy old boss tapped his watch. “Your shift started two minutes ago.”

I huffed. I still needed to change, and typically, I liked a few minutes to redo my hair and touch up my makeup before starting my shift. Patrons tipped more when they thought I looked pretty.

Instead, I changed quickly in Herb’s office and went straight out to the bar. A fair number of people were already there, enjoying happy hour.

Steadily, I worked my way from one end to the other, refilling drinks, making new ones, and basically going through the motions until I came to a man in a dark suit sitting in the far corner nursing a Scotch.