Page 18 of Only In the Dark

“Very well. Let’s go to my office. Right this way,” I motion.

The office door swings open, and I let Geneva in ahead of me. “Geneva. Is everything okay?”

“Actually, no.”

“Have a seat. What do I owe the pleasure?”

“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything. But I wanted to talk to you about last night.”

“What about last night?”

“It was my normal shift, and let me tell you, I was surprised to hear I was to be the feature girl. Want to explain that?”

“Was the money not good enough?”

“Dominick. It’s not about the money.” I almost laugh. “I don’t appreciate you trying to control what I do and don’t do. I would like to go about my life as I normally would. But it seems, at every turn, you are there.”

I rise from my chair and walk around the desk so now I am half sitting on the desk and half standing. So, she’s left to look up at me from her vantage.

“Well, it’s simple. I don’t want men looking at you naked. So, I had Aldus put you behind the glass.”

Anger appears in her eyes. “Who the hell do you think you are?” She rises from her chair, and we are almost eye level. “You don’t own me.”

“I might not own you, but I bet if I pulled those leggings down, your pussy would be soaked.”

I smile seeing her clench her thighs. I move forward, backing her into the chair, and she is forced to sit back down. I place a hand on each side of the chair and bend down to face her. “Tell me I’m wrong.” I look her up and down, and places one hand on her thigh, almost gripping it.

“You’re wrong.” And as if saved by the bell. My phone buzzes in my hand, and I see it’s my mom.

“Mom. Is everything okay?”

It sounds like complete chaos in the background of the call. “Carmine has been shot, and I don’t know what to do. He refuses to go to the hospital.”

“He should go to the hospital.”

Then I hear Carmine in the background. “Get your ass in here.” What the hell am I gonna do. Then, an idea pops in my head.

“Mom. Try to be calm. I’ll be on my way.” I’m already out of the chair, throwing my coat on. I hang up with my mom and look to Geneva. “We gotta go.”

I rush toward the front door. “What is going on?” she asks.

“My step dad has been shot, and he wants me to come home.”

“Shouldn’t he go to the hospital?”

“He hates hospitals, and you’re a nurse, no? You get the luxury of saving his ass.”

I grab my coat from the coat rack, and we head out into the brisk air. We rush to my car, the Bugatti, to be specific, and I drive like a crazy person. And ten minutes later, we are on the other side of town, and the roads lead us to my house.

“You live here?” she asks.

“I used to.”

Mom meets us at the door and leads us down to the finished basement.

“Mom, this is my friend Geneva, she’s a nurse.”

“I am going to need a needle, thread, towels, some water and something to get the bullet out,” I blurt.

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