Chapter 20
Anchor
The base from the floor echoes through my office walls, men cheering clear as fucking day pissing me off as I try my hardest to get these schedules sorted as quickly as I can so I can get home and make sure my girl hasn’t tried anything stupid.
I know Stone is with her, the image of her dangling hits me like a ton of bricks before her cowering in the cage takes over and my jaw ticks.
Damn Mitzy and Glitzy arguing yet a-fucking-gain, frustrating me.
The stupid bitches last night got into it yet again after Mitzy stormed in, ready for war, according to dad.
One of the ladies, Cazza, messaged her, claiming her sister was earning more than her on Friday shifts and that she’ll be forgotten soon enough trying to start shit after Glitzy fucked her boyfriend.
Mitzy showed up halfway through Glitzy doing a lap dance, bills sticking out from her G-string.
They got into it like they always fucking do, causing the men to cheer, but this time they ended up knocking Glimmer off the fucking pole when they started shoving each other, injuring her.
She’s now out of fucking action for six weeks with a fractured foot, and I now have to advertise her job pissing her off and causing her to want blood.
I have to change the schedules around to get her shifts covered and to ensure Cazza isn’t on shift with either of the twins while also fucking insuring they don’t share a shift.
I swear the twins' parents must have fucking played them off against each other with how they keep acting. They’re fucking spoiled, jealous bitches, and this morning, when Dad informed me with Doc standing beside him and Tank standing behind me so I couldn’t break shit that I needed to come to the club.
A fucking club my girl won’t step foot in because of what I did in this very room, never mind firing the twins, I could have killed them.
I lost it and then lost it even more when I got here and saw them arguing yet again over their paychecks and tips, Mitzy somehow managing to earn a whole twenty bucks more than her sister.
I told the pair of them to pack their shit and get out, shocking them, and Tank had to fucking talk me down after giving the girls a final warning, which they didn’t deserve with the amount of shit they have caused.
Maybe the fucker is screwing one of them, or both. He doesn’t touch the clubwhores, never brings a woman home and is away from the club every Tuesday without fail, not explaining where he is, I mean, why else would he give them a warning when I fired them?
Because they earn more money for the club than any other employee, the sane voice in my head whispers but I shake it away. The bitches took me away from my girl and now I’m scared shitless what I’m going to find when I go home.
I go to write Mitzy’s name on the schedule, but I pause a moment with hesitation despite what Tank stated.
I run this club, I’m the one whose name is on the deeds for the property, just like Trigger’s name is on the deed for Rebel’s Arts so the hiring and firing, it is all down to me, not the club.
As long as the money comes in the club stays out of it and besides, it’s because of her and her sister that I even have to write these fucking schedules down instead of typing them out and then printing them off at home.
They had a habit of changing them.
I have every right to fire them. All the shit they’ve caused over the years is enough ammo for dismissal.
I eye my desk drawer where the pink slips are just as my door opens without a knock, and I scowl as Barbie walks in wearing a G-string and nipple pasties, holding a bottle of water with a sly smirk on her face.
I narrow my eyes before eyeing the water, something she has never brought to me before. If I want a drink the prospects always fucking brings them, so why is she… Fuck me, it’s been fucking opened.
“Hey, Anchor, I thought you might be thirsty,” Barbie says with husk as I eye the lid on the water that she didn’t even put back on properly, some white powder covering it.
Fucking bitch is trying to drug me.
“No thanks,” I scowl, then demand, “Get back to work!”
Her cheeks heat, but she tries to shake her shoulders, or more like her tits, hoping to entice me, but all her actions do is piss me off further because she’s making me take fucking longer to get back to Summer.
The fact she’s trying to drug me, means I now have to sort her out and change all the work I’ve done.
Fucking bitch!
“It’s just a drink, Anchor,” she whispers, fluttering her fake eyelashes.
“With a roofie?” I sneer, and her cheeks pale as her eyes widen in shock.
Just what I fucking thought.
I open my mouth to fire the bitch but the door slowly opening catches my attention, and I swear to fuck, I know it’s someone she told to film us so she can use it to blackmail me into making her my old lady, or worse, to prove I’m the father of a sudden baby. I would fucking bet my Harley on it.
I scowl at the door, only for my brows to raise high as Summer's black hair that almost looks blue comes into view before she pops her whole head into my office.
Well damn, it’s a good thing I didn’t make that bet out loud because this certain beauty loves my Harley, or she did.
“Hi,” she whispers, and I melt before it suddenly hits me.
She’s really fucking here.
“Please tell me you did not walk here alone?” I demand as I stand, ignoring Barbie, frustration instantly filling me at the thought of her putting herself in danger.
“Stone dropped me off with Rose, both walking me into the hallway,” she admits with a whisper, and I silently sigh in relief, my tense shoulders dropping.
Amber, Hanz, and Gabriel are all still alive and kicking, and until we find them or Sky from the Untamed and her old man Flame can find them, Summer needs to be supervised at all times.
I open my mouth to tell my girl to get her ass in here because she obviously came here for a reason, she wouldn’t have risked her torment for nothing or the memory of what I did, but Barbie makes a big fucking mistake and opens her mouth.
“Oh my god, it’s the stalker ex-girlfriend?” Barbie cackles, “Come to try and get a man who clearly doesn’t want you?”
She’s fired, she is fucking fired, and one more word outta her mouth, I’ll kill her.
Barbie looks at Summer up and down with disgust, her eyes lingering on Summer's shirt – my shirt – and even before she opens her mouth, I know she’s dead.
“He’s not yours bitch, he never was yours and you can take that shirt off right now, it belongs to me!” she sneers, and my breathing picks up as I slowly move my hand behind my back and grab my gun.
I lock eyes with Summer before her eyes travels to where my hand is, and she shakes her head, making me scowl.
“You haven’t been here for over a year, so why don’t you go crawl back under whatever rock you were under and stay away from my man!” Barbie snaps, and I pull my gun out without hesitation and point it at her head, my anger taking over causing Summer to sigh.
Not sure what my girl thought I would do but she should have seen this coming.
Barbie gasps in shock, jumping back seeing the gun and drops the laced water bottle which spills all over the floor.
“A-Anchor,” she stutters with panic as she looks everywhere for something to save her from my bullet, even looking towards where my girl is, and I narrow my eyes.
“So not only do you come in here with a bottle of laced water to try to drug me, but you also insult my girl?” I growl causing her eyes to shoot back to mine and I snap, “Wrong fucking move!”
Barbie’s breathing picks up, and she opens her mouth, probably to plead for her life, but she freezes, and my jaw ticks as Summer mumbles, “I wasn’t under some rock, I was held captive in a cage, raped several times a day…”
Barbie looks at her in shock and accuses, “You’re lying,” and I put my finger on the fucking trigger.
This bitch did not just call my girl a fucking liar?!
Summer nods and turns, and I go to step forward, but pause when she lifts the shirt up, and I instantly look away, not able to see them.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ashamed or disgusted. I’ve slowly traced every single scar on her back, memorized them. I just can’t control my anger when I see them, and normally, when I let it loose, she’s asleep.
Barbie gasps loudly, and I look her way to see her eyes wide and I snap, “Barbie, you have five minutes to get your shit and get out before I shoot you, you’re fired!”
She doesn’t even protest, instead, she chokes, “I’m sorry,” then runs out of the room, and Summer sighs, “You didn’t have to do that.”
I raise a brow at her as I put my piece back behind my back and lean against my desk, causing Summer’s eyes to follow my movement, and she furrows her brows, eyeing the desk with confusion before her beautiful dark blue eyes come my way full of questions.
“You didn’t really believe I would keep the old desk, did you?” I question, and she swallows but winces, her throat still sore after what she tried to do.
Her head hanging, her lips blue, enters my sight, and I blink several times before locking eyes with Summer again.
I admit, “I hated what I did out of petty revenge, which you didn’t deserve, and I refused to have any reminders of what I could have prevented if I had just opened my eyes instead of seeing what I wanted to protect my heart. ”
Summer's eyes water as she whispers, “You didn’t know,” but I shake my head and state, “I knew I loved you, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, sunshine. I should have confronted you instead of bending that bitch over my desk, and it doesn’t matter that I pulled out of her as soon as you left, that I had used her for five minutes because a small part of me knew you would turn up here, I shouldn’t have done it and I should have fired her months ago. ”
She sighs, dropping her head as she shakes it slightly before looking back at me with tears in her eyes, and I fucking hate it.
This woman has been through so much, and I hate that I’m making her cry.
“I don’t like seeing you cry, sunshine,” I whisper, and her eyes race between mine before she cautiously walks towards me, putting her right hand behind her back, then pulling out a piece of paper.
I frown and take it from her as she whispers, “You have always been my person, Eric.” making my heart race, and I read through the letter she’s given me.
Fucking hell, she’s named me a trustee of her father's estate, her car, her inheritance, everything.
“I went to see my lawyer with Stone. He stayed behind his desk as I spoke to him about what I needed, and what I needed is for you to be the trustee of everything, because I don’t trust Amber, especially with her MIA right now, but I trust you,” she whispers and I swear to fuck, my heart flutters.
I lift my left arm, hoping and fucking praying that she does what I want, what I need, and she does, making me relax as she walks into my side, putting her head on my chest.
I press a kiss to the top of her head and she tenses but doesn’t pull away, and I smile at her constant bravery. I ask, “If you could do anything right now, what would it be?”
She’s quiet for a moment, thinking about my question.
She’s been inside her own head a lot, barely speaks, her body always tight, and she hasn’t mentioned the baby once. Maybe a night of whatever she wants might help relax her a little and open up to me.
After a few seconds of silence, she admits, “Chinese takeout by the fire at your house with a funny movie?”
I smile and kiss her head again, trying not to correct her that it is our house, especially since she's selling her dad's. According to the real estate guy, shouldn’t be up for long. I whisper, “Whatever my girl wants, she gets.”
She grips my cut tightly for the first time in nearly two years at my admission and everything inside me settles as I shove the letter into my back pocket, grab my keys without letting her go, then grab my phone and the schedules, knowing she can help me sort them out and I guide us out of the office.
I have a lot to make up for, a lot of groveling, fuck, I don’t even deserve her, but like fuck am I losing her.
The good, the bad, she’s mine and I’m hers, and god help anyone who tries to get in between us.