Read Online Lucky In Love by Deborah Coonts - Free Book Online

snapped into a frown. Then he brightened.
    His line of thinking wasn’t hard to follow, and I did not want to go any further down that path. I turned to the girl. “How much do you need, then?” Before she answered, I pulled a roll of bills out of my pocket and peeled off two hundreds. “Will this do?”
    Interest flared in her dark eyes as she reached for the money.
    So two hundred would crack her hardened shell—she hadn’t fallen so far down the rat hole she couldn’t climb out. I pulled the money back. “There’s just one thing I want you to do.”
    The woman’s face closed down. “I no whore.”
    I smiled as my heart broke. “Keep it that way.” I peeled off two more hundreds and handed them to her. “Are you in this country legally, with a work permit?”
    “Don’t be moron.”
    I took that as a yes, though that wasn’t exactly clear. Through narrowed eyes, I scanned for any sign that she was lying or nervous. I didn’t see any.
    Miss Minnie sniffed. “What? You think I stupid? I no need no ins problems. That’s really bad voodoo.”
    “Good.” I ignored Miss Minnie and kept my eyes trained on the girl. “Go home. Get a good dinner. And come to the employment center at the Babylon tomorrow. Tell them I sent you. The money isn’t as good, I’m sure. But it’s an honest living with opportunity.”
    “Really?” The mask disappeared, revealing the girl inside.
    “Tell them Lucky sent you. Have them call me.”
    “For real?”
    “For real.” As she eased by me, I stopped her with a hand on her arm. “You let me down, I’ll kick your ass.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Without the woman as his shield, Trey Gold shrank under my gaze.
    “You owe me four hundred dollars.” As I looked down at the miserable excuse of a man, I thought about adding, “Asshole,” but I wasn’t as ready to shed my dignity as everyone else appeared to be.
    “Done.” Holding his towel, he started to step around me.
    “Not so fast.” I crossed my arms and stepped into his path. Pausing, I took a deep breath and savored the sweet taste of revenge. “The money’s only part of the deal.”
    He feigned indignation—hard to do in his position, and with his lack of clothing, but he came close to pulling it off.
    Life was hard enough without having to share it with people who had no shame and no decency. It’s amazing the opportunities that present themselves when you don’t have a gun.
    “We’re done here, O’Toole.”
    I still couldn’t process the fact that his body was lily white while his face still held that weird orange color, so I tried to keep my eyes on his. “It’s O’Toole now, is it?” I stepped into his space, using that whole height thing. “Let me tell you something, little man. We are so not done. Here’s how this deal is going down. In return for my bailing your ass out and for keeping your name out of the papers, as well as for keeping the video off of YouTube, you are going to do something for me.”
    “Video?” Trey’s voice held a tremor.
    I pointed to a small vent in the ceiling where a tiny, blinking red light was barely visible. “Video.”
    Trey’s shoulders sagged and I moved in for the kill. “In return, you will not throw Vera to the wolves.”
    “Oh.” Trey’s tone hit a plaintive note. Tonight he was running through the full arpeggio of emotion. “You can’t do that. It’s perfect reality tv . I’ll be famous.” Ah, a hint of glee, which made me just the teeniest bit angry.
    My eyes got all slitty—they were doing that a lot lately. Where had I lost my smile? I leaned down, putting my mouth next to Trey’s right ear. “If famous is all you want, I can spread that videotape around—that ought to get you your fifteen minutes.”
    “Is that a threat, O’Toole?” He tried to make himself taller. It didn’t work.
    “Of course.” I threw his answer back at him. “I don’t care how you spin it, but I will not let you sacrifice a brilliant CEO’s dignity on the