Love or Money (5 page)

Chapter Four

Riel was startled awake by the sound of Jessica yelling wordlessly as she pattered down the hall. Riel lay blinking for a moment, confused about where she was.

She remembered, and warmth bloomed in her.
I’m out
.

But memories of the night before poured in, twisting her guts into knots.
I’m in Isaias’ house.

The smell of cooking sausage wafted under the door, and her stomach rumbled. As much as she loathed the thought of facing her brother-in-law, she’d have to get up sometime. She hauled herself out of bed and pulled on some clothes, then padded out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen.

Lizette stood at the stove, Jessica tugging at her bathrobe and squawking. Olivia was bouncing the baby over by the kitchen window.

Isaias and Mama Maria sat at the kitchen table. Both of them looked up when Riel walked in. Maria smiled and pushed out a chair for her. “Good morning, Rielita. Sit down.”

Lizette turned and smiled, but Riel was caught in Isaias’ burning glare; he hardly noticed his wife. As Riel took her seat, his lips curled into a slow grin.

“Here she is, little Rielita,” he said. “Now the whole family is finally together.”

He kicked back in his chair, smirking at her, and Riel tore her eyes away. Lizette put a plate of sausage and eggs in front of her. Her sister looked even more worn out than she had the night before.

Riel ate in silence, listening to Olivia’s lively chatter. She kept her eyes on her food, but she could feel Isaias glancing at her, his presence like a looming shadow. It wasn’t until Lizette began clearing away the plates that he spoke again.

“Get cleaned up, Rielita.” He pushed himself back from the table. “We’ve got to go in about an hour.”

She looked up at him sharply. “You’re the one taking me to check-in with probation? I thought…” She glanced at Lizette, who avoided her eyes, busying herself with the dishes.

“I’m taking you,” Isaias said. “After that, we’re going to work.”

Riel’s breakfast went sour in her stomach. Lizette turned to look at her, clutching a dirty plate in her hand, but quickly turned away when Isaias sent her a glance.

Maria smiled. “Go make yourself pretty, Gabriella. You’re going to make a lot of money for the family.”

Riel sat woodenly for a moment, but eventually stood up. “Yes, Mama Maria,” she said.

She stalked down the hall and into the bathroom, slamming the door and leaning her forehead on the cool tile of the countertop. The idea of dancing naked for a bunch of drunk assholes made her want to bash her head until she was unconscious.

She needed out. Why hadn’t she just gone with Evan the night before? Whatever working for Mishmash was like, it had to be better than this.

Would she be back in time tonight, if Evan did actually decide to show up?

She took a deep breath and let it out. There was nothing she could do about it. She didn’t have Evan’s number; she didn’t even have a phone. If he really cared about her, he’d show up and wait for her.

And what would Isaias do about it, if he did? Mama Maria would beat her son down if he tried to hurt Evan, wouldn’t she? At least, unless she knew he was planning to leave with Riel…if Mama Maria found that out, there’d be trouble.

Riel turned on the shower and let the water get hot, which filled the bathroom up with billowing steam before she stepped in.

It had been so long since she’d had a
real
shower, not the lukewarm drip that passed for one in prison. Other women had always harassed her into hurrying up or asked to borrow her conditioner.

She took a long time lathering shampoo and conditioner through her thick hair, soaping every inch of herself, letting the water run over her body, which eased the tightness out of her muscles. By the time she got out and wrapped herself in a soft towel, the bathroom was so full of steam she could barely see the far wall.

Isaias was waiting by the door tapping his foot by the time she was dressed and ready. He raised his eyebrows when he saw her. “That’s all the makeup you’re wearing? You look like a well-endowed fifteen-year-old.” He grinned. “Never mind. It could work.”

Riel followed him out of the house through the misty rain, cursing under her breath.

She climbed into the cab of his truck, hunching as close against the passenger door as she could. She stared at the water beading on the windows, ignoring Isaias as he climbed into the driver’s seat. He started the engine and turned off the radio. They pulled out of the driveway in complete silence, save for the sound of the heater blowing and the rain hissing on the truck’s roof.

Riel could feel him glancing at her. Finally, he blew out a long breath through puffed cheeks. “Listen, Riel. I know you’re pissed off at me, but there’s no reason to be like this. I’m trying to take care of you.”

She glanced over at him, crossing her arms.

“Whatever, be that way then,” he said. “Listen, when you talk to your probation officer, tell him I have you working in the offices of Zuniga Enterprises doing filing and payroll, stuff like that.”

She scowled. “If this dance club of yours is supposedly a legitimate business, why can’t I tell the truth?”

He snickered. “You tell him you’re gyrating in some titty bar, I’m sure he’ll make some excuse to come check that out, just to make sure everything’s on the up-and-up, that you’re not getting drunk on the job or doing anything shady. But once he sees those hot, round breasteses jiggling around up there, he’s going to get ideas. Do you really want to end up giving your probation officer a lap dance or worse in exchange for staying out of jail?”

He glanced between her and the road, raising an eyebrow, until she finally looked away. She crossed her arms. “Okay, fine. I’ll tell him I’m working in the office.”

“
Bueno.
Good girl.” He continued to glance at her with the smirk she always had the urge to burn off with a flamethrower. She tried not to look at him, but it was maddening, and she couldn’t keep her eyes from sliding over to his.

“Come on, Rielita,” he said. “Don’t be this way. It won’t be so bad working with me in the bar. I’m a nice guy if you get to know me.”

Riel bit back all the insults she wanted to hurl. It would just make life harder if she fought him, and it might even make it easier if she didn’t. He might let his guard down.

She swallowed the sour taste in her mouth and tried to keep the contempt out of her voice. “I’m sorry, Isaias,” she said. “I just, you know, feel weird about all this. Getting out, being back in the real world again, it’s strange. And now having this job. I’ve never done anything like that. I don’t even know how to dance.”

He grinned. “The dancing isn’t the important part.” He reached out and pinched her waist. She flinched but kept herself from jerking away. “Don’t worry about that stuff,” he said. “I’ll always take care of you, as long as you’re a good girl and do the right thing, okay?”

“Okay.” She forced a smile. It felt more like a grimace, but he must have believed it because he pinched her waist again.

***

He dropped her off on the fringes of downtown, in front of a squat, four-story building. “Text me when you get out of there, I’ll come get you,” he said.

Her brow furrowed. “I don’t have a phone yet.”

He smacked himself on his forehead. “Oh yeah, I forgot.” He fished in his coat pocket, pulled out what looked like a brand new Motorola cell phone, and handed it to her. “All yours. I meant to give it to you this morning. I’m in the contacts, so yeah. Text me when you get out.”

She looked down at the phone and turned it over in her hands, wondering what the catch was. “Thanks, Isaias.”

He grinned. “No problem.”

He pulled away and she stood there in the misty drizzle, gathering courage to go in. It still felt strange, to be out here alone on the sidewalk, outside of prison walls and free to go wherever she wanted.

Although she wasn’t really free. How could she think that things would have changed when she got out? Isaias kept her on a tight rein like always, and it would be easier for him than it ever had been before. Now she was an ex-con, subject to strict probation requirements, and scorned by polite society. Ashley was right; no one would give her a job with a prison record. They probably wouldn’t let her into college, either.

Why didn’t I just leave with Evan yesterday?
I could have sent word back to Lizette somehow, gotten her out of there.
Maybe Evan would keep his promise and come back tonight. Would he want to risk fighting Isaias over her? Or had he just wanted someone to fuck on those long cross-border runs, and now he’d find someone else with less baggage?

A man with hunched shoulders and a scraggly beard came out of the building. He flipped up the dirty hood of his raincoat, staring blatantly at her as he strutted down the sidewalk. Riel watched the torn hems of his jeans catch under his heels as he sloshed through the puddles.
I’m a loser now, an ex-con, just like that guy probably is
.

She sighed and forced the thought away.
I’m going to figure some way out of this.
She squared her shoulders and headed up the steps to the front entrance.

Her first appointment wasn’t so bad. They made her do an observed urine screen; she had to piss in a cup while a block-shaped woman stood over her, looking like a pillow shoved in a tight rayon case. But Riel had endured worse in prison.

Her probation officer was a harried looking white guy named Carl Macias. His brown hair kept falling out of his comb-over. He pushed a lock of it off of his pasty, wrinkled forehead as he read through her paperwork.

“Hundred grams, huh?” he said, then grinned humorlessly. “Pretty good for a first offense.”

Riel wrinkled her nose. He didn’t know the half of it. “Yeah,” she muttered, staring at her lap. She heard Carl flipping through the papers.

“But you say here you’ve never done drugs.”

“No.” It wasn’t exactly the truth—she’d smoked pot a couple of times with Evan and even tried coke once, but she hadn’t liked any of it, and it would just complicate things if she mentioned it.

“Eighteen years old, delivering coke, and you didn’t even have any sort of habit to feed,” he said. “Why did you do it?”

“For…for the money.”

Carl’s eyes dropped back to the paperwork. “Your parents are dead?”

“Yeah.”

“How did that happen?”

Riel winced. “Crossing the desert. They were deported and were trying to get back to me and my sister, but they ran out of water or something I guess.” She swallowed hard.

“You’re a citizen, though. Born in Seattle.”

“Yeah.”

“How old were you when they died?”

“Ten.”

Carl gazed at her for a moment, but she couldn’t read his look. “I’m not going to order you to go to drug treatment right now,” he said. “You’ll have random testing, and as long as you come up clean and keep a job, you keep me happy, okay?”

She tried to smile. “Thanks.”

***

She texted Isaias as she left the office, and about five minutes later he pulled up to the curb. She jumped back to keep from being splashed with muddy water from the gutter, but some still got on her shoes, soaking them through. She cursed Isaias under her breath.

She climbed into the passenger seat, pulling her hands out of the sleeves of her sweater and holding them in front of the heater vent. Her hair laid in a damp mass down her back, and her toes were freezing inside her wet sneakers. She wondered where her raincoat had gone. She hadn’t found it in her closet.
Maybe Isaias threw it away, just to make my life more miserable.

“You ready to go to work, little girl?” Isaias asked.

She shrugged, dislodging a drop of moisture that ran down her spine.

“That’s the spirit,” he said, rolling his eyes.

The club hadn’t opened yet. The only person there was a young, muscular guy behind the bar counting money. He smiled at them as they came in, his friendly eyes lingering on Riel. “Hey, Isaias!” he said.

“Hey, Robert.” Isaias put his hand on Riel’s shoulder, and she stiffened. “This is my sister-in-law, Riel, who I told you about.”

Robert trotted out from behind the bar to shake her hand, his biceps straining against the cuff of his t-shirt. “Hey, nice to meet you, Riel.”

She smiled at him, and he ended up shaking her hand for a long time, until Isaias cleared his throat.

Robert dropped her hand and ran his palm over his short-cropped brown hair, looking sheepish. “You starting today?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Isaias said, answering for her. “When’s Laina going to be here?”

“She usually gets here in about fifteen minutes,” he said.