Read Mr Destiny for Free Online Page B

in
Road & Track
magazine.
    “Sweet ride,” Joey said, trying to wiggle out of his grasp.
    “The most powerful GTO ever made,” Tony said, still holding on to his squirming captive. “Zero to sixty in 5.3 seconds flat.
     Since you seem to be in the mood for cruising tonight, why don't you and I go take it for a spin?”
    Joey sent him a nervous look when Tony finally let go of him. “Hey, I told you, I don't know those guys. I'd better get back
     inside,” he said, his voice cracking now. “Ma don't like me going out without asking.”
    Tony took his car keys from his jeans pocket. The door locks clicked, and the lights flashed when he hit the button. He wasted
     no time opening the passenger-side door.
    “Buckle up,” he told Joey as he pushed him down onto the passenger seat. “I'll make things right with your mom.”
    Tony headed for the driver's side, thinking how hard Rose struggled just to make ends meet. He knew Joey's deadbeat dad never
     contributed financial or emotional support for the kid. He'd seen too many good kids from broken homes slip through the cracks
     while society turned its head.
    Joey wasn't going be one of them.
    Not if he could help it.
    His unwilling passenger didn't know it yet, but he was getting ready to go on a tour straight through the bowels of hell.
     The same tour of the city morgue Tony's retired police captain Uncle Vinny had given him when he'd been a brainless sixteen-year-old
     kid headed in the wrong direction.
    Tony slid behind the wheel, turned on the ignition, and revved up the GTO's engine.
    “Where are we going?” Joey was brave enough to ask.
    Tony's reply was simple. “We're going where you'll end up, Joey. If you keep hanging out with those punks you say you've never
     seen before.”

CHAPTER 3

    K ate stood at the front window of the posh bridal shop on Grand Street, just around the corner from the gallery on Broadway.
     She was waiting for Alex and Eve to meet her there.
    She was also irritated with herself for allowing Alex to bully Eve into coming. It was true. Eve
had
been making considerable progress over the last two weeks.
    She and Alex had even coerced Eve into having dinner with them in a public restaurant two Friday nights in a row. And what
     a big surprise. They hadn't bumped into the snake and his new fiancée once.
    Eve had even made a joke about how silly she'd been herself—another huge step in the right direction.
    Still, Kate couldn't help but worry that finding herself surrounded by a shop filled with wedding dresses might cause Eve
     to suffer a setback. Eve's I-want-to-be-there-for-you declaration only made her feel worse. Her goal had always been to help
     Eve get back on her feet. The last thing she wanted was Eve trying to prove her loyalty and ending up in a tailspin again.
    At least Thursday afternoons were routinely slow for all of the shop owners in SoHo, Kate reminded herself. Which was why
     she had chosen four o'clock for Alex and Eve to meet her at the bridal shop. Not that Alex hadn't protested. Alex couldn't
     believe she'd turned down Grace's offer to bring back some noteworthy designer creation directly from Paris.
    Alex could complain all she wanted, but Kate's immunity to
designeritis
as Alex called it, wasn't apt to change. Nor was her not-a-bit-pretentious personality apt to change, which was something
     Harold (also a big fan of designer everything) was going to have to accept after they were married.
    Besides, selecting her wedding attire was her choice to make, and Kate had her own agenda.
    The bridal shop's owner, Diane, was an attractive brunette in her fifties who had always been faithful about sending customers
     around the corner to the gallery to browse. Kate appreciated those referrals. She intended to return that favor by giving
     Diane her own patronage.
    She glanced around the shop again, pleased to see that this Thursday afternoon wasn't any different from most Thursday afternoons.
     Other than Diane, she and