Page 29 of Whips and Chains
It suddenly occurred to me I should have been nervous about this meeting. There was every chance I was getting fired. I’d been so worked up and distracted about Toby and the guys, it was only now I had even considered this meeting might be about more than just cleaning supplies or a new client.
But Francine smiled widely at me, clearly in a much better mood than the last time I’d been here. Her eyes were no longerbloodshot from her allergies, and she wasn’t scowling at me, so I guessed I was forgiven for calling in sick and her picking up my shift.
“Yes! Violet, thank you for coming in. I want you to meet Nyah.”
She pointed behind me, and I whirled around.
A dark-haired woman sat there, her leg bouncing nervously.
I blinked. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t even notice you there. I didn’t mean to be rude…” I caught sight of X’s head popping up in the window behind the woman. Oh my God. Was he jumping up and down in order to be able to see in? I was actually going to kill him. I was probably going to end up in jail for Toby’s murder anyway, so I might as well commit a real one so the crime actually fit the sentence.
I tried to rein my temper in by reminding myself X was not actually a bad man; despite the fact he’d done bad things. My time in foster care had taught me all about truly bad people. My foster dad. Mother. The boy who’d called himself my brother but had never acted like one.
I swallowed hard, pushing away the thoughts of the shitty house I’d grown up in after my birth family had abandoned me.
Nyah stood and held a hand out to me. “It’s really nice to meet you…”
“Violet,” I supplied.
Francine interrupted our meeting and thankfully gave me a reason to look away from X’s stupid grinning face popping up in the window every few seconds. “Nyah’s new, so I’d like you to train her for your next couple of shifts, please.”
My smile fell. Francine was putting on someone new? She barely had enough work for the three of us she already had employed. It was why I’d had to pick up extra shifts at Psychos, because she couldn’t give me the full-time hours I needed.
It was a kick in the guts to realize she had the work; she just didn’t want to give it to me.
But I couldn’t say that to her. I didn’t have it in me to cause a scene. I was probably overreacting anyway. For all I knew, Francine had a big new job coming in I didn’t know about.
And I wasn’t training my replacement because she was still mad about me losing her a client.
A client who had attacked me and who had been lost not because he didn’t like my work, but because X had gutted him. Not that Francine knew any of that, nor could I tell her.
Frustration swirled inside me. I needed this job more than ever now I didn’t have Toby. The rent on my apartment was solely my responsibility. I didn’t get a chance to grieve and wallow in my guilt over his death, because I had to be here, training some woman to replace me.
I was bound and gagged in so many ways, and angry tears of frustration and guilt and grief all welled behind my eyes.
But I blinked them back and forced a smile for my employer. “Of course I can train her. No problem at all. I just need to top up a few products in my cleaning caddy, and then we can get out of here.”
Francine gave me a pleased smile. “Thank you, Violet. You and Nyah have a great afternoon. Don’t forget to get a copy of your schedule for the week before you leave.”
I nodded, picking up the products I needed and not bothering to spare a glance at the schedule because I’d already checked the online version and knew there wasn’t much on it for me.
But none of that was Nyah’s fault, and I refused to take it out on her. We walked out, side by side.
“The job isn’t too far from here, so I was just going to walk. Is that okay with you?”
She nodded. “Of course. No problem at all. It’s a nice day.”
It was.
Until I pushed open the door and realized Whip, X, and Levi were all still out there waiting for me.
Nyah stiffened behind me as all three of them moved toward us.
“Ignore them,” I told her. “Just walk right on by like they aren’t even there.”
Nyah took in the three huge men who towered over her, her eyes going big. She wasn’t super short, but Levi in particular made even me feel small, so I could only imagine how intimidating he seemed to her. His biker jacket and tattoos, including the little one just below his eye, probably didn’t help matters any.
I tucked my free arm into hers, my cleaning products clutched in my other. I caught sight of Fang watching me from behind a glass window at Psychos, and he raised an eyebrow in my direction, a single silent question on his lips.
