AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m sure I’ll learn the ropes quickly enough, and I’m eager to help out, but I’m not sure what sort of things you need from me, beyond tending the bar.” Her cheeks flush, and she looks up at me, a hesitant smile on her face. “I don’t have a lot of experience, and I’ve been around a place like that. You saw where I came from.”
Yes. That shithole with her dirtbag family. Her world has totally changed overnight, and she has that pretty piece of metal to thank for it. But even if she hadn’t had it...
Would I have stepped in, knowing what her sister had planned for her?
Anger unfurls inside my chest, a thickening of my breath in my lungs.
If I hadn’t, someone else would have gotten ahold of her first, and they wouldn’t have treated her so kindly. Why does that enrage me? Why do I even care? I brush the thoughts away.
“Well, it’s not just the bar,” I say. “And don’t worry. You’ll find your place.” I watch her carefully, and notice the way she glances at the door to the kitchen, already anticipating a meal to be brought to her. It’s funny how quickly humans adjust their tiny, short lives. They live on such a narrow timeline that a few days can be enough to change the entire course of their lives. “You’re not getting breakfast.”
She frowns at me.
“Oh.”
“Not from here, anyway. Let’s go downstairs. The club is different before the staff gets here. We’ll look around and then head out. There’s a good bagel shop down the way.”
Her lips curl upward, and she gets to her feet.
“Sure. Sounds like fun.”
It’s nearlynine o’clock in the morning, the sun bright and warm overhead, and Katy is holding onto a coffee cup and a bagel wrapped in wax paper. She’s watching the traffic on the street as we wait to cross the road, a thoughtful look on her face.
“We could’ve walked,” she points out, noticing how few people are out right now, and I nod.
“It’s not far, but the car’s quicker, especially at this time of the morning. Most of the streets won’t be crowded until mid-day.”
She looks impressed, and she’s quiet as she takes a bite of her bagel. The cream cheese is smeared across her lip and she wipes it with the back of her hand, before licking the pad of her finger clean. It shouldn’t be erotic, but somehow, it is.
“This is really good,” she says, and sighs happily. I’ve watched her closely for the last hour, her movements imprinting on my mind, and it’s almost hypnotic, the way she devours every morsel of her bagel. When she’s done, she folds up the wax paper and sticks it in the bag, and then crushes the cup her second coffee of the day came in. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it,” I say, and glance toward the intersection. It’s about to change, and I take her by the arm, pulling her along with me as the signal lights change. Her face flushes as I grab her, and she lets out a short huff. “I told you I was going to teach you about life in Detroit, in Uptown,” I continue. “I’m not fucking around, Katy. You watch yourself on these streets. It’s not Lowtown.
She gives a short nod, and her cheeks flush as we make our way down the block. The buildings reach toward the sky all around us, glittering monuments to wealth and power.
“This is my turf,” I say, and her eyebrows arch. “I own everything here, within a ten-block radius. The businesses, the apartments, the clubs. I run the neighborhood, and I keep it safe. Have you been to the river?” She shakes her head. “You can see Canada from there, if you like. Did you want to go?”
I should be throwing her in the deep end, seeing if she can survive, but as the wisps of her hair escape her long braid, andshe zips up her hoodie against the sudden cold breeze as we turn the corner near the RenCen, I find myself not wanting to.
I want to treat her right.
Why?
“You’re staring at me,” she murmurs, and her cheeks go pink.
“I am,” I agree, and take her hand, leading her along the walkway, my touch gentler this time. There’s no cars here, and she gasps when she sees the body of water, stretching glassily between us and the opposite shore.
“We’re right on the river!” she breathes, and her eyes are wide, sparkling in the sunshine. For the first time since I found her, she looks... relaxed. Her eyes close and she tilts her head up to the wind, as it pulls more strands of her hair loose. I want to tangle my fingers in those waves, to feel how soft they are. “Wow.”
She turns toward me, her mouth curving in a soft, gentle smile, and her expression is unguarded.
“Thanks,” she says softly, and her voice is full of emotion. “This is really beautiful. Is that actually Canada over there?” She squints, lifting her hand to shade her vision, and I nod. She looks like she’s never seen anything like this. I’m getting the impression she thought she was going to live and die in Lowtown. And if her father and sister had anything to say about it, she might’ve.
“Have you ever been to Canada?” I ask, and she laughs and shakes her head.
“Nope. I don’t even have a passport.”
Passports. As if such small things mattered to someone like me. I try not to smirk, and a heavy gust of air blows against us, making her shiver.
