Page 92 of The CEO's Revenge

She shakes her head slowly, not speaking, and the tears that were shining in her beautiful eyes spill over. I should push a few thousand dollars into her hand, apologize for Igor’s brutishness and leave, but something about her holds me in place. I don’t know what it is, but every instinct in me is telling me I need to protect her. Stupidly, I reach out to her.

She flinches back from me.

I raise both my hands, to show her I’m not going to touch her if she doesn’t want me to.

“It’s ok,” I say in a reassuring voice. “I’m just going to take you outside for five minutes to get you some fresh air and let you calm down, ok?”

“I’ll get fired,” she whispers.

Larry is standing behind the bar, watching the scene with an open mouth.

“Are you in the habit of firing your staff if I ask them to step outside with me for a moment and they do it?” I ask.

“N-no, of course not,” he stutters. Then he forces a smile to his white face. “Take all the time you want, Amelia.”

Amelia. That’s her name. It suits her somehow. I turn and begin to walk away. She follows me silently.

“Wait in the car,” I tell Jerome, my driver, as I reach the entrance.

He nods without question.

I go outside and turn around to wait for her. She opens the door, but hangs back as if she is afraid of me.

“I’m sorry you got caught up in that,” I say. “Igor had no right to put his hand on you like that.”

“I should have been more careful,” she answers, her voice breaking. She presses her lips together immediately and her eyes begin to swim with tears again.

“It was a bit of alcohol. No big deal,” I say.

She swallows hard, as if she unsure of my motives. All the while tears are pouring down her face.

I smile at her, trying to think of a way to stop the rolling tears. “You probably shouldn’t be quite so clumsy as a waitress though.”

She gives a short laugh as sniffs. “I sure made a great impression on my first night, huh?”

I laugh, which is odd in itself. I hardly ever laugh out loud, but I can’t help it. Through all of this, she has managed to keep a sense of humor. Which makes her quite the little heroine in my eyes.

“Can I ask you something without you thinking I’m coming on to you?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Sure.”

“What’s a girl like you doing working in a hole like this?”

Her bottom lip wobbles again and I find myself regretting the question. Another odd emotion for me.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m not judging you or anything, I’m just curious.”

She exhales, a heart-felt sigh full of troubles. One girl of her age shouldn’t have to express.

“You want the truth?” she asks.

“Nothing else will do.”

“Are you sure? It’s not a pretty story...”

I nod. “I’m sure I can handle it.”

“Okay, today, my stepdad tried to rape me, but that’s not the big deal. The real kicker is my mom took his side. So, I walked out of his house with a duffle bag of clothes and hardly any money. I took this job because it’s the only one I could find. It was a choice between doing this or ending up on the streets. Which technically. I still am, but hopefully, if I can keep this job, not for much longer.”

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