Summer Storm (Broken Circles Book 1), page 17
Laughing abruptly, I winced at the shot of pain slicing down the back of my neck. “No way. Bill’s won’t listen to me.”
“Oh, he will. You see, if I don’t get to come back, bitch, I’m gonna come looking for you and I’ll be doing more than smashing that ugly face of yours against a wall. A smack to your head is gonna be the least of your worries, you hear me?”
“Come on, CeeCee,” I moaned, a nauseating churn turning over in my stomach. “Bill doesn’t work like that. You know it.”
“Maybe if you give up that prissy little pussy of yours, he’d be more inclined to listen.”
One of the women behind her laughed and the dinner I’d eaten an hour ago made a valiant effort to come back up again. “I’m not going to fuck anyone for your job, for Christ’s sake.”
A hard slap to my cheek threw black around the edges of my vision, the hit most likely bruising. It was so hard.
“I think you will. You got ‘til Sunday. If I don’t get a call from Bill, then your bestie Carol will stand and watch your sorry arse burn instead of dear old mum’s.”
Sucking in a gasp, I glared at her, unprepared for the sucker punch she delivered right to my gut. Doubling over in pain, I didn’t notice they’d taken off until I righted myself again. In agony, I ended up sitting on my arse and leaning back against the wall she’d bashed my skull into.
Fuck, I was bleeding, a wet trickle down my neck feeling warm. Touching my hand to my head, I winced when I pulled it back and saw my fingers streaked red. And bloody hell, my face was on fire, that stupid cow knew how to punch.
Was she right in the head? I couldn’t get her job back. No way was I sleeping with Bill, especially not for her, in fact, not for anything. CeeCee was stark raving mad if she thought I was going to plead for her employment, she’d deserved to be let go, and not just for doing what she had in the hallway. With little doubt she’d carry out her promise, I had until Sunday to figure something out that didn’t involve grassing to my boss and making the matter worse.
Giving myself ten minutes to get my heart rate back to normal and to compose myself the best I could, I thought about blowing off work entirely and just going home. It wasn’t really an option after having two weeks off earlier, and I was closer to work than I was to home, so Caulder’s made more sense. Christ, the silly woman had no idea what she’d done. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t keep this from Bill, which guaranteed Yannick would find out.
Having not a single vindictive bone in my body, I thought about lying and telling Bill some random had jumped me on the way in. But then if I didn’t tell the truth, Sunday would roll around, and she’d possibly make good on her threat, there was no reason to believe she wouldn’t carry it out. CeeCee had talked a good game up the alleyway, she’d also shown she could carry through if that was her intent.
There was very little to my life, I had few aspirations or goals, no one close enough they’d miss me, except maybe Carol, but I liked what I had, and I enjoyed breathing.
Standing and steadying myself against the wall with one hand, I dragged the bands out of my ruined hair with the other, shaking out the buns. Leaving it down, I hoped it was enough to disguise at least some of the damage on my cheek where I could tell a bruise was rapidly forming. I’d have to wash out the blood in my hair, but if I could just get to work and sneak in before anyone noticed, then all would be good.
What an idiot. I hung my head and dared to take in a few sharp breaths while I furiously wiped at the tears I couldn’t stop. CeeCee had got the jump on me, the severity of the assault finally catching up, my adrenalin waning. I was scared, had been scared, because CeeCee was an unknown, and unpredictable women were usually women you stayed far away from.
Shoving off the wall, I grabbed up my bag and sluggishly made my way to the bar, arriving sooner than I was ready. I wasn’t as early as I’d intended to be and just hoped I could get in the door and down to the bathroom before anyone saw me. The back corridor was dim, and I thought I’d got lucky, until a firm hand grasped my upper arm and hauled me around.
“Bill!” I gasped, surprised for the second time that evening.
“Is that blood running down the back of your neck?” he asked in horror.
“What? No,” I retorted immediately, squirming out of his hold.
Bill whirled me around again, his warm hand gentle on my shoulder. “Jolie, there’s blood down the back of your jacket. What the hell?”
With little chance to answer, he propelled me carefully toward his office, throwing the door wide and prompting me inside. He hit the light switch, and the brightness hurt my eyes so much I groaned and cursed, wobbling on my feet. Bill pushed a chair behind me and made me sit, then stood in front with his hands on his hips looking madder than a hatter. “What happened?”
“Nothing. Lost my balance is all.”
He waved a hand in front of his cheek. “And this? I see goddamn fingerprints, Jolie.”
I sat there and blinked up at him before bursting into tears, an ugly sob escaping as I wrapped my arms around my middle, fighting the onslaught about to overwhelm me. Sickness surged, and I wrenched forward, vomiting onto his pristine shoes.
“Shit.” Bill hunched over me a second later, rubbing his hand up and down my back. “Hey, Jolie. It’s all right. We’ll get cleaned up and sort this out, whatever it is.” He stuffed a handkerchief into my hand, which I used to dab at my mouth, the foul remnants of puke tasting disgusting.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop, no need. Get up off the chair and come sit on the sofa, you’ll be comfier there. I’ll grab you some water and see if Carol’s on the rota.”
Before leaving the room, he threw a bar towel over the puddle of mess I’d made on his floor which made me feel ten times worse. Not a moment later, he was back with two chilled bottles of water and more towels. Handing one to me, he cracked the lid on the other.
“Drink, don’t gulp.”
Tilting forward, I didn’t argue, desperately wanting to freshen my mouth. I let the tears fall while Bill parted the hair at the back of my head and patted a damp towel there.
“Doesn’t need stitches, I don’t think. The head bleeds a lot, always looks worse than it is. Here, hold that firmly against your head.”
I took over while my boss got down on his hands and knees and cleaned up what my stomach had unceremoniously expelled.
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
Bill wouldn’t hear of it. “Yeah, not happening, Jolie.” My head ached worse than it did ten minutes ago, my neck feeling stiff, and I was feeling sick again. “You need the lights down?”
“Please.” It wasn’t really any better, but I appreciated the dull light in the room. All I wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep, a terrible idea, considering the blow to the head.
“I should take you to the hospital.”
“I’ll be fine,” I insisted. “Just give me ten minutes, please?”
Once Bill had finished cleaning the floor, he shoved the obscene towels into a black bag and threw it out into the hallway, shutting the door again and coming back to where I was to take over with the towel at my head.
“So, who jumped you? I can guess but I’d rather hear it from you.”
Well, there was no point in lying as it was clear someone had swung at me. “CeeCee.”
“Thought as much,” he hummed.
“She wants her job back.”
“And she decided knocking you around was the answer? Yeah, not likely, I should never have hired her in the first place.”
“You need to stop thinking with your dick, Bill.” I laughed, wincing again when my head pounded.
“I do.” He plopped down on the sofa next to me. “Jolie, I like you, you’re a good girl. My staff like you, the punters like you but what I don’t like is someone trying to intimidate you. Mr Ischmov is going to go ballistic when he finds out. You understand I need to tell him? This is his bar, an ex-employee assaulted you and technically you’re as much his employee as I am.”
“Thought you might say that.”
“You’re a clever girl, you know how this goes.”
“I don’t want her getting into trouble.”
“Well, I think that’s a choice she made all by herself, silly woman. Mr Ischmov will be here any time, you can tell him exactly what happened.”
“You called him?”
“He’ll sort this out, you’ll see.”
I groaned and leaned back on the sofa, closing my eyes. “He said he was a wicked man,” I grumbled, sounding all of ten years old.
“Yes, he is. But, Jolie, he’s a worthy man too and I think he wants to step out of those dark shadows he’s lived in for too long. I don’t know his story intimately, I’ve heard many, many things that may or may not be true. All I know is he’s a man with integrity and hides his kind heart because he has to. Understand?”
“I can’t have him hurting CeeCee because of me.”
“Good luck getting him to see sense there. He won’t be happy seeing you in this state.”
“No. I’m not!” The man in question boomed from the doorway to Bill’s office. “What the fuck, Jolie?”
Guess it was my turn to do the explaining.
Yannick
One look at Jolie’s washed out features, the reddened marks on her face in the shape of a handprint, and I was about ready to murder someone. This beautiful soul didn’t deserve to be marked in such a way, especially in anger. I was as livid as the bruise coming out on her cheek.
“Thanks, Bill,” I said, effectively dismissing him. If I sounded cold and ungrateful, I didn’t much care. I needed to be alone with Jolie.
He rose from the couch, handing a blood soiled towel to her and joined me at the door. “You need anything, text me. Carol’s on a night off but she’s willing to come in and take her home. I think she might be concussed.”
I could smell the fresh scent of vomit and taking a quick glance around the room, I noted the wet patch in the middle of the floor.
“I’ll take her home, tell Carol thanks. I won’t leave her on her own.” Bill left, closing the door firmly behind him. Crossing the room, I crouched in front of Jolie and frowned again at the bruise. “Where else did you get hit?”
“My stomach,” she moaned, her eyes still closed.
“Can I take a look?”
“Sure.” Jolie let her arms relax at her side as I lifted her thin t-shirt. Biting down hard on my lip, rage bubbled inside at seeing yet more damage to this woman who wouldn’t hurt a fly in her wildest dreams.
“A trip to the hospital would be best, Jolie, so they can check you out properly. Just to be on the safe side.”
“No. Please. I just want to go home and get in a bath then maybe sleep a little. I’m okay, I swear. Ten minutes and I’ll be out of your hair.”
Reaching up, I gently wiped along her brow line, swiping away errant strands of hair falling into her bloodshot eyes. “You’re not in my hair. Ten minutes, then I’ll take you home, stay with you until the morning at least, if you won’t let a doctor check you out.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know. I want to, so no arguing.” Jolie smiled then, a small thing that I loved to see, knowing it would have taken some effort. “You shouldn’t be on your own. Stay put for a second.”
I was sure she was in no fit state to go anywhere anyway and I left her to go see what Bill had to say; the man pacing outside the office door, as agitated as I was.
“CeeCee did this? The server you let go?”
“Yes,” he spat, disgusted. “Got it in her head it’s Jolie’s fault.”
“Christ. Okay, I’ll take her home. Call over to one of the other clubs and tell them I asked for a clean server to come to Caulder’s, bonus involved for their inconvenience. Have them stay the weekend to cover Jolie’s shifts.”
He nodded then looked at me gravely. “You’re going to sort this, right? Jolie’s a kind woman and the shit that cow pulled is bang out of order,” he said, pointing to the door.
“Yeah, Bill. I am, trust me.”
“Good. She doesn’t deserve this. I can’t have my staff beat up because one jealous bitch has a chip on her shoulder.”
“I’ll call Andrey.”
Bill laughed. “He would put the fear of God into anyone.”
“That’s the intention.” Andrey could be a lot more persuasive than me in a calmer fashion. Without a cigar cutter. Besides, he’d go at her without my explosive anger. If I got hold of the woman, I’d likely not hold back, and I was trying real hard to turn over a new leaf. “I’m fucking furious, Bill.”
“Take her home, tell her not to worry about anything because I know she’s going to freak out. Full pay obviously.”
I shot off a text to Andrey with Jolie’s address, asking him to meet me there, then went back into the office to gather up Jolie and take her home. I wasn’t a nurturing guy by nature, didn’t have much of a caring side to me, yet the urge to look after this woman was too fierce to ignore. I wanted to clean her up, put her to bed, keep her safe and protect her in a way I’d never been inclined to with anyone else since I’d found Greg on the side of the road.
“Come on, darling. I’m your chaperone for the night.” She groaned, the poor woman wiped out.
Lifting her bag from the floor, I hooked it over my shoulder then gently scooped Jolie from the sofa without a word of protest from her. Light as a feather to carry, she fit perfectly against my chest, but I’d already known that. Jolie huddled in, her arms around my neck and I couldn’t help the small smirk of satisfaction I felt at how comfortable she made herself. After a bit of juggling, careful not to jolt Jolie, I had my keys in hand, a woman in my arms and was striding out the side door of Caulder’s.
Jolie said nothing, the side of her head lolling against the passenger seat as I drove her home, happy to see Andrey’s car already idling at the kerb outside her block of flats.
“Be upstairs in a minute, just need to give Andrey the keys.” Rummaging around in her bag uninvited, the keys were easy to find, the ring full of tokens and cute things, inherently Jolie. I slipped from the car and joined Andrey on the pavement, handing him the keys.
“CeeCee jumped her on the way to work.”
Andrey sucked in a breath and muttered, “Stupid woman.”
“If I go looking for her, the end result won’t be good.”
“Consider it done. I can put the fear of God in her so she won’t go near Bunny again.”
“Thanks.”
He tipped his head and went to open the doors.
Inside the flat, I took Jolie straight to her bedroom, placing her carefully in the middle of her bed, untying her trainers and dropping them to the floor. Jolie curled on her side in a ball so off I went in search of supplies. I needed to get her cleaned up; the blood distressing me.
“She don’t need the hospital?” Andrey asked.
“I’ll stay with her. If I think she needs someone, I’ll call.”
“She took a bash to the head?”
“To the face and stomach too,” I seethed while I filled a basin full of hot water at the kitchen sink.
“You like this woman,” he pointed out
My guys knew me well and Andrey’s statement was just that, he wanted the confirmation straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. “Yes. What’s not to like?”
“True. She’s a pretty thing.”
“Inside and out.”
He smirked at me. “You’ve not had one of those in a long time.”
“Try forever.”
Clapping his hand to my shoulder, something he’d never done before, he handed over two towels he’d grabbed from God knew where. “I’ll sort it, no problem. Just take care of Bunny.”
“What was the stupid bitch thinking?” I tugged off my jacket and threw it on the floor, then rolled up my sleeves to test the temperature of the water. “That club belongs to me, surely she knows I wouldn’t find this anything but disgusting and unacceptable.”
“Probably wasn’t thinking at all. Could she have figured out the connection between the two of you? It’s not like you’re advertising you have a thing for her, and I doubt Bunny’s the type to gossip. CeeCee isn’t that stupid, surely?”
“No. That would put her on Irina’s shit list. Still, it’s my bar, Andrey. CeeCee is well aware of who we are and there’re repercussions for assaulting my staff. I won’t tolerate it from anyone. It’s not just about Jolie.”
“You sure you want to do this, Yan? She doesn’t live our life.” He pointed to the half-closed bedroom door where Jolie lay on the bed. “This world will chew her up and spit her out. What if she can’t handle it?”
Sighing, I leaned against the counter and blinked a time or two. “I don’t plan on living this life for much longer, Andrey. I know that leaves a lot of unknowns but fuck… I’m done with it.”
“She means something to you?”
“Something. Could definitely be more, you know?”
“Then for now, look after her but be honest, yeah? Your heart could get broken as easily as hers. I know you’re this big, tough guy who doesn’t do emotions and shit but underneath you’ve got a heart of gold. It’s why we all love you. We all know you deserve something more than the shitty hand Lev and his fucking lot dealt you. You’re not too old to fall into good things, just be wise, be realistic.”
A lump formed in my throat. We’d always been honest with one another yet stopped short of putting our hearts on our sleeves because it wasn’t the done thing. Showing emotions were dangerous, they denoted weakness and vulnerability, not part of the life we lived. There was so much I wanted to say to Andrey, to them all, but instead, I held my tongue. The time wasn’t right yet and as much as I wanted to reach out and hug my friend, I knew he wouldn’t appreciate it, he’d struggle with the personal contact, so I kept my feet firmly planted where they were and spoke with sincere gratitude. “Thank you, Andrey.”
