She thought he sounded like he was constipated.
“Razor wants you to go get this part,” she told him, holding out the piece of paper. “I’ve put it on hold. Here are the details.”
He ignored the paper, his gaze eating her up. “You want to go get a drink after work?”
“No, thank you,” she said as politely as she could manage. He made her skin crawl.
“Come on, sweetness. You’ll have fun with me. You’re uptight, I’ll loosen you up.”
Ew. She thought she’d puked a little.
Calm. Don’t rock the boat.
“Go get the part.”
His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. “Uppity bitch, aren’t you?”
Her shoulders straightened as he glared at her.
Don’t show any fear. Don’t back down.
“Razor said you would get it. I’m just passing on what he wants.”
“Say please and I’ll do it,” he told her.
Yeah. That wasn’t happening.
“No.”
Anger flooded his face. “Best not cross me, bitch. I’m not a person you want as an enemy.”
He threw the smoke on the ground and, snatching the piece of paper out of her hand, stomped away. With a grimace, she ground out the glowing cigarette with her shoe then let out a shaky sigh.
Then she realized she didn’t have his lunch order. Oh well, she’d be sure to get him something really gross. Moving into the shop, she went around to the other guys. Razor had ten guys working for him, which was far more than she’d expected.
Last, she walked over to where Sav and Razor were standing, discussing something. Both men were frowning. Razor had his arms crossed over his chest, making his biceps bulge.
Wow, that was hot.
Get your mind off your hot boss. Jeepers.
“Hey, Tabby,” Razor greeted her gently, his frown disappearing as soon as he saw her.
She managed a shaky smile as Sav nodded at her.
“Lunch orders?”
They both rattled off what they wanted from the sub shop.
“You find that part?” Razor asked.
“Yeah, Tommy’s gone to get it. I’ll go grab lunch now.”
Sav wasn’t looking at her, but Razor gave her a nod. “Thanks, kid.”
She had to hide a wince. Kid? Really?
When she returned thirty minutes later with a pile of subs, she’d bought Tommy an extra spicy one, Razor and Tommy were out front, discussing something. Both men stared over at her as she got out of her car. Razor appeared confused while Tommy looked smug.
Her stomach tightened.
Uh-oh.
“Hey, Tabby, why’d you send me on a wild goose chase?” Tommy called out.
“What? What do you mean?” she asked.
“That place you sent me to didn’t have the part on hold and they had no record of you calling them.”
“But I put it on hold. It should have been there. I’ll call them.”
“No point,” Tommy told her. “I was just there. Waste of fucking time.”
“Watch it,” Razor warned. “It was just a mistake.”
“They said they had the part, though,” she said frantically, feeling ill. “I’ll call them again, then go over myself and get it.”
“Don’t worry,” Razor told her gently. He ran a hand over his face, looking tired. “I’ll sort it and go get the part, okay? It’s no issue. All part of learning.”
He walked into the office and she watched him, that sick feeling in her stomach growing.
Shit.
She hated that she’d messed up.
“So, what did you get me for lunch?” Tommy asked, swaggering over to her.
“That part really wasn’t there? You went to the place I wrote down?”
“Course I did. I’m not fucking stupid. Don’t know how you fucked it up, but it’s not my fault. And I’ve lost an hour out of my day.”
“Right. Sorry.” She handed him the sub and he nodded his thanks.
That night, when she dragged herself into her loft apartment, she felt exhausted. She’d tried to stay late. Some of the guys were staying to finish up a job and it didn’t feel right to leave. But Razor had walked into the office around five and ordered her to go home.
Probably worried she’d fuck something else up. She couldn’t blame him for that.
Grabbing Snappy from her bed, she moved into the attached bathroom and ran a bath. She added her favorite bubbles. Yeah, they were kids bubbles and tutti-fruity-scented but she didn’t care.
She needed cheering up.
How had she messed up something so simple?
She stayed in the bath until her fingertips were wrinkly and the water was cool. Climbing out, she got ready for bed, pulling on her favorite soft pajamas. They had images of Scooby-Doo all over them.
She knew she should eat. But she was just too tired, and her stomach was still tied up in knots. As she fell back into bed, clasping Snappy close, her phone rang. Who the heck would that be?
Well, actually, there was only one person it was likely to be. She grimaced. Awesome.
Why now?
She didn’t have the strength to deal with him. The ringing ended, but then she saw he’d called her three times while she was in the bath. Shoot. If she didn’t answer him now, he was going to send someone around.
Or come himself.
Fuck it.
She answered it then put him on speaker.
“Hey, Jared.”
“Tabitha, why didn’t you answer your phone?” he snapped. “What’s wrong?”
“Sorry, I was in the bath. Nothing’s wrong.” She made sure she made her voice light and cheerful.
“You sound weird. Why do you sound like that? Is someone there? Are they threatening you?”
She closed her eyes. Christ. She was about to give him a coronary. As well as finding herself dragged back to his house.
“Jared, I’m fine. Promise. There’s no one here.”
“That’s what you’d say if someone was threatening you.”
“But they’re not. Here, I’ll switch to camera.” She turned the camera on, waving at him. “See? Fine.” She flipped it, showing him the empty room, before flipping it back. She studied her cousin. He was probably a handsome guy. If you were into tall, dark, and cold as ice.
He frowned at her.
“How are you?” she asked.
“Fine,” he said brusquely, as though he didn’t have time for niceties. He likely didn’t. She wondered what had happened to the boy who used to protect her.
“When are you coming home?”
She sighed. His house wasn’t her home. It wasn’t even his home. It was a place he sometimes slept. It was cold and uninviting and she hoped that she wouldn’t ever be going back there.
“I’m not.”
“Tabitha, this has gone on long enough, don’t you think? You need to come home where you’ll be safe.”
And smothered. Likely used as a pawn again. Jared wouldn’t mean to. He’d probably convince himself it was in her best interest. But no doubt, he’d arrange for her to marry someone else.
Not happening.
“I’m safe. Nobody knows I’m your cousin.” She crossed her fingers at that lie. “I’m careful.” Another lie. Whoa, she was going to be in trouble if he ever found out. “Nothing exciting happens in my life. I just sit around doing puzzles and watching bad TV.”
No way was she telling him about her job. Eventually, he’d find out. She was actually kind of shocked he didn’t have someone watching her. But if he did, then she figured she would have already caught hell for her early morning jogging. Not to mention her job.
There was another voice in the background. She couldn’t see the person or properly hear what they said but Jared frowned. “I have to go. Be careful. Call me if you need me.”
The call ended and she slumped back into bed. Not only was she messing up at her job, but she was lying to her cousin. A cousin who could
take away everything she had.
Unless she earned it herself. Unless she broke free.
And to do that, she really needed to keep this job.
Reaching for her turtle nightlight, she turned it on. It had stars and planets cut out of the shell, and when she turned off the main light, it was like she was outside under the sky. She hadn’t been able to sleep in the dark for years. Something that Luther had unfortunately discovered and tortured her with.
Why hit someone when you could gain their cooperation and misery by locking them up in the dark?
Of course, he’d actually enjoyed hitting her, so she guessed he didn’t care.
Put him out of your head.
She tossed and turned for what felt like hours. She’d fall into a light sleep, only to wake up gasping for breath and sweaty.
In the early hours of the morning, she gave up and got up. She’d go for a jog. It was the only way she’d found to clear her head. To give her a bit of peace.
Even if just for an hour.
Running was her stress relief, a way of easing all the restless energy she had. She pulled on her workout clothes. Then grabbing her pack that held her phone, pepper spray, and a stun gun, she set off. She’d started carrying her stun gun after that incident with Cat.
Immediately, she knew it was a bad idea. Her head thumped and her body didn’t want to move. Pausing, she leaned against the front of a building, trying to gather in some air. Crap.
The sound of footsteps approaching had her tensing. She reached into her pack and grabbed hold of her pepper spray.
“Hey there.”
She glanced up, relaxing slightly when she saw who it was. Not that she knew the guy who was jogging in place in front of her. But she’d seen him a few times. He had a short beard, and he always carried around a backpack and had a cap pulled down on his head.
Which she’d always thought a little odd. But maybe he just liked wearing caps.
“You okay?”
“Oh yeah, I’m fine.”
“Not to sound rude, but you don’t look okay. Have you got some water?”
“No. But I’m fine, really.” As much as this guy seemed okay, she still didn’t like standing around alone in the dark with him. A car approached, the lights shining bright in her eyes.
Great. That didn’t help her headache. She groaned.
“Here, have some of my water.”
A metal drink bottle was held out in front of her.
“Oh no, really, I’m fine.”
“I haven’t drunk anything out of it,” he reassured, pushing it towards her. She took hold of it because it seemed the polite thing to do, but didn’t open it.
She wasn’t silly enough to take a drink out of an unsealed bottle. “Really, I can’t. I’ve had a bit of a sore throat lately.”
“Should you be out jogging with a sore throat?” he asked sternly.
She flushed at the chiding tone. “Um, likely not.”
The man grunted but took the drink bottle back. “Probably why you had to stop. You should go home and rest. Take it easy.”
“I’m going to go do that. Thanks for stopping.” Just because he was a bit bossy didn’t mean she wasn’t appreciative.
“I better go. You can get home all right?”
“Yep. Thanks.”
“Oh, I’m Reynard, by the way.”
“Tabby.”
“Nice to meet you, Tabby. I’ll see you.”
She took off at a fast walk. Her throat was parched, but she knew she’d made the right choice not taking a sip of his water. He’d seemed nice, but then likely so did serial killers and rapists.
When she made it home, relief filled her. Now, she just had to find the energy to get to work.
She still felt exhausted when she pulled into work at seven-thirty. She didn’t even have the energy to drive around and wait until eight. At least some painkillers had taken care of her headache. The gates were shut, so she parked on the street. Maybe she’d just sit here for a moment and rest her eyes. The sound of a vehicle approaching made her sit up, watching as Razor pulled up to the gate in his truck and entered a code, making the electric gate slide open.
He climbed out of his truck then pointed at her and crooked a finger before pointing into the parking lot.
Right. Stop sitting around, Tabby. It’s weird.
Driving into one of the spaces that were meant for customers, she turned off her car. Suddenly, her door opened and Razor frowned down at her. A gorgeous-looking dog stood beside him, wagging her tail, whining eagerly.
He reached down to pat her head. “Easy, Luna.”
It shouldn’t be a turn-on, watching him pat his dog, hearing that note of affection in his voice. But it was. A guy that was good to his dog had to be a good guy, right?
Reaching into the car, he undid her seatbelt.
She froze. That was a surprisingly intimate gesture. Especially from someone who was usually very careful not to touch her. So careful, it was almost insulting.
“Come out, please.”
There was something stiff in his voice. Formal. Oh no, was he going to fire her? Because of one little mistake? But it was a mistake that had cost him valuable time, so could she really blame him?
But she desperately needed this job.
Climbing out of the car, she shut the door. His dog made a whining noise, looking like she wanted to pounce.
“Stay, Luna,” he said sternly.
“Gorgeous dog,” she told him nervously.
“Thanks. She spends some days here and some days with my neighbor or friends.”
She nodded. “I’m really sorry about yesterday. It won’t happen again. I’ll be extra careful next time.”
Lord, she wished she’d stopped for more caffeine this morning. Her brain felt all fogged up. This wasn’t going to help her concentrate on work today.
“Tabby, I’m not upset about what happened yesterday.”
“You’re not? You should be. I cost you valuable time. I’m meant to be helping, not making things harder for you.”
His lips twitched. “Are you wanting me to tell you off, kid?”
She clenched her jaw in irritation. Yeah, she was younger than him. In years. But not necessarily in life. She hadn’t been a kid for a long, long time. Not since her mom died.
“I’m not a kid,” she told him forcefully. Shit. She probably shouldn’t have said it like that. Luna whined and pushed her head against Tabby’s hand. Tabby patted her absentmindedly, taking comfort from the dog.
Boss. He’s your boss.
Razor pushed his sunglasses up onto the top of his head. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“No, I’m sorry. I’m just a bit out of sorts this morning.”
He shook his head. “You should tell me if there’s something you don’t like. I shouldn’t be calling you a kid when you’re not. I apologize.”
She stared at him, flabbergasted. When was the last time someone had apologized to her? When had a man had apologized to her? Even Jared hadn’t apologized for taking so long to get her away from Luther.
“Tabby? You okay?”
“Um, yeah. Sorry. I just, you don’t have to apologize. You’re the boss.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes. Or mean I can get away with anything I want.” He grinned, his white teeth gleaming. Wow, he had gorgeous teeth.
Tabby, Tabby, you have got it bad. His teeth, seriously?
Maybe she needed to think about dating. Or at least buying a vibrator.
But she’d have to wait until her first paycheck to get that. She wasn’t buying it on her cousin’s credit card.
Mind you, that could be kind of funny.
“Not saying it wouldn’t be nice to have that much power.” He winked at her and she felt her entire body sigh.
Lord, oh, Lord.
Help her.
“But if there’s something I or anyone here does that makes you feel uncomfortable or is out of line, I want you to tel
l me, hear? Should have made that clear before now.”
She thought about Tommy. But he wasn’t exactly out of line, was he? It was hard for her to judge. It wasn’t like he’d touched her.
“Like I told you, all of these guys have been in the system or they were in gangs. I’m trying to give them a way out. To earn money. But not all of them will stick with it. Any of them bother you, I want you to tell me. Hear me?”
He spoke in a firm voice, which she wasn’t used to from him.
“Okay.”
“Mean it, Tabby. I won’t be happy if you don’t. You’ve been warned.”
Why the heck did that send a shiver up her spine?
Two vibrators. Maybe she needed two. And a big box of batteries. Lube.
Sheesh, Tabby. Making up for the last few years of no sexual arousal, huh?
“You okay?”
“Um, yes, of course.”
He studied her intently. Oh God, she hadn’t said any of that out loud, had she? Mortification filled her and she could feel herself growing red.
“Should I ask why you’re blushing?”
“I think it would be best if you didn’t,” she replied primly.
He barked out a laugh that flooded her with happiness.
“All right then. I won’t ask.”
Thank the Lord for that much.
“What time is it, Tabby?”
Huh? She looked down at her watch. “Um, seven-forty-five.”
“What time do you start work?”
“Eight. But, I—”
“And what time did you work to last night?”
“Five, but—”
“And what did I say to you last night when you left?”
“That I should come in later this morning,” she said reluctantly. “But I wanted to stay late last night, it was the least I could do after I messed up.”
“Tabby, you made a small mistake. Not the end of the world. Everyone makes them and you’re just learning. You don’t owe me anything. I don’t want you coming early and leaving late, all right? I definitely don’t want you alone in this neighborhood, understand?”
“I would have waited in my car.”
“Not the point. Leave early this afternoon, understand?”
“Yes, sir,” she whispered before she could help herself.
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