Page 63 of When The Noise Stops

"I don't take charity."

She grinned.

"And I ain't no charitable motherfucker. Take a lease. Ronny already sent me the contract. Pay me. Rebuild your business. You deserve good things."

I rubbed my jaw.

"I'm going to look at it. That's it."

"Okay."

She slid a paper with the address across the table to me.

"I'm going to sell it regardless. That building came from Archie. I don't want it. I don't need it. And I'm not interested in squeezing every dollar I can out of something I never wanted in the first place. Plus, Tiny will be less stressed. Stress will fuck around and kill him. You want to kill Tiny? He's been trying to figure out how to help you," she tapped the table.

"You need a shop. I have a shop. You pay me a hundred thousand."

"I'm not saying yes."

"Okay."

She went back to typing as if she hadn't just fixed my fucking life.

I watched her for a long time. Seven-dollar cupcakes. Two strip malls. Glasses. Law degree. The woman who had been shaking beside my garbage cans had a whole other side of her I had never thought to ask about.

I finally took a bite of the muffin.

And she could cook.

Chapter 26

Knox

I left Lila's house and went straight to Tiny's, where everybody had been congregating since the shop burned down.

I told them about the offer first. Every detail of last night and that morning except the part where we had sex.

Then I asked.

"Did y'all know she was rich?" I don't know why I asked. It didn't matter. Maybe because I wanted to know if I was the only one she'd kept it from.

The room changed. Sully lowered his beer. Deacon actually put his phone down. Hawk looked at me like he didn't believe me.

"Lila?" Sully said.

"The baker?"

I nodded.

"She owns two strip malls, other real estate. She lived on Davis Island before the duplex. She has a law degree, but she never sat for the bar."

Hawk shook his head.

"She does have a lot of high-end shit, and then her SUV. I thought the Land Rover was a lease."

I looked at Tiny.

He was suddenly very interested in everything but the conversation.