36. Chapter 36 #2
Evan’s cries became more urgent with each of Frankie’s thrusts.
They were so close, and she wanted nothing more than to give them that release they’d craved all day.
Evan had craved her . No one else in the city could give her little thief the attention and dominance that she could.
Frankie pinched Evan’s bud, then drew her hand back slightly and spanked it.
“Fuck!” they screamed, and seconds later Evan went rigid in her grasp. Their sex clamped down on the dildo, trapping Frankie inside even as their legs began to shake.
“That’s it,” Frankie crooned, massaging the twitching bud beneath her fingers, wringing every ounce of pleasure from them. “I love watching you make a mess all over my cock. And on my desk, too. So hot, little thief. You’re such a good little sub for me.”
“Thank you, Daddy. I try.” Another mewl escaped Evan as Frankie slowly pulled out.
“I know you do, my good boi.” She hastily removed the harness before pulling Evan into her embrace. She scattered kisses over their damp forehead and cheeks, stopping at their mouth to give them a long kiss. Their eyes met. “Let’s go home, shall we?”
Evan glanced down at their state of undress. Their jeans were bundled at the ankles, and Frankie still only wore a pair of pink pumps. They looked back up at her with a sheepish grin, “Maybe get dressed first?”
“Have you thought at all about another job now that the ruse is up with working for me?” Frankie asked the following morning.
She and Evan were lying on their sides in her bed and facing each other, Frankie’s fingers loosely tangled with Evan’s.
Although they had slept soundly through the night, Frankie was surprised to see Evan awake at 7 a.m. with her.
Like many mornings before, she’d woken with a nightshirt clinging to her back and damp bed sheets, her tenacious night terrors a supreme pain in her ass.
Today the bed linens had been changed by the time she returned from her shower, with Evan propped up against the headboard, sketching in their notebook.
They hadn’t mentioned anything to her, for which Frankie was grateful. It was too embarrassing to talk about.
Evan squinted, their forehead creasing in thought. “Do I need to? I’m not qualified for much else anyway. A GED diploma can only take me so far.”
Frankie considered that. “You’re still young; you could go back to school. Night classes are available for upgrading, if it’s something you wanted to do.”
“Is me being a dishwasher not good enough? I like working for you.”
“No, no, that’s not what I’m saying at all,” Frankie rushed to say. She closed the distance between them, kissing Evan softly. “I love that too, but just know it’s not expected in order to be with me. I want you to do whatever it is you dream of. You’re free now. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Evan nodded slowly. “You don’t want me to go back home.”
“I don’t. Go and do anything but that, please. Now that I’m aware of how dangerous your stepfather is.”
“But my mom—”
“By the time I’m done taking Cecil down, you’ll be able to visit her.
I promise, little thief. You and your mom will be safe.
” It would take reaching out to a lot of her old contacts in Toronto, but she wouldn’t stop until Cecil was behind bars.
How could she and Evan ever fully heal from the past while Cecil still roamed the streets?
“I believe you,” Evan whispered, raising their hand to tentatively cup her jaw.
Frankie’s bottom lip quivered as Evan’s calloused thumb passed over it.
“If there’s ever a day when Cecil isn’t breathing down my neck, I wanna get top surgery.
It’s not going back to school or finding a different job, but it is a dream. One I’ve had for a long time.”
“I can see how you’d want that. And I think it’s a beautiful dream.
One I’d love to be a part of making reality,” Frankie whispered back with a smile.
Spying the alarm clock on her nightstand, she groaned.
“Sloane’ll be in soon. I need to get going.
There’s a problem with the books that I need her help with. ”
“Problem?”
Frankie nodded, giving Evan a final kiss before slipping from the bed and hurriedly dressing. “Yes. Some of the expenses aren’t adding up. Money not accounted for. I’m hoping Sloane can figure it out. She’s better with numbers.”
“What does that mean, money not accounted for?” Evan asked, an odd look crossing their face. They fidgeted on the bed, breaking eye contact with her. A trickle of unease crept over Frankie.
“It means money could be missing, inventory miscounted, or my math is worse than I thought,” Frankie replied, watching her lover carefully. Knots formed in her stomach as she saw Evan swallow.
“Oh. Well, I’m sure Sloane can help.”
“Mm-hmm. Okay, I’ve gotta run. See you later, honey.”
A dozen scenarios, each involving Evan, flashed through Frankie’s mind as she left the apartment.
Evan had broken into her office at least once, but she’d never noticed anything missing, or she would have reviewed the security footage.
There was one stationed outside her office and another, less noticeable one inside.
There was no reason to steal from her now, was there?
Unless Evan is still really trying to hurt me .
Perhaps not murder, but there was more than one way to exact revenge on someone. Taking down their business, blackmail …
Quit fucking spiraling. You know them. They’d never hurt you.
But hadn’t they done exactly that? Was it not Evan who’d snuck into her bedroom in an attempt to stab her in the heart just like their brother had done years before?
Sloane was just arriving via the rear entrance of O’Rourke’s by the time Frankie approached her office. “Good, you’re here earlier than I expected.”
“Good morning to you too,” Sloane yawned out. She ran her fingers through noticeably tangled hair and glanced up at Frankie with a bloodshot gaze. “I was in the area. Crashed with a friend.”
Frankie assessed her wrinkled outfit, her eyes narrowing as it dawned on her. “Showing up in the same clothes as yesterday? Tell Naz to keep a change in her closet if she’s planning on taking you back to her place.”
“I wasn’t with Naz. I can’t stand her.” Sloane feigned a shudder, and Frankie rolled her eyes. She didn’t bother to point out the obvious blush or that now, come to think of it, Sloane reeked of Naz’s cologne. Today wasn’t the day to unpack all that nonsense.
“Let’s get this over with, brat,” she grumbled as she unlocked her office. “I’m tired and need a coffee.”
“Want me to grab your usual while you set up?”
Frankie slapped a hand over her chest in mock surprise. “Did you just offer to fetch coffee? Fuck me sideways, Sloane, don’t shock me like that.”
Sloane, who was already walking up the hallway to the bar, flipped Frankie the bird and called over her shoulder with a laugh, “With that attitude, don’t expect a repeat. Asshole.”
Frankie let out her own chuckle and stepped inside her office.
Flicking the lights on, the first thing she came across was the discarded strap-on from last night.
“Jesus,” she muttered with another, giddier chuckle.
As she rushed to tidy up, thoughts of Evan and the bookkeeping plagued her like a mysterious illness.
They wouldn’t, couldn’t steal from her. Not anymore.
It must have been her math skills or another completely acceptable reason for the discrepancies.
Sloane returned with her Irish coffee, and they got to work crunching numbers over Frankie’s spreadsheets.
An hour or more went by before Frankie noticed Sloane worrying her lip and muttering.
She must have been at it for a while as the skin was bloody.
“What do you see? And stop doing that. Jesus.”
“I just … I didn’t think they’d be so bold.”
Frankie frowned. They who? “Don’t talk in circles, brat.”
Sloane met Frankie’s gaze, tears shimmering in her green eyes. “I-I saw Evan dip into the tip jar a few times, but never said anything. I was worried they were using again and didn’t want them in trouble.”
Wait, what? “Using?” There was no way. Frankie would have seen it in Evan’s file. Would you, though? You read that file for one reason only.
Sloane swallowed hard. “They didn’t tell you? Fuck, now I feel even worse.”
“Tell me what?”
“The reason they were arrested for breaking and entering. Evan was addicted to pills. And last week, I noticed some of my Concerta missing from my purse.”
What the fuck? Frankie schooled her features, but inside, she was a hot mess.
Why hadn’t she ever asked for details? Because it wasn’t related at the time, and I was short-staffed.
Okay, but why hadn’t Evan bothered to tell her?
She had told them all her deepest secrets.
It’s what Evan had wanted, what Sawyer had sworn would bring Frankie a real relationship.
“Who else knows about this?”
One of Sloane’s shoulders went up. She wiped a tear away, stammering, “J-just me, I think. I’m really sorry, boss. I know how much you care for them. And I don’t know for sure it’s them skimming, but … I mean, if they can steal tips and meds out of my purse, what else are they up to?”
“No,” Frankie gritted out, smacking her hand down on the desk. Her throat was raw, aching with pent-up fury and disbelief. She would not cry in front of Sloane. She needed to talk to Evan and get to the bottom of this. “I don’t believe it.”
“I don’t want to either. Evan’s my friend. Why don’t you check the cameras? Maybe you’ll catch something.”
“Go to work. Leave me be now. Please, Sloane.”
“Sure, boss.” Sloane’s smile was faint and wobbly, and it only worked to upset Frankie more. She lifted her arm and silently pointed at the door.
Once she was alone, Frankie pulled up the feed for the cameras. A string of curse words left her as she realized the security footage was disconnected or broken. How long ago had that happened?
Have I just been walking around utterly blind and lovesick these last few months? How could she have let her guard down so much?
Her gaze landed on her safe tucked away behind her desk.
The tightness in her stomach grew to a cantankerous melon.
No, no fucking way. Heart racing, Frankie dropped to her knees and reached for the keypad with shaking fingers.
It took three attempts before she got it open, and what she saw splintered her battle-worn heart.
Besides the petty cash needed for the pub registers, the money she’d saved for her family and her handgun were gone.