AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re not his usual type,” she says quietly. I glance at her, and she gives me a smile. “But I’m glad for it. He could do with someone who isn’t a carbon copy of his last girl.”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I protest. Is she talking about the girl Hadrion said was... soft?
“Yeah, but he brought you here. Hade doesn’t do that. He’s not the kind of guy to get attached to a girl. But here you are.” She shrugs and turns, going to the register and hitting a button. “And he’s letting you stay at his place. The only woman I know that goes up there is Elenora, and she’s a weird one. I’m gonna countout the floats. Can you double count after me?”
We fall into a rhythm of counting money, and I pause as I hand back the last stack of cash.
“Is there a phone here I can use?”
“Sure,” she says, pointing toward a corded phone by the register. “It’s connected to the main office line, but if you need a cell, that’s a different story.”
“A cell?” I echo. I can’t afford a cell.
“Hade will cover it,” she says with a shrug. “He covers everything. That’s how it is. You’re lucky. He’s got the best benefits plan I’ve ever seen. When he first found me, well, I didn’t get to stay at his place, but he put me up in a shared apartment with four of the other girls within the week.”
“Um, I might make this call in the office,” I say, and clear my throat. She nods.
“Whatever you need to do, boo-boo,” she calls over her shoulder as she goes to the next register, ignoring me. I pick up the phone and punch in the number, waiting, the seconds stretching out painfully, and then—
“Hello?”
“Dad, it’s me.”
“Katy!” Dad’s voice is full of relief, and then anger. “Where the hell are you?”
“I’m...” I swallow and look toward the office. “I’m fine. I’m doing a job for a new club owner.”
“Are you serious?” He practically spits. “You thought you could just abandon us, did you? That’s nice! That’s fucking nice! Running away after our bar got half-way to demolished!” He’s shouting so loud I have to hold the phone away from my face.
“I didn’t want to leave,” I say, my voice shaking. I’m not sure if he hears me.
“Emi is pissed, Katy. She’s out looking for you right now. She’s been crying, and she’s madder than a wet cat. You need to come home. Where are you? We’ll come get you.” Relief flood through me. Emi’s safe, at least, and he’s safe too. If he’s well enough to be mad at me, he’s healthy.
“I can’t,” I say. I have no idea why, but it feels wrong, leaving, like if I go back, the spell will break. I’ll return to living with my dad and sister, the same trailer, the same bar, the same everything. It will never end.
“Listen, Katy, you can’t leave,” his tone turns wheedling. “Getting Hop’s back into shape, we’re going to need all hands on deck--“
“Hop’s?” My heart sinks. They can’t be planning on fixing up the bar, not after the destruction that happened there last night. Not after...
“Of course. It’s our family’s. You can’t just quit, Katy,” he says, sounding annoyed. “You thought you could just walk out on both of us? After a little misunderstanding?”
My fingers go numb around the phone.
“Misunderstanding?” My voice is a squeak.
“That’s all that was,” he says, and I can hear the sound of him taking a sip from his flask. The image is clear in my head. It’snot like I haven’t seen him drink, but the casual, easy way he’s talking about it, and not blaming himself or the alcohol, that’s new. “You know your sister. She doesn’t always think straight when she’s angry. She just wanted a few of her friends to come, rough you up, remind you of how good you have it here--“
My heart drops.
“So you knew they were going to come and--“ Oh my god, had Hadrion been right?
“You didn’t deserve it,” he says, and I can hear the slur creeping into his voice, and his tone is turning dark. “I told her, if you’d just done as you were asked, and not acted like a little bitch, she wouldn’t have had to. But no, you had to run, you always have to run. You’ve been running since your mother took off, Katy. I’m tired of you running. I’m tired of your sister getting mad at me because of your shit, Katy.”
“I have to go,” I whisper, my fingers shaking so hard it’s difficult to hang up the phone. My whole body shudders. He’s drunk. That’s all. It’s not real. Katy hadn’t arranged for those guys to come to the bar to grab me...
My eyes slide shut, my face burning, the rest of my body feeling icy.
My dad, the man who raised me, my sister, they...
