Asa

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“I’ve always taken any shortcut I could find. When I didn’t get shit handed to me, I took it because I thought I was entitled to it. I can’t do that with you. Not after everything you’ve done for me, Rome. If I ever get in a place where I can legitimately buy my way into a partnership with you, and the offer is still there I’ll jump on board. Until then, you just let me know if you need help with anything. I can be your go-to guy.”

“You’ve been that since the first day you started work here.”

I cleared my throat as heavy gratitude pressed in on me from all directions. “Thanks for trusting me enough to even consider getting into some kind of business with me.”

He grunted and we both left the office. “You’ve never given me a reason not to trust you. I know there was ugly shit before, but that doesn’t have anything to do with now. I’ve had to learn to leave the past where it belongs or it really fucks up the good stuff happening in the here and now.”

We were both pretty solemn as we walked back into the front of the Bar. Brite was gone and Dixie was standing behind the bar watching Dash, who insisted we all just call him Church like Rome did, as he walked around straightening tables. Rome gave the cocktail waitress a one-armed hug and stuck his head in the kitchen to let Darcy know he was leaving. He also gave Church a fist bump as the other dark-skinned ex-military man walked up to the bar and then looked at me with lifted eyebrows as he turned to go. “Lemme know if you change your mind, Opie.”

“Will do.” The nickname was ridiculous. I was so far from being the innocent southern kid in overalls at the water hole it was laughable, but a drunk kid had once lobbed the name as an insult, and not surprisingly it stuck.

Since it was a Saturday night I ran through what we were looking at business-wise for the night and told both Dixie and Church that Rome wanted to look for some more staff. I told them if they had any recommendations to send them my way and then went into the kitchen to make sure Avett had at least showed up for her shift. She was standing by the big walk-in cooler and Darcy was in front of her.

The older woman had her daughter’s chin in her hand and was screaming at her, “I know goddamn well you did not trip and fall and give yourself that black eye, Avett.”

Avett’s gaze darted anywhere but at her infuriated mother and landed on me. I saw her bottom lip tremble and I frowned at her over the top of Darcy’s head.

“If he’s putting marks on you that other people can see, it’s only gonna get worse. Not only does that mean he doesn’t give a shit about you, it means he doesn’t give a shit that you actually have people that might not want to see you hurt. That’s dangerous. You should cut ties and run like a rabbit with its tail on fire.”

Avett’s swirly eyes narrowed at me and she jerked away from her mom. “You don’t know anything. Neither one of you do. Jared was drunk. It was an accident. Leave me alone or I’ll walk out and you won’t have anyone to work the busiest night of the week.”

She was shaking and I knew she didn’t believe her own words. I could see it as she bit the inside of her cheek. You had to be able to lie to yourself before you could lie expertly to other people. Avett wasn’t quite there yet, and maybe there was time to stop her before she got there. I was done playing babysitter; it was time to let the bad guy out and maybe he could get results where coddling this troubled girl had failed.

I told her flatly, “You walk out, you aren’t walking back in. I’m done playing your spoiled-brat games. You don’t wanna be here, well, guess what, I really fucking don’t want you here either, but I owe your dad and your mom is a good lady, so I endure working with you. This”—I waved a hand around the kitchen to encompass the dramatic scene I had interrupted—“is the threshold for my bullshit tolerance.” I made sure I looked at Darcy so she could see how dead serious I was before I walked back out of the kitchen.

It was a busy Saturday night even without a band, but all the patrons seemed to be on their best behavior. There was one little squabble among some girls, but as soon as they saw Church making his way over to where they were causing a ruckus, they quieted down and went immediately into flirt mode. I stayed busy until midnight, when a scraggly-looking dude walked in looking strung out and shifty. I had the sinking suspicion he was here for Avett. He totally looked like the kind of scumbag that had no issue hitting women or asking them to steal from work.

He stayed just inside the front door and was twitchy enough that Church hovered close by. I was getting ready to round the bar and ask him what his deal was when Avett came barreling out of the kitchen and rushed to the guy’s side. He scowled at her and shrugged her off, all while hauling her body out the front door. I saw Church’s eyebrows snap down in a fierce V, and without me saying anything, he followed the young couple into the parking lot. At least we could stop the idiot from pounding on her while she was at work. I made a mental note to mention something to Brite. He was the baddest of the bad and anything he would have to say to his daughter’s loser boyfriend would be far more effective and terrifying than anything I came up with.

“Can I have another lemon drop, please?”

My attention shifted back to the smiling lady that had been sitting at the bar since ten. She was a tad bit older, probably in her midforties, but she was a looker. I wasn’t sure how much was natural versus how much was man-made, but she had an amazing face and sleek blond hair, and a look in her dark eyes that let me know she would like me to serve her more than a martini. I thought it was funny since she was with a guy that looked younger than me and he was bending over backward to keep not only her attention but her obvious wealth focused on him. He was glaring at me every time she tried to engage me in conversation, so of course I had played it up all night.

I smiled back, made sure to flex when I shook her drink, and kissed the back of her fingers when she handed me a twenty for a tip. I laughed under my breath when the guy turned beet red and looked like he was going to explode. She was a classy-looking chick, but I wasn’t into being man-candy, so I took her money and fucked with her boy toy for my own amusement. They weren’t our normal type of customer and I wondered where in the world they had wandered in from. I was going to ask but got distracted by a blown keg I needed to change and by a couple that thought they could walk out on Dixie without paying their tab.

I was tired by the time the bar was shut down and Church was getting ready to walk Dixie to her car. They asked if I wanted them to wait for me but I needed a minute to decompress. I had so much stuff floating around in my head: Rome’s offer, Avett’s crappy boyfriend, where my life really was going, and of course Royal. I hadn’t seen her since the hospital, but she was back at work now, so maybe that was enough to have her acting right instead of acting out. I didn’t want her to be all tangled up in my mind and my confusion, but when I closed my eyes to go to bed at night, I still tasted her winter-cold lips against my own.

It was after three by the time I hit the lights and locked everything up. I drank a couple fingers of scotch while listening to the Raconteurs on the digital jukebox before hitting the back door, then I shrugged into my coat for the walk home. I was lucky it was close because I really didn’t love Colorado winter weather. How February managed to be so much colder than either December or January still amazed my inherently southern bones. With my hands in my pockets I put my head down against the bitter wind and started across the parking lot. A soft feminine voice dropping really ugly swearwords brought me up short.