Page 14 of Undeniably Corrupt

“Bastard. Men can be real pieces of shit. Not all of them, though. I have a man, and he’s the best. Raised my girls like his own and holds my hand everywhere we walk. Before he came along, working here saved me,” she tells me as we stop in front of one of the offices. “They pay well, and they care about their people. About loyalty.”

“I like that.”

Her hand squeezes my shoulder. “Good. Because here we are.”

“Wait, what’s the name of the company?”

“Monroe Securities.”

Monroe Securities.

Monroe.

That name. How do I know that name?

Before I can figure it out, she raps her knuckles on the door, and a man with a gruff voice calls out, “Come in.”

That’s when I see it. The name on the placard in black, bold font.

Vander Moore, CEO.

Holy shit.

5

Before you start judging me, I looked at the résumés of the other candidates, and Champagne met with a few of them before I got Liora fired from the coffee shop. They were fine. Average. What you’d expect for this type of role. They were also people who wouldn’t last a week with me.

They’d be curious and ask questions, and eventually when they realized I’m a certain brand of asshole and trust no one, they’d quit.

Liora won’t quit because she can’t. And she’s tough. Single mothers always are, but she’s got thatI do whatever I have to dogrit in her. More than that, her manager was an asshole and treated her like shit. This job will offer her financial freedom, and I’m cool with bending her hours around her school schedule.

So yeah, maybe getting her fired was fucked up. In fact, I know it was. And if I told my friends what I did, I’d rightfully get my ass chewed out. But I only did it so she could have something better.

Having to deal with her day in and day out will be my issue. Eventually, I’ll grow bored or indifferent to how prettyshe is, and the image of her body, the way she moved on that stage, will flow into the background and fade into the past. Because that’s what she is. The past. A girl I knew once. A girl I cared about once.

That’s all she is and all she’ll ever be to me.

A once-upon-a-time who will never turn into a happily ever after.

People like me, who do the sorts of things I do, who have been burned the way I’ve been burned, don’t get that. Moreover, I’m not someone she should get involved with. I’m a criminal and she’s a single mom.

So that’s not what this is about.

I’m not trying to make a love connection with a past flame.

I’m trying to help someone who needs it and maybe absolve some of my former sins with her. And her brother. I’m doing it for Cass too because I owe him as much as I owe Liora.

“Thanks, Champagne,” I say without removing my eyes from Liora, feeling that ancient and familiar thump in my chest I used to get whenever I’d look at her. “I’ll take it from here.”

Champagne wasn’t in on my scheme. Not entirely. I just know her well enough to know that she’d overhear Liora getting fired because I timed it that way, and she’d want to do something about it because no one has a bigger heart than her.

The door closes with a resounding click, and silence ensues. I have so many questions. So many things I want to say.

“Hello, Angel. It’s been a long time.”

She stares at me, her expression utterly gobsmacked, her eyes owlishly wide. “Hi. Um.” She blinks at me, her mind working. “I’m… confused. Why does it feel as though you were expecting me?”

This is when lesser men would lie.