Page 22 of Pretty Lies

“J has a sister?” Cory asked.

Maybe he sounded too curious about the news. It wasn’t that the guy had a sister that made him feel as much, but rather her name just seemed to ring a bell in the back of his head that he couldn’t place. And whatever that bell was, it made his chest tight as fuck.

In a good way.

Strange.

Two pairs of eyes turned on him.

His uncle looked amused.

Tommas just seemed …

“She’s your job, actually,” the boss said. “And I expect you to behave as such, Cory. This is important—you’re being put in front of another Capo. Somebody with a seat at the table. You understand, don’t you?”

Yeah.

Of course.

But …

“You want me to babysit the loan shark’s daughter?”

“Keep an eye on her. Work with her father on the issue, if he needs you to. If she does have a heavy hand in his business—Theo,” Tommas added, pointing a finger at Cory’s uncle, “I want more information about that—then I suspect she will still have work to do, no?”

“Is it because she’s a chick?”

“Pardon?”

“A female,” Cory clarified. “What, even if she’s good at what she does, she still shouldn’t be doing it because she gets wet between her thighs?”

Was he a little crass?

Maybe.

Facts were still facts.

“Is this going to be a nightmare?” Tommas asked Theo.

Theo chuckled. “Nah, Cory’s gold. Just a little … crazy sometimes.”

Tommas’s gaze landed on Cory again. “It’s not just because she’s a woman, but men do tend to cause a lot more problems when their women are involved than when they’re not in this life. As for this … Adella, and you watching her. Well, they’re not sure what happened, and we doubt you’re a familiar face to people she may be working with, so you’ll make a good guard for her. You won’t raise any brows or clue them into what Frankie might be doing behind the scenes. Clear enough?”

He looked to Theo. “I seriously gotta be a babysitter?”

Theo shrugged, helpless. “Have fun?”

Yeah.

Right.

The way Tommas was staring at him, there would be no fun being had. This was supposed to be all business.

Just perfect.