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“That’s why I’m here.” I gesture at the room at large. “Me and/or my brothers will be here any time Marley is on shift. We won’t allow anything bad to go down.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” Jay growls. “Dammit Luke you should have filled me in on all this before she started.” I should feel slightly bad for deceiving my friend, but I don’t. Jay runs a good clean operation. I highly doubt those after Marley will come looking for her here, but I’m not taking any chances. Hence the need to have someone watching over her.
“I get it,” I say as Jay glares at me. “I should have told you, but I felt like I had everything under control, and it wouldn’t be an issue. I don’t believe those fucking with Marley will come here. I wouldn’t allow her to work here if I did, but as a precaution, someone from my company will be with her at all times. I already provide your bars with security services. I wouldn’t put you or your employees at risk.” Jay doesn’t look convinced, but he relents.
“Luke, I’m trusting you to keep your shit out of my bar and away from my employees.” Jay’s voice is hard in his anger. “I’mpissed you didn’t clue me in before she got here. You know that I’d make sure she was safe.”
“Yes, I know you would,” I concede. “Marley is my responsibility. I will make sure she and your employees are safe. If I had it my way, she’d be tied to my bed until this threat is eliminated, but she wants to work, to pay her own way.”
“Do you blame her?” Jay counters. “I get where you’re coming from. I feel the same about my wife, but having two daughters, I don’t want them to ever be dependent on a man for anything. I want them to able to take care of themselves.”
“I will take care of Marley. I’ll always put her first,” I declare vehemently. “I want to be the one she leans on when she’s in need.”
“I understand what you’re saying, Luke.” Jay sighs heavily. “But not every man is like you. And what if something happens to you? Where will that leave Marley?”
“She will always be taken care of as long as one of my brothers is still breathing,” I counter. “We look after our own. They all know Marley is mine, so by extension, she’s their sister, and they will make sure she’s taken care of after I’m gone. I’ve been blessed to not have many of the health issues others in my situation have, but I know my life expectancy isn’t as long as it normally would be.”
“I should have known you’d have ten contingency plans in place.” Jay rolls his eyes, taking another drink. I look down to see I haven’t even touched my beer. I look over to see Marley is carrying a tray of drinks over to a table of men in fatigues. Being here in Virginia Beach with a large naval base, it’s common to see military personnel in here on any given night. I study the men, taking in their interactions and the way they move. I’m thinking they are SEALs, but I can’t be one hundred percent sure. One of the men says something to Marley as she leans near him to hand his buddy a beer. Her head turns rapidly in the man’s direction, a deep blush flooding her features. I’m about to head in that directionwhen I feel Jay’s hand on my arm. I glance at him, but he gestures his head in Marley’s direction. She murmurs something to the man who’d embarrassed her. The man looks to be genuinely chastised. Maybe I won’t have to go kick his ass after all.
“There you are!” I look up to see Enos, Rosco, Bo, Dalton, and Kelvin strolling across the bar in my direction. Rosco’s head is on a swivel as if he’s waiting for an ambush, at any moment. His gaze lands on Marley as she’s dealing with the men on the other side of the room. He breaks away from the group moving toward Marley. I may have to intervene after all. It seems, after Rosco’s freak out on me yesterday and him subsequently going after Marley and spending the day with her, he’s taken her under his protection. I’m really hoping he doesn’t start a fight with the group I’m fairly certain are active-duty SEALs.
Rosco, although no longer active-duty, is a SEAL himself. He spent a lot of his years of service in the theater dealing with the worst of humanity. He hasn’t been the same since he left the service. I’ve half expected him to re-enlist at any time. He was that dedicated and focused on the job. Yet he’s remained with my company for close to three years, now.
I watch in fascination as my brother approaches the table. Marley turns to see him as he comes up beside her. She smiles warmly at him as he places an arm around her shoulders. If I didn’t know what he was doing, I’d be pissed he was being so chummy with her, but I know he’s letting these men know she has friends in the bar, so they’d better be on their best behavior around her. A shout from the table startles me. I begin to wheel in that direction as I see Rosco push Marley back behind him. He tenses dropping into a fighting stance.
As quickly as it happened, Rosco relaxes as one of the men jumps up from the table to greet him. They bro hug and back slap one another. Rosco then introduces Marley to the group of men. His thumb throws over his shoulder in my direction, and all eyesat the table land on me, Jay, and the rest of my brothers. I throw up a hand to wave at the group. The man who’d embarrassed Marley says something to her then salutes in our direction. I’ll have to ask Rosco about that later, but it seems the man has apologized and is acknowledging Marley is taken.
Marley is laughing at something one of them said as she turns to head on to the next table. Rosco remains standing at the table for a few minutes before he finally makes his way over to the rest of us.
“What was that all about?” I ask as soon has his ass hits his seat.
“I just made sure those guys knew Marley had protection and hitting on her wouldn’t be tolerated.” Rosco shrugs his shoulders. “Turns out, I served a couple of missions with one of them. He’s a good guy. Hadn’t seen him in a few years. He’s still active.” Rosco glances back over at the group, and I see a hint of regret on his face, but it is gone as quickly as it had come.
Marley appears at our table with a tray of beers. It seems Rosco had placed their order while he had been shooting the shit with his old friend. I place my hand on her lower back as she’s putting the drinks on the table. It’s a completely foreign feeling for me. The need to touch her whenever she’s nearby. I’ve never felt this way about a woman before. She smiles down at me when she’s finished.
“How’s it going?” I murmur, wishing I could pull her onto my lap and steal a few kisses before she has to return to filling drink orders.
“It’s been great,” Marley replies excitedly. “I’m enjoying it so far, but I know the night is just getting started.” I take her hand in mine, wanting the connection no matter how short it lasts. She grins before leaning over to whisper, “Thank you for being here. I appreciate it.” She kisses my cheek before heading back over to the bar. I turn back to the men at the table in front of me to see they’re all staring at me with shit-eating grins.
“What?” I demand. Bo howls with laughter, which gets everyone else started. I roll my eyes at the whole lot but feel my lips tip up in a smile of my own as I take a sip of my beer.
“The mighty leader has fallen,” Bo declares with flare, rolling his hand and making a production of bowing toward me. “Dude you are so screwed.” He laughs. I chose to ignore him as I let my gaze swing over the bar and to the woman I love. She’s talking with one of the other waitresses as they wait at the bar for the bartender to load their trays. She looks so happy, not worried and strained like she’s been the last few days. I want to see her look this happy every day for the rest of my life. My brothers arguing amongst themselves pull me from my musings.
“You’re just jealous,” Rosco says heatedly. “We will never be as lucky as he is.” Rosco points at me. Now I’m curious as to what they’re carrying on about.
“What the hell are you two arguing about, now?” I question, but neither of them replies.
“Rosco is pointing out the fact that the rest of us”—Enos points to Jay— “him excluded, are going to die miserable and alone, but you oh fearless leader and brother of ours will die a happy man wrapped up in the arms of the woman you love.” I bark out a laugh at the ridiculousness I hear coming out of his mouth.
“Why would you all think you’re going to die miserable and alone?” I look each of them in the eye. What I see is shocking. They truly seem to believe it. “There’s a woman out there for each of you, and when the time is right, you’ll find her. Just like I did with Marley.” They continue to give me doubtful stares. “Do any of you think I thought this would ever happen for me? Look at me! In most of the world’s eyes, I’m half a man. I never thought I’d ever have someone who looks at me and sees past this chair, but she does. So if it can happen to me, it can happen to you too.”
Jay stands up. “You guys are fucking depressing or pathetic, maybe both. Definitely a bunch of pussies. Usually y’all are abarrel of laughs, but Luke finding love seems to have put you all in a foul mood. I don’t want to handle this shit, and it’s getting busy, so I’m going to work. Have fun, but don’t burn my bar down.” Jay heads over to the bar, speaking with the bartenders before heading toward the back where his office is located.
MARLEY
It’s two in the morning and I’m dead on my feet. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked in a bar, and while The Bistro could be busy and hectic at times, it is nothing compared to the chaos of the bar. Thankfully no one got, too rowdy, but security has been needed a couple of times. The security staff does an excellent job monitoring the crowd. They’re very good at heading off situations before they come a problem. For that, I’m grateful.
“You did a great job, Marley,” Shelia comments as we stand counting our tips after we’ve finished our duties for the night. Nicole had skipped out over an hour ago before we’d even closed. I can tell Shelia is pissed. I’m not sure if it’s because she left us with all the work of clean up or because she’s worried about Nicole. It’s likely a bit of both. I haven’t commented on the situation. I don’t know Nicole, but I’ve been around her type before. Self-serving divas who care for no one, but themselves and their agenda. Everyone else be damned.
