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2
He watched her mouth drop open.
“Close your mouth,” Constantine told his very thick, very sexy employee. As always, she was slow to obey his orders. “Close your mouth now, Cristal, before I slide something in it.”
Her mouth immediately snapped shut. What a pity. He would’ve liked for her to challenge him as she often did. Too often for his liking. However, this would’ve been one of those times when he welcomed it.
She took a deep breath, composed herself and then said, “That’s a very inappropriate thing to say to your employee.”
“Says who?”
“Says everyone.”
“Do I look like I give a damn about what everyone says?”
She rolled her eyes.
“What did I tell you about rolling your eyes at me?” For some reason, that shit turned him on.
“Considering what you just said, I feel like a little eye rolling is called for. If you can be inappropriate, so can I. I guess I have to be the adult in the room and get this conversation back on track.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out some folded bills. He didn’t want the money, he wanted her. She placed the money on the desk and slid it over to him. When she leaned back in her seat, she folded her arms over her chest.
“I made ninety dollars.”
Con stared down at the money. What the hell was he supposed to do with ninety dollars, other than put it in his god daughter’s piggy bank? He stared at the money for so long that she spoke about it.
“You can pick it up. It’s not going to bite.”
Con held his grin in. It was something about that sassy mouth of hers that made him want to fuck it. He grabbed the money and started counting it.
“It’s all there. All ninety dollars.”
Ignoring her, he counted the money. It was ninety dollars. He pulled an envelope from his desk drawer and slid the money into it. After sealing it shut, he signed his name on the envelope and sat it to the side.
Tonight, before he went home, he’d stop by Delilah’s house and drop the entire envelope into little Azariah’s piggy bank. He stared up at Cristal. Her gaze wavered briefly before returning to his and staying there.
He admired her false bravado. He liked for people to be afraid of him. Sometimes, fear cemented a bond better than love or loyalty did. Cristal felt neither love nor loyalty for him. He had a feeling she didn’t fear him at all. Yet, there was always a look of fear in her eyes.
She was running from something or someone. He hadn’t figured out which yet. Whatever she was running from had her afraid of the law. That fear was the reason she’d never go to cops about the shit she’d seen go down at the club.
That fear was also the only thing keeping her alive. She’d seen too much. If he didn’t believe she’d keep quiet, he’d have to end her. Lucky for her, he knew she wouldn’t run to the authorities.
She had stuff to hide, just as he did. A simple background check had helped him discover some of the secrets she was trying to keep hidden. However, he was having a hard time figuring out the rest.
And he really needed to figure Cristal Dawson out. Before she came to his club, he rarely stared at the security screen on his computer. It was security’s job to monitory the club, not his.
He paid them well to keep an eye on the club and club-goers. However, now that Cristal worked for him, he found himself staring at whatever screen held her image. Sometimes for hours.
He watched her when she sang on stage. He watched her when she chatted with Angelina at the bar. Most importantly, he watched her when she stepped outside for a breath of fresh air.
It was during those breaks that he got to see the real her. During those times, she didn’t wear that fake smile of hers that she shared with the patrons of the bar. She also didn’t wear the defiant glare she always cast in his direction.
It was during those times, when she thought no one was watching, that he saw the sadness in her eyes. Even if she sat with her back to both cameras, he could still tell she was sad by the way she sat with her head hung low and her shoulders hunched over.
During those times, she looked defeated. And that pissed him off. She was too beautiful to look defeated. She was too smart, too calculating, too confident in herself to look defeated.
His gut told him that whatever she was running from was the cause of that look. All he had to do was figure out what or who she was running from and eliminate that element from her life.
