Page 38 of Daddy's Little Foreigner

So much worse and Jaxson was going to ask questions. Shit. This wasn’t good.

With that thought, Sofia laid down on her bed, sent the text to Jaxson, and fell asleep.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SOFIA

Sofia’s face ached even more when she woke up this morning. Her face was purple and deep blue, almost black, from where the guy hit her. She hadn’t even attempted to look at the rest of her body, but she knew she had some other bruises.

Her bottom hurt from where she landed on it and she knew she had a couple minor cuts on her hand from hitting the ground. Had she cleaned them when she got back or this morning?

No. She didn’t.

She didn’t have anything to clean them, and she didn’t have any money to buy what she needed. Jaxson’s words rang in her head about texting him about anything. Several times she had thought about texting him asking if he had anything, but she didn’t want to worry him.

Not that she would be able to hide this bruise when she got there. Sofia had planned on wearing a hat to work to cover up most of it and not talking to Jaxson. She didn't know how well that was going to work.

Jaxson seemed to be keen on when she was trying to hide things and she just knew that he would walk up to her. She hadnever worn a hat to work before and maybe she should’ve started every once in a while. Then this wouldn’t have been so bad or weird for her.

Part of her wanted to call out of work and tell him she was sick, but she knew he would insist on coming to help her out. She didn’t want him to see her like this. The other part of her knew she needed to go to work because she needed the money.

She couldn’t skip and lose all that money, no matter how tempting it was to hide away. She would have to skip several days and she couldn’t do that. The money was precious to her.

“Sofia!” Monty yelled. “I know you’re in your apartment. Can we talk?”

Sofia sighed, grabbed her hat, and put it on before she opened her door. She didn’t want to talk to Monty right now, but she knew Monty only bothered her if it was important and it must be important right now.

“Yes?” Sofia asked.

“Why are you wearing a hat?” she asked.

“My hair is greasy and I haven’t washed it yet,” she replied.

It wasn’t a lie, but her hair wasn’t so greasy that she needed a hat.

“Could you cover my shift for me? It’s right before yours,” Monty asked. “My brother isn’t feeling well, and he’s running a fever. I don’t have anyone to watch him.”

Sofia really didn't want to do Monty’s shift as well as her own. It was going to be a long and exhausting day but Sofia couldn’t say no. She knew Monty took care of her brother and that he was important to her.

“I would ask you to watch my brother and I could pay you in food, but I don’t want you to get sick,” Monty rushed out. “If not, I can try to call someone else to cover my shift.”

She started to feel bad. “I’ll cover for you.”

“Thank you so much. I can make you a meal to say thank you or I can do something else,” Monty said.

“No worries. You just take care of your brother.”

Sofia didn’t have any siblings, but if she did, she would want to be able to take care of them without having to worry about anything. Though, Sofia didn’t know how Monty was going to pay for rent or food. She didn’t know how much money she was earning or anything about her finances.

She had thought about asking, but she knew money was a touchy subject. Or at least it was for her. She didn’t want people to ask her how her situation was going because it wasn’t going well.

“Thank you so much,” she said. “If you need anything, you let me know.”

Monty walked off and Sofia closed her door. Now she had even less time to think about how she was going to cover up the bruises.

“Sofia,”Dominic said as she walked up to the front door.

She had gotten here a little early because she didn’t know how well her body was going to take walking from her apartment to work. She had really considered getting a taxi after everything happened, but by the time she actually thought about it, she wouldn’t be able to get one in time to cover Monty’s shift.

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