And when he programs my address into the GPS? I don’t even blink.
There could be a million and one reasons why he knows my address by heart. He’s the boss. He could have already looked it up. He could have asked someone at the club yesterday when I told him I was attacked.
But that same damn part I hold close to my heart is denying all that. It’s screaming in glee and jumping in victory. Because it thinks, crazy as it sounds, that Tommy already knew where I lived. That he knew a long time ago.
And this is just an excuse for him to see for himself where I lived after my world fell apart and before he took it over.
Chapter 15—Tommy
Iclench my fists to keep from punching the wall. No doubt I’d punch a hole straightinto theapartment next door. I knew it would be bad, but I didn’t knowhowbad.
Her place is small, but in New York, that isn’t anything new. I was more surprised that she had a private bathroom than anything else, but this is Brooklyn, not Manhattan. The price difference is extreme when you cross that bridge in some neighborhoods. This being one of them.
It was probably what drew Payton to this place, luring her in with a false sense of security that she could shower without eyes on her. And while she might have four walls, I feel eyes in this place watching me, even though my team that was here last night confirmed there were no cameras.
The walls are paper-thin. You can hear everything from the neighbors next door to the traffic outside. Despite the size, she has limited furnishings. I’m not sure if she was robbed worse than she said or if she’s always lived like this.
One cupboard. One bowl. A jug of water. A dozen packs of ramen.
The hot plate doesn’t even seem to work when I turn it on.
The smallest cot I’ve ever seen rests on the damn floor.
Her clothes? Folded neatly by one wall.
That’s it.
I drove the SUV thinking we would bring boxes back. I even have a moving crew on standby to come and pack the shit. But all we need is a trash bag. Not that we couldn’t carry everything she owns in our arms.
“This everything?” I ask, more out of disbelief than cruelty.
She nods and goes to the cupboard to stack the ramen.
“Leave it,” I all but growl. She doesn’t even have a fucking fridge. Everything points to what I already knew just by looking at Payton. She’s been starving herself on top of everything. I get that she’s probably always been thin, or at least on a diet to keep a certain figure for her dance career. But this is ridiculous.
I have nothing against ramen. Even had it a time or two. But I need multiple bags of it to feel full. Her? I doubt she even eats one a day. There’s just something about her that screams savings. Screams sacrifice. The Kings might have “saved” her from what it was like before all this, but to what end? Every cent she made went to either them or rent. Ramen was probably all she could afford before I showed up and put her on salary.
“Where’s the rest?”
“What?”
“I pay you enough that you shouldn’t be living like this.” I gesture to everything around her.
To her credit, she doesn’t blush at my harsh words, just points to her clothes.
“You wanted new costumes.”
My eyes track back to the clothing, and I snarl at it. The fabric that I once thought nothing about is now taunting me that I’ve kept her from buying decent food. A week into the revamp of the club, I changed the design colors. And while the strippers didn’t see many change requests, she did.
I fucking forced her into colors to complement the damn club and didn’t consider that she had to pay for it out of her own savings. The thought of giving her a clothing fund didn’t even venture into my mind before all this.
Goddammit.
I run one hand hard over my eyes and face, taking into account that I also fucked her over more than she was before. She might have survived before this if I hadn’t cut off her extras because I wanted to bring some gold into the place to make it widely known who ran the club. Of course, my family crest on the door should have been a clue in itself without the added shift in paint.
Wouldn’t have stopped any of this.
My lip twitches at the reminder. Saving her a few dollars wasn’t going to stop the break-in. The attack on her and the robbery. The Kings still would have come for her. And I still wouldn’t have let her go.
