Chapter 11
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
JULIETTE
“Welcome to the team?” I ask.
His eyes dance as he watches me. “You’re good people. I can feel it. Elodie and I have lived a whole hell of a life, and I know a good egg when I see one. You’re it. Plus, we’re desperate, and I can’t work with some of these other people who have applied.”
My lips twitch into a small smile. I watch as he smiles back at me. I don’t know if I should be scared or excited, but I choose excited because I don’t have any other choice. This is an opportunity I don’t think I could ever replicate.
I choose happiness and excitement.
“Okay,” I say.
Alex stands, then walks over to the front door of the condo. He opens the door and leans inside before I hear him call out for Elodie. He turns, looking over his shoulder at me, and smiles.
“I am seriously excited about this,” he states. “Elodie is going to love you.”
I don’t know what that means. I can’t help but feel excited about this.
I don’t think in the years I’ve been running away from Victor that I’ve felt excited about a potential job.
I’ve always just taken what I can get, hoped it paid whatever bills I had, and that I could put a little away for the next time I had to run.
But this time, I’m actually excited.
Maybe it’s because of the car and tow truck thing working out in my favor. Maybe it’s all just false hope, but that doesn’t stop the absolutely thrilling sensation that slides throughout my entire body at the anticipation of what tomorrow will bring.
This could be it. This could be exactly where I was meant to be all along. I know I shouldn’t be dreaming of all the wonderful things that could come of this. I should stay grounded, focus on staying safe and watching my back, but I allow myself some hope.
Before Alex says anything else, an absolutely stunning woman makes her appearance. She doesn’t even look at Alex. Her gaze slides straight to me, then she shifts around so that she’s fully facing me.
Her gaze slides up and down my body, although I’m still sitting at the little bistro table, so I’m not sure what she can really see. I tremble with nervous energy. I’m not sure what I should do.
Lifting my chin slightly, I refuse to shrink inside myself the way I normally would. Alex thinks I’m a good fit, and I’m going to prove myself. Squaring my shoulders, I flash her my best smile while I wait for her to say something.
She takes a step forward, then another, in silence, until she’s standing directly in front of me.
Alex is talking to her, no doubt telling her my whole story, but I can’t even hear him.
I am focused on her, trying to figure out what she’s thinking.
Hoping that she doesn’t tell me to get my ass out of here.
Slowly, she sinks down in the chair across from me. Then she opens her mouth and begins to speak.
“Juliette,” she says.
My heart slams against my ribs, wondering, waiting for her to tell me to go.
Because I can’t read her. Maybe she’s going to be nice and let me down easy.
My breathing comes out in short pants as I wait for what is going to come, an inevitable disappointment.
I should never have allowed myself to hope for anything.
Stupid. That’s what I am. Maybe Victor has been right all these years.
But instead of telling me to get my shit and walk away…
she smiles, her eyes searching mine. I suck in a breath and hold it for a moment, and wonder if I should say something, although I’m not sure what to say other than to blurt out a million different things that are running through my head right now, all of which would be highly embarrassing.
I would beg her to let me stay and work for her, but thankfully, she puts me out of my misery and out of possible embarrassment as she begins to speak. And every internal worry I have instantly vanishes.
“I think this is going to be amazing. I’m going to put you at the clubhouse and the strip club. Those two locations are where you’re going to be safest. Also, Alex has a company car, and if he’s cool with it, I don’t mind you taking it for a while.”
I stare at her, blinking, unsure of how to even respond to that. That was beyond anything that I expected. It’s a dream, is what it is. I don’t know what to say. My stomach flips then flops as I stare at her.
She doesn’t even know me. In fact, all she knows is that Alex talked to me for about five seconds, and I spilled half my life story to him. That is not enough for them to be so trusting of me.
Practically giving me a car? That is insane.
I start to tell her that when she clears her throat, but it’s Alex who speaks, which causes me to effectively shut up.
“If it’s too much, I can just come and pick you up,” he offers. “But I honestly don’t mind, and then you’d have a vehicle to get you to the grocery store or wherever you need to go.”
This is seriously a dream.
An insane dream.