Page 46 of A Love Like Venom

Oak nods his head, his way of agreeing. "Goodbye Alice," he says to me. Then he addresses Grace. "Grace."

Before he leaves, she calls out to him. The big man stops in his tracks, adhering to her wishes. "Grace is for friends only. It's Gracie Mae to you."

At that a smile does appear on his face. Tilting his head to the side he regards her with amusement lighting up in his eyes. "Goodbye, Gracie Mae."

As we watch his retreating back, I can hear an admirable sigh slip from her slips. "Even nice from the back," she comments.

"Grace," I say her name in shock.

"What?" She swings her eyes back to me. "You have to admit he's one good looking man."

"Good looking," I repeat.

"Okay, maybe he's more than good looking. I'm just appreciating the view. But if he wasn't nice to you that opinion can change real quick."

I almost laugh but appreciate her loyalty. "No, he was nice."

"Well, then good. Now I have some eye candy to enjoy." She smiles to herself.

"You really are something else," I tease.

"I know but you secretly love me for it. We have to have some fun. Seriously Alice, working here is-"

"Hell, I know." I finish her thought.

She hums in agreement. "But we have each other, don't we?"

"Exactly."

And we do just that. For the remainder of the three hours of our shift we have each other's backs. She keeps a watchful eye on me, and I return the favor.

As each hour passes by, we give each other our biggest smiles. Soon hell will be over. We can't be more excited of the fact.

That's why when it comes time for closing and all the patrons are asked to leave Grace and I do a little happy dance.

While we are doing our final rounds of cleaning Grace curses underneath her breath as her phone chimes.

"What is it?" I ask as her phone continues to go off. Whatever it is seems urgent.

I can see her eyes reading the messages from her phone before she releases a frustrated groan.

"Grace, is everything okay?" Now she has me worried. I'm biting down on the insides of my cheeks hoping all is well.

Her fingers type fast and then her eyes meet mine. "It's my younger brother. He says our mother showed up tweaking outside the house." Grace's brother is significantly younger than she is. Both of us are only twenty-two and her brother is eleven. She doesn't like leaving him alone but that's the only option. It's not like she has enough money to hire a babysitter. And her mother is too addicted to heroin to care.

Hollows Point is filled with tragedy.

That tragedy is the only thing everyone who lives here has in common.

"Do you think she will try to hurt him?”

She chews on her bottom lip. “I honestly don’t know. When she’s tweaking, she’s aggressive. She’s already said some hurtful things to Connor. I don’t want him around her.”

"Then go. Make sure he's okay. I can finish up here," I sincerely offer.

Her face looks torn but then another chime comes from her phone. "Are you sure?" Her teeth sink in her bottom lip.

I smile, this time genuine. "Yes, I'm sure. And Razor isn't even here tonight. There's nothing to worry about. Go to your brother. He needs you more than me right now."

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