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I stepped closer so he had to look up to see me. “What did she give you the money for?”
“That’s my business.”
“Not when you’re taking advantage of Josie, it’s not.”
A look of understanding crossed Ray’s face. “Ohhh. Now it makes sense. You always liked the pretty ones. Like that Evie girl.” He grinned. “How’s she doing these days? Maybe you should keep away from my niece so nothing bad happens to her like that other piece of ass.”
I snapped. Grabbing the asshole by his shirt and maybe some skin underneath, I lifted him off his feet and into the air. “What the fuck did you just say?”
At least the guy had enough brains to look scared. “I was teasing. I was teasing.”
Still dangling him in the air, I used him for a bicep curl, bringing his face nice and close to mine, and motioned to the track below. “Are you giving me back Josie’s money, or am I tossing you over this railing?”
“I don’t even have it all! I had to pay my bookie.”
“I’ll take whatever’s left.”
“But I got a sure thing!”
“Trust me, the only sure thing you have is me breaking a few bones if that cash isn’t in my hands in the next ten seconds. I’m not fucking around, Ray. You got me?”
I waited until he nodded before setting him back on his feet. He dug into his dingy pants pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. When he handed it over, he huffed and turned to leave, but I put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “Not so fast. Give me what’s in the other pocket.”
“I don’t have anything in the other pocket.”
“Then inside-out it and show me lint. Otherwise, I’m going to do it for you, and getting that close to your junk is only going to piss me off.”
Ray mumbled something I couldn’t make out, but he reached into his other pocket and pulled out a second, smaller wad of cash.
I took it and gave him a little push. “Now go the fuck home. And if I find out you ever ask Josie for so much as a ride, we won’t be having a gentleman’s conversation like we just did. You’ll be swallowing all your teeth before you even get a look at who did the punching.”
CHAPTER 21
Therapy
Josie
I hit the Join button at 5:59. It might’ve been the first time I’d looked forward to my therapy session. My head had been spinning all day, after the amazing weekend I’d spent with Fox, and I thought it might be nice to talk through what I was feeling with someone.
Cynthia joined right on time with a smile. “Hi, Josie.”
I adjusted my laptop screen so she could see my whole face over Zoom. “Hi. How are you?”
“I’m good.”
“Your hair looks nice. Did you do something different?”
“No, I just blew it out for a change.”
“Are you going somewhere special tonight?”
I didn’t have any plans, but a certain grumpy neighbor had texted and asked if he could stop by later. “Not really. Well, umm…I guess someone’s coming over.”
Even fourteen-hundred miles away and talking over the Internet, my therapist could read me. She smiled. “Do you want to talk about whoever is coming over?”
I let out an anxious breath. “I actually do.”
“I’m going to guess it’s a male guest?”
