Page 59 of Muted

Theo shakes his head as he lines the bottom shelf liquors and pulls out some of the empties. “No. She had a family emergency and asked Michael to cover her, I think. She said she texted you, but didn’t get a response, so she called me. Michael is on his way in right now. Running a bit late.”

I frown and pull out my phone. Seeing I do have an unread message, I quickly scan it and type out a response, letting her know I hope everything is okay. “Must have had it on silent. I didn’t hear it,” I share, shoving it back into my pocket.

As we work together to start the opening checklist, I’m impressed with how long Theo waits before he asks about the locked door. I never keep it locked unless we’re open, and no one is in there.

“Soo… What was going on earlier? Important call?” His question is nonchalant, and I chuckle because Theodore Gatlin is nothing if not nosy as fuck.

I do my best to brush him off with an evasive answer. “Nothing important, just needed to focus. Although, I did get the first draft of an offer from the lawyer this morning. Cliff isn’t in tonight, so when you get some downtime, we can run through it and see if you have any questions.”

Theo pauses as his grin spreads across his face. He looks absolutely delighted and slightly sinister that we’re about to start pissing Cliff off. “How do the numbers look?”

Laughing, I shove his shoulder to guide him out so we can grab more boxes. “Actually, Cliff did you a favor. I’ve been running through the withdrawals in the bank. That piece of shit has been pulling chunks of money out randomly that are all labeled in the books as miscellaneous expenses. Adding to the loan he still owes; I took almost $75,000 out of the offer to buy his 50%. That’s just what I have documented. Then, I had my lawyer take another $50,000 off on top of that as an additional ‘fuck you’ when I lay out how I know he’s been skimming with the help of our supplier.”

“That fucking much? Jesus fucking Christ. No wonder you’ve been struggling.” I nod in agreement because it finally all makes sense. Our business hasn’t slowed down, not once. Every year, when I look at how much we bring in each night, it’s gone up exponentially. I suspect that $125,000 is considerably gracious on my part.

“Yup,” I bite out, hefting a box from the floor and handing it to him.

“What if he says no?”

I stop and turn to stare at him, so he sees how furious I really am about all of this. Clifford Ford is a goddamn thief, and I refuse to stand by and allow him to continue when it’s my livelihood at stake.

“Then I’m going to serve him with a civil lawsuit. I’ve already got it drawn up. Lawyer sent that over as well this morning. I’ll let him know not only am I coming after every single penny he’s taken, but also for his half of the business at no cost to me, plus I’ll ask for a tripled total of everything for damages. Then once that’s done, I plan to follow up with criminal charges.”

I’m surprised by Theo’s reaction. His eyes harden as he glares at me. “Wait a fucking minute. If he sells his half to me, you’re going to just let him walk out of here with no consequences?”

“Do you not know me at all?” I ask, and I’m fucking serious.How does he not know that I’m going to go after Cliff for everything he’s got?

Theo shoves his finger in my direction after slamming down the box he was carrying onto the bar top. “Apparentlynotif you’re actually going to let him off with a slap on the hand!”

“I’m not, you fucking idiot.” Shoving my finger back at him, I make contact with his chest and dig it into his sternum. “I’ve already got the fucking papers to file with the police department. I just need to talk to my lawyer about how to actually do that. I just need Cliff to accept the offer so this part will be done. I didn’t put anything in the buyout detailing the breakdown of the numbers and how it was calculated. I don’t want him to know how muchIknow. Basically, it just says what you’re willing to pay him and sign on the dotted line.”

He stares down at where my index finger is pressed into his skin. Reaching up, he plucks my hand away like it’s nothing but a nuisance. “Don’t be a bitch, Chaz. I accept your plans.” Then he flings my hand away and shoulders me playfully. “When are we doing this then? I don’t care what the offer says. As long as I’ve got the money, I’m good.”

Chuckling, I explain how I want to approach him about it the next time we’re closed for the day. We spend the next hour prepping the bar until I hear the front door open. Assuming it’s Michael finally making it in, I don’t look up until Theo’s muttered, “Goddamnit,” catches my attention.

I follow his line of sight to the door where Susu is walking toward the stage with her heavy as fuck bag hanging over her slim shoulder. Quickly checking my watch, I see that I still had another twenty minutes before I needed to leave to go pick her up today.

What the fuck is she doing here now? And how the hell did she get here?

“Susu!” I snap out, louder than I should, but I’m pissed as hell at her.Stubborn ass woman!

Marching toward her, I disregard the way her body stiffens in my state of absolute fury. “Thefuckare you doing here? I was just about to head out to pick you up!” I bark out.

I hear Theo hiss, “Watch your fucking tone, Chaz,” at the same time Susu flinches under my words.

Goddamnit!What the fuck am I doing?I take a deep breath, readying myself to apologize for the way I came at her, fully expecting to have scared the shit out of her. Before I can say anything, Theo shoulders past me, putting himself between the two of us. I expect him to turn on me and get in my face, but he surprises me when he continues my lecture in the way I should have started it.

“Susu, we’vebothtalked to you about this. Let one of us drive you. If you needed to come in early, you could have texted either one of us. It was an unnecessary risk, and frankly, pretty fucking stupid.”

He started off so well but got just as heated as I am by the end. Maybe my reaction wasn’t so unexpected. I step around Theo’s body just as he takes a step back, a smacking noise ringing through the bar.She didn’t just slap him, did she?

I expect to find her cowering with the way we’re scolding her, but she’s not. She’s fucking irate as she spins on her heel, blonde hair whipping out behind her as she stomps on the platform. Dropping her bag next to her, she slams the lid of the piano open. Ignoring both of us, she rifles through the pages of her set binder and then attacks the piano keys loudly.

Glancing at Theo, I’m confused that he’s not staring at our little pissed off piano player. Instead, he’s cradling a phone in his hands, reading something. So, not a slap. She smacked her phone into his hand. The way his mouth falls into a deep frown tells me everything I need to know.

We both just fucked up.

With a sigh, he hands me the phone. I read the text and wish I could kick myself in the ass. It’s Susu’s phone. And the texts were sent to me well over an hour ago. Then he turns and walks away from both of us. I don’t know where he’s going. I also don’t care right now.

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