Jessie––––––––
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I did something horrible.
I did something that could get me killed.
I kept some of the money Salt had given me.
My reason wasn"t about being selfish, it wasn"t because I wanted to h.o.a.rd it for myself, I knew better than to screw with Virgo"s money for my own benefit. I had seen it happen over the years on occasion, a girl here or there who thought they could out smart him. It never worked. Those girls never came back, they would vanish as if they never existed.
Except I knew, I knew exactly what happened to them.
There were very few secrets between Virgo and myself, mostly because I had been around long enough to witness it all. And if I didn"t see it, I heard about it one way or another.
When I was little, about ten or so, Virgo had this woman. I thought she was his wife, I was naive back then, and too immature to see the whole picture.
In reality, she was never more than property to him.
This woman would bring me things. She"d bring me food, she"d bring me extra blankets and medicine if I was ill.
I remember her brushing my hair one night, her hands tender and soft. Her name was Samantha, but Virgo called her Tabby Cat. She would whisper in my ear stories about her childhood, her voice so delicate I had to listen really hard to even hear her.
We would talk about going to the beach and riding the waves, she would talk about going to Disney World and how one day we would travel to the Grand Canyon.
And I would sit there as she brushed my hair, my mind swirling with images of all the wonderful things we were going to do together.
Samantha had the bluest eyes I had ever seen, and her hair was the color of gold. I remember thinking that she was too beautiful to look so sad. Her face over time had started to sink in, showing the bones of her cheeks. A dull gloss coated her eyes, making her appear so tired.
But when she was with me, I couldn"t help but feel safe, like a normal little girl, sitting with her older sister. One night, I was laying on the small cot Virgo had set up for me in the bas.e.m.e.nt and I could hear him yelling at her.
I had heard him upset and angry before, but that night, it was different. Everything about his voice was different. His tone was deeper, colder, and every word he used was meant to hurt her. He was calling her all kinds of names, telling her she was worthless and her life meant nothing.
Samantha begged him to forgive her, she begged him to give her another chance.
"No one gets second chances."His words cut through the floor, reaching me downstairs, snagging my heart and crushing it in my chest. A loud thud echoed off the floorboards, causing me to jump in surprise.
Then there was nothing.
The house had thin walls, walls that didn"t hide s.h.i.t. I found out from eaves dropping that Samantha had been h.o.a.rding money. Money that was meant for Virgo. Money that she was going to use to try and help me get away.
He killed her because of me.
For years after that I refused to talk to any of his other girls. I didn"t let myself get close to them, I denied them any attention or responses if they tried to interact with me.
I wasn"t going to let Virgo kill anyone else because of me, and that meant this man too, even if he was a pain in the a.s.s.
There was no doubt in my mind that if Virgo knew that the same man had come back and given me so much money for nothing a second time, he"d slit his throat without pause, thinking that I was being paid for information that wasn"t mine to give or his to have.
Salt obviously didn"t understand who I worked for. If he had any clue about who owned the Canary, he would have known better than to screw with him.
f.u.c.king tourists.
Tucking the money into the most discrete spot I could, I hid it in my panties, doing my best to fold it up small enough so it wasn"t visible. Walking out the door, I started towards my table.
"Jessie, are you forgetting something?" Vin asked, holding out his hand.
"No, I"m not forgetting something, I just didn"t see you there." Taking a few hundred out of my top, I stuffed it into his hand.
"What did you do for him?" he asked, counting out the bills.f