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Lilianna pushed open the door to Herbert’s electronics repair shop in Winston wearing one of the three new outfits she’d recently purchased from a small Enclave clothing store. With her stuff all burned up, she’d had to dig into her coveted savings, but allowances had to be made. She wasn’t the only one who’d lost something to fire recently.
Dylan had offered to buy her any number of things, but she’d been very adamant that she wanted to pay her own way. She told him she wasn’t looking for a sugar daddy.
With Hunter and Dylan close on her heels, she only barely noticed the bell sound jangling an off-key ring announcing their presence as the door swung shut behind them.
Herbert appeared from a doorway behind the counter, glasses in hand, rubbing one lens on the hem of a dirty shirt. “Help you with something?” he asked squinting.
“You demanded I come and visit you. So here I am. What do you want?” Lilianna marched confidently forward as he slid his glasses back in place.
“Lilianna?”
“That’s right. What is it you want to tell me? Why did I have to come all the way back to Winston?”
Herbert’s gaze suddenly focused behind her and over her shoulder, presumably at Hunter and Dylan filling the space with wall-to-wall muscles and attitude.
“It’s been awhile since we chatted. Honestly, I didn’t think you were coming.”
“You said I had a week. It’s only been four days since we spoke on the phone. So again I’ll ask you, what do you want?” She couldn’t tell whether he was stunned to see her or if he hadn’t waited the full week to do what he’d threatened and had told Sammy whatever his secret was.
She truly hoped she wasn’t wasting her time here today. And if she was, she hoped they still had enough time to stop by her landlady’s house before escaping from town and Sammy’s continued wrath.
Herbert shuffled back and forth a bit. “Oh. Okay. Well, the thing is…I have something for you.” He looked so uncomfortable, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, to calm her inner turmoil.
Lilianna pursed her lips, already sorry she’d made this trip. “If it’s a bill for money Mick owed you for his gambling debts, I’m not paying it.” She sensed, rather than saw, Hunter and Dylan move closer. She almost felt their body heat growing at her back. She was very glad they’d come with her, even as she worried about their presence here.
Herbert’s eyes widened. Whether it was because her two men moved closer to back her up or not was unclear. “No. Nothing like that. Actually, I have his winnings for you.”
“Winnings?” Lilianna never expected that word in association with Mick’s name. “He actually won something?”
Herbert nodded vigorously. “He was supposed to pick the money up the day after he died. I couldn’t believe when he didn’t show, ’til I heard what happened to him at the warehouse.”
“Plus, you needed some time to decide whether or not you should give his semiunlawful winnings to his rightful heir? I mean who could she complain to, the police?” Hunter moved forward again, until his chest brushed the back of her shoulder.
Herbert stood a little taller. “Hey! I’ve never failed to pay out a bet in my life. I’m a business man. Fair is fair. He won. If he can’t collect, then his next of kin should have the money. Everyone knows that’s how I operate. Always have. The money’s locked up in back.” He pointed his thumb over one shoulder at the door behind him. “In my safe.”
“So how much did he win?” Lilianna’s heart sped up. This was not at all what she’d expected.
“He wagered twenty five Gs at ten-to-one odds. The payout is two hundred and fifty grand. I almost didn’t take his bet.” His sly grin said that he must have done all right with other customers. “But when I found out Sammy was looking for Mick’s loan payback from you, well, I figured you should definitely get the money.”
“Why did you threaten me then?”
“He threatened you?” Hunter started to move past her, but she stopped him with her arm flung out as if trying to keep a child from catapulting out the front window of a car during a quick stop.
