Page 3 of Wizard's Spitfire
“About that. I hate to ask, but could we make it fifteen? My lousy ex still hasn’t paid the girls' tuition for the school year.”
School is almost over. What a loser. Not paying your kids’ tuition.
“Sure, we can do that.”
We spend the next thirty minutes eating and going over the case. She virtually signs the documents I’d previously sent her a copy of to review. And I’ll send her a signed copy of the contract as well. When we’re done, I pay the bill, and we head to my bike. I’ll send her the deposit after we pick up her car.
The ride to the garage is over much too soon for my liking. I love the way she feels wrapped around me. A guy like me could get used to this.
Charlie
BREAKFAST GOES SURPRISINGLYwell. Wizard didn’t flinch when I asked for an extra five grand. I’ll turn in the fifteen thousand to the school immediately. The girls love their school and I’ll figure out a way to send them myself from now on. I normally pay half anyway, but the ex insisted he’d take care of it this year. And every time I offered to pay my half, he’d explode in anger. I spent the money on braces for the girls. They beggedfor those invisible braces. For once I had the money to do it. So, I did. Of course that came back to bite me in the ass, but the girls are happy. In my opinion it was worth it.
Now instead of coming up with half, I’m coming up with most of it. It’s seventy-five grand a year to keep the girls in their charter school. They just turned sixteen. Identical triplets. Lucia, Valentina, and Francesca, the loves of my life.
My only problem besides my asshole of an ex is my attraction to this biker. But that’s not what I need. I need to focus on raising the girls. Getting them to college. Three more years of high school and maybe I’ll consider going out on a date. I’m a little sad when the ride is over. I haven’t been on a bike since I was a teenager.
The boyfriend before the ex. He was wild, free, and fun. Damon belonged to a MC, too. A scary one. He wasn’t scary but the other guys were. I was afraid to be alone with any of them.
We pull into a well-kept parking lot. It looks freshly paved. The garage is an enormous square building with a sign that saysKing’s Garage. In smaller letters it says, ‘And Towing.’
A guy that looks like he stepped from the pages ofGQ Magazinecomes out to greet us. IfGQhad a biker issue.
“Wizard. Who’d you bring to see us?” Hollywood asks.
“Hollywood, this is Charlie Caruso, our new PI. Charlie, this is Hollywood.”
I offer my hand. He takes it, giving me a firm handshake.
“Nice to meet you,” he says.
“Nice to meet you as well,” I say with a smile. “What do I owe you for the tire?”
“We couldn’t fix the tire. Whoever plugged it last time did a horrible job.”
I look at him, shocked. “It hasn’t been plugged before. I just got a new set of tires two months ago.”
Hollywood shakes his head. “Your tires have too much wear to be that new. Could someone have swapped them?”
Motherfucker.It must be JR.
“I have an idea of who would have done that. When am I going to need to replace these?”
“They’re all new and so is your spare. Gambit, our president, said to give you new ones on us as a part of your fee.”
A wave of relief washes over me. Things have been tight lately. Tighter than I’d ever let the girls know. I pay for everything and JR swoops in and gives them things like cars and designer clothes.
“Thank you. And thank you, Wizard, for the assist. I’m going to get started. I’ll be in touch as soon as I have an update.”
I get my keys. Say my goodbyes. And head home to start researching.
Chapter 1
Charlie
Icome through the front door of my modest home and kick off my shoes, taking a deep inhale of the aromas coming through the kitchen. I just got off a twelve-hour shift at the diner. I’m working undercover to find more information about Lola Biaz.
“Is that you, Charlotte,” I hear my mother call from the kitchen.