CHAPTER 15 #2
“Fuck off Cara! I don’t owe you shit. You walked out on your job and left me high and dry. I was a server short for two weeks while I found a replacement,” Frank whined. God, I had forgotten what an arsehole he was!
“Oh, you owe me plenty, you tightfisted fucker! You had me working here, underage, for years! You paid me half the going wage, and worked me twice as damn hard. I could go to the cops and report you. I bet at least two of those brand new servers out there aren’t even out of high school yet! ” I threw back angrily.
I had been so grateful and felt so lucky when I got my job at Jewels. It paid so much more than anything I had done before, and it was a regular job with regular pay, so it allowed me to find somewhere for us to live too. But, looking back, I knew I had been taken advantage of.
I had been fifteen when I first started there, dressed in tiny hotpants and a barely there bra top Frank convinced me I had no choice but to wear.
It had taken me a year to realise I could actually get away with wearing more, and didn’t have to bear every part of my already damaged and vulnerable body to the leering men who frequented the club.
I had put up with the grabby and wandering hands, and men saying the most disgusting and vile things to me, all because I thought I had to.
Because Frank constantly threatened to get rid of me if I caused trouble.
I learned. Got older and wiser. I covered up, leaving only enough on show to earn decent tips. I started to push back against the hands and the comments and I got stronger, but it took time, and in that time I only lost more of the innocence that had already been stolen from me.
“Little bitch!” Frank spat as he loomed over his desk towards me.
“Hey!” Cal barked loudly, startling me. “Don’t you dare speak to her like that again!”
I looked up and saw a look on Cal’s face I wouldn’t have even thought him capable of.
His whole body was puffed up, and taut with tension.
His face was tense, his jaw rigid with rage, and his eyes were intense, filled with a promise of violence and a threat I was pretty sure no one would ever be fool enough to ignore.
“Just give me Hilton’s contact details and I’ll leave. That’s all I want,” I told Frank, turning back to him.
“Who even are you?” Frank asked, with some definite wariness, not daring to take his eyes from Cal.
“Someone you do not want to fuck with. Give Cara what she wants without even looking at, or speaking to her again, or believe me, you’ll be begging someone to call the fucking police,” Cal threatened so menacingly, goosebumps rose on my skin.
It was like he was a whole other person, a terrifying person – at least to everyone else.
He didn’t scare me though. I actually found it kind of sexy, if I were honest with myself.
I’d never imagined my sweet, fun Cal would have such a dark side.
“Here. That’s all he left,” Frank floundered as he grabbed a business card from his desk and thrust it in my direction, still not once taking his eyes from what he perceived to be the biggest threat in the room – Cal.
I took the card, but it was blank. I flipped it over and realised it was for Dev’s gym – the gym which Hilton’s brother, Dev, owned, and where I trained with the both of them before.
The phone numbers below were both crossed out though.
Obviously, things had changed for them both while they’d been in jail for armed robbery.
“Let’s go, babe,” Cal said, but he was already ushering me out of the office and back towards the front of the club.
“Wait!” I froze in the hall and turned to face him. “What was that?”
“What?”
“You, in there. You were so…so different. You scared the shit out of Frank.”
“Did I scare you?” he asked as he crowded in closer to me and cupped the side of my face in his huge palm.
“Never. I know who you are Cal. I just…I wasn’t expecting that side of you. But I’d never fear you,” I assured him.
“You don’t know much about my earlier childhood yet.
It’s a long story that requires a lot of whiskey to tell.
Basically though, Arran and I were both raised, from a very young age, to be exactly who I just was in that office.
Arran embraced it. I decided I wanted to push it away.
That doesn’t mean it’s not still a part of me though, especially when it comes to the people I love. ”
“Love?” I repeated as I just stared at him in shock.
“Love,” he nodded, then his lips were touching mine.
His kisses were gentle and tentative at first, giving me the chance to pull away.
When I pushed my arms up, reaching onto my tip toes so I could wrap them around his neck, he took that as my permission and deepened the kiss, his hands finding their way to the back of my thighs.
He lifted me up his body and I clung to him, interlocking my legs around his waist and pushing closer against him.
The kiss was furious and passionate, both of us desperate for what had been building between us for weeks, pretty much since the day we met.
We were both breathless and smiling wide when we pulled apart and just stared at each other happily. I laughed a little giddily as I lay my head against his shoulder and placed a single kiss against his lightly stubbled jaw.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the day I set eyes on you,” he told me as he wrapped his arms around me.
“I hope it was worth the wait.”
“It definitely was, even if this wasn’t quite the romantic spot I hoped for it to happen.”
“It’ll make a good story. Our first kiss in the strip club,” I laughed.
“Yeah, maybe not one for the grandkids,” Cal chuckled. “We better get out there, before the others come looking for us.”
“I’m surprised they haven’t already,” I groaned as I forced myself to lift my head.
“Are you okay? That wasn’t too much for you, was it?”
“The kiss?” I clarified, and he nodded. “No, Cal. Of course not. I wouldn’t have kissed you back if I weren’t every bit as into it as you were.”
“Good, because I plan to do it often, now that I’ve had a taste.”
He smiled and lowered me down to my feet, then took my hand and led the way through the even more crowded club.
I glanced to where Dante and Arran had been sitting before, and found only Arran sat there now.
I tried to search the crowd for Dante, but Cal just ushered me outside until we were back out in the bitter cold once again.
Snow had begun to fall in large flakes and the temperature had dropped even lower in the time we’d been inside.
I shuddered, but couldn’t pull my jacket tighter around me, since Cal seemed determined to keep a hold on me.
“Let’s just get to the car, and they’ll meet us there, okay?” he told me quietly, so I just followed alongside him, releasing his hand in favour of hugging his arm for some heat.
It had been a hell of a night, and despite my fears I wouldn’t, I had made it through without breaking down. I was taking that as a win.