I debated going straight back to my apartment once I got off with the girl, but I decided that I would go all out with my celebration. It’s not every day that you get released from prison after five years. If there were any cause to celebrate, this would be the time.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of cash on hand, so I bought her a vodka tonic with the cheapest liquor I could get. For myself, I purchased a light beer on special. It wasn’t particularly good, but it quenched my thirst and even bad alcohol was better than no alcohol.

After I gave her the drink, I gestured over to an unused, sticky table with two chairs. She sat down and sipped from the tiny straw, wobbling on the unsteady chair. Sierra was clearly intoxicated, but not so much that we couldn’t carry a decent conversation.

“How long are you staying?” I asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon. We planned on going all out tonight, so we didn’t want to be too hungover and tired on our flight home.”

“Good thinking. But, I have a feeling that you’re still going to be pretty miserable tomorrow if you continue on at this rate.”

She laughed. “I’m not much of a drinker. Does it show?”

“Nah,” I lied, wondering if she had three or four drinks before we fucked. She was giggly but in a cute way. It wasn’t annoying like the other screeching girls around us.

“I don’t think I want to leave this place,” she said wistfully, looking out over the crowd. “It’s not usually my kind of scene, but it’s been surprisingly fun.”

“What is your kind of scene?” I asked.

“Like, something a little quieter. Maybe a private beach or a weekend in a ski lodge. Not drinking bottle after bottle of champagne and staying out until the sun comes out. But you know what? I’ve really enjoyed all the craziness.”

She frowned. I hoped she wasn’t the type to get emotional after a few too many.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking that I’d probably never have the opportunity to do something like this again.”

“Why not?”

“The reason we’re here is because we passed our certification exams in nursing. I’m not a student anymore. Once I get back, I’m into full work mode. Our schedules are so crazy that I don’t think we’d ever get the chance to do something like this again. It’s just strange thinking about how life will never be the same again.”

“Then let’s enjoy this moment while it lasts,” I said, raising my drink to hers.

“To freedom,” she said.

I echoed her and took a swig. That was something that I could understand but on a completely different level. To a rich girl right out of college, freedom meant being able to go on expensive vacations and hook up with strangers in bars. When she went home, she would have to start her job—one that she worked very hard to get. Her days would be filled with taking care of patients, but at the end of the day, she’d still be able to go home to her own bed. She would still have a life outside of the walls of the hospital.

On the other hand, I knew exactly what it was like to have your freedom taken away. It’s probably surprising to a lot of people, but I had never been in any real trouble with the law until the incident. I’d been fined for underage drinking and petty things like that, but I’d never been arrested before. That’s probably why my sentence was so short.

For a repeat offender, money laundering could get you put away for a lot longer. During my sentencing, the judge noted that I had a clean record, which worked in my favor. However, people like me don’t get off very easily. If you’ve got enough money and connections, you can make problems go away.

A guy like me has to do jail time, no matter the circumstance. When the mayor is committed to cleaning up the streets, anyone remotely related to gang activity has to be put away. But, it only applies to the bottom tiers of the gang.

If you’re on top, there are a few ways of getting away with serious crimes. First of all, if you have the money to pay off the cops and the connections with the higher ups in the justice department, you’re basically untouchable. Then, if you have any dirty work to do, you can pass it off to your underlings. A mob boss would never lay their hands on a person if they didn’t need or want to.

Finally, if a mob boss did find themselves in a sticky situation, there was always a fall guy. If the police are trying to pick you up for something, a fall guy keeps you from getting pinned for it. They confess to the crime and take the sentence to make the problem go away.

In my situation, there were several of these loopholes in action. My father was supposed to be the one doing the money laundering for the boss. While I love and respect my father to a certain extent, he isn’t the smartest man I know. Getting caught really wasn’t his fault, though. I think just about anyone would in his situation.

When you’re tasked with hiding a lot of money, you have to be good with numbers. Why the boss ever got my old man involved, I’ll never know. Maybe he held a grudge and wanted my father to get caught.

My dad is a good guy, but he’s had his fair share of trouble with the law. Another felony could put him away for at least thirty years, maybe even life. I couldn’t let that happen. My mom would have been absolutely devastated to lose her husband, so I took the fall. The moment I found out about his arrest, I went to the police station and confessed to the crime.

It’s easier to confess to crimes you didn’t commit when you’re in a city where the government is corrupt. I didn’t know the specifics of the case against my father, but I knew enough of the general facts that I could make it somewhat convincing. Then, I was taken to booking. I even saw my dad being released as I entered. His face was white as a ghost and he just nodded at me when we passed. He wasn’t happy that I had to go on trial, but he knew that it was the best way to keep the family together. Plus, he didn’t want to be in jail for the rest of his life.

My mother was devastated that her son had to plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit. She was furious at both my father and me, but with time, she forgave us. Once her initial anger subsided, she visited once a month for the entire five years.

Now, I was free and it was time to get my life back and to get revenge for everything my family went through. When the time was right, I’d go after the boss. But for now, I would seek all of the pleasures I had missed out on for so long.

Like sex. Damn, I couldn’t believe how much I missed sex. The best part was, the first girl I spoke to, came to me. I didn’t even have to do any of the work. Plus, she was just my type.

Sierra was short and curvy, with those strong, thick thighs that I could really grab onto. I didn’t know much about her—hell, I didn’t know anything about her—but she looked like a girl I could bring home to my mother. However, that would never happen.

In fact, as it turns out, the best thing about Sierra was that I never had to see her again. She’d go back home and I could remember the sex fondly from the privacy of my own home. I would never have to call her and talk about things I had no interest in. I wouldn’t have to spend money I didn’t have on fancy dates to please her. Most importantly, I wouldn’t have to bring her along as I took back the life I once had.

I would share one last drink with the sexy stranger who approached me in the tattoo parlor, and then we’d both go back to our own lives, never to see each other again. I could have amazing sex with no strings attached.

In that moment, I had never felt so free.