“Well, if I keep eating as much as George, he’s the owner here by the way, wants me to eat, it’ll take a tornado to blow me away.” I’m joking, but the real truth is, I’ll eat every bite I can because I appreciate having a boss who gives a shit about me. BetweenGeorge and Hollis, it’s really nice to feel as if there are a couple people who would notice if I disappeared. That was honestly the scariest thing about being under Jordan’s thumb. He and I both knew not a single soul on earth gave a shit what he did to me.
Hollis, Dru and I dig into our meals, making idle conversation that Hollis and I both make sure is Dru-appropriate. I learn from Hollis’ very careful explanations that she is what she calls a ‘bop’ which means she works in the sex industry. Reading between the lines, I realize she used to do actual escort work but now, only does online stuff. Maybe, once I have a place of my own, I’ll have her help set me up to do the same thing. Because despite all the hard stuff she’s been through, it’s obvious she’s making tons of money, now, and doing it safely without being under the thumb of an abuser.
“So let’s talk next steps. The cards I brought can be reloaded at any big-box retailer, but we also need to get you set up with new forms of identification. I brought the paperwork to fill out for a replacement social security card and a certified copy of your birth certificate. Assuming you were born in this state?” Hollis pulls a folder from her giant designer bag and passes it across the table.
“You can have the documents sent to my address if you need to. I mean, as long as you trust me to receive them and not steal your identity.” She smiles reassuringly, and I can’t help the giggle her offer gives me.
“Please, steal my identity. You can’t do any worse with it than I have.” The joke doesn’t ring as funny as I mean it to. Knowing I got myself into such a mess is actually really depressing.
“Stop that. You’re in a rough spot, but you’re climbing out of it. That’s not nothing. So stop beating yourself up.” She gives me a fierce mama bear look that has me sitting straighter and breathing deeply. There’s no way she’s older than me, and I make the mental note to ask her how old she is later. Still, she has a commanding strength I wish I could bottle and save for when I’m doubting myself.
“Okay. I’ll try,” I promise. She gives me the whole folder and watches as I flip through the contents. There’s a flyer for the local post office’s post box service and a brochure for a bank.
“Different bank than where we met. I’m moving my money to a new company after watching how dismissive they were to you. Any financial institution that refuses to help a woman in need is not one that gets to hold my money.” Hollis arches a perfectly shaped brow and glares out the plate glass window to where the glowing sign of the bank where we met just barely peeks around the corner of the block.
“You really are a girl’s girl, aren’t you?” I ask.
“Damn straight. Gotta be one to raise one,” Hollis declares.
Dru’s head snaps up at her mom’s curse word, but instead of copying her mom, the preschooler meets my eyes across the table and lifts her tiny fist into the air.
“Girl power!” she crows in her little musical voice before dropping her fist and returning to her grilled cheese sandwich. Guess Hollis really does lead by example, because I absolutely believe, though she might not be old enough to tie her own shoes, Dru’s a ride or die friend in the making, too.
Chapter
Fourteen
CHAPTER 14
Zinovy
The footsteps approaching my position in the darkened entry of the business across fromPete’s Pastriesmake no attempt at stealth. Feliks strolls right up to the vestibule where I stand and steps into the darkness alongside me, forcing me to move closer to the glass or be pressed against him.
“The fuck are you doing here? This is nothing to do with work,” I growl. Thezasranacasshole just grins at me mockingly and gestures over his shoulder toward the window where my Petal is taking her dinner break at the table of her new friend.
“You find it surprising I’d want to check out the piece of tail that’s got my brother chasing his own?” Feliks chokes out the last words through a throat clenched by my fist.
“Put respect in your mouth when you speak of her, or expect to lose the ability to speak at all. Brother or not, I promise her value is greater than yours.”
My point made, I allow my fingers to relax and trail downward along the buttons of his white dress shirt until my palm rests over his heart.
“You don’t understand it. Not yet. But you will. And then?” I pause. “You’ll regret the way you think about women now.”
Finished with the conversation with him, I return my attention to the window. My Petal is gathering her dishes and silverware, preparing to get back to work. Through the single earbud tuned in to her phone’s microphone, I listen as the trio wraps up their conversation, so Petal can return to her shift.
Hollis McCrea has impressed me with what a good friend she is to my Petal. I’m happy knowing she’s got more than just the people I place around her to look out for her. George Peterman, the man who owns the diner where Petal works, appears to be a good and decent man, too. I can state with certainty I’d have zero hesitation removing either of them, or anyone else, who thought they could be in her orbit with even the tiniest of bad intentions.
“Who’s the smoke show with the ankle biter sitting with your girl, Sin?” Feliks asks.
It’s obvious he’s ignoring my advice about how to refer to women, but since he’s not speaking about Petal, I let it slide. He’ll learn when the time is right. And when he does, I’ll enjoy gloating in his smug face.
The pop of a single gunfire in stereo interrupts my answer as it blasts both through the earbud and, more muted, from across the street inside the diner.
Feliks and I are in motion, guns drawn, before the ringing of the shot finishes echoing in the street. For all that he’s a pain in my ass, Feliks is Vor. Family. He’s by my side when there’s trouble, no questions or explanations required.
We clear the doorway into the restaurant, and within two strides inside, the situation is obvious. A couple of strung-out addicts, looking to make a quick buck, are robbing the place. Or attempting to, and the vision of Petal curled around Hollis’ little girl to protect her from the crazed men has fury overtaking rational thought.
The restaurant is empty save for the women and the little girl, the owner George, and the gunmen. One of which is on the ground still jolting from the taser Hollis holds to his neck while standing over him. I have no idea how she managed to get the upper hand over the guy in the time it took us to cross the street and get in here, but I’m glad for it.
