Page 108 of Dangerous Attraction

"Just wait at the end," I tell her. "I'll start walking now."

Ending the call, I pocket my phone and rush back behind the bar to grab my purse.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. But when I get back later, I'll find you, okay?"

Mouse nods, saluting me as I pass him, and I hurry out the double doors and down the porch steps, eager to get to Emery.

There's a weird vibe in the air tonight, and I have no idea why.

For the past two hours, Michael hasn't said more than six words to me, and that was to tell me dinner would be ready at five.

Since I've walked in here, he's stayed in the kitchen, and Emery and I have been in the living room, watching some silly show she's been bingeing lately.

The smell of roasted chicken wafts through the house, but it doesn't bring me comfort like it usually would. Instead, it's turning my stomach.

"Is your dad okay?" I ask Emery as I nudge her.

She shrugs, hardly paying me any attention as two girls on the screen start arguing back and forth.

Huffing, I get up from the couch and hesitantly walk into the kitchen, leaning against the door frame.

Michael moves from the sink to the stove, a large pan in his hands filled almost to the brim with water.

I wait for him to set it down before I speak, not wanting to cause an accident.

"Is everything okay, Mike?"

He briefly glances at me, nods, and then returns to the task at hand.

Brows drawn down, I walk further into the kitchen and pull out a chair from the small square table in the middle of the room.

"Is something wrong?"

He sighs deeply, then sets down the spoon in his hand and turns to face me, crossing his arms over his chest.

"When were you going to tell me you were working at the old farmhouse with those degenerates?"

My eyes widen, head rearing back in shock.

"Degenerates?" I mutter, shaking my head. "You mean the Steel Devils boys?"

He scoffs and shakes his head, disgust splashed across his face.

"You shouldn't be associating with people like that, Trix. I can understand you needed a job, but are you really desperate enough to put yourself in a position where you're surrounded by criminals?"

I stare at him in utter disbelief.

"Are you fucking serious?"

"Trix, I don't mean to offend you, sweetheart, but I just don't agree with what you're doing. You need to think about all of this properly."

"You don't even know them!" I shout as I stand from the table and step back, creating more distance between us. "You make it sound like they're animals."

Emery shuffles into the kitchen, eyes pinging back and forth between me and her father.

"You're the one who doesn't know them, Trix. They're terrible people, and they do awful things. I don't want you involved with them, and I'm advising you to get far away from them."

I shake my head, then take another step back.