Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Milo sat up, then leaned forward.
“Trust me, sweetheart, Frank isn’t the only one connected in this town. If something goes sideways, I could have you packed up and on your way out of the area before he even knew you were found out.”
God, he sounded like a mob boss.
And it was kind of hot.
“Okay then,” I agreed, reaching for my wine again.
If he noticed the tremble in my hand, he made no comment on it.
“So, give me specifics. If you want information, I need to know what you’re looking for.”
“Fake books would be a big one. Records that don’t line up. A casino is a great money-laundering operation. If he’s cooking the books so the government doesn’t know what he’s really making, that would be helpful. Evidence of any debts. Both legit or otherwise.
“On a more personal level, any information about Frank’s close connections would be helpful. Especially if they are local businessmen.”
“I know a lot about his friends from all the private parties. I can try to write you up a list of everything I know about everyone.”
“That would be helpful.”
“I wish I could draw you pictures, but stick figures are outside my talents.”
“Once I have names, I can track down pictures.”
The food arrived then, and I nearly moaned at the scents of tomato, cream, garlic, and basil that met my nose.
“Well, if we’re going to be in bed together,” I said after we started to eat, “can I know some more about you?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Is your name really Milo?”
“It is. My last name isn’t Grant. But I’m going to ask a favor that you don’t ask me my real last name. At least until this job is done.”
“My real last name isn’t London,” I said with a shrug. “Are you from the area?”
“I’m from Jersey. Just a little further north.”
“How long have you been here?”
“I got here yesterday,” he admitted.
“Wow. Got right to work.”
“I’m not in the area for pleasure.”
“Have you been here a lot before?”
“Last time I was here, I got wasted and woke up on the sand. Haven’t been back since. Where did you grow up?”
“Wherever my mom’s husbands lived. Florida for the longest, I guess. Then mostly in New York for modeling.”
“Buncha stepfathers, huh?”
This was not information he needed for me to accomplish this job. And some part of me thought it might be best if he didn’t know a hell of a lot about me personally.
But, well, I was kind of enjoying talking to him.
Besides, what could he do with the information about my childhood? Nothing.
“Stepfather would imply any of them saw me as a daughter. I was an inconvenience to the first one. A meal ticket to the third one. And nothing but a Christmas postcard to the most recent one.”
“I feel like there is a weighty reason you left out the second one.”
“The second one was a creep. I was a tween. He was someone in and around the beauty pageant circuit. Which should have been a big, glaring red flag to my mom. But she… she really craved attention. And Gene was all too happy to give it to her.”
“To get closer to you.”
“Yeah. He used to come in my room or the bathroom when I was changing or showering. Made comments that I didn’t understand at the time but now I’m disgusted by.”
“I’m sorry. It’s sick how many men target single moms just to get closer to the kids.”
“Yeah. I told my grandmother, and she had me come and live with her in Vegas. The marriage dissolved pretty quickly after that.”
“Vegas. Is that why you were drawn here?”
“It’s probably part of it. My grandmother was a showgirl in the golden age. Gorgeous. So talented. She claims she got a diamond necklace from Frank Sinatra because he was so infatuated with her.”
“Somehow, I don’t doubt that,” Milo said, something heated in his gaze that had me shifting in my seat.
“I mean, obviously, by the time I went to live with her, she was long retired. But I spent that summer becoming obsessed with her stories and the old casino culture. Part of it stuck. I don’t think I realized until I got here that Atlantic City’s heyday has been over for a long time.”
“Cities have a way of bouncing back,” Milo said. “People crave vintage experiences. It’ll come around. Maybe you’ll be telling your granddaughter about your days as an AC lounge singer.”
“That would be really neat.”
“Your mom wasn’t into entertainment?”
“My mom was a model when she was sixteen until nineteen.”
“Why so short a time?”
“She was in a bad car accident one night. She ended up really messing up her hip. She walks with a slight limp even all this time later. But more than that, she got some scars. One big one on her thigh. And a smaller, but more egregious one—in the eyes of the fashion industry—on her face. Her career was over.”