Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Avery
Walking into the kitchen, Avery finished buttoning up her chef coat as she looked around. Everything looked as if it had been cleaned up since lunch, and the chefs were doing their dinner prep. Not that she’d expected anything less.
“Hey, babygirl.” Alice was on sauté and gave Avery a little wave as she glanced up from chopping garnishes.
It didn’t matter that Avery was technically one of her bosses.
Alice had called her babygirl from day one.
Avery had never been inclined to ask her to stop because she knew it was a measure of affection from the older woman. “How ya doing?”
“Good, thanks, you?”
“I’m here.”
Avery snickered. That was the answer Alice always gave. For her, it meant ‘I’m doing okay.’ If she was having a bad day, she didn’t hesitate to say so, but a good day meant she didn’t complain. Winking at her as if she knew what Avery was thinking, Alice bent back over her garnishes.
“How about you, Darnell?” she asked their grill chef for the evening. He grinned and winked at her.
“Doing good.”
Turning to the left, she sighed inwardly when she saw Chad at the fry station. He might not be her favorite, but she tried to treat him like everyone else, anyway.
“How are you doing, Chad?”
“Like you care.” He snorted, wiping his hands on his apron, barely glancing at her.
Fine. Avery pressed her lips together. She should probably call him out for being so disrespectful, but it was the beginning of the shift, and she didn’t feel like dealing with his temper tantrum throughout it.
Some battles were more easily won by ignoring the person. Don’t feed the troll and all that.
The pantry was empty. Sandra was probably getting something from the walk-in, so Avery turned away from that side of the kitchen rather than responding. Tying her apron around her waist, she glanced at the clock and frowned. Normally, Nick would be out here by now.
“Where’s Nick?” she asked, directing the question toward Alice and Darnell.
“Out at the bar. His brother came by to see him,” Alice told her, glancing up again. Something in her expression made Avery a little uneasy, not anything unfriendly, but it was knowing. Amused.
Stop it. You’re imagining things. There’s no reason to be paranoid.
Unfortunately, before that thought even finished, Chad snorted. Her head whipped around to face him, and the derision in his expression, the transparent animosity, made her step back.
“Shouldn’t you know where your boyfriend is?” he mocked.
“I… he’s not…” Avery stammered, but the words weren’t coming. Say something! Deny it! At least tell him it’s none of his business! It was as if her throat had closed up, and she could barely breathe, much less speak, as panic rose inside her like a tidal wave.
“Don’t bother denying it. We all know you two are going upstairs to do freaky shit.” He snorted again. “At least that explains how you ended up as sous chef.”
His words hit like a punch to the gut, knocking the air out of her. Not only did he know about her and Nick, he knew they were going to Marquis. Knew they were doing kinky stuff. She could only imagine what he thought they were doing and what he thought of her.
Not just him.
Everyone.
They all knew now.
The entire kitchen had come to a standstill while she gaped at Chad. It was like a bad dream, except she knew it wasn’t. This was real.
Everything she’d feared at the beginning.
Everything she hadn’t wanted.
It was real, and she had no defense.
They would all think she had earned her place on her back by doing freaky shit no self-respecting woman would do.
They would all think she was a freak.
They were staring at her. Waiting for her to stay something. To defend herself. To tell Chad he was wrong.
She couldn’t.
It was all true.
A rushing noise filled her ears, and it felt as though time had slowed—stopped—and everyone was waiting to see what she did next.
She turned and ran.
Ran away from their judgment. Ran away from Chad’s sneer. Ran away from being exposed.
Ran away from the roar of sound that swelled as soon as she reached the hallway to the back.
Ran out the service door at the back of the restaurant, like the coward she was.
Nick
Shouting in the kitchen had Nick jerking his head up, and he wasn’t the only one. It wasn’t the usual shouting but didn’t sound like an emergency. There was no panic, just angry shouting.
“What the hell?” Luke frowned, getting to his feet alongside Nick. Behind the bar, Shane had straightened, frowning.
Not bothering to answer, Nick bolted for the door.
That was his domain, and if something was going on, he needed to know, especially since it wasn’t just the bar that could hear everything.
The servers, the hosts, and the few people who had trickled in early for happy hour were also staring at the swinging doors between the restaurant and the kitchen.
The only saving grace was so many people were shouting, individual words were hard to make out.
Shoving the doors open, one with each hand, Nick stalked through them to the center of the kitchen.
“SHUT UP.”
Despite how many other people had been yelling, his dramatic entrance and command compelled them all to silence.
From what he could see, it looked like Darnell and Alice had gotten into a shouting match with Chad, while Sandra, their pantry chef, stood frozen in the hallway that led to the walk-in, not sure if she wanted to come into the kitchen proper.
Behind Nick, he could hear the doors flying open again as his brother followed him in.
“What the hell is going on in here?” His own temper was up.
He’d been enjoying himself and was ticked off that his entire staff was unprofessional enough to scream at each other when his brother was there.
Where was Avery? Why wasn’t she taking care of this?
Since no one was answering his first question, he gave them a follow-up.
“Where the hell is Avery?”
Relationship or not, he would have to ream her out about this.
She should be on the clock by now and in the kitchen.
A pang of worry hit him because it wasn’t like her to be late, much less missing, especially without giving him a heads up.
He was about to pull out his phone to check it, even though he knew he hadn’t felt it buzz or heard it go off, when Alice and Chad started talking at the same time.
“Dickhead chased her off.”
“She ran off. Hey! Don’t call me a dickhead!”
“Then don’t act like one, Dickhead!”
“Hey!” Nick half-shouted again, hopefully not loud enough to be heard in the dining room. Holding up his hand, he glared at both of them, then turned to Darnell, pointing at him. “Explain.”
Chad mumbled something under his breath, and Nick had a feeling it was probably good he hadn’t been able to hear the man.
He was a good chef, but Alice was right; he was a dickhead.
That didn’t automatically disqualify anyone from the career.
In fact, there were times Nick thought it might even be necessary, but it didn’t make him easy to work with.
Dickheads still needed to act professionally.
Unfortunately, Chad was the dickhead who thought he was owed something and rebelled against anyone being in a position of power over him. As long as he didn’t act out, he would keep his job, but it didn’t make him pleasant to work with.
“Uh, well, Avery came in and was asking how all of us were doing, then she asked where you were…” Darnell’s voice faded, and his gaze cut over to Chad.
For a moment, Nick thought he was going to stop talking, but he shook his head. Clearly, Chad had done something, and Darnell didn’t want to be a tattletale, but he’d been put on the spot.
“Chad said she should know since she’s your girlfriend.”
Shit.
Nick sucked in a breath.
How the fuck had Chad found out?
Not that it mattered.
“That’s not all he said,” Alice spoke up, glaring at Darnell, clearly displeased he’d left something out. Darnell looked away, unable to meet her gaze. When she was pissed, Alice was scary. “He said some shit about you two going upstairs, as if that’s any of his business.”
“It’s all of our business if our sous chef got the position by spreading her legs,” Chad shot back.
“Hey!” The word rang out from four throats at once, and Darnell was glaring at Chad with the rest of them.
A red haze settling over his vision, Nick took a step toward Chad, only to be jerked back.
“Don’t. He’s not worth it. Fire his ass. Keep your hands to yourself.” Luke’s voice was low and urgent in his ear. Nick realized his fists were clenched, and the urge to jump over the line and slam one of them into Chad’s face was overwhelming. Luke must have realized that.
“You’re fired,” were the only words Nick could find. They were the right words, but that didn’t help the way he was feeling, as if he wanted to explode all over the asshole.
“You can’t fire me over telling the truth! I’ll fucking sue!”
“Yes, he can,” Luke said, stepping around Nick and bodily putting himself between them.
Normally, that would have made Nick furious, but right now, he was struggling to hold on to his temper and not get a physical assault charge. If Luke could actually form words, he was the better choice to confront Chad. Nick would rather punch him in the face.
“First, it’s called at-will employment. Second, even try, and you will be slapped with a sexual harassment suit so fast, your head will spin.
What you said to Avery was as egregious as it was untrue.
The owners have been kept apprised of the relationship, which didn’t start until recently, well after she was hired. ”
“Of course, you were ‘apprised.’ You’re one of the freaks,” Chad sneered. “I could tell everything about what goes on upstairs…”
“In which case, the non-disclosure agreement you signed can and will be used against you. Even if you find a lawyer to take you on, and that’s a big if, you’ll lose and pay out the ass for it.
Then we’ll still slap you with a sexual harassment suit.
If you think I’m not willing to pay to protect my club, you’re fucking wrong. ”
For the first time, a worried expression appeared on Chad’s face. That it had taken so long showed how stupidly arrogant he was.
“You can’t—”
“I can.” Luke’s voice brooked no argument. It was hard and uncompromising. That authority was part of the reason Nick had initially balked at the idea of Luke submitting to anyone. That wasn’t who he was in public. He was like Nick—take charge, hold no prisoners, and fully in control.
Right now, Nick had never felt so out of control, which was why he was letting his big brother step in and handle Chad. Otherwise, Nick was liable to do a hell of a lot worse than merely fire him.
“It’s Saturday night. You need me.” Chad bristled.
“We really don’t.” Nick stepped out from behind his brother, shooting daggers from his eyes.
“I-I…” Chad’s gaze darted around the kitchen, finding no sympathy from any corner.
Even Sandra, who was usually friendly with him since they worked adjoining stations, wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“Fine. Fuck you all. You all know I’m right!
Maybe that’s not how she got her job, but…
Ugh… Whatever.” The supreme lack of logic in his conclusions was nearly as large as his lack of self-preservation.
Luke grabbed hold of Nick’s arm again.
“Get out. Your final paycheck will be deposited. Do not come back for any reason, or you will be removed bodily from the premises.” The threat was all the more impressive, delivered in Luke’s low, silky tone.
Huffing, Chad stalked out—taking the more arduous way behind the line to avoid Nick, which was the smartest thing he’d done that day.
Not that Alice made it easy for him. Her arms were crossed, and despite being almost a foot shorter, she was intimidating enough, so when he squeezed past her, he did his best not to even brush her.
They watched him go in complete silence.
It wasn’t until he was gone, Nick felt something other than anger—a real and rising worry about where Avery ran off to.