“Yes,” I answer, choosing to stick with what Mom told him. If I told the truth, I would have to explain why I kept it secret, and that answer was more confusing than I was willing to admit. “He apparently still had my number saved in his phone, and with the band traveling to Nashville, I guess we were all on his mind.”
“That’s wild,” he says, and I have to keep myself from laughing. If he only knew how wild it really was. But I wouldn’t tell him about the nightclub Hollis works at. I know he feels embarrassed about avoiding Hendrix that night.
My legs start to ache from the awkward angle I’m at, so I lift them off the desk and slide them onto the floor. I accidentally hit my keyboard in the process and hit something that makes all the programs on my computer shuffle. Suddenly, I’m looking at the security feed instead of the stupid report I can’t figure out.
I rarely watch the live feed. It feels a bit creepy to stalk my employees during their shifts. I tend to only check it when I have someone new on board and want to ensure they’ve got the hang of things, or if something goes wrong.
Tonight, Jace and Sadie are manning the bar. Sadie is relatively new, having been here for only two months, but she’s a quick study. And since Jace has been here…
I double blink as I catch something out of the corner of my eye just before I click back to my sales report.
My brother is still talking about…actually, I’m not really sure. “Hen, can I call you back? Something just came up, and I’m needed up front.” I say the first thing that comes to mind, never tearing my eyes away from the security monitor.
“Yup. Talk to you later.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too, Pres.”
We don’t bother with goodbyes, and as I end the call, I set the phone down and start to pull up the recorded feed from a few minutes ago so I can replay it, praying that what I saw was just my mind playing tricks on me.
Because if it wasn’t…
I rewind about a minute or two before I accidentally pulled up the surveillance footage, hit play, and focused on Jace. He sets the drink down in front of the older blonde. They exchangea few words. He laughs, and she hands him a single bill before saying something else. I’m guessing she’s telling him to keep the cash, because the next thing he does is glance over to Sadie, who’s busy pouring a beer, and then he heads to the register and…
Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
He hits the no sale button, opens the register, and then shifts his body. If he thinks he’s hiding what he’s doing, he’s dead wrong, because I see it all.
I see him pretend to make change as he clutches the cash the woman gave him in his other hand. He grabs an extra twenty and then slyly shoves it all in his pocket before Sadie even glances his way. I rewind the tape to the beginning of the night and catch him doing it three more times.
I pull up his last week’s worth of shifts and let out a curse, because now I know exactly why my report won’t add up. My fucking ex is stealing from me, and I’ve been too stupid to notice.
I guess I have that reason to fire him now.
Fuck my life.
Chapter Fourteen
HOLLIS
I haven’t heard from Pres in days.
Since we’ve been a constant part of each other’s lives for the last two months, it’s a decent cause for concern.
Especially since tomorrow is her birthday.
She and Jace were supposed to take a trip to Vegas, or at least that was the plan back in June when she still felt comfortable talking about him with me. Per our silent agreement, she hasn’t mentioned him since that night in her parents’ pantry, and I haven’t asked.
So I have no idea what the status of their relationship is.
They could be getting married by an Elvis impersonator right now for all I know.
God, I fucking hope not.
Because what if she forgave him after that? What if she made excuses for his inexcusable behavior again? I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold my tongue this time.
I want to support her. I want to be a good friend. But being supportive doesn’t mean standing by while someone you love is being mistreated.
