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I scowled, even though he couldn’t see me. My professors had been hounding me about this issue as well—I didn’t need yet another reminder that I still had no official job offers as the year was winding down.
“Thanks,” I said again.
“It’s nothing. I hope you let me know what happens. We’d be lucky to have you down here.”
“Sure,” I said, although I had no intention of calling him back.
It wasn’t until after he hung up that it occurred to me how stupid I had been to go to Nick’s myself, especially when it was being watched by the D.A. and the police. Both Brandon and I could be in major trouble if anyone caught wind of the money we were giving Messina. Yeah, there was no way in hell I’d be taking that interview, or ever talking to Matthew Zola again. I didn’t care how deep his dimples were.
After gathering my things, I called Bubbe to check in.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Bubbe, it’s me.”
“Oh, hello, sweetheart. Is everything okay,bubbela? Did you forget something here?”
“No, no,” I said. “I got a call from someone at the Brooklyn D.A.’s office, saying he’d talked to you.”
“Oh, yes, your father just asked that he call you instead, so I gave him your number. Nice fella. Very charming.”
I twiddled a pencil in my hand, then set it down on the desk. “Okay. Can you call me next time before you give out my number? You know, considering everything that’s happened with Dad?”
There was a brief silence, then a quiet reply. “Of course, Skylar. I’m sorry.”
My heart sank. Bubbe had been putting on a show of strength, but I knew she felt somewhat responsible for what had happened simply because she hadn’t kept better tabs on Dad. I walked to the back of the office, where I use the break room for a bit more privacy.
“It’s fine, Bubbe, I promise,” I said, trying to invest as much lightness in my voice as I could. “Listen, I also wanted to ask about the refinancing application this morning. Were you approved?”
I wanted to get the money to Messina as soon as possible to get that damn monkey off my back. Or Dad’s so to speak.
“Oh, I didn’t go.”
My heart fell in my chest as the ball of stress in my stomach tightened. I braced myself against the refrigerator. “Why not?” I asked, trying and failing to keep the edge out of my voice.
This was not good. It took time for these applications to be approved, and we were on a tight schedule.
“There was another phone call this morning. They talked to Danny, and whoever it was said the debt had been paid off, so I didn’t have to go to the bank after all.”
The meaning of her statement swept over me like ice as the truth hit home. Someone else had paid off the debt. Someone with a lot of money. And only one other person knew about it besides me, Bubbe, Dad, and Messina.
“I—I gotta go, Bubbe,” I said, barely taking the time to say goodbye before I hurriedly dialed Brandon’s cell.
He answered on the first ring.
“Hey, beautiful, this is a nice surprise. Wasn’t expecting to hear from you until later.”
“You paid off the rest of my dad’s debt.”
Silence echoed through the speaker. One of my classmates entered the break room, but spun on his heel at the look on my face. I turned to the sink, gripping the counter.
“Skylar,” Brandon started gently. “Yes. I did. But before you freak out—”
“I told you to leave it to me!” I hissed, unable to raise my voice the way I wanted to, but equally unable to cap the mounting fury. “You said you’d let me handle it!”
“Yeah, well, I thought about it, and that was a stupid idea!”
I held my phone out and glared at it before returning it to my ear.
