Roark (Women Of Earth Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

difficult for you, I can ask someone smarter.”
    “Well, if it isn’t the bitch of Bergen Street. What are you doing down at our end of the neighborhood? You won’t find any Godan cock in here.”
    Mira turned to face him. “It’s been ten years. Get over it, Anthony. I have.”
    The sight of him made her smile. Over the years, she’d seen him on the street, but had studiously avoided meeting him, afraid to reignite his old animosity. The man in front of her was a caricature of the one she remembered. The charisma that once charmed her no longer existed.
    The years had not been good to Anthony Tomaselli. He was nine years older than she was, but anyone seeing them together today would think it was twenty. His hair was thinning and the grey at the temples didn’t make him look distinguished, only old. He’d grown around the middle, too, and a slight paunch hung over his belt.
    She’d hoped to avoid meeting him here, too, having heard that he rarely showed his face in the place until after dark. Seeing him up close, she was glad she’d been wrong. Nature had provided the revenge Mira couldn’t. Her smile widened and Anthony thought it was for him.
    “No woman gets over me, baby.”
    Mira shrugged and smiled agreeably. “Maybe you’re right. It’s kind of like a case of syphilis. You never forget it, but you make damn sure it never happens again.”
    The smartassed kid at the table snickered and the look Tomaselli sent him had the kid shrinking in his seat and swallowing hard.
    “Still a fucking bitch,” Tomaselli muttered when he turned back to Mira. “No wonder you can’t hold a man, a human one anyway.”
    “Whatever,” she said, and then closed her eyes and sighed. Anthony had pulled her back into the role of a smart mouthed nineteen year old in a matter of minutes. All she needed was a wad of chewing gum to snap. “This isn’t about you or me. I’m looking for David. Have you seen him?”
    Tomaselli looked over the heads of the patrons scattered throughout the bar. “Nope.” His looks might have changed, but his smirk hadn’t.
    Instead of answering, Mira turned to the smartassed kid. “At least you have the consolation of not being the dumbest guy in the room,” and back to Anthony Tomaselli, “As usual, thanks for nothing.”
    A door slammed at the back of the place. Mira might have ignored it if smartass hadn’t shifted his eyes toward the sound and snickered. She turned and headed out the way she’d come. She met her brother as he rounded the corner of the building.
    “Why, David, fancy meeting you here.”
    “Do you live to embarrass me?” he snarled.
    “Embarrass you? And here I thought it was the other way around.”
    “Hanging out at the Buzz isn’t half as embarrassing as working for the Godan.” If possible, her brother’s lip curled a little higher.
    Mira closed her eyes and prayed for some of her sister’s patience. Her prayer went unanswered, so she faked it.
    “What would you have us do, David? Our ration cards don’t stretch far enough to feed eight people. Black market prices are out of control. We’ve sold everything we can. If you can think of another way, I’m willing to listen,” she said and started to walk toward home. A breath of relief escaped when David walked with her.
    David gave a quick glance behind him before he answered in a loud and heated voice.
    “What would you like me to do, Mira? Be like you? Risk my life crawling through the rubble, searching for scraps? Or how about working for the enemy?”
    “It beats spending all your time playing cards.”
    “I don’t spend all my time playing cards. We do other things, important things.”
    “Like what?” She didn’t mean it to come out that way. The snarkiness just snuck in under the filter.
    “Like planning,” David snapped. “Planning for the future when these fucking aliens go home.”
    “They’re not going home, David. Who’s feeding you this garbage?”
    They reached their door and