“That woman never ceases to surprise me with her connections. She has a niece who is a famous children’s book writer. And an aunt who invented the pillow that you love.”

“The AirNest?” she asked, tone lighter.

“Yep.”

“Wow. I’m impressed.”

“It was a Christmas gift one year. I’ve never slept better. I have to get an extra one so we aren’t fighting over it.”

“If by ‘fighting over it’ you mean giving it to me every night, then sure.” She was quiet for a moment, her fingers tracing across my chest in a pattern I couldn’t quite make out. “Hey, Soren?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not just Teresa.”

“What’s not just Teresa?”

“It’s not just Teresa that you have. You have me too.”

Fuck, that was good to hear.

“You got me too,” I told her. “Though, what does that mean for our deal? And your boss?”

“Well, the deal is airtight. I, uh, made sure my lawyer closed any possible loopholes. The part that is more murky is that… we chose me for the deal because I’m not as known in the family. And I was meant to be a silent partner. But…”

“But if you and I are involved, and someone does some digging…”

“Yeah. The problem is, there’s a new AUSA. And she’s gunning for us. We need the money clean, but we wanted it to be as discreet as possible.”

“Hmm. I guess you have a few options then.”

“Oh, yeah? I can’t come up with any.”

“First off, we go through with the original plan. But get extra careful about the books.”

“Okay. What else?”

“Well, there’s always the… going straight option. You have money. You’ll be making a lot more once the club opens. Get out.”

“I worked my ass off to get in and you want me to quit?”

“I’m not saying quit. But maybe more… become a contractor.”

“A mob contractor?” she scoffed.

“No, hear me out. If you get out and go—as far as anyone can tell—legit and build a nightclub empire… no one would have any reason to look twice at you. And you could continue to wash the family’s money. For a small fee.”

“But… they’re my family, Soren.”

“And I’m not saying you need to give them up. You can still see them. Do book club. Everything like that. But if you’re not actively running a crew and whatever jobs that entails, what could the cops say? That you have shady friends? So what?”

“Even if I did go that route, there would be speculation on the clubs as businesses that are cash-heavy.”

“And that’s when very careful computer programming comes into play.”

“Why are you talking about that like you know all about it?”