“Are you going to get our drinks or not?” Tori asked. One thing she’d never quite mastered was shampoo and conditioner. Her hair was still oily as fuck, and looked like she hadn’t brushed it in days.
“Once you give me your order, I’ll be happy to.”
“Just give us a bottle of the Grey Goose,” Tori said, pointing to the top shelf behind me.
“They’ll have coffee,” Cherry’s voice said firmly as she came up behind the bar, a look of disapproval on her face. The girls all shut up immediately, but Tee rolled her eyes.
“Make mine with a side of whiskey," she said. “Can you handle that, Rolls?”
I felt my fingers dig into my palms, annoyed that she would bring that name into this place. Why couldn’t she just fall off a cliff and die?
“Rolls?” Cherry asked, looking from me to Tee, and back to me.
“Well, look at her,” Tee said. “Not much has changed since she was vomiting up her meals in school. Even bulimia couldn’t fix her.”
“Get the fuck out,” Cherry blasted. I knew she had fire in her, but the pure rage coming off her had a radius and I was in the direct path. The other girls, who I had no idea the names of, all slid off their stools. Tori , the coward, had even started to edge away but Tee sat there, dumbfounded. “I know you heard me, Tee.”
“Whatever.” She slid off her stool and moved out of the clubhouse. I could feel how hot my cheeks were, and how shaky my hands had become.
“Go take a breather, Ro,” Cherry said, putting her hand on my forearm, bringing my attention back to her. “Come back in five.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, almost apologetically. “She’s just a bully. Always has been, always will.”
“No one talks to staff like that,” Cherry told me.
“Don’t they work here, too?”
“Cammie, Nera and Alora do part time, but Tori and Tee work at Crossbones Diner,” she offered. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you upon everything. Go and take a breather. The boys will be in service for a while.”
I nodded and headed back upstairs to where I’d left my phone. It was my first day, I didn’t want to be caught on my phone.
As I got to my room, I located the phone, feeling tense at having to try and contact Trey. It wasn’t out of fear, it was more I hated the non-response. It made me uneasy. He’d never gone this long without speaking to me.
If something happened to him…would I truly be safe here?
Looking down at my phone, I saw the notification, and my heart plummeted.
TREY
I’m sorry. I just found out what happened to you. Call me.
Silent tears fell down my cheeks as I sat down on the edge of the bed, and tried to pull myself together. Who knew it would be so emotional this morning?
Taking a few deep breaths, I hit the green button and waited.
Reaper
“We found him.”
The three words I had been waiting to hear for days. Trojan pulled the screen up in the chapel with photos of my son.
“He’s definitely in Perth, under an assumed name, and ID. He doesn’t appear to be harmed in any way, but the usual looking over his shoulder, so someone is definitely on his tail.”
“Did Rowan tell you anything?” Chaos, my Sergeant at Arms, asked. “Surely, she would know, right?”
“He seems to have left her in the lurch,” I offered. “She’s going to try and get him to contact her again.”
“He the reason she ended up here with bruises?” Maverick asked.
