Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
I’m due to receive a shipment of guns with River this morning, and I doubt Little Miss Sunshine would be able to swallow that harsh reality.
I thought I was done with Cinita six months ago, but she somehow keeps pulling me back in. On the other hand, this woman couldn’t get rid of me soon enough.
But I have other things in mind for her.
CHAPTER 13
Lena
Another four thousand dollars in cash. Shit, maybe I should get my head injured more often. But right now, all I can think is the money cannot possibly be worth this shit. I’m furiously wiping down the bar from spills, trying my hardest to ignore a set of blazing green eyes aimed in my direction. The whisky he ordered over an hour ago has barely been touched. He looks out of place here. He’s in his usual all black and looks way too expensive to be in this run-down bar.
“Lena, who’s the tall, broody, handsome hunk looking your way?” Kara, one of the women I work with, asks.
At this point, it’s too hard and awkward to deny we don’t know each other, because I’m pretty certain if I get Mal, the bouncer, to ask him to leave, he’ll be the one who leaves on a stretcher. And Mal is as big as they come and twice the width of Alek, yet I’m certain Alek would definitely come out on top.
“He’s one of the sponsors of the theater company I sing for,” I say dismissively. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror behind the bar, admiring the red headband I had to wear today to hide the bandage on my forehead.
“Is he stalking you?” Kara asks. “If stalkers look like that, then sign me up.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” I say under my breath, not loud enough for her to hear. And I’m sure as hell not announcing that I was in his bed this morning. Or that I crashed his very expensive car the evening before.
Besides, it’s not me he’s obsessed with. It’s Cinita. So why the fuck is he here?
“Hey, bartender, another one.” One of the patrons snaps his fingers at me.
I tuck the bar towel into the back of my tight jeans and snap my fingers in front of his face. “Do this again, and I’ll cut you off.”
He seems taken aback but doesn’t say anything as I grab his empty glass and pour another beer for him. I can’t help but look up as I wait for the pint to pour. Alek’s green eyes are locked on me.
I huff out a breath of irritation. Why is he here?
Is it because I refuse to quit? Not that he has any say in what I do and don’t do. Sure, it doesn’t pay much, but it never hurts to have a fallback plan in case something happens.
“Like the new belly ring, girl,” Kara says as she comes up beside me to pour a beer for another customer.
I look down past my crop top and to my stomach, almost forgetting that I’d changed it a few days ago. It has a cute little emerald in it. My only splurge for the month.
“Thank you,” I say, finding something small to appreciate for the day.
“Matches your new boyfriend’s eyes, doesn’t it?”
I turn the tap off and grit out, “He’s not my boyfriend.”
I turn back to the customer and hand him his pint. He puts down cash and includes a generous tip. Good.
I put the money for the drink in the till and the tip in the tip jar. Popping my hand on my hip, I face Alek, who’s still staring.
“Kara, I’ll be two secs,” I tell her. It’s a quiet night, so I can slip out for a moment. I approach Alek and glare at him.
“Most people don’t flirt with their whiskey and actually drink it.” I mean, he did purchase the most expensive whisky in here and gave me a two-hundred-dollar tip. The least he can do is actually drink it.
“You should stop wearing things like that.” He motions to my shirt.
My eyebrows shoot up, and I stare at him in disbelief. “Like a crop top?” Are you fucking kidding me? “Please don’t tell me you came all this way to tell me how to dress.”
He says nothing.
Oh my god, this asshole.
“Cinita isn’t coming here. She never has and never will. She doesn’t even know I work this job because she didn’t exactly stay around long enough to find out.”
“I’m not here for Cinita.”
“Then what are you here for, Alek?”
His jaw clenches, and he focuses on his glass as he swivels it in one spot.
I throw my hands in the air. I’m done with this conversation. When I turn to walk away, he speaks again.
“I wanted to make sure you hadn’t died. That’s all.”