SINdicate: A BT Urruela FanFiction Novel: Cerberus MC Book 1.5 by Marie James Page B

drunk with SINdicate, much like the way they got me.
    “The bum?” I ask looking at the poor guy. “He wouldn’t have shit on him. He’d be in a hotel sleeping it off rather than on top of a pile of garbage.”
    “These guys don’t waste money on luxury shit like that. Gets in the way of gambling and dope.” The other guy says beside me.
    “Frankie’s right. Check his pockets. If he gives you any trouble, punch him in the fucking mouth.” Vito tilts his head toward the guy who remains passed out and oblivious to what’s about to happen.
    I roll my shoulders and walk up to the man. Crouching down beside him I pat his pockets. “If I get stabbed with a used fucking needle,” I threaten as I reach into his pocket.
    My fingers hit a roll, and my eyes go wide. Pulling the wad of cash from his pocket, I stare at the money. I grin up at Vito. “This may be easier than I thought.”
    “Not so fast,” he says taking the cash from my hand. I watch as he pops the rubber band on the money. The twenty on the outside is protecting a roll of nothing but ones. “Less than a hundred here.”
    Most people would put their larger bills on the inside of their money to make it look like they have less than they do. This idiot has done the complete opposite.
    “Just look at it this way,” Vito says counting the money. “You’re debt just decreased by forty-two bucks.”
    Frankie laughs, and it pisses me off so bad I want to kick the still sleeping guy on the ground.
    “Come on,” Vito says stuffing the meager cash into his pocket. “We got a few more before the night ends.”
    I follow him out of the alley just to walk a few blocks and take care of a few more guys. After the fourth guy, I’m pretty certain we’re just robbing people, and it sits heavy in my stomach. I constantly remind myself this is only a means to an end, but that was harder to swallow when the last guy fought back, and I was forced to pop him in the nose to relieve him of the thirty-eight dollars he had in his pocket.
    “If I keep doing this,” I tell Vito wiping the vagrant’s blood off of my knuckles and onto my jeans, “I’m going to need some fucking gloves. I don’t want to walk away from this fucking job with AIDS or some shit.”
    Both he and Frankie laugh at me as we walk back to the car. Frankie drives us back to the casino, and I follow them into the attached hotel. It’s only ten to twelve stories high, but the reception area is cleaner than I would’ve expected from the condition of the attached casino.
    A short elevator ride, which required a key card Vito produced from his wallet, takes us to the tenth floor. Vito stops in front of a room and uses the same keycard to open it up. “This is where you will stay while you’re working off the money you owe,” he says stepping inside and flipping on the light.
    The room is musty and hasn’t seen a renovation since probably the seventies. I can tell by just a quick look at the bed that I was probably more comfortable when I was in the desert. I guess I should be thankful they’re not keeping me in that dank room beside Vinnie’s office tied to a chair.
    “Thanks, man,” I say with as much appreciation as I can muster.
    “It’s not the best, but it could be worse,” Frankie says from the doorway.
    “I’m not going to complain about a free room.”
    They both laugh again as Vito turns to leave the room. “It’s not free Mr. Cock.” He pats his pocket where the money is that I pulled off the men is stashed. “You almost made enough tonight to clear the cost of the room.”
    The door closes with a resounding thud as I realize I now owe more than the twenty thousand I was swindled into borrowing. Fuck. My. Life.

Chapter 17
    Aviana
    Twelve days. That’s how long Vito says I have until my dad’s extension is over. Less than two weeks and my borrowed time is over. I’m no closer to finding a way out of here than I was over a week ago when I arrived. Since Darby went to the