'But what if – '
'They will.'
Sandy nodded, casually tracing the outer edge of his nipple with her index finger. 'I miss you when you're gone.'
'I don't like being apart any more than you do, honey.'
'Sure,' she joked. 'You've probably got a girlfriend in every town.'
He slapped her bottom. 'Do be ridiculous. Every other town.'
'Asshole.'
Frank ground his cigarette out in the ashtray. He and Vincent had decided to wait to make their move on Turano until after the next tour had ended. The tour itself was scheduled to run three weeks, and it would probably take approximately the same amount of time to amply prepare for the move against their rival. The risk of things getting rough was still a couple of months away.
'The Saturday after I get back from Indiana, Charlie and his wife are having a party at their place,' he said rather hesitantly. 'Do you want to go?'
She eyed him with uncertainty. 'Was I invited?'
'I wouldn't be asking otherwise.'
'Is Vincent going to be there?'
'No.'
'How about Gus?'
'No, just a few couples.'
'New York's a long way to go for a party.'
'It's just over the Connecticut border.' Frank shrugged. 'Charlie offered to put us up for the night. It's no big deal, I just though I'd mention it.'
'Sure,' she said. 'Let's go.'
Music began thumping through the wall from the apartment next door. Sandy rolled off of him and strode to the closet for her summer robe. 'What was that? You want to take me out for dinner? Let me take a quick shower and I'll be ready in ten minutes.'
'Deal.'
Frank heard the rumble of the shower, the rattling of pipes in the wall, the incessant beat of the funky tune next door, and decided he'd call the real estate agent personally.
Gus picked Kathleen up out in front of her apartment in New Bedford's south end, parked at the corner and hit the horn as he always did. He'd asked her several times to let him go to the door and call on her properly, but she'd explained that she and her daughter shared the place with a roommate, another working girl who didn't take kindly to strangers. Although the awkward arrangements made him angry, it had been several years since he'd had even a legitimate date with a woman, much less an ongoing relationship of any value with one, and Gus didn't want to do anything that might jeopardize things between them.
As he waited, a junkie who had been watching him from across the street since he'd arrived staggered up to his GMC Jimmy. 'Hey, buddy, you got a quarter?'
'Yeah,' Gus smiled. 'Got a couple of them. Fuck off.'
The door to the apartment building opened and Kathleen appeared on the front steps looking as if she hadn't gotten much sleep. Gus jumped from the car and bolted around to the passenger-side door so he could open it for her.
'Hi, babe,' he said, kissing her on the cheek.
She climbed into the Jimmy and lit a cigarette. 'What the hell was so important that you had to see me so fucking early?'
'Come on, hon, watch the language, that's no way for a nice girl to talk.'
She stared at him, bleary-eyed. 'Are you fucking kidding me? Tell me you're fucking kidding me. What are you, a retard?'
Gus got back behind the wheel and headed for the highway. Frank and Vincent had left for Pennsylvania the night before and he knew that until nine o'clock, when the secretary and two telemarketing salespeople working under him showed up, he'd have the office to himself. 'I thought you might like to see where I work.'
'I know what an office looks like, Gus.'
'After I show you around I thought we'd go get some breakfast. Sound good?'
'Sure,' she moaned. 'Whatever.'
'I decided to skip this tour. I'll probably check in on things from time to time just to make sure nobody's slacking off, but I'm too damn busy running the business to go on the road. Besides, after what happened the last time I've got to be real careful. After the show in Connecticut me and the boys stopped to get a bite to eat and ran into a load of trouble.'
'Yeah?' She yawned.
'Five rednecks decided to give us some shit.' He shook his head in disgust and tried his best to recall the details of the story Vincent had told him about the incident in the diner. 'Naturally, everybody looked to me to handle it, being the muscle and all. Anyway, took one guy's knee out with a thrust kick, broke another guy's jaw with a spinning back-fist. That was enough to convince the other three guys that they'd picked the wrong dude to fuck with.'
They arrived at the office a few minutes later and Gus proudly gave her the grand tour, leaving his work area for last. He insisted Kathleen sit in his leather swivel and put her feet up on his desk.
'Feels good, doesn't it?' he said.
She forced a smile. 'Sure.'
'Anyway, this is the place. My place.'
'And those guys you talk about all the time – Frank and Vin – they're your partners?'
Gus sat on the corner of his desk. 'Yeah, we're partners, but I'm still the boss.'
'I admit it.' Kathleen glanced around the office. 'I'm impressed.'
'There's still time before anybody else shows up,' Gus said, moving closer. 'Ever done it in an office?'
Kathleen leaned back in the chair, away from his advances. 'You're gonna have to help me out with a little something.' He frowned, stared at her with confusion. 'I thought you said you wanted me to be your girl?'
He nodded. 'I do.'
'You wanted me to try not to work as much, remember?' Gus nodded again. 'I got bills. I got to pay half the rent and half the utilities. Tiffany needs new clothes, and I – '
Gus pulled out his wallet. 'Here's fifty – '
'Fifty?'
' – and another thirty.'
'I can make that sucking cock on the street in less than an hour.'
'Jesus, why do you have to say shit like – just don't say things like that.'
'Eighty bucks ain't gonna cut it, Gus.'
'That's all I've got.'
Kathleen dropped the cash on the desk as if it were diseased and folded her arms across her chest. 'This isn't gonna work out, Gus. Maybe you should just take me home.'
'Take it easy, babe,' he said through a nervous laugh. 'I can go to the ATM – no problem. Jesus, lighten up.'
She pushed out her lower lip and pouted. 'I'm sorry. It's just that I thought you were different from all the others.'
He crouched next to her. 'I am.'
'Then why won't you help me? Why won't you take care of me? You know I got bills, Gus. I got a daughter and she needs things, you understand? Kids are expensive. I wanna be with you, you know that.'
'I'll make it right,' he muttered, his mind racing.
'I really care about you,' she said, 'and I thought you felt the same way about me.'
