Breaking Out by Lydia Michaels

and feel justified in giving me a paycheck every week? I don’t think so. I want to find a real job.”
    â€œIt
will
be a real job.”
    She deliberately gave him a knowing look, shoving her tongue in her cheek and rolling her eyes. “Come on, Lucian. I need to work. We’ve been through this.”
    â€œWhy do you need to work? I provide everything you need. You have a heap of money in your top drawer and if you want something I’ll buy it for you.”
    â€œThere’s a name for women who let lovers leave money on the nightstand.” He gave her a warning glance and she amended, “I don’t like feeling indebted.”
    â€œYou aren’t.” His tone took on an offended ring. “I give you those things because I want to.”
    â€œLucian, a man can buy a woman gifts, but only a whore gets money on the nightstand.”
    He glared at her. “Evelyn, don’t. We aren’t going there again. I have money. I spend it on those I love. End of story. Compare yourself to a whore again and you’ll regret it.”
    â€œWell, I want money too. Money I earned, so that I can spend it on the people I . . .”
    He looked at her, waiting for her to finish the statement. She couldn’t. She never spoke words of love. Her experiences with love only taught her that it was the strongest weapon a person could wield. She’d loved her mother, and for twenty years Pearl did nothing but take advantage of her affection, use it to manipulate her. Every time her mother stood a breath away from death’s door, Evelyn’s heart was flayed deeply. She cared about Lucian in ways she never cared for anyone else, including her mother. She couldn’t give him that kind of power over her. She would give him anything else, but not that.
    She cleared her throat and looked away. “Please don’t fight me about this. If you help me find a job I could probably land a better one. You know I have a hard time with the help wanted ads.”
    â€œFine. But you wait a few weeks.”
    â€œLucian!”
    â€œJust a couple weeks, and then I’ll help you. I’ll ask around and see who’s hiring. I don’t want you working somewhere shady. Let me find you a job in a respectable part of the city with a boss you can trust.”
    She laughed. “Yeah, because my last boss didn’t understand the definition of inappropriate behavior at the workplace.”
    He smiled evilly. “Very true and precisely why I want to know exactly who you’re working for. Now come here and let’s examine your skills.”
    Evelyn understood the playful look in his eyes and went to him willingly. She giggled and yelped as he pulled her into his lap and kissed her soundly.
    ***
    Visiting Pearl was always like visiting a place remembered fondly. It never quite lived up to one’s expectations and afterward it left one feeling incomplete and slightly off.
    Pearl was quiet and subdued. When Lucian gave them some privacy she brightened a little. She looked weathered, but clean. Her hair was no longer matted and her usual, sallow coloring had eased. She didn’t have a healthy glow, but she looked better than she had in years.
    There were those moments as a child when Evelyn could remember idolizing her mother, before she realized she was a vagrant and an addict and someone who sold her body to get high.
    She assumed every child had those moments, when a mother, no matter who she was, was the most beautiful human being in the world. She also assumed every child was disappointed when they realized mothers were just as human and flawed as everybody else. Evelyn had once idolized Pearl as beautiful and flawless, but now she only saw the shell of a human being, too far gone to ever fit back in place.
    Her jaundiced eyes focused on Evelyn as her mouth worked like a goat chewing over some straw. Pearl had barely any good teeth left. If she asked, she knew Lucian