The Mob Gave Me a Week to Leave, So I Took Over Dorchester novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: The Cooler

On Saturday night, after close, Marek set a white bakery box on the bar in front of me.

It had a Polish name printed on the lid in red, and a bit of string around it.

"Happy Valentine's," he said, and then his ears went red. "I know it's not a thing in my family. I looked it up."

"Is this pączki?" I asked.

"Open it in the cooler," he said.

"Why would I open a pastry box in the cooler?"

"Kathleen," he said.

He did not say anything else.

He stood on the other side of the bar with his big hands flat on the wood, looking at the box.

I took it into the walk-in.

He followed me and pulled the heavy door shut behind us.

It was thirty-four degrees in there, and my breath smoked in the light of the single bulb.

I kept my coat on.

I set the box on a milk crate and slid off the string.

Inside, in white tissue, lay a small silver toy no longer than my hand.

It was smooth and curved, with a rounded head, and a note was tucked under it in block capitals.

OPEN WHEN YOU CLOSE.

I looked up at him.

He had gone dark red from the collar to the hairline, and he was smiling at the floor.

"You bought me a vibrator," I said.

"I asked a woman at the store what to get," he said. "She was very helpful."

"Oh, God," I said.

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