Chapter 2

I must've been the biggest fool ever to draw breath. Drowned by the one woman I called sister of the neighborhood.

'But the dead don't come back empty-handed. I came back knowing where every body is buried, and I'm collecting every debt she owes.'

When Carmela stepped out of the bathroom, I said it lightly, the way you slide a knife under a door. "Seems the whole helpless-little-thing routine is in fashion. Even the men who run things fall for that type."

She stopped mid-motion, the towel still in her hands, and something flickered behind her eyes. Her tongue stayed still.

But I knew she'd take the bait.

'Go on. Show me how far you'll walk out onto thin ice for a man. I'm honestly looking forward to it.'

The next morning she dragged me to the boutiques on the good side of the avenue, the row of shops the families let sit as neutral ground.

She never flinched about spending. Especially when the money was mine.

"Carmela?" A tall man in a suit that cost more than most soldiers earned in a year crossed toward us as we entered a high-end store. "What a coincidence."

"Oh, Mr. Blanco." Her sour face melted into delight in half a breath. "Fancy running into you here."

"There's an associate I'm calling on nearby. My man went to fetch coffee. Can I offer you ladies a cup?"

He carried himself easy, polished, charming in the way that made men forget he'd inherited a seat no blood of his had any right to. The young acting boss of the Blanco outfit. No wonder Carmela circled him like a moth.

"I never say no to that," Carmela answered, glowing.

Then his gaze slid to me, and I watched surprise move across his face, followed by a flicker of interest that made the back of my neck cold. "And you're...?"

Carmela stepped in front of me at once, a wall of perfume and possession.

"This is my sworn sister, Adriana Fiore. She's shy with strangers, Mr. Blanco. Pay her no mind."

I played it his way, tucking myself behind her shoulder. The last thing I wanted in this life was to be caught in the current of a man like Salvatore Blanco.

"Boss. Your coffee." His associate returned. Salvatore took the cups and handed one to Carmela with a warm smile.

She colored, took it in both hands like a schoolgirl, and waited. The moment her prince rounded the corner out of sight, she dropped the second cup in the trash.

"You don't really care for coffee, do you, sister?" she asked, sweetness laid on thick as syrup over a trap.

I said nothing and found a seat.

She didn't so much as blink. She swept straight into the fitting room to try on clothes.

Just then I checked my phone and let the corner of my mouth lift.

[NOTICE: The account ending 6823 has been temporarily held pending review of unusual activity. Contact Riverstone Bank at 1-800-555-2471 or your app for details.]

'Now let's see what tribute she pays with.'

"Ma'am, the card's been declined. Have you got another?"

Carmela had been lounging across the settee waiting for the clerk to ring her up. She sat bolt upright.

"What? That's impossible. Your machine's broken. Run it again."

"I'm sorry. The card truly isn't working."

I sat easy in the lounge, watching through the glass as Carmela's face turned red, then white.

'It's a rare thing, watching someone so entitled with money that was never hers.'

Soon my phone rang.

The second I answered, she snapped, "Adriana. What's wrong with your card? Why won't it work?"

"Sorry about that. Just got word from my editor. Someone lifted my work, and they're looking into both sides, so my royalties got frozen for now. Nothing I can do."

"Then hand over your credit card." The greed in her never even blushed.

"I don't have one."

In the end she still bought all four outfits she'd picked. It only cost her maxing out five cards to do it.

On the way out her face looked like she'd swallowed something rotten.

Her eyes threw daggers at me. I acted like I couldn't feel them land.

I kept scrolling through my phone, until a notification slid across the screen.

Someone had sent me a friend request.

The instant Carmela caught a glimpse of the name, the color flooded her whole face red.

Before I could react, she snatched the phone out of my hand and slammed it to the floor.

And then, like something had come loose in her, she shoved me hard, seized my collar, and dragged me down with her.