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FOUR WEEKS EARLIER

The tall, electronic gates opened wide and Bianca Norichi walked outside of those prison walls for the first time in six years.

That harsh, stale air that slapped her in the face as soon as she walked out wasn’t supposed to be a good smell.

The air was laced with pollutants from the chemical plant less than a mile up the road, and it was a nauseous smell.

But she didn’t care. Because it smelled like freedom to her.

She inhaled every fiber of that scent long and hard.

Anything was superior to the smells on the other side of those walls. Anything.

As soon as she saw the car across the highway with Robby Yale leaned against it and waving at her, she grinned a joyous grin and hurried in his direction.

With her brown paper bag containing all that she owned in the world, she felt dirty and insignificant.

But she was free. That was all that mattered to her.

When she made it to the edge of the prison property, she waited for two cars to zoom past, and then she ran as fast as she could across that highway and didn’t stop running until she fell into Robby’s outstretched arms. He was like family to her, him and everybody else in the syndicate, and it felt good to be back home again.

“One thing for sure,” said Robby when they stopped embracing, “that place didn’t take your looks away from you. Still looking good, girl.”

“Ah thanks, Robby.” She looked past Robby and into the car. She was disappointed, but happy too, when she didn’t see him. She really wanted to fix herself up before he laid eyes on her again. “You look good yourself, Robby. Curtis got you working out?”

Robby laughed. “More like Sal does. He said it’s a shame he can outrun my ass. And he can,” Robby said, and they both laughed.

She didn’t want to ask this soon. She knew any kind of interest in the boss was a no-no and Robby would be the first to reprimand her. But she couldn’t help it. He took all of her phone calls whenever he could. He made sure she kept money on the books: the max amount. He looked out for her.

Her fondness for him only grew while she was inside.

And those words he said to her during their very first phone conversation still echoed in her heart: When you get out , he said to her, that’s when I can really take care of you.

So do what you have to do to keep yourself safe.

But if you run into any trouble, let me know .

She never forgot those words. Those words kept her going during her darkest days and months and years inside.

Thinking about him kept her going during her entire incarceration.

“So where is he?” she finally asked Robby.

“He’s out of town on business. He’ll be back three weeks Saturday.”

“ Three weeks ?” That was way too long. “Where is he, Robby? Do you know?”

Robby knew, but there was no way in hell he was telling her. “You know Boss don’t be telling me all his business.”

A pained look appeared on her face. “Three whole weeks?”

“Yeah. What of it?”

“I just thought . . . He knew I was getting out today, didn’t he?”

“Yeah he knew. He’s the one told me to pick you up.”

Robby could tell she was highly unsettled. But that’s what you get for falling in love with the boss, was how Robby saw it. “You’ll see him when he gets back. I’ll set it up.”

“As soon as he gets back on that Saturday?” Bianca asked him.

“Not that Saturday. He’s got an event he has to attend that Saturday. So he won’t be available that Saturday,” Robby said as he walked her around to his passenger side door. “But he should be able to meet with you for lunch the next day. I’ll set it up.”

It wasn’t ideal at all, and disappointment dripped like rain from her small, blue eyes as if she just knew the boss would be waiting to greet her with open arms. But she also knew he was a very busy man. “Thanks, Robby.” She got into his car. “Where are we going?”

“He’s got you an apartment and a car,” Robby said. “And the money’s in the bank.”

She beamed.“ Already ?”

“You know that’s how the boss rolls. You did your job, he’s gonna do his job.

You took the fall for his guy. You kept your mouth shut.

You did what you were asked to do. Now it’s his turn.

” Then Robby smiled. “It’s not every day a girl can get out of the slammer worth more than when she went in. But there you have it.”

Bianca grinned a triumphant grin and tossed her hair back. It was as if she was living a dream. She buckled up as Robby closed the passenger door. She tried as hard as she could to contain her joy. But she failed. She was going to see Sal again! She was going to have him in her arms again.

She tried to overlook the downside. How she wasn’t going to see him for three whole weeks.

How he never came to see her not one time in six years.

How he sent Robby to pick her up instead of coming himself.

It was all hugely disappointing, and sometimes even infuriating to Bianca, but at least he never forgot her.

He didn’t cast her aside the way so many others were certain he would do. That meant everything and more to her.

When Robby got in on the driver’s side, it was as if he was Sal’s proxy. As if he was a stand-in for Sal. And she hugged Robby again.

Although Robby smiled when she released him from her grasp, he felt bad for Bianca.

She was another one in a long line of females who took Sal’s kindness for way more than they should have.

Only one woman ever truly had Sal’s heart.

Just one in the entirety of his whole life.

But you could never tell a single one of those ladies that truth.

Whenever he tried, they would declare up and down that he was just jealous of their relationship with Sal, or he wanted Sal for himself, or all kinds of other ridiculous accusations.

So he stopped trying to give them the heads up. He gave up on that crusade years ago.

“Welcome back,” he said to her instead, looked to see if any cars were coming, and then zoomed her away from there.