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“Of course. We never settled where you’re going to stay tonight. Auntie Paola’s or Uncle Salvatore’s offered.”
“I don’t want to be an imposition.”
“We’ll make a more long-term plan tomorrow. For now, we just get you through the night and off to work in the morning.”
“Staying at Salvatore’s, when he’s the man who hired me, doesn’t look good. Your aunt's house works. Should we skip Spotlight? I don’t want to come in too late and disturb her.”
“Her room is on the first floor, but at the opposite end from the stairs. I know the code, and her guards know me. We can slip in without a problem. She’ll have anything you need already waiting on the bed.”
“I should grab some stuff before we go. Give me a minute.”
She hurries back to her room, and she’s back out in what had to be barely three minutes. She has a backpack and a garment bag. She reaches for her work bag, which she put on the sofa when we came in. I take all three from her. When she opens her mouth to protest, she knows she won’t win. She offers me a smile that makes my heart stutter. What the fuck was that? Lust I can handle. This? I’m not so sure about. I felt it last night when I held her in the car and after we finished having sex.
“Is that your driver?”
She nudges her chin toward the street while I lock the door behind us.
“Yeah. I asked him to meet us here while you were in court. You never told me what the fine was that day we met.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Sinead, don’t lie.”
“I’m not lying. It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me then. How much of a fine did I cause?”
“Considering you waited out in the car for a couple hours, protected me from myself and the Polish Mob, and swept my place for bugs, which you found, the fine isn’t a big deal.”
“Was it more than five-hundred?”
She has no desire to answer.
“A little.”
“How much is a little?”
We get into the car, and I help her with her seatbelt since she struggles to find the buckle in the dark. We get it, but I don’t take my hands off hers.
“Sinead?”
“Fine. Twenty-five-hundred.”
“That’s outrageous.”
“It is. But with the attention and retainer people guess I must be getting, they’ll assume that isn’t a big deal.”
“It’s the principle. Levying a fine just because they can isn’t how the system is supposed to work.”
“I know that. You know that. The judge even knows that. But he makes anyone held in contempt pay fifty percent to a charity. Since he doubles the fines, the city and state get their portions. Then what’s left over goes to the charity.”
“That’s extortion wrapped up in a pretty bow.”
She shrugs. I wait for her to say something, but she doesn’t.
“What charity did you pick?”
“Alzheimer’s Association.”
