Passion, Victoria 6: Hailey's Secret (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Becca Van

  Simone walked over and gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek. Hailey tried not to flinch as she shook hands with Griff and Sam. She looked back to Connor and asked him what he wanted done behind the bar.

  Hailey worked nonstop for the next two and a half hours. She was totally exhausted and so hungry she felt as if her stomach was cleaving to her spine. She looked up to see Connor watching her from the other end of the bar. He motioned toward her, so she made her way down to him.

  “Why don’t you go take a break, little lady? If you want something to eat, just go on in to the kitchen and get the cook to make you something. If you can, I’d like you to stay on until closing. One of the other bar attendants has called in sick,” Connor explained.

  “Sure, I can stay, but you don’t need to feed me,” Hailey said a little pithily, hoping he hadn’t seen her eying the food as it was being carried out from the kitchen to all the patrons.

  “Hey, don’t get your back up, Hailey. I just figured since I’ve asked you to stay so late, you could use something to eat to get you through the longer hours. It’s your choice,” Connor said.

  “I’m sorry for snapping, Connor. I guess I’m a bit tired and food does sound good,” Hailey apologized.

  “Then go get something and don’t come back until you’ve eaten,” Connor said with a smile, softening the command.

  “Thanks, Connor.” Hailey took off for the kitchen. Saliva was already pooling in her mouth.

  Hailey resumed her chores after she’d eaten a decent meal of vegetarian lasagna.

  Because she hadn’t eaten since early that morning, the food sat heavily in her stomach and made her feel even more tired. She ignored it, though, and kept up with the orders for the bar. The noise level in the club was escalating, giving her a headache as more and more people arrived. She looked up as movement caught her eye and stared at three large men with scowls on their faces. She backed away before she realized what she was doing and where she was, schooled her features into a polite mask and asked Chance, Dillon, and Roman what she could get for them.

  “Three beers, thanks, Hailey,” Chance ordered.

  Hailey pulled the beers from the tap and collected the money. She placed Chance’s change on the bar in front of him and gave a gasp as his large hand trapped hers between his and the bar.

  “We’re sorry we missed you at the motel, sugar. We have something of yours we wanted to return.” Chance scrutinized her face and she hoped she didn’t look as exhausted as she felt.

  Hailey finally got the courage to ask what of hers he had. “What?”

  “You left your cardigan at the café, baby,” Dillon said from beside Chance.

  “Oh, well you can bring it back here, if you come again,” Hailey said and tried to tug her hand out from beneath Chance’s.

  “Oh, there’s no doubt about that, sweetheart,” Roman grinned.

  Hailey pulled her hand from beneath Chance’s and worked her way along the bar filling orders. She gave a sigh of relief as she saw the three brothers heading toward a large table where the blond-haired woman, Nikki, was sitting with her three men as she talked to Simone.

  The night seemed to drag for Hailey. She was constantly aware of the Bartram brothers and felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle every time they looked her way. She continued to ignore them and gave a sigh of relief when the last call for drinks was given. It was 2:30 a.m. and Hailey knew if she stopped, she would fall asleep where she stood. She watched as the crowd left in dribs and drabs and started piling dirty glasses into the dishwashers beneath the bench on the other side of the bar.

  “Hailey, thanks so much for staying so long, I really appreciated the help. You worked like a real trooper. Why don’t you head on home, honey? I’ll get Sam and Griff to help me finish up,” Connor said.

  “If you’re sure,” Hailey replied hesitantly.

  “Yes, I am. Go on home and crawl into bed.”

  “Thanks, Connor.” Hailey grabbed her purse and keys from beneath the bar and headed to the doors.

  “Hailey, wait. Let Griff walk you out to your car.”

  “I’ll be fine, but thanks.”

  “That wasn’t a question, Hailey. We walk all our female employees out. We like to look out for the women of this town.”

  “Come on, Hailey.” Griff opened the door for her.

  Hailey followed Griffith out the doors and was actually thankful for their security measures. She felt safe as Griff waited next to her car, until she was in safe and sound inside it with her engine running. She gave a wave and she headed home.

  Hailey was inside her bungalow with the door bolted behind her in no time. She stripped out of her clothes, donned her large sleeping shirt and crawled into bed. She was asleep thirty seconds later.

  * * * *

  Roman, Dillon and Chance heard the gate to the backyard shut, then the door to the bungalow close through the open kitchen window.

  “Guess she was out partying till all hours,” Roman said as he turned from the window. “I couldn’t see her, though she must be young, and she’s not very tall. I could just make out a moving shadow. I think we should put a light outside her door so she’s not coming home in the dark. I know if that was my sister, I’d be worried about her.”

  “Yeah, we’ll do it first thing tomorrow. Then I want to go looking at some farmhouses. Apparently a couple of houses have been sitting empty for a while. They were foreclosed by the banks. The drought was tough on a lot of people and now there are the floods to contend with. I’m just glad this area isn’t prone to flooding. It was a hell of a mess we had to help clean up in Queensland. It’s going to take a long time and a lot of work before a few of those towns are back up and running, and just when they thought it was all over they’re hit by a cyclone,” Dillon sighed.

  Roman and his brothers sat at their kitchen table talking quietly about the weather extremes and damage as they sipped their coffee. The cups were loaded into the dishwasher and Roman was about to close the kitchen window when he heard a noise. He gave his brothers a hand signal and they all stood quietly, listening intently. They heard it again. It sounded like a loud whimper, which quickly escalated into a bloodcurdling scream. Roman knew that scream, they’d heard it the night before.

  “Hailey.” Chance took off running, Roman and Dillon on his heels. He followed the noise until he stood at the door to the bungalow. Roman wanted to kick the door in and make sure she was all right. He lifted his leg ready to kick out, but Chance stopped him with a hand to the thigh.

  “She could be hurt,” Roman whispered, not wanting to alert anyone they were close by.

  “No, she’s dreaming again. Listen. What do you hear?” Chance asked.

  “Hailey, whimpering and screaming.”

  “And?” Dillon asked.

  “Just Hailey. No one else. Okay, she’s dreaming, but she shouldn’t have to go through that by herself,” Roman explained. He wanted to go in there and hold her in his arms. He hated that she was scared and contending with constant nightmares.

  Dillon signaled his brothers to move back inside their own rental. After closing the back door and the kitchen window, he and his siblings adjourned to the living room, making themselves comfortable on the sofa and chairs.

  “I agree she shouldn’t have to go through her nightmares alone, but look what happened last time. She bolted. She doesn’t want any help. I think she was embarrassed she woke us up last night with her screaming. I don’t want her running again. I want her to feel safe. We need to give her time before we go prying into her life. She’s not going to open up to us if she isn’t given time to become used to us. Just be thankful for now that we know where she is and we can keep an eye on her, make sure she’s safe,” Dillon said.

  “I don’t like her working at the club. Did you see all those men ogling her?” Roman asked with a scowl.

  “Yeah, I did. She is so naive, she was totally unaware of the men around her.” Chance sipped from his mug.

&nb
sp; “No, not all of them,” Dillon said with a smirk. “I caught her eying us from the corner of her eye a few times.”

  “Well, that’s a good sign.” Chance grinned as he stood. “Yeah, I know. One step at a time. I’m heading to bed, ’night.”

  Roman followed his brothers down the hall toward the bedrooms. He was in bed dozing minutes later and dreaming about holding Hailey in his arms.

  Chapter Four

  Hailey woke up and did a load of wash, then hung it out to dry. She opened a small tin of tuna and ate it straight out of the can for breakfast. She was thankful Connor had let her eat at the club last night, otherwise she would have been in real trouble. She was lucky enough to have had two meals yesterday and hoped her hours ended up being just as long tonight, then hopefully she would get another free meal. There was only a small can of baked beans and another small can of tuna left in the cupboard. Neither of the cans was big enough to appease her hunger. She’d found out from one of the female waiters that payday wasn’t for another five days. She had no idea what she was going to do.

  Hailey spent the rest of the day watching TV. With no money and nowhere else to go, there wasn’t much else she could do. She slept poorly again that night. She had woken herself up screaming and had ended up sobbing for over an hour. She hoped like hell whoever lived in the house hadn’t heard her. She couldn’t go on like this for much longer. She knew she was on the verge of collapse now and prayed to God she could make it through the week so she could get some money.

  Hailey turned up for her shift at the club and immediately got to work. She saw Conner eying her from afar as she worked one end of the bar, and he the other. He came close to her as he grabbed a bottle of spirits and gave her a quick once over.

  “Hailey, are you all right? You don’t look well,” Connor asked.

  “I’m fine, thanks, Connor. Just had trouble sleeping.” Hailey gave him a tight smile.

  “Okay, if you say so. Don’t be afraid to tell me if you’re coming down with something though. I’m not a slave driver and I don’t want you spreading germs to my customers and staff.”

  “I promise, I’m fine, just lack of sleep,” Hailey reiterated and got back to work.

  Hailey only worked five hours that night. She was thankful because she was so tired, but she also needed food more than sleep. She gave a wave to Connor as one of the bouncers walked her out to her car. He introduced himself as he walked by her side.

  “Hi, Hailey, I’m Matt. Just give me a yell if I’m around and I’ll walk you to your car. It’s too dangerous for a woman to be walking out alone at nighttime.”

  “Thanks, Matt, I appreciate it.”

  “No problem, you drive safe now,” Matt waved her off.

  Hailey felt disappointed she hadn’t seen Dillon, Chance, and Roman at the club that night. She gave a tired sigh as she parked her car in the side street by the back gate, got out, locked her car and went inside. She fell into a restless sleep within minutes.

  She could feel eyes watching her as she lay on her bed, too afraid to move or open her eyes. She felt movement and knew he was moving closer. She tried to keep her breathing even and deep, hoping he would leave if he believed she was still asleep. She felt the mattress dip as he sat down beside her. She was so scared. She knew he had been watching and waiting for an opportunity to get her alone. His parents were out for the night celebrating their wedding anniversary.

  They had adopted her when she was ten years old and she had thought for the first time in her life she would feel loved. Instead she had been used as a maid. She went to school every day, but when she got home her chores started and didn’t finish until she was told to go to bed. She always ended up doing her homework beneath her bed covers by torch light.

  She had turned nineteen six months ago. She was waiting for an opportunity to leave but didn’t want to be thought of as ungrateful, since they had put a roof over her head, clothes on her back, and food in her stomach. It didn’t matter to her that she worked for everything they gave her. She was just grateful she was no longer living in that horrible orphanage.

  She felt his sweaty hand push the hair back from her face and gave a moan as she turned over, hoping he would be alarmed at waking her and leave. It didn’t seem to bother him though. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back over onto her back, covered her mouth with his hand and ripped her nightgown from her body. She cried out but the sound was muffled beneath his hand. She struggled and slapped at him trying to get free. He released her mouth, grabbed hold of her hands, pulled them up above her head and held them securely to the mattress with one large hand. She screamed out before he could cover her mouth again. “No,” she screamed as she jerked.

  Hailey sobbed as she relived that horrible night two years ago. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she curled herself into a ball, trying to get warm. She was so cold, tired and hungry. She wanted to give up, but didn’t want to give that monster the satisfaction. She would fight for every day of freedom she had, moving from one place to the next, until she had to move again.

  She had no idea how he always found her but he always seemed to manage to track her down. At first she’d thought he was somehow tracking her through the GPS on her mobile phone and had pulled it apart and dumped it. Hailey hadn’t even bothered to get another one.

  She’d wanted to change her name but that took money and that was something she didn’t have. The only other explanation she could come up with was her car registration. He had to know or was paying someone cash to give out her information. Even though she hadn’t changed her address since she’d left over two years ago, she still paid the fee every year. It wouldn’t be hard for someone to look up and see where the payment had originated from. And for all she knew, that person could be tracking her movements through CCTV cameras. A lot of towns had them in their city centers as deterrents to youths getting up to no good. Hailey pushed her thoughts aside. She was just too damn weary to think logically anymore. She knew it was dangerous to stay curled up on the bed but she had no energy to move. If she fell asleep and ended up dreaming again, there was nothing she could do about it.

  By the time she had to get ready for work, Hailey felt as if her whole body was aching. She was beyond exhausted but she needed to work to get money. After a quick shower and changing into clean clothes, Hailey headed out to her car.

  She arrived and started work at her usual time of 8:00 p.m. She was the only one behind the bar at the moment as Connor had taken the night off and the other attendant was on a break. She began to feel a little frazzled as exhaustion and lack of food weighed her down. She turned quickly and clutched the edge of the bar as she was swamped with dizziness. It passed quickly, so she kept going as she filled drink orders. The other attendant arrived back behind the bar and began to help, so Hailey made her way back to her end of the bar. She served quickly and efficiently, not stopping until everyone had their orders. She looked up as three more people approached the bar, and looked into the eyes of Dillon as he spoke to her, his brothers on either side of him.

  She could see his mouth moving but frowned because she couldn’t understand a word he said over the loud buzzing in her ears. She felt what little blood she had in her head and face drain away, then she slowly sank down into the depths of the darkness coming up to swallow her whole.

  Hailey had no idea how long she had been out of it, but when she woke it was to see Connor, Dillon, Chance, and Roman standing and kneeling around her supine figure, as she lay reclined on the sofa in Connor’s office. She felt her cheeks flush and made to sit up.

  “No. Don’t you dare move, sweet thing. Connor’s called for a doctor to come and check you over. I don’t want you passing out again,” Chance said.

  “I’m fine. I’m just a bit tired,” Hailey replied.

  “I don’t care, Hailey. You’re not to move until the doctor gives you the okay,” Connor stated in a steely voice.

  “Connor, Doc’s here,” a voice yelled through the door, jus
t before the door opened.

  Hailey tried to sit up again, but a firm hand on her shoulder prevented it. An elderly man walked in, took in the scene, then asked the men to leave the room.

  She sighed with relief and sat up. Thank God, none of them had insisted they stay while the doctor examined her.

  “All right now, young lady, I’m Doctor Cliff Wright, I hear you’re not feeling very well, so I’ll give you the once over.” Dr. Wright got some equipment out of his medical bag.

  “I know what’s wrong with me Dr. Wright. I’m not really sick,” Hailey said as she looked up into the elderly doctor’s kind eyes.

  “Now, you just lie back and relax, young lady. Let me do my job,” Dr. Wright ordered. “And call me Doc, everybody does.”

  “Okay, thanks, Doc.”

  Doc checked Hailey over, asked her a few questions and looked at her over the top his eyeglasses with the sternness of a father. “You are to take a week off work. I want you eating three regular meals a day and sleeping in between. If you don’t start looking after yourself, young lady, you’re going to end up in hospital.”

  “Okay, thanks, Doc. Um, is it all right if I pa…”

  “By the way, don’t worry about me sending you a bill, Connor already took care of it since you were on his property,” Doc stated over his shoulder as he made for the door. He opened it and left without a backward glance, closing the door quietly behind him. Hailey slumped down on the sofa, closed her eyes and hoped like hell she could keep going. There was no way she was taking any time off. Not when she’d just started working and had to have money to buy some food. She didn’t have any other choice.

  * * * *

  “What’s wrong with her, Doc?” Connor asked with concern.

  “Now, you know I can’t tell you that, young man, there is such a thing as patient confidentiality. You owe me one hundred dollars for the call out, Connor. You can put it on my bar tab. Feed the girl before you send her home and give her two weeks’ pay upfront.” Doc winked and waved as he walked off.