“Are you hiding in there?”he asks, and I shrug.“Listen, boy, when I ask you a question, you answer me.”
Pushing my hood back makes my hair tumble free, and for what feels like an eternity, everyone goes quiet.I’ve never been in trouble in my whole life outside of my stepmother, and I’m not sure what to do.
“It’s a fucking girl,” I hear one of the guys say.
“Look at me,” the big man orders, and I lift my head.
Dark eyes stare down at me with intensity, and I audibly swallow.I thought he was big before.Now standing in front of me, he’s a freaking giant.His expression is unreadable, and I wait because I don’t have much of a choice.I can’t slip by him, and he takes up the whole freaking doorway.
“Come on,” he finally says, and I expect him to step back and let me by.
Instead, he reaches his hand out and wraps it around my wrist before tugging me right along with him.
CHAPTERFOUR
MAVERICK
This is not how I was planning on my night going.As I pull the sneaky mouse in the direction of my office, I hear Kincade call out to me.
“Boss, where are you going?The fight’s about to start.”
“Got something to deal with,” I say, not looking back over my shoulder.“You’re in charge.”
“What the hell?”Kincade says in confusion, but I ignore him.
Once we’re in my office, I lock the door so the little mouse can’t run away.Then I walk her over to the chair in front of my desk and set her down in it.She’s so small I doubt she weighs a buck, and I have to remind myself she’s not one of my guys I can toss around the ring.
“All right, start talking,” I tell her, sitting on the edge of my desk and crossing my arms over my chest.A few seconds pass, but she only blinks up at me with fear in her eyes.I let out a heavy sigh as I uncross my arms and try not to look intimidating.“Look, you’re not in trouble.I just want to find out who to call to come get you.”
“No one,” she says quietly and tucks her chin.
“Come on, I know there’s probably an Amber Alert or something for a lost little kid, and I don’t need your parents coming in here and?—”
“I’m not a child,” she says defensively and then snaps her eyes up to mine.
I’m struck by how big and blue her eyes are, but then I realize she’s right.At first glance in the locker room, I thought she was a kid, but now that I’m really looking at her, I can see she’s small, but she’s older than I assumed.There’s a defeated look in her eyes.It’s like she’s lived a long time and has seen cruelty.I see a sadness there that only comes from being beaten down either physically or emotionally.My hands grip the side of the desk as a protectiveness rises inside me.It’s not something I’ve felt before, and I have the irrational urge to stand guard next to her.
“Just because you’re the size of a building doesn’t mean you can go around calling people little.You’re not exactly the best person to judge scale.”
“Who hurt you?”The words are out of my mouth before I have time to think them over, but she blinks at me in confusion before she shakes her head.
“No one—well, at least I didn’t give them the chance to.”She shrugs before she looks out the window of my office.“If you’re going to kick me out, can I at least wait in here until the next bus comes?”
“There’s not another bus,” I say, and her shoulders sag like I’ve told her there’s no Santa Claus.“The last one was twenty minutes ago, but I can take you wherever you need to go.”I watch her as she presses her lips together, and I don’t miss the way her chin trembles ever so slightly.That’s when it dawns on me that she wasn’t just hiding out in the locker room.She was planning on sleeping there.“Fuck,” I groan as I shake my head.“You’re homeless?”
“Temporarily unhoused,” she clarifies.“But it’s only until I get my first paycheck.”
“Where do you work?”I ask, and she bites her bottom lip.
“Um, are you hiring?”
“Yes,” I say without thinking about if we actually are or not.
“Really?”She sits up straighter, and it’s the most alert I’ve seen her the whole time.“I’ll do anything.I’ll scrub toilets or the floors or?—”
“We have someone that does that already,” I say, holding up my hand to slow her down.“Let’s start over, okay?Why don’t you tell me your name.”
“Juliet Farrow,” she says softly.
