The VIP Room(125)

“Sophie, it’s not a done deal, yet. And if we have to move, I’ll try to find us a place close to here so you don’t have to change schools, okay?”

“I don’t want to move. I’ve already moved enough.”

“I know you have. And I’ll do my best.”

She just wished she knew what that was.





Chapter 8





Emma had been warned that Saturdays were a busy day at the department store, but she wasn’t fully prepared for it. Customer after customer lined up at her register, piles of garments waiting to be rung up and bagged. She lost track of time, only aware it was time for her lunch break when Sophie and Jill showed up. Jill’s mother brought them to the mall to hang out for the afternoon and Sophie had promised to stop by the department store so Emma could help her change her infusion set on her insulin pump.

“Give me a minute,” she said, gesturing to the still four deep line of customers.

Sophie wandered off, a look of impatience stamped to her face—not that it was anything new these days. Emma had great respect for parents of teens. She had never imagined that taking on her little sister would be easy, but she hadn’t imagined it would be so difficult, either.

She finished with her last customer and grabbed her bag out from under the counter, calling to her supervisor that she was going to lunch. The woman just nodded, bogged down with her own line of customers. She wasn’t quite sure where Sophie had gone, but any place that displayed tight, low hung jeans in the window was probably a good bet.

Emma was thinking about half a dozen things as she walked through the store, so she wasn’t paying much attention to what was around her. She was still thinking about the report they’d shown on the news the night before, still thinking about all the families that didn’t deserve to be evicted because of her. The television station’s website had registered quite a few comments that were strongly in the tenants’ favor, but there were those that were supportive of DJC’s right to do whatever they wanted with a building they now owned. The law was clearly on DJC’s side, and some people saw that. It wasn’t helping their cause.

She was thinking about Sophie too, about the homecoming dance and the fact that a boy had asked to take her. It would be Sophie’s first official date, and that made Emma nervous. She wasn’t sure she was ready for this sort of thing. She didn’t know what advice to give to Sophie. Her experiences were more…unorthodox. How could she tell Sophie how to respond to a boy’s actions on a proper date when she had no experience to draw on?

And then there was school. She’d gotten a C on her last biology exam. Granted, she took it the morning after learning that she’d lost her job, but that was no excuse. She had to maintain a 3.8 grade point average to keep her scholarships. Not only that, but she was pre-med. Biology was one of those classes she really had to ace in order to get into the courses she needed for school.

There was so much going on in her head. Too many things to worry about.

Just as she stepped out of the department store, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her over against the wall, blocking her view of the busy mall.

“You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?” Dante Caito glared down at her, dressed as always in an impeccable suit that fit like it was made for him—which it probably was.

“And you like proving how powerful you are by forcing yourself on people.”

“I know you were behind the news story last night. Focusing it on that family with those poor, little kids was brilliant. We’ve been getting outraged phone calls at the office all day.”

“Good. Maybe now you can see that you can’t just mess with someone’s life without suffering a few consequences.”

He grunted as he moved closer to her, balancing himself on one hand that he pressed to the wall just above her head. “People will forget by Monday. Come February, they won’t even remember why that building was there in the first place.”

“Then you win again. So what do you care what I do?”

“Because I don’t like the unexpected. And you…you are unpredictable.”

“You took my job away from me. Now you’re trying to take my home. Did you really think I would just lie down and let you do it?”

“In my experience? Yes.”

“Well, then, you’re messing with the wrong woman.”

She stepped into him. He didn’t move, didn’t even seem aware that she was less than a few inches from his incredibly toned abs, his chiseled jawline. If he turned his head just slightly…and the smell of his cologne…

Emma pressed a hand to his chest, trying to ignore the heat that suddenly seemed to infuse itself through her palm and up her arm.

“If you didn’t want a battle, you shouldn’t have started the war.”

“You need to learn that I am so much more powerful than you will ever be. I will crush you, Miss Emma Allred.”

“You have to do a little more than that to scare me.”

She pushed against his chest in an attempt to get away from him. She thought for a moment that he wasn’t going to let her go. He studied her, his expression unreadable. For a wild moment, she thought he might kiss her. But then he backed up a step and gestured for her to go.

“Watch your back, Miss Allred. You have no idea what I’m capable of.”