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I’d barely processed the news that he wasn’t going to kill or maim me before the waitress showed up with my food.
I took one look at the suspicious-looking meat sandwiched between the brioche bun and pushed the plate away. Roc cackled when he saw my nose turned up and was back to grinning and looking partially sane.
“It’s chicken, baby girl, I promise you. And I was kidding about Tanya spitting in your food. She got rocks for brains, but she ain’t suicidal.”
With a commanding look, he pushed the plate back toward me. After a second of deliberation, I picked up the sandwich and sniffed it before taking a reluctant bite.
The moment the greasy morsel touched my taste buds, I began scarfing the sandwich down.
I felt Roc and Golden watching me, but I didn’t care about my table manners. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. The only thing that had mattered was getting to Idlewild, finding whoever had sent me the photos, and forgetting why I’d left home in the first place.
“You said you’re never going back to wherever the fuck you came from,” Roc said after a few moments of watching me eat. “Why is that?”
“Does it matter?” I questioned after swallowing my mouthful.
Leaning forward, Roc braced his tatted forearms lined with thick veins on the table. I gulped down my food under the intensity of his gaze but didn’t allow myself to look away. “You said you needed a job, right? Then it matters, so consider this an interview. And, baby girl?” At the answering rise of my brows, he said, “You better impress me because you won’t get another.”
My gaze darted to Golden, staring at me as he silently waited to hear my story.
I sat back and turned toward the window when I felt that familiar wave of anguish wash over me. I didn’t need Roc or Golden to see it and feel sorry for me. I didn’t need their pity. I needed answers.
I needed to know why some invisible hand had pointed me in their direction at the worst time of my life.
If I looked hard enough, I could see the reflections of my life—mylie—playing out in the finger-smudged glass. For the first time in weeks, I didn’t push away thoughts of my father. He’d been the best dad a girl could ask for, and I didn’t realize it until it was too late to tell him so. Because of my parents’ lies, I didn’t know just how lucky I’d been.
“I’m never going back because there is nothing left for me in Ossella.” Turning away from the window, I met both of their gazes’ head-on. “My dad died.”
“Who let this bitch in here?”
I was screwing the oil cap back on a customer’s blue Acura when I looked up and saw the last person I expected to see standing next to me.
Nipsey’s “Mr. Untouchable” blasted from the workshop’s speakers, but my voice still carried over the music. I watched the technicians—Tony, Shawn, Isaac, and Will—look at each other before gaping at me. They already knew what time I was on.
“Really, Rowdy?” Stiletto heels clacked the pavement as the bitch I’d been fucking on a semi-regular basis came to pose in front of me. Savannah was this semi-famous biracial Instagram model with good pussy and even better head. That was about as much as I cared to know about her. “I need to talk to you,” she said. She’d been messaging me that bullshit all week. “You can’t avoid me forever.”
I didn’t bother responding since Isaac and Shawn were now pointing at Tony.
Ithadto be the new guy.
Hudson was already on my back about employee retention after I put Tony’s predecessor in a coma. I knew I’d hear his mouth once it reached his ears that he’d have to find yet another technician.
Now ask me if I gave a damn.
It was hard to find good help these days. Having employees was like having kids without the pleasure of busting a nut first. They wanted you to hold their hands for every little fucking thing, so I treated them accordingly.
Seven years ago, Roc, Golden, Joren, and I had pooled our ill-gotten funds together to buy and restore this old factory, and Pride of Kings was born. Going legit had its ups and downs, but it beat being carried by six or judged by twelve.
“Can you read?” I asked the moment I stood so close to Tony I could smell the coffee on his breath. He raised his hand, but only after realizing he’d already been snitched on.
The new guy was a good size, but he didn’t come close to my six-foot-six, and unlike most guys my height, I wasn’t all skin and bones. I had muscle. It was rare I came across someone bigger or stronger, but even if I were five-foot-three and a hundred pounds soaking wet, it wouldn’t make a difference. I’d been born with the heart of a lion.
“C-can I—”
“Can you read?” I snapped since he seemed to be deaf too.
“Yes, boss. I can read.”
Without breaking eye contact, I pointed to the blue metal door separating us from the lobby and waiting room. The lounge was super lux, thanks to Hudson, the general manager we hired since none of us cared for the business responsibilities that came with owning the shop. The couches were plush, the Wi-Fi was free, and we even had a minibar stocked with free snacks and drinks. “What does the sign on the door say?”
