Chapter Eighteen
Kylie
By the time Kylie remembered to ask Remy about what she thought she’d heard him whisper, she was walking into Scarlet Flux after being off for several days. She filed the question in her ‘need to ask’ mental file and headed up to the VIP Lounge.
“Hey, girl. Welcome back. Feeling better?” Sierra, one of the servers, asked once she’d arrived.
“Hey, Sierra. Yeah, I am. Thanks. Ready to get back to work.”
“Well, you’ve definitely been missed by the customers. I swear I think most of them come in just to watch you work. You always put on such a show.”
“I try. It’s fun and if it gets better tips, why not?”
“I like the way you think,” Sierra said with a laugh. “Doors will be opening soon, it’s almost showtime.”
“I need to make sure the bar is fully stocked.” It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the others to do it. When it came to work, Kylie was a bit of a perfectionist so she had to go over the stock quickly. “Hey, what happened to that bottle of Macallan that we had? Did someone actually buy the whole thing?”
Sierra frowned. “Not that I’m aware of. You could ask Terry. She might know.” Terry was one of the other Drink Mixologists.
“I’ll do that.” It was a bottle of Macallan Rare Cask Black Speyside Single Malt Scotch, and the shit cost over four hundred bucks a bottle. She hoped to hell someone purchased it. If not, someone was going to be losing their job and quite possibly their freedom.
Kylie knew she was terrible at reading body language. If she hadn’t been, she might have seen the warning signs with Ezra. With that in mind, she approached Caleb, the new bouncer for the VIP Lounge. “Hey, Caleb, I need a favor.”
“What’s up?”
“I suck at reading body language. I know you did security before you moved here so I’m hoping you’re good at it. A very expensive bottle of Macallan Scotch went missing. The only other person who works behind my section of the bar is Terry. Would you mind watching her when I ask her if she knows where it went?”
“Macallan, that’s some pricey shit, regardless. Yeah, I’ll watch to see if she gives herself away.”
“Thanks.”
With ten minutes until the club opened, Kylie waited patiently for Terry to get upstairs. When the other woman arrived, she didn’t need to be good at reading body language to know the woman was surprised. “Hey, Terry.”
“Kylie. You’re back. I didn’t think you’d be back so soon. You looked like you were having a really rough time just a couple of days ago.”
Kylie shrugged. “I just needed a couple days away to feel like a new woman. Hey, you don’t by any chance know who bought that bottle of Macallan Rare Cask Black Speyside Single Malt Scotch, do you? I noticed the bottle isn’t here and I know it was when I left the other night.”
“What? No, I have no idea. I’m sure someone bought it, maybe while I was on break or something.”
“Huh. Okay.” She glanced Caleb’s way and noticed the arched look he had. Either something Terry said, the way she said it, or the way she held herself must have sent up a red flag given the look on his face.
As soon as Terry went to the other section of the bar to get her station set up, Kylie motioned Caleb over. “Well?”
“That chick is definitely hiding something. Good thing we have the security cameras. Emelise had some added to the area behind the bars when she started noticing discrepancies between what she should have in stock and what she actually had. I’ll give it a gander tonight and see what she’s hiding.”
“Thanks, Caleb.” The doors opened, customers started coming in, and Kylie had to get to work. For the first couple of hours, all was well. Then someone grabbed her arm and Kylie froze.
Remy
Remy had mixed feelings about Kylie going back to work, but knowing the way Ezra controlled her, he wasn’t about to voice them. He got the preliminary drawings done and sent off for approval, then decided he needed to swing by Scarlet Flux to check on his girl. He’d give her her independence, as much as his dominant nature could, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t check up on her to make sure she was okay.
He took the stairs leading to the VIP Lounge two at a time. He arrived just in time to see some guy grab her arm. His first instinct was to go over there and scare the guy off himself but…he waited. He wanted to give Kylie the chance to do it herself. She needed this, the chance to stand up for herself.
“Let go of me, now, or I’ll have you thrown out.”
He got close enough to hear her words and grinned. There was nothing but strength in her voice. The guy let go and mumbled an apology before he slunk off like a dog with it’s tail between its legs. “Good job, Kitten. I knew you could do it.” he said as he slid onto a bar stool.
The grin Kylie flashed him could have lit up the sky. “Thanks. It felt good, too. What brings you by?”
