Page 123 of The Kingpin's Call Girl

“Right now?”

“What’s there to think about?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I want to sit with it.”

“You have to get in front of him. Acting first lets you set the terms.”

“Maybe I want to think about it, though.”

“Don’t you want to set the terms?”

“I don’t know,” I say.

“There’s no other way.” He takes the phone and hits send.

My jaw drops nearly to the floor. “What did you just do?”

“I sent the text.”

“I wasn’t ready!”

“Won’t improve this situation. You have to start managing this guy before he starts managing you.”

“Sending the text was my call to make—mine. This is my sister we’re talking about!”

“All the more reason to be fast and firm. That’s how we keep her safe.”

“I’m not one of your mafia underlings you can order around. I need to trust you to respect my wishes, and you knew I wasn’t ready. Did we not just talk about that?”

“I was sure.”

“Do you hear yourself? And now he’s gonna be mad as a hornet when we meet. Mary is my sister. You can’t just take over and decide things.”

“There are only two ways this can go. Either Bender will text you with proof of life, in which case I’ll scoop him up and make him tell me where she is. Or, if he doesn’t have proof of life...”

He doesn’t bother to finish the sentence. He doesn’t need to. They find him and kill him.

I sit there hating everything.

“This is my world, Edie,” he says softly.

“I get it, but let me tell you aboutmyworld. I grew up with my mom getting jerked around by a string of guys. I watched my sister get jerked around by all kinds of guys, too. I vowed not to let that happen, but I ended up in this Bender situation with another man jerking me around and making me feel like I didn’t control things. And I hated it. And I thought you were gonna be different. Like, on my team.”

“Iamon your team. We created a plan that needed to be executed. I’ve dealt with a million Benders; I know how those motherfuckers think.”

“Maybe so, but you needed to get me there. I get a say. Didn’t you promise that I didn’t have to live by your mafia rules? It means that this thing we have can’t be a dictatorship with you as the all-powerful king. It needs to be a democracy.”

He stares out the ancient-looking window. You can see bricks and the corner of a pizza place sign, lit in red and green neon.

I wait, holding my breath. I need him to get my point of view. I need it more than most things I needed lately.

He finally speaks. “You’re right. What the fuck. I just said I wouldn’t do that kind of thing, and then I went and did it.”

“I mean, I get that you’re invested,” I say. “So am I.”

“It was a fuckup, Edie. Other people having a say... it’s not natural for me.”

I slide my finger over his. “We both count. Our opinions both count.”