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“Not particularly.”

“Yeah, well ... I can make it look legal. Cash can come from legal sources, if that’s what you’re asking from me. On paper, it’ll be legit.”

“But—”

Andino’s gaze slammed into his with a weight he wasn’t sure that he could carry. It silenced Lev instantly. “But it isn’t what’s on paper that counts. And a lot of good it’ll do for you to keep her if you end up in a grave somewhere because you’re working with me. Have you considered that? The only reason I offered you the job was because a guy got his brains blown out for being my enforcer.”

Lev sucked in a deep breath.

It didn’t steady him.

“Maybe he didn’t do his job right, then.”

“Perhaps,” Andino returned. “Matter of semantics and I don’t speak ill of the dead, you know?”

Neither did Lev.

Still ... “Keeping you alive keeps me alive here, right?”

“And paid,” Andino murmured. “It’s a win-win, really. You can start next week if you want.” His stare drifted back to the phone that Lev had yet to lower from view. “Cute kid—are you gonna want weekends off?”

“Just some heads up about hours, maybe. So I can work out—”

“Childcare, yeah. Figured. You better be worth the effort here, Lev. I don’t usually bend to help someone else. Not my style. Never gets me very far.”

Lev laughed under his breath. “Then why are you?”

Andino leaned back in the chair and folded his arms across his broad chest, eyeing the man across the table from him with a severe expression. Like he was considering his reply. “I don’t know ... I just liked you. I don’t like very many people.”

Was that a good thing?

Lev figured ... they were about to find out.

“Next week, then?” he asked.

Andino nodded. “Have your phone number plugged into Petey’s phone before you leave. Don’t show up wearing what you are. That’ll never fly with people I work with. Slacks and dress shirts—blazers daily. I can do with or without a tie. That’s the least of my fucking concerns.”

“I don’t think I even own a—”

“Petey!”

As fast as Andino shouted the man’s name, the meathead popped his face in the doorway. “Yeah, boss?”

“Call Richard for me. Let him know he’ll have a guest at his shop tomorrow afternoon—say one-ish—for fittings. Put it all on my tab.” Then to Lev, Andino said, “Consider it an investment you’ll return to me as soon as you’re capable, but there’s not a deadline on it. Lower Manhattan. It’s a bit of a trip for you from Harlem but make sure you’re there. Petey has the address. That work for you?”

Jesus Christ.

“I’ll make it work,” Lev replied.

“Good. That’s what I want to hear. Now, excuse me. I have some work to finish.”

Clearly dismissed but also feeling like he might have just won a battle somehow, Lev didn’t question the order from the man across the table. He stood from the chair and without a goodbye, headed out of the private section. He stopped just long enough to hand over the info Petey needed and to get the address of the shop in Manhattan that he would be at the next day. On the way out of the restaurant, his phone beeped with a text.

Pulling it up, his smile grew wide at the picture waiting for him from a number he’d only recently plugged into his phone.

From Nessa.

The shot of a smiling, drooling Arely with a face messy from some red sauce had his heart kickstarting all over again. Before he could reply, however, his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but he picked it up the same way he always did any call.

“Lev Arsov here—what’s up?”

“Mr. Arsov. Officer Doucette here. I know we had an appointment for you to come in tomorrow and get the results of the DNA test, but my partner said ... well, fuck it.” The man laughed. “We know you were really wanting this—she’s all yours, man. One hundred percent yours. We’ll make the calls and fax everything over to the social worker’s office. Congrats. It’s a girl.”

He didn’t need that call to know. It still put him on top of the world. For once in his life, Lev was fucking winning.

In every single way.