The credit card disaster may have thrown her for a hell of a loop, but Jersey girls were nothing if not resourceful. If Uncle Rudy thought she was going downthateasily, he was in for a rude fucking awakening.
Hopefully in a coffin. Nailed shut. Encased in cement. Dropped in the ocean.
She felt it in her gut—the sea change coming her way, the vestiges of her old life drying up and falling away like the autumn leaves. It was time to bring the bastard down. Time to find her way out of the game. Time to start over.
And with the help of oneverydark,impossiblysexy vampire, Charley was going to do just that.
But first? She needed to figure out this money situation.
And that meant hitting the pause button—better yet, thedeletebutton—on the fantasy playing on repeat in her mind.
Dorian’s commanding tone, making her wet with every word.
That smart mouth is going to get you in trouble one day, Ms. D’Amico…
His hot kiss, descending on her flesh.
Is that what you want, little prowler?
His tongue, deep and relentless and divine.
Tell me what else you want from your monster, love…
Nope.
Delete, delete, delete.
Last night was a mistake. An epic, heat-of-the-moment, ought-to-be-illegal mistake that needed to make like her Miss Demeanor profile and gopoof.
From that moment forward, Charley was officially on the VDD—Vampire Dick Detox. And bydick, she also meant mouth. And fingers. And…
Focus, girl. Focus.
Standing inside her Park Avenue penthouse, her head at least eighty percent back in the game, Charley took a deep breath, downed an espresso, and got to work.
All she needed was one idea. One game-changing idea that would save her suddenly broke ass and end her dependence on Rudy for good.
You’ve got this, girl. Come on.
It was true. Despite her monied existence, Charley knew how to tighten the purse strings. It was a hard lesson, but one she’d mastered quickly after her mother walked out, leaving Charley and her dad in the double-wide they’d rented, nothing to call their own but a few half-empty cupboards and a rusty 1990s Toyota Corolla with questionable brakes.
Somehow, with a bit of sacrifice and a whole lot of ingenuity, the D’Amico dad-and-daughter duo had made it work, finding creative ways to weather the storm until her father discovered his true calling as a criminal mastermind, finally launching them into wealth and status.
Illegitimatewealth and status, but a status that had kept her fed and comfortable for a long, long time.
Charley looked around the penthouse now, taking stock of her beautiful furniture, the pristine home accessories, the luxury items lining her multiple closets.
She’d come a long way from her trailer park days, but as the saying went…
You can take the girl out of the trailer park, but you can’t take the trailer park out of the girl.
And just like that, the scrappy, resourceful Jersey girl re-emerged.
And that bitch knew just what to do.
Charley grinned, the idea solidifying in her mind.
No, she didn’t have cash.
