Page 27 of Devil’s Candy

“Candy, Christmas is coming up. Color your hair red and white,” one of them calls out.

I am not doing that. But I do have a really cute dress that is red and white stripes. Not that Sver will be here at Christmas.

Honestly, I’m lucky that he saved my life last night instead of doing what the men I sleep with usually do, which is mayhem and destruction.

And now he seems to have facilitated some sort of reconciliation with Angel…this seems too good to be true, and I don’t dare hope for more.

His hand slides down my arm, wrapping around my bicep. I finish the long layer I was putting in Kendra’s hair. “I don’t think I’m going to have time to blow it out.”

“No worries, Candy cane. Next time.”

Shit. Is that nickname going to stick? I roll my eyes in the mirror and set the scissors down on the tray. “I’ll book my own schedule,” I say to Angel. And then I turn to Sver. “Five minutes.”

He grimaces but gives a quick nod.

Pulling out a sheet of paper from the desk drawer, the girls shout out treatments they need, and I organize them so that I can work through as many as possible. I leave it on the desk so that they know their times and then turn. “My job at the bar?”

Angel frowns at me. “I’ll call and get you a leave.”

“Thank you.” Until I can ask some questions about how long I’m going to be working here, I’d like to have a backup in place. I’ve gone without far too often to be careless with a job, even one I hate. I stop, not in front of Sver, but Angel. “Do you think we could…umm…talk tomorrow?”

He gives a quick nod, but his eyes are scanning the other women around the room. “You don’t need to say it, ladies, I already know what you want.”

“You better,” Kendra says from her chair. “We work here because you protect your girls, Angel. That includes Candy.”

I turn back to see several of the women nodding. Are they protecting me?

Sver comes next to me, wrapping his arm around my waist. I let him pull me out of the room and load me into his car.

He pulls out of the parking lot, but my thoughts are back at the club. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed the place.

Or how relieved I am to know that Angel and I are on decent footing. I don’t have family, haven’t in a long time. I’m not sure when that club started feeling like mine. “Thank you for…everything,” I murmur over the hum of the engine.

Sver looks over at me. “Are you thanking me for last night or this morning?”

I meet his gaze, nipping at my lip. It’s a fair question. “Well, I’m really happy to be alive.”

He winks at me.

“But I’m glad to see Angel again. He’s like…” I look up at the car ceiling. “He’s kind of like a brother, I guess. He probably doesn’t think of me like that, but for me, he begrudgingly keeps me safe, all the while being kind of annoyed with me. I don’t have many connections so…”

Sver’s hand comes to my thigh. “Me neither. Just my daughters who, as you know, don’t speak to me.”

I look over at him, and I have to bite my tongue not to ask really stupid questions or make needy suggestions. Things like…I could be your family.

I’ve tried to love a man before, but the ones I pick are not family material. A Bratva hitman is not going to be the guy who gives me some big romantic moment and then a happy ending.

Most girls would be asking a different question. One like, why would I even want a happy ending with Sver? A man that dangerous…

But I don’t care about that at all. I just want a man who’s good to me. Then again, I can’t seem to pick the kind of guy who actually treats me with kindness and respect.

The problem, I think, is that my life has been too dark. I want a guy who understands the darkness too. Even knows how to fight it.

But every man I’ve tried just turns his dark on me.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Sver says, pulling me from my thoughts.

My hand comes over his. “Sorry. It’s been a crazy day. I’m just ordering my thoughts.”