Harmony Read Online Free PDF

innocence she kept shoving his way. He knew she thought highly of her brother, but if he was making deliveries between Mickey Collins and that hot-tempered bitch Queenie and her band of thieves, then he was definitely no angel.
     
    Harmony shrugged. The passing street lamps illuminated her face giving her skin a rich copper appeal.
     
    “ Need an answer doll. Is he a numbers runner too?”
     
    Under dark upward swept lashes her eyes were magnets to his soul and he couldn’t look away. “Yes, he is, or was. He learned that hustle from Lewis.”
     
    Romano narrowed his eyes. “What’s a Lewis?”
     
    “ My fiancé. He dead now. Used to work for Collins too before he died.”
     
    “ I understand.” Romano dismissed the useless information for the more pertinent nugget. Songbird had once been engaged, which meant his silent desire for her to be his was a reality. If she was widowed he doubted another man filled the space. He didn’t care about propriety; he cared more of her willingness to see the evening through, to let him finally touch her.
     
    Harmony cleared her throat. “Willie started under Lewis, but now Lewis gone. So he picked up extra work at The Cotton.”
     
    “ How does Antonio fit into this?” Romano asked. When she arrived at the table she dropped his brother’s name. It was the second reason he considered this little meeting. There was no business between the Romanos and Collins.
     
    “ I don’t think he does. I… I only know that some say your brother and Willie had words. That’s the last anyone seen of him.”
     
    “ My brother and Collins doing business at The Cotton?”
     
    “ I wouldn’t know these things.”
     
    “ You sure about that Songbird? Ever hear Willie mention Antonio Romano, the Black Hand?”
     
    She shook her head no.
     
    Romano nodded. “Not wise of your brother to cross up with Collins and Queenie, no one man can’t have two bosses. The name of the speakeasy that Collins keeps wet?”
     
    “ Red Hots. A guy named Dennis Red runs the door, but it’s owned by Madame.”
     
    The name sounded familiar. Romano was sure he had heard it before. “Is Willie helping Collins move in on Harlem’s turf?”
     
    Harmony sighed. “Mickey Collins gave him a lot more responsibility like I told ya. Not that Mr. Collins did anything wrong, I’m just saying it proves Willie's on the level for Mickey.” She shifted in her seat trying to remain collected. “If I could get to him first, before Collins's men do, I’m sure I can find out what he’s done or hasn’t done. I can clear things up.”
     
    “ Mickey runs his business as he sees fit. I can drop a line and see if he has the boy. But if he’s stealing…”
     
    “ Mr., uh, Vinnie, he’s not. I can assure you he’s not. I’m on the level. I checked the neighborhood and some of his friends think he may have gotten robbed the night he was working. That’s why he ran, cause robbed or not if he’s short on Collins's whiskey, you know what that means. He don’t have many options here.” Her defiant stare at last softened and he thought the dim lighting in the back seat revealed her eyes were glistening with the threat of tears. First her voice, now her damn eyes were getting to him. He decided to stop staring in them for the remainder of the ride.
     
    “ You care a lot about your brother,” he mumbled.
     
    “ He’s all I got in the world. Yes, I care.”
     
    “ Little brothers, they can be quite a handful.”
     
    They were headed to the Bronx. Harmony mentally calculated how much it would cost her to catch the Jitney back to Sugar Hill. Too much, probably. She’d have to find a way to the Bronx Park terminal and catch the train. Things were going fast and she had come too far to turn back now.
     
    In front of his brownstone the car door opened and she was helped outside. She stepped into the street and stared up at the place. Romano was out of the car as well, his wool coat draped around his