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So I’d done exactly as he’d said. I’d been quiet and good and never made any trouble.
I was still doing it now. I couldn’t tell my father about Psychos. That pride in his eyes would have extinguished the moment the word fell out of my mouth.
I wanted to confide in him. I wanted to tell him all about Axel, and Nash, and the bar I now owned, and Caleb. But I couldn’t add any more to his plate. Somewhere deep inside I was still the little girl, terrified of his rejection.
I’d have to tell my family eventually, but me leaving Caleb would be a huge blow to my father’s hopes for getting the company back on track. Caleb wouldn’t want to work with him now, but if Psychos party nights did as well as Nash had made out, then we wouldn’t need Caleb. I could invest the money into Dad’s company, if I could get enough of it. He’d looked after me. I wanted to look after him.
If that meant sex clubs and drugs, then so be it.
It was the only way.
* * *
Iturned up at Psychos in the middle of the day, right in time for the lunch rush.
But when I walked inside, the bar was completely empty, except for Rebel sitting on the bar top, cracking a piece of gum between her teeth, her Doc Martens swinging.
She dragged her gaze away from the TV when my movement caught her attention. “Disney! What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at your kiddie germ factory?” She jumped down off the bar and skipped over to hug me.
I hugged her back. “The kiddie germ factory is no more.”
Her eyes went huge. “You blew it up?”
I snorted on my laughter. “What on earth? Who hurt you, Rebel? ‘Cause it’s really twisted that that is where your mind went.”
Her shoulders relaxed a little, and she shook her head. “Trust me, you do not want to know about my hidden traumas and how they shaped my twisted mind. We’d be here all day. But just to clarify. You don’t have a penchant for explosives that I should watch out for?”
“I can confirm that I do not have a stash of TNT in the trunk of my car. No.”
She giggled. “Okay, so fine, maybe I shouldn’t guess what happened to the daycare and you should just tell me.”
“The truth is much less interesting. I got fired. So here I am, ready to work. Not that there seems to be much work to be had. It’s dead in here.”
Rebel’s mouth dropped open. “You’re gonna work? Here? With us?”
“Sure. Why not? I do own the place, so I figure I should probably get involved.”
Rebel let out a screech of excitement and grabbed my hands, dancing around with me in excitement. “Oh my God, yes! We’re gonna have the best time! You are gonna make so much money at the parties. Like, those guys are gonna take one look at your tits and they are gonna be shoving hundred-dollar bills in your cleavage.”
It took me a moment to process what she’d said, but when I did, shock jolted through me. When I’d said I wanted to work here, I hadn’t even considered the parties. I’d been thinking more about working here during the day, maybe getting some new meals on the menu and some lunchtime two-for-one specials.
The parties were a different kettle of fish altogether. I couldn’t do those. Rebel had been fully nude by the time the party ended last weekend. So had half the room, both staff and guests, so it hadn’t seemed out of place at all. But I couldn’t do what she did.
“Bliss isn’t doing that.”
Nash’s voice was hard and clipped. A barked-out command of authority.
Rebel and I both glanced over and found him leaning on the doorway of his office, his gaze pinned firmly on me.
“Uh, nobody asked you, Boss Man. Her club. She can work where she likes.”
Nash didn’t respond. His dark gaze never left mine. “No, Bliss.”
Maybe I was still irritated from my earlier argument with Nichelle. I was definitely still angry with Josie for dismissing me as easily as she had, even though I’d worked with her day in and day out for seven years and I’d almost thought us friends. I was definitely still furious with Caleb for more reasons than I could count on one hand.
Everybody in my life seemed to think they knew what was best for me. Even Axel and my father, though well-meaning, had stifled me. As had the fear. There was always so much fear, in everything I did, or didn’t do.
“Be good, Bliss. Don’t give them a reason to send you back.”
