Dangerous Conceit by Ali Lee
Chapter 7
Lexi carried on with her friends at the park, all having requested off Monday to spend the day together. Lexi, Abby and Kayla sat on a bench as Maura giggled from a swing, one of two swings in the shady playground out of town. Piper was busy pushing the girl and waved at the other three. They were in the middle of conversation but waved back, happy they found a park away from the prying eyes of Moretti.
“Kayla,” Lexi said. “You’re going to help me look for a car tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, I’m kind of hoping our height intimidates them. That way, they don’t try to screw us over.”
“It couldn’t hurt,” Lexi said. “Abby, how much money do we have now?”
Abby opened her laptop and began to type in their bank's website. After a couple of minutes, she looked at Lexi. “I don't think we have enough, Lex…not with us looking for a new place too. We have six thousand, but we need to use some of that for the move. So…three thousand is supposed to buy us a car, one that won’t break down when we pull it out of the lot? Maybe we should finance instead.”
“No.” Lexi shook her head. “We can’t have anything in the system that Moretti can trace. You already know that, Abby. There has to be something decent we can find. We’ll look tomorrow anyway.”
“We need phones too. How do we buy four phones, a car and a new house with six grand? Be logical, Lexi.” Abby kept typing, looking at different pages on the internet. “I mean, we’re looking at fifteen hundred for move-in costs and that doesn’t include rent, and what…two hundred for phones and minutes.”
“I know.” Lexi voiced exasperated. “Fine, two thousand for a car. I promise I will find us something; then we can drive Moretti's car and tracker in the middle of the ocean.”
Kayla knit her brows together and clicked Abby’s laptop shut. “Now who’s being so damn pessimistic? We’ll have to make this work, Abby. If anyone can do it, it’s Lexi, and since we all have jobs, it’ll be fine.”
Abby glared back at Kayla. “Pessimistic? You mean realistic. You know as well as I do that Moretti keeps a close eye on our bank account. When that money starts to disappear, don't think he won't notice. I suggest when we do move forward, that we get house, a car and those phones in the same week. I don't want his guys showing up on our doorstep, flashing their guns around and scaring Maura again. Look at Lexi's face. That happened at her work…okay. You know what would happen if we really pissed them off? They don't care about us.”
“Okay, already.” Lexi stopped the argument before it continued. “We get the point, Abby.”
Lexi was relieved when she saw Piper and Maura walking toward them. The women would not argue with Maura around. Nobody ever said getting back at Moretti was going to be easy. That was why they were trying to find Maura's father in the first place, so she would not be in danger.
“So—” Piper looked at the others, thankful she missed whatever discussion that made them depressed. “Are we going to lunch, because this little girl is hungry?”
They smiled. Lexi reached her hand out to Maura as she tried to catch a butterfly. “We’re going to eat at a restaurant by the beach. Would you like that?”
Maura nodded, her large green eyes reflecting the sunlight as the women stood. They seldom went out to eat. After a month and a half in Miami, Lexi figured they earned the treat.
Kayla drove for a few minutes before arriving at a restaurant on the beach. As they took a seat on one of the picnic tables outside, Lexi watched some teenagers enjoying the sand. Some were jumping in the waves while others were sunbathing. She appreciated how breathtaking the city of Miami could be.
“So, what will you have?” A girl with short blond hair stood at their table with a smile on her face. She seemed happy to be there too.
Piper grinned and started the orders. “Okay, so we want five cherry sodas. Put extra cherries in one of them for the little girl over there.” Then Piper paused, looking over the menu. “And for food we’ll have the jumbo cheese pizza, mozzarella sticks and…” She looked around the table.
“Two orders of your chicken wings…the mild kind,” Abby added.
“With five plates.” Lexi finished.
“All right. I have five cherry sodas—one with extra cherries, a jumbo cheese pizza, mozzarella sticks, two mild wings and five plates. Is that right?” The server repeated their order.
“Perfect.” Lexi smiled as the girl took the menus.
“Okay, give me a few minutes and I’ll bring out those drinks.”
Fifteen minutes later, Maura was on her eighth cherry. Even the server seemed suckered by her sweet face and brought out a side dish filled with cherries. The afternoon almost seemed normal to Lexi, making everyone forget about the problems that surrounded them. Then the server set the food on the table.
“Oh my god, this food smells so amazing.” Piper put a slice of pizza and a mozzarella stick on a plate and handed it to Maura. “Watch out, sweetie. It might be hot.”
They all started eating. They were quiet, enjoying the peaceful view when the server approached again. “I hate to bother you, but a man dropped this off and told me to hand it to you.” She handed a piece of paper to Lexi, the note feeling like knives in Lexi’s hand.
She could never let down her guard. Someone was always stalking them when she had hoped to escape any prying eyes for the day. “Thank you,” Lexi said, not opening the note until the server walked away.
“What does it say, Lex?” Kayla whispered from across the table; Lexi's expression fell.
“It says…” Lexi looked at Maura and noticed how intently she was listening to the women talk. “Here, you read it.”
We’re watching you waste our time, Cinderella. You’d better get your shit together if you want to keep that little brat around. Kayla silently read and then scowled. “Asshole.”
“Kayla.” Lexi gestured her chin toward Maura beside her.
“Sorry.” Kayla slumped in her seat.
After everyone had read the note, Lexi took it back and stuffed it in her purse. “Any questions on why we have to make this work, Abby?”
“Lex, you already know how I feel. I know there's no other way. Sometimes,” Abby’s voice tapered, “I just wish there was.”
“Fine, tomorrow then,” Lexi said as all the women went back to their food, trying to enjoy what time they had left of their day before going home.
***
Before eight that night, Lexi’s friends helped dress her for her date. Piper found a short, slinky black dress while Kayla dangled a couple of black heels in front of her. Abby smiled with a makeup bag in hand.
“Geez,” Lexi said, “having all of you here at the same time is making me think I'm not good enough.” Lexi fell to the mattress on the floor in the room she shared with Abby. “I'm not even sure I should be going after that message earlier. What if something happens when I'm gone? I would be a mess.”
“Oh.” Abby pointed. “You're going. Remember the plan.”
“We’ll be fine.” Piper brushed off her concern. “That note was a threat. We know the difference.”
Lexi sighed, “All right, I'll go; but what's with the dress? I'm not wearing that. I don't want Rafa thinking I'm there for sex. I’ll feel like I'm practicing stealth skills while trying not to show my ass when I bend over.”
“That's the point, Lex,” Kayla grinned, “to practice…your skills.” Kayla squatted low to the floor and looked through her long red hair that had feathered in front of her face, the end of her pointer finger between her teeth. “What better way is there to get in good with the Tomassi Group than to sleep with the second in charge?”
Lexi glared at her before cracking a smile. “That's why they chose you to strip at Whips. You're a natural.”
“I know.” Kayla agreed and stood back up. “And I can guarantee that I would be taking advantage of Rafa if I had the chance.”
Piper picked up the dress and held it against Lexi's body. “Wear it, Lexi, or I’ll burn all your clothes. It's not that short. It stops at the knees and isn’t even tight. It’ll look good on your ass and show off your legs anyway.”
“Fine.” Lexi gave in. “I’ll try it on if it makes you happy.
Lexi yanked the dress out of Piper’s hand and went to the restroom, sliding off the jeans she felt more comfortable in. She was not going to a fancy restaurant. What was the big deal about not wearing jeans? Throwing her body at Rafa was not what she wanted.
“What the hell, Piper!” she yelled after sliding on the dress. “I’m like a foot taller than you. I am not wearing this.”
“Come on, Lexi. Let us see.” Piper urged with a girl-like voice. Lexi stumbled out of the restroom, scowling at her friends.
“You’re out of your minds.”
“Oh…it's perfect.” Kayla nodded with approval. “Get your heels on and do your make-up. Abby needs to cover up that bruise on your face.”
“Why are you three so set in me wearing this when I'm going to his house for drinks?”
Licking her lips with seductive purpose, Kayla spoke on their behalf. “You're the sexy cordial, baby.”
Lexi held her temples with one hand and groaned, “I will never make it through the night. I can already tell.”
“Now who needs to lighten up?” Abby swiped mascara across Lexi's lashes. “Enjoy yourself, Lex. Be friends. Get close. Whatever you have to do.”
When Abby finished, Piper and Kayla pushed her toward the door. “Now get!” Kayla demanded.
“And don't worry about a thing. We have the house covered,” Piper added with a smile.