Damn Good Reasons **DISCONTINUED - SEE NEW VER!**

36 Outrageous Greed

January 2021 - Happy New Year everyone!  If you didn't already know, I'm in the process of rewriting the next few chapters.  I got really stuck, and sometimes the only way to go forward is to go backwards first.  It's essentially the same story and events but... not the same.  You'll see what I mean.  And for those who are reading for the first time - ignore me! ;)

The other thing I'm kinda experimenting with is, I'm thinking about switching to diary/journal form.  It's a whole different ball game and will mean a ton more work for me, but... I just feel inclined to go with this.  This is the first chapter that is written this way (for now - I will go back and update the rest eventually) so please please let me know what you think of it so I know if I'm making a mistake.  If so, it will be a huge one lol.

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Thursday 21st July, 1960 - 3 am

I hate going to the mansion. I'm always so worried about crossing paths with Diego, even when there's a high possibility that we won't. The guy gives me the creeps. Maybe it's because he's so powerful in his position, with all the money in the world and a team of mobsters (cough... hitmen) to call on at his will. But me, who am I? I don't think I'd even rank as a pawn. I'm more like a cow that he enjoys sucking the milk out of, especially when I'm running on empty. I thank the stars above that Ace is here for me, to help me through this.

However... as much as I appreciate Ace, and as much as I hate Diego, I didn't want Ace to pay him. It's my debt, not his.

But, Ace calls the shots around here.

We were told to wait for Carl in a little room that looked like it was usually used for playing poker games or something. It had a round, antique wooden table in the center of a few red velvet dining chairs. And it wasn't fake velvet either. The extravagant nudist paintings on the wall were framed in real gold too, I'm sure. There was just that genuine shine about them. I'm telling you, whoever played poker in there, played in style.

Ace and I made ourselves as comfortable as we could while we waited for over an hour to see Carl. They could have at least left us a deck of cards to break the monotony - or to take our minds off the sad reality that we were about to hand over more than twenty-seven thousand dollars of hard-earned (albeit illegally) American greenery to a guy who didn't need a scrap of it.

Carl eventually showed up, his big basketball shoulders only just fitting through the narrow doorway, and as soon as he set eyes on me, he grinned me a genuine grin.

"Cassie!" he said in his smokey voice that sounds like a well-tuned tuba. He greeted Ace and I each with a respectful handshake across the table before taking a seat. "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting. I wasn't expecting you tonight."

The more I have gotten to know Carl, the more I like him. Even in that horrible place and situation, he could turn my worries around and make me feel comfortable enough to smile.

"How you both been?" he asked, looking over our war wounds. "You look like you've gone a round with Sugar Ray Robinson," he nodded at me with a throaty bellow.

"It was just some guy wanting to cause trouble."

Carl's expression turned serious. "A guy did that to you? On purpose? What's his name?"

"Uhhh..." I looked sideways at Ace who slightly shook his head. Going back to that point about hitmen...

"You know... Ace sorted him out."

"Oh. Well, that's good to hear. A real man looks after his woman."

"Yeah..." I said, giving Ace a small smile. "He looks after me more than you know."