Page 62 of As Thick As Thieves

“Like, a chef?”

“Kitchen hand. Dishes, clearing tables, that kind of thing,” he answered, his eyes assessing me as he understood where my questions were going.

“I can help. I’m a hazard around food, but I can clean stuff. I’ll just have to convince the guys to leave me alone here,” I shrugged, Alex giving me a grimace.

“You don’t have to do that. I hear you don’t get out a lot, so don’t waste your day slaving over our sink.”

“I want to. I’ll be looking for work eventually, so the experience would look good on a resume, right? I’m glad to be out of the house, I don’t mind working,” I said confidently, waiting for Alex and Harley to have a silent conversation with their eyes before Harley blew out a breath of relief.

“Finish your food then I’ll show you the kitchen. Leave your guys to me, I’ll handle them. We really appreciate your help, thank you.”

“Just give me a glowing reference when future employers call you, then we’re even,” I beamed, starting to shovel my food in, making Leah sigh.

“You’re bailing on me?”

“Don’t act like you’re miserable about it. I can see you’re itching to go and deal with whoever you’ve been texting,” I mumbled around my food, making her cringe.

“You noticed that? It’s just—”

“It’s fine, really. We can text now and meet up another time.”

We finished our food and Leah headed off to her car, leaving me to follow Harley into the kitchen where he handed me an apron to protect my clothes.

“I don’t know how much you know about hospitality cleaning, so I’ll give you a quick rundown. Scrap any food scraps into that trash can.” He pointed to one near the sink before continuing. “Then rinse everything and stack it in the dishwasher.” He showed me how to put the rack into the dishwasher and how to work it, then he moved further along. “Once it’s finished, open it back up and be careful of the steam. We wash in boiling water. Since it’s so hot, everything dries within seconds almost, so all you have to do is put everything away. All the plates and glasses are on the far wall, and utensils go in that bucket to be polished.”

He gave me a quick tour of everything so I knew where the kitchenware items went, then he left me to start on the dishes while he went back out to the register to serve some customers.

Cruz

Being back at the compound was fucking with my emotions. It was home, it had been for a long time, but I couldn’t live with Stone again, that much was obvious when I put my fist through his face the second he opened his mouth to speak.

“Nice to see you too,” Stone grunted, not seeming surprised by my anger. “Where’s Drake?”

“Not here,” Knox grunted from beside me, his eyes on Stone. We all glared at each other for a moment before Stone let out a huff of annoyance.

“Why are you here?”

“We need to discuss Thieves business, and I want to know what the fuck is wrong with you,” I answered, making him frown.

“What do you mean?”

“The Psychos—”

“I mean the other thing. You want to talk about Penn?” he inquired, dropping into his desk chair to look up at me. “What’s there to tell? You won’t listen anyway, you’ll only punch me and storm off.”

“Why did you fucking ruin everything?” I asked, my voice dropping in volume. “We were fine until you went rogue. She trusted you, man. You know the Psychos and Devils have to deal with you, right? They haven’t let this go.”

“I’m aware.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” I gritted out, clenching my fists as his face remained blank. “Do you even care, Stone?”

“Do you?” he threw back, holding my gaze. “You sound worried for me. Is this a welfare check?”

“I’m pissed at you, but I don’t want you six feet under,” I muttered, surprise registering on his face as I dropped into the chair beside him, raking my hands through my hair. Knox leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

“We have a business deal with the crews, so what do we do about that? The tech is Cruz’s, but the business is yours. We need to figure this out.”

I didn't expect Stone’s answer, and I had no idea how to handle it. “The deal still stands. If you’re willing to allow me to have access to the tech, then you can take over that side of things. Kind of like different branches in the business.”

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