“You want me to volunteer at a hospital? You’re kidding, right?” My left eye twitched, but whether it was from the pain in my head or from fear, I couldn’t be sure.
“Do I look like I’m kidding?” Ortega’s smile was anything but friendly, and I had to remember he was my parole officer, not my friend. “You got a problem with helping the sick?”
“N-no, of course not.” Sweat dampened my shirt under my pits. I hated hospitals, having spent the better part of six months being shuffled between various units after the accident that killed my parents. The pain and loneliness of lying in bed and wondering about the rest of my life had scarred me, and I still had nightmares about those days. “What do I do there?”
“You’ll be the library person, wheeling in books to the children’s ward and handing them out.”
Not too bad. I could do that.
“Okay. When does it start?”
“I’ll call you and let you know exactly. In a week or so, maybe less.”
“I’m ready whenever they are.”
“Good. Do your job, stay out of trouble, and it’ll all be okay.” He drank from a paper cup on his desk.
I rubbed my jaw, thinking of the night before. “Yeah? I’m not so sure about that.”
Ortega’s brown eyes narrowed, and in that moment he didn’t look like the doting father of two little boys, going by the picture I spied on his desk. “Something wrong?”
“Ever since I was released, I’ve had a group of protesters outside my apartment building. Last night things got a little physical.”
“Physical how?” He crushed the cup and tossed it into the trash.
“They surrounded me, and for a minute I thought they were going to beat the crap out of me.”
Ortega studied me. “You could call the cops.”
I snorted. “As if. No, I just went upstairs to bed. But I have to say I’m sick of fighting my way through a crowd of haters every time I step outside my building.”
“I’m sure you are. But it’s all fresh in the public eye right now. You hurt a ton of people. Give it a little time, and it should die down.”
“I hope so.” Realistically, I couldn’t blame these people. They believed I’d stolen their loved ones’ money, and with everything I had in the bank, it made it even more egregious. What was the old saying?You made your bed, now lie in it.I just hadn’t thought I’d be left alone to lie in it.
On the train ride home, I made the decision to not let people piss me off. If my old friends didn’t want to know me anymore, I’d find new ones. There had to be someone in this damn city who hadn’t heard of me.
It wouldn’t be so easy with Cassie. She was my only relative, and it looked like I needed her more than she needed me. I sent her a text:Hated how we left off. Let me know when you want to talk.
And though I checked my phone as often as I could during the day, she never responded.
Chapter Four
Gabriel
“What do you mean, you have nothing? There’s alwayssomething. Come on, Ivan. Tell me the truth. What the hell is going on?”
Ivan Chamberlin, the head of Platinum Protection Services, the agency I’d always contracted through, fixed me with thoughtful brown eyes, but I didn’t back down. I gave as good as I got. Heaving out a sigh, he crossed his muscular arms.
“I think you’re being blackballed. I did try to place you—three times in the past two weeks, actually—but each time I mentioned your name, the client requested someone else.”
Anger mixed with fear, as well as a little sadness that a relationship I’d thought went beyond business had ended so badly. “That bastard. He really did it.” Muttering to myself, I pushed my hand through my hair as I paced the small office. “I can’t believe he’s so goddamn petty.”
Ivan’s brows pulled together. “Who did what?”
I hadn’t expected Dan to make good on his threat because in all the years I was with him, he rarely had. The man had often spoken off the cuff, ranting about how he was going to make this or that one pay for their slights or mistakes, but he often forgot whom he was annoyed or pissed off at. I’d figured he’d let loose on me while I was there, but once I removed myself from his sight, he’d forget about me. To now hear that he’d followed through and made the effort to fuck me over was a little terrifying. My business was built on word of mouth, and if no one was willing to hire me when I’d had a stellar reputation in the industry for so many years, I might be screwed.
“Dan Bridges. He didn’t fire me, in case that’s what he’s saying. Fact is, I refuse to work for someone who cheated on his wife.”
