that dinky little diner in Connecticut for no money and the worst manager on the planet. We were loyal and quiet about what we knew. Of anyone I knew in the world, Smoke Carelli had secrets no one would ever uncover. There was no way he’d spill them, especially not to his little sister.
So how the hell did Toni know about us?
“Listen,” she started, trying and failing to keep from laughing, “I spent half my life perfecting the art of sneaking around to hook up with pretty boys. I was a master at it.” She widened her smile and winked at me. “Still am, but you, my friend, are, at best, a novice.” She sat on one of the tables next to the vending machine, crossing her long, toned legs at the ankle before she continued.
“My brother, he does what he wants, but this is a small town. I know on Wednesdays and Fridays, nights you don’t work the late shift, that my bossy ass brother stays in his office extra late and your car somehow stays in the lot until morning. One and one is two and on Thursdays and Saturdays, my brother is in a good mood and that bastard is never in a good mood.”
I shook my head, forcing an eyeroll, trying to brush off the accusation. “We…Smoke and me…I …” But there was no excuse I could come up with that would make a lot of sense. Antonia was smart. Clearly, smarter than me. I flopped down in a chair opposite her and scrubbed my face.
“Listen, if you are late or something…”
“What are you doing in here?” Paris, the skinny blonde day waitress asked, coming into the breakroom with her arms crossed. The girl was a nuisance, had an obvious obsession with Smoke and always called me Mary instead of Maggie. She ignored Antonia’s glare and focused her attention on me. “Mrs. C. is looking for you.”
I widened my eyes, at a loss for words, worried what she’d heard of our conversation, my head flooding with insults and excuses I could level at her, but the only thing I managed to get out was “Shit’s sake…”
“Well?” Paris asked, moving farther into the room.
“Why don’t you mind your own fucking business?” Antonia said, stepping between me and Paris.
“Mrs. C….”
“Don’t you worry about my mother or Maggie.” She turned the blonde’s shoulders and pushed her toward the door. “Now get out of here before I tell my mother what a little nosey bitch you are and get your ass fired.”
“You can’t…”
“I can. Have and would again.” Antonia pushed the girl out the door and watched her as she walked down the hall, her head shaking as she turned back toward me. “Now,” Antonia said, grabbing my hand. “As I was saying, if you’re late or something…”
“No,” I said, silently reminding myself why I was hiding in the damn breakroom in the first place. “That’s not…I’ve had one unexpected pregnancy. I know how to prevent them.”
“Are you still sick?” Toni stepped back, covering her mouth. “Do you still have strep? Ma said you were out of it for a couple days. Are you contagious?”
“No. Dios, woman…” I stood, straightening my uniform before I grabbed Antonia’s hand and pulled her toward the door, slipping out of the breakroom and peeking from the hallway into the dining room. She stood next to me, looking over my head as I pointed toward the table of REN Cyper suits. “The tall guy in the blue suit?”
“The one with the fake Rolex?”
“It’s fake?”
“The gold is faded on the sides. Only gold-plated or fourteen carats does that, and Rolex doesn’t make either. Stainless steel, eighteen carat or platinum.”
“You can see that?”
“Honey, please. I’m a Carelli and I live in New York. I can spot a knockoff from fifty feet away. This asshole is either an idiot and got swindled or he’s broke and wants everyone to think he’s not.”
“He probably snorted or smoked all his money.”
Reynolds turned when Curtis approached, refilling everyone’s mugs and his attention moved behind the waiter and toward us.
I couldn’t tell if he saw me, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Antonia and I both jerked out of the hallway and back into the breakroom.
She shut the door, leaning against it, folding her arms across her chest. “So, Mr. Wannabe?”
“Worked with my ex…Mateo’s father.”
Antonia dropped her arms and stepped away from the door to stand in front of me. “You’ve never mentioned him before. We all thought he…well, we have theories.”
“I