I lighten the mood with a joke. “So he killed someone, and she found out?”
The way Techie’s eyes fall to the floor wipes the smile from my face. “Oh shit! He did, didn’t he?”
Techie nods. “Yeah, but keep it quiet. You know what she means to him.”
“Yeah, I do… should I go check on him?” My chest feels heavy, but instead of looking at it like it might be an opportunity to get Steel back, I think it’s sad because I have my path mapped out, and Steel… he’s lost his.
Techie shakes his head firmly. “He needs to be alone.”
Amidst the yelling and cussing, Steel storms back out of his room and over to me, pulling up a stool.
“You all right? Do you need anything?” I ask and place a hand on his knee.
Steel reacts instantly, pushing my hand away. “What the hell do you think you’re doin’? Get your nasty club girl hand off my fuckin’ leg. Are you that dense? I don’t want your pussy anywhere near me!”
“What?” I quickly snap my hand away, but his words sting, and his sudden hostility throws me. “I was only trying to help!”
“Well, I don’t need your fuckin’ help!” He gets up, slams the bar stool across the room where it embeds in the wall, and storms back to his bedroom while I sit here wondering what the hell I did to deserve that.
What I did to make him despise me so much.
I already figured out that Steel was using me.
The lightbulb illuminated, telling me I was the sucker who fell for an asshole who only kept me around to keephimhappy.
At first, I was fighting it because the club is all I have known, but this little outburst from Steel is the absolute final straw.
This is what Danger has been saying all along.
I. Deserve. Better.
I’m worth more than what Steel thinks of me.
And this foundation is my way out of this godforsaken hellhole.
Techie slides closer, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t take it personally. Willow means a lot to him.”
“Well, okaaay. But he doesn’t need to treat me like that.” And even though I try hard not to lose it, one tear slides down my cheek. I think the realization that I have let my self-worth get to a point where I have allowed the men of this club to walk all over me and make me think less of myself is so fucking sad.
I turn to look at Techie. “Whatever, he’s not worth worrying about anymore,” I change the subject. “I wanna talk to you about something. I have an idea, and I need your help.”
He reaches out and wipes the stray tear away with his thumb. “Oh God, what trouble are you brewing now?”
“Shut up and help me. I’ve earned it after that bullshit.”
One Month Later
The foundation is now operational, and with Recoil’s expansion into the music industry, its publicity and visibility are growing. We even garnered attention from the news that covered our story.
When I told Mom my idea, she offered her support without hesitation. Stuart and Mom were so proud of me, which was incredibly rewarding.
But even more rewarding was finally being able to quit my job at Strapless.
It wasn’t easy. Techie and I stumbled more times than I like to recall and had numerous setbacks, but eventually, we got there. It was only through sheer determination and skill that we overcame everything and reached our goal.
Typically, a not-for-profit foundation can take up to six months to build, but thanks to Techie’s ingenuity, we discovered an existing dormant foundation that we repurposed and used to our advantage. Needless to say, it still took a lot of creative accounting and skill to be able to pull off the unthinkable in such a short time.
Of course, while not all aspects of our approach were strictly legal, we will leave that aside for now, except I can now boast a strong credit rating and a solid work record and ethic that didn’t exist before. Plus, the band has impeccable records behind them now.
