Page 20 of Rooster

"There's always a point for strippers and drinks," I argue.

Her laughter washes over me, making me smile as well, but I know Kaylee enough to know she has no real interest in what I've suggested.

"You're crazy," she says when she stops giggling.

I know the woman has been doing all sorts of acrobatics with that sexy husband of hers, but it thrills the hell out of me that even mentioning strippers makes her cheeks flame red.

"It's been fun being here with you," I tell her.

"Even though we haven't spent much time together?"

"It's fine," I assure her. "I don't expect you to be at my beck and call or anything. We might have to riot against the food choices, though."

Kaylee scrunches her nose. "They eat like teenagers."

I point to the machine I'm walking on. "Do you think I'd spend an hour and a half on this damn thing if I wasn't forced to eat a pop-tart for breakfast this morning?"

"I can talk to Ellis," she offers, but I hold up a hand to reject the idea.

"I don't want to be a pest. I'll have to go home soon anyway."

"No," she says. "It's not safe out there."

"You sound like a cult follower," I tease. But when I look in her direction, it floors me just how serious the expression on her face is.

"It's really dangerous," she continues. "I was only part of that marriage-for-sell shit for like eighteen hours, and it was horrible. The living conditions were horrendous. I have no doubt the women who are married off are abused every single day."

"I'm not getting tangled up in a marriage-for-sell scheme," I remind her. "I have to go to work, Kaylee. I've already missed too many days."

"You have vacation time, don't you?"

"I do," I say with a quick shake of my head. "And I've been hoarding every vacation day for the last three years for my trip to Europe."

We've had this discussion before. I hate my job most days because it's incredibly boring, but the company I work for pays very well, and they allow us to roll over our vacation time from year to year. I have every intention of taking a very long European vacation next summer.

This bullshit with Henry and my impromptu stay here at Villa Cerberus has dipped into that saved time already.

"You'd brave traveling in a foreign country alone?"

"Yeah," I respond.

"Even after what happened?"

I tilt my head to consider her line of reasoning. I know she took the worst of what Henry had to offer in an effort to get Robert's attention, but it still happened in my home, where I thought I was safe from danger.

"If something terrible can happen in my own home, then I'm not safe anywhere."

"So why chance getting hurt by traveling out of the country?"

"Because I'm not safe anywhere. I can't curl up in a ball and be terrified for my entire life. If I don't do what I had planned, then that means the asshole wins, and I can't have that."

"We're safe here," she assures me.

I don't know if she's got an overabundance of faith in Ellis and the other guys, but this place isn't Fort Knox. Other than the threat of being seen on video cameras, what stops anyone from jumping over the back fence of this place and wreaking havoc?

"I support you in everything you do. You know that," she says as she reaches up and turns her machine off. "But maybe take a little more time or, at a minimum, let them put some protections in place for you."

"But deep down, you don't think I should return to work?"

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