“Nobody does it right,” Tucker grumbles, all the while continuing to sip.
“You did it right,” Abby says, and we both laugh.
I never went back to the Electra. The hiring manager was a grade-A bitch, and I wasn’t going to work for her on any level, secretary or otherwise. Problematically, as I applied for a couple more jobs, secretary was about the most anyone was willing to offer me. I’ve kept my ear out of the local game of telephone, but from what I’ve heard, Damien and Dylan are in an all-out civil war, and it has everyone afraid to hire anyone associatedwith any of those hotels. A hotel that was hiring, however, was the Luxurelle. And while it was only a bartending position, there were hints of promotion over time.
I hate to say it, but working at the tiki bar by the grotto isn’t the worst way to pass time. And considering the grotto is where most of the fat wallets like to sit in between trips to the casinos, the tips are good. Not Redwood salary good, but good enough to keep me afloat. Things are going…okay…considering everything. At least that’s what I tell myself. Though not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. And it doesn’t help that Luca has asked about him multiple times in the last few weeks.
At the end of my shift, I am cashing out when Abby comes up behind me with a shaker in hand. She usually works both the day and night shifts.
“Hey, Ellie, before you clock out, there is someone here to see you,” she says.
“A customer?” I ask curiously.
“Yes. A gentleman at the end of the bar. He asked for you specifically by name. Though when he first said it, I was a little confused who he was looking for.”
“What do you mean?” I ask as I tuck the money into my wallet.
“He was asking for Annelise,” she says, and my heart slams into my ribcage.
“Where…” I trail off.
“There,” she points. “Gentleman at the end of the bar. I’d lay it on thick if I were you. He owns–”
“I know who he is,” I said, slowly walking over to him.
Damien is all in black as usual. If I had to guess, he just got off work and didn’t change. He just came straight here. He looks up at me and takes his shades off, his dark brown eyes locking on mine, holding them hostage.
“I’m sorry, I’m not on the clock anymore. I can’t really do anything for you,” I manage to say.
“I don’t need you to do anything for me, Ellie. Except listen.”
I swallow hard and stand straight, guarding my heart in every way imaginable. Meanwhile, my hands have a death grip on a bar towel below eye level.
“I came here to apologize,” he starts in.Whoa. I was fairly certain those words weren’t even in Damien Graves’ vocabulary. “I was wrong.”Double whoa.Still, I can’t be bought off that easily. I’ve been hurt enough times to know how cheap words are.
“Okay,” I say.
“I accused you of something horrendous, and I know that I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
“Nope.”
“Or more cruel.”
“Nope.”
“And I want to make that up to you. Ellie…” he stops as we notice that several people are low key listening. I expect him to ask if we can go somewhere private. Somewhere out of earshot. But he doesn’t. He keeps going. “You weren’t the snake.”
“No shit,” I answer. “I could have told you that. In fact, I did tell you that.”
“It was Jocelyn. Which makes so much sense now. But that’s not the point. I should have never blindly accused you of betraying me.”
“Then why did you?” I ask, doing my best to keep my voice from trembling. “If you knew me…if you…cared…, why did you jump to that conclusion?”
“To protect myself,” he answers.
“From what?” I ask. “From losing money? Losing face?”
“From myself,” he says, and my breath catches in my throat. “Ellie. I have always struggled with love. With letting people in.Call it trauma, call it fear, call it anything you like. It was so bad at times that I literally built a fortress around my heart to prevent it. But I still needed closeness. I needed…someone. So I’ve been hiring women to work for me while also filling that role. I guess I thought if it was contractual, I could slap the label intimacy on it and deny the emotion. And as fucked up as that is, it worked for me for a while. Until I met you. With you…I couldn’t fake it. I couldn’t control it. I couldn’t conceal it. And that…scared me. So when it got to be too much…I took the emergency exit.”
