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“Getting your kid brother a gift for his birthday isn’t my problem, girl,” Carlos says flippantly over the phone, and I can hear him as he starts to walk away, pushing the phone down. “You’ll just have to find more shifts at the club if the diner isn’t important enough for you. Now, I’ve got business to attend to here.”
With that, he hangs up the phone and the dial tone blares in my ear. I feel nauseated, and what’s left of my snack of crackers at the club begins to creep back up. I press my hand to my mouth, putting my phone down.
I lean on the kitchen counter for support as my head spins. I pull in deep, aching breaths into my lungs as I fight back against the tears that threaten to spill over.
I can do it, I have to. I have almost a week to go until my little brother’s birthday, and I have to make it as extra special as I possibly can.
Things will get better eventually. They have to, or all of this is for nothing.
For years now, it’s been just me looking after Stevie. It’s my job, though, and Stevie deserves a better life than what he’s been given, but I’m doing my best.
I press my fingers to my forehead, pushing against the headache that throbs there.
I need to get some sleep, at least a few hours anyway.
I hear a creak from Stevie’s room, though, and my ears perk up, as tired as I am. I hear the creak again.
“Kat?” My little brother’s voice calls out. “Can you sit with me until I fall asleep?”
I close my eyes for a moment, digging my fingers into the counter. I’ll just make up the sleep tomorrow. It will be fine, and things will work out for us.
On my way to Stevie’s room, I spot a packet of instant brownies, and an idea pops up in my tired mind. I can only see Eddie’s face, mysterious and ridiculously hot.
CHAPTERFOUR
Eddie
Back at the club, the lights glitter off the wet pavement. Neon signs advertise flashing green breasts and long legs that open and close as the lights blink.
I let out a breath, opening the back door. It makes me feel like a sleaze to run a place like this, but at least I’m around to keep the women safe.
Randall Myers stands with his arms crossed at the back door, and he nods at me when I make my way inside. He’s a monster of a man, but he only has eyes for the brassy blonde that dances every week. I’ve seen him watching her with lovestruck brown eyes.
As I pass by, his humongous arm stops me in my tracks. He narrows his eyes, nodding at the front door and looking as if he wanted to rip someone’s head off if he felt it might keep these girls safe. I can echo that sentiment well.
“Myers?” I ask, unsure of my security guard’s intentions.
I’ve only known him for a week, and I’m not sure if his face is just permanently fixed into a menacing scowl or if something is wrong.
“Boss,” he says, and it still feels odd to be addressed that way. “There’s a group of guys loitering around the front door,” he growls. “Want me to take care of them?”
“Not just yet,” I answer, smoothing down my leather jacket. “Do you know them?”
“Hangers-on,” Myers tells me, looking annoyed. His eyes don’t leave the door, though he wants to look at Chrissy I’m sure.“Your uncle let them hang around outside. Men like that pester the dancers. Peter always told them to leave through the back.”
“That’s not going to continue,” I retort, anger burning through me.
I can feel Myers following me like a hulking shadow when I stride quickly across the main floor, staying in the shadows so that I’m hidden from my sister’s raucous party. He’s at my back as we reach the door, right at my heels as I open it wide.
Outside of the club, the same SUV from earlier speeds off into the dark night.
“Bunch of assholes,” Myers grumbles. “Must have been waiting for the girls.”
“Keep an eye out,” I tell him, closing the door behind me. Myers nods at me as I tell him what I need from him. “Don’t let them come back in here, alright?”
“You got it, boss,” Myers answers seriously. He looks ready to destroy them if they come back.
When I leave the club hours later, the music is still pumping and thudding from the dark-tinted windows. My sister’s party has vacated, and I wonder where they’ve gotten off to, though they really may have left hours earlier anyway.
