Page 30 of Waste of Worth

Nothing had ever sounded better.

Dino texted Karen back a quick confirmation, his attention stuck firmly on his phone instead of the meeting at hand. All he had to do was drop off his dues for the past month and then he could go, so it wasn’t like his attention was currently needed.

Men chatted all around him, discussing issues that had come up over the last month and ventures they were currently pursing. It was, usually, one of the few times Dino cared to jump into conversation with the Capos and upper bosses of the Outfit, if only because it meant money, and he liked making money.

But … Karen.

Another text came in, making his phone vibrate in his hand and snagging his attention once more.

Grab me a bottle of wine?

Dino smiled, amused. She did like her wine, especially after working all day.

Sure, he texted back.

And chocolate. Definitely chocolate, too.

Chuckling low, Dino texted back a confirmative answer on that request, too.

It’d been a month since that night in the back of his car—many times followed that one, though Dino usually went back to that one because that was where it all started. And wasn’t the beginning of something always the best?

He thought so.

Karen’s involvement in the personal side of his life was like a breath of fresh air. He often found himself looking forward to their quiet nights, laughing over dinner or staying up way too late in her bed. It was simple, and simple things were the best kind of things to Dino. His life very rarely offered simple moments to make time actually seem like it was passing him by.

For the most part, his days were black, filled with people he didn’t care about with demands and problems he couldn’t give a shit for, making requests of him that he didn’t want to fill, but had no choice in the matter.

Karen was not the same.

She was a small bit of light in his dismal life. Someone he didn’t have to share with others because she had no idea about just how thinly strung Dino really was. She just enjoyed him, and the time he was able to give.

There were no rules or labels put on whatever relationship he had with Karen. She didn’t expect things from him, or ask for more than he gave, for that matter. It made it easy—like breathing. He headed to her place three to four times a week, never bringing her to his because someone could show up at any time. She wasn’t attached to the Outfit or its business, and he didn’t think it was fair to involve her in it if only because she was involved with him.

That, and he wanted to keep her safe.

There were far too many people in the Outfit side of his life that would gladly use his involvement with an outsider to hurt him.

One, more so than others.

Speak of the devil …

Dino shoved his phone into his jacket pocket as Ben sat in a chair beside him in the restaurant. Ben never gave Dino an ounce of his attention as his gaze swept the many men waiting and chatting in the business. While it seemed like his uncle was entirely focused on the meeting at hand, Dino knew better. Ben was watching him—probably had been for a while—because he always did that shit.

“Do you have better things to be doing, other than playing on that phone of yours, Dino?” Ben asked.

Shit.

“Of course,” Dino replied.

He was usually more careful where his attention was concerned, especially if it meant seeming distracted in front of his uncle. Ben was a shark—he’d latch onto any sign of weakness Dino had and history would repeat itself where he’d rip that chunk of weakness out, with no care of the harm or detriment it might cause.

Karen was not a weakness to Dino.

She was just a woman—one he found by chance and cared for if only because she made him happy.

It had been far too long since he had a small slice of happiness in his life.

He wasn’t going to allow Ben DeLuca to take that happiness away from him.