Page 55 of Worth of Waste

“It did, but now he won’t leave it alone. Everywhere he goes in the house, that thing goes with him.”

“I’ll give him another when I see him next time.”

Karen was quiet for a long moment.

And then, so softly he almost missed it, she asked, “And when will that be, Dino?”

“Soon.”

It was the best and most honest answer he could give to her.

“I’ll probably hang out here for the rest of the weekend, in case you get a chance to get away from … whatever,” Karen said.

“You know, you could stay there for as long as you like, Karen. It is your home, now.”

Again, she fell silent.

Dino let her mull over his suggestion as he pulled off the highway, taking an exit that would lead him into DeLuca territory where Ben’s home was located. He wasn’t looking forward to this dinner, not in the least. He would have much rather stayed with Karen and his boy.

“It’s just not feasible right now,” Karen finally said. “I have a job, you know this.”

“What if it were feasible?” Dino dared to ask.

“It’s not, so there’s no point in indulging that at all.”

For now, he knew.

But there was a lot about him that Karen didn’t know. Like the fact he had a few bank accounts with more money than he would ever know what to do with. Some of the money—or rather, some of the accounts—might be frozen over the coming months as the police and Feds worked their next investigation on him, the one they had promised to follow through with as soon as he was released.

Still, there was money that he had that he knew couldn’t be touched by them.

Money that had nothing to do with the Outfit, or his businesses.

Despite how his father had spent the last couple of years of his life—turning rat for the officials—he had set things up for his children, just in case. One of those things had been a large inheritance for each DeLuca sibling that had been put in trust until they were of a certain age. Dino had gotten a hold of his, and his sister Lily’s, when he was twenty.

He barely touched his, except to move it into an interest-earning account where it had sat for nearly a decade, gaining more and more money each year.

He didn’t touch Lily’s either, except to allow her to pull small sums from it when she needed. He had control of hers through the instructions that had been left in their father’s Will, and when he thought Lily was responsible enough or needed the money for something, he would sign her account over, no questions asked.

“It could be feasible,” Dino said quietly. “If you wanted it to be.”

“I don’t know—”

“I’m not a poor man, Karen.”

“Neither am I, though I might not be living in luxury, Dino.”

The heat in her tone couldn’t be missed.

Dino flinched, knowing he’d probably crossed a line. “Listen, that’s not what I meant. But I would like to take care of my son, and you, if you would let me do that. I’m perfectly capable of providing for you both financially.”

“And what about when I start getting my door knocked on because people are following paper trails, huh?”

“Do you mean police?”

“Well, what else would I mean?”

Dino laughed, though it came out dry and a little bitter. “Not all of my wealth has come from illegal ventures.”