Page 79 of Duty

And yet, she knew something now.

“You’ve listened to me say over and over again how anxious it made me to even think my parents would find out that I was hustling drugs,” the woman—hadn’t he called her Catty?—said as Haven started coming down the stairs with soft footsteps. “You played along with that, Andino, you joked with me about it, and fed those fears to get a rise out of me. Or, that’s what I thought. Because we’re family, right, so you didn’t mean me any harm. You couldn’t, but you did. You did that shit not because you knew how I felt, but because of what you wanted.”

“I—”

“Money,” the woman barked. Haven came just far enough down the staircase that she caught sight of the beautiful, dark-haired woman thrusting her finger into Andino’s chest hard enough to make him back up a step or two. “That’s what this was about for you. Not the fact that telling me could have saved me a lot of unnecessary worrying and work hiding what I was doing all these years. No, you didn’t tell me because you liked the money I was making.”

“Exactly that,” Andino stated.

Haven, like the woman, stiffened and blinked.

He said it so coldly.

So … uncaringly.

That was not the Andino she knew.

The woman dropped her hand. “You’re not even ashamed of it.”

Andino shrugged. “Nope. You’re fucking predictable, Catherine. All you would need was the slightest idea that your daddy didn’t like what you were doing, and you would fuck off somewhere else. Or even better yet, you’d run to your mother and get in on her shit. Here’s the thing, I wasn’t letting that happen. So yeah, I played along. Yeah, I worked your fears a bit to make sure you kept your business with me separated far away from your parents. And fuck yeah, I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

Andino smirked, adding, “This is my crew, Catherine, and my money we’re talking about. It’s business. I supply you. I keep you going. You make me money. That’s how it works, and I want it to keep working. There’s nothing else to be said about it.”

Catherine nodded, and stepped back. “Well, fuck you, Andino. I’ve got news for you. I’ll never deal for you again. Not after this. I promise you that.”

“Catty, you don’t get it. That’s not how it works in this business. You don’t get to just drop the person that’s kept you above water and helped you make a name. You owe me for getting you where you are, sweetheart. You can be pissed off about it all you want. Still, when next month rolls around, make sure you’ve got my money, and you’re picking up your next package to run.”

“Hey,” the man who had been mostly quiet said as he stepped in between the woman and Andino. “If she’s done, man, then that’s the fucking end of it. Let her be done if that’s what she wants.”

“That’s not how it works, Cross, and you know it.”

“It’s going to work that way this time,” Cross replied.

“No, I don’t—”

Haven was done—she had enough. “Andino, is something wrong?”

At her quiet question, all eyes turned on her in an instant. Haven might have felt uncomfortable about it, but she was still reeling about the conversation and the things she just learned.

She was dating a drug dealer … at the least. She was fucking a man who handled drugs. Again, at the least, her mind taunted. Because it probably wasn’t only drugs, Haven knew. Andino was a Marcello, and even while she didn’t entertain the rumors and whispers, she still heard them.

She had been listening.

A little …

“Who are you?” Catherine asked, staring right at Haven.

Haven glanced at Andino, unsure if he wanted to take this one, or she should “Um …”

“None of your business,” Andino snapped at the woman before glancing back at her on the stairs. “Haven, head upstairs, all right?”

Haven scowled openly at Andino, hoping to all hell he could see just how pissed off she was in those seconds. She didn’t want to be dismissed—she also didn’t want to stand there when she had other things to handle, either. Flicking a hand over her shoulder, she headed back up the stairs even as the conversation continued behind her. She could hear their talk even when she disappeared back into the bedroom.

“Who was that?” Catherine asked.

“I told you—”

“Yeah, yeah, mind my business. Who is she?”