Harlow #4
“Drink your beer, Earl,” Wade grumbled. Earl chuckled, and Harlow smiled.
She liked this place, and that realization surprised her.
Wade's Watering Hole wasn't anything like the places she'd frequented before.
There were no crystal chandeliers and no valet parking.
Nobody cared what designer made her shoes.
People were loud and sometimes crude. The jukebox was probably older than she was, the wooden floor was scarred, and somebody had carved a very detailed penis into the men's bathroom door—Harlow had discovered that one accidentally, and she laughed for five minutes.
The bar felt real, and nobody there knew Harlow Kane—not really.
She was just Harlow—Wade's new employee. She liked that too; maybe most of all.
The front door opened, and Harlow automatically looked up. Her smile disappeared as a man in a dark suit walked inside. Her body went cold, and Wade seemed to notice instantly. He was beside her before she'd even registered him moving.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. She couldn't answer as she watched the man glance around the bar. “Harlow?” Wade's voice dropped. “Do you know him?”
She shook her head. “No.” But she knew the type—the expensive suit, polished shoes, and controlled expression. He was from the world that she ran from.
The stranger's gaze moved across the room and then landed on her. Recognition flashed in his eyes. Fuck. Wade saw it too, and his entire demeanor changed. The relaxed bartender disappeared, and the VP of the Savage Bastard took his place. He stepped in front of her.
“Can I help you?” Wade asked the man as he approached the bar.
“I'm looking for Harlow Kane,” he said.
Wade leaned both hands against the counter. “Never heard of her.” Harlow almost laughed despite the fear that was choking her.
The man's gaze shifted around Wade. “She's standing behind you.”
Wade looked over his shoulder. “Oh.” Harlow stared at him, and he shrugged. “Guess I have heard of her.”
The stranger didn't look amused. “Ms. Kane, your father sent me.”
Her stomach dropped. “Of course he did.”
“He'd like you to come home,” the man said.
“No.” The answer came easily, and Harlow almost smiled. The man blinked at her because nobody told Richard Kane no. His daughter certainly hadn't very often—until now.
“Ms. Kane—” the man started.
“I said no,” Harlow said louder this time.
“Your father is concerned,” the man insisted.
“I'm sure he's furious,” she countered.
“He's worried about you,” the man said.
“That's new,” she breathed.
Wade remained between them, and the man looked at him. “This is a family matter.”
Wade smiled, and it wasn't friendly. “Funny, I heard something similar last night.”
The man's expression hardened. “Mr. Kane doesn't want trouble with the Savage Bastards.”
“Then he shouldn't send trouble into my bar,” Wade growled.
“I came alone,” the man lied.
Wade looked toward the windows and barked out his laugh. “You sure about that?” The man hesitated, but just enough to let her know that Wade had guessed correctly. Wade glanced toward one of the prospects near the pool tables, and the prospect immediately headed for the back.
The stranger sighed. “Harlow, your father simply wants to speak with you.”
“He has my number,” she said.
“He says you're not answering your phone,” the man said.
“Oh, yeah,” she breathed. “I threw my phone in a gas station trash can.”
Wade looked over his shoulder. “You threw it away?”
“I told you that,” she insisted. “You must have missed that part.”
The stranger cleared his throat, and Harlow looked at him. “Tell my father I'm not coming home.”
“Ms. Kane—” the man breathed.
“And tell him to release my bank accounts,” she shouted.
The man shifted, and her stomach twisted.
“He froze them, didn’t he?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
Money meant freedom, and there was no way her father would give her that.
The stranger said nothing, and Harlow laughed bitterly. “Of course he did.”
“Harlow,” Wade said quietly, but she ignored him.
“Tell Richard if he thinks cutting off my money will force me back, he's wrong,” Harlow said.
“Your father pays for your entire life,” the man reminded.
“Not anymore.” The words felt terrifying and incredible all at once. “I have a job now.”
The man glanced around the bar. “At this place?” he asked. Wade went still, and Harlow saw it. So did several Savage Bastards, but the stranger apparently didn't.
Harlow stepped around Wade before he could respond. “Yes.” The man looked at her. “This is where I choose to work, so, yes.”
“Harlow—” the man said.
“It’s Ms. Kane to you,” she hissed.
His mouth tightened. “Ms. Kane, your father is offering you one opportunity to come home quietly before this becomes embarrassing.” There it was—the language she'd heard her entire life. She was taught to keep up appearances to preserve her family’s reputation and save them from embarrassment.
Something inside Harlow finally snapped. “Tell my father I'm done being embarrassed for him.” The man blinked at her. “And tell him I'm done letting him decide what happens to me.”
“I'm not sure you understand the consequences,” the man countered.
Wade stepped forward. “Careful.” The single word changed the entire room, and the stranger finally seemed to understand where he was.
Harlow put a hand against Wade's arm, and he looked down at it. “I've got this,” she whispered. His eyes met hers, and then he stepped back. Not far, but far enough to give her some space. Harlow appreciated what that meant. He was letting her fight her own battle.
She faced her father's representative. “I'm not going back.”
“Your father won't accept that,” he said.
“He doesn't have to,” she said with a shrug.
“And Mr. Donnelly?” the man asked.
Harlow's stomach clenched, but she forced herself not to show it. “Frank can go to hell.”
The man stared at her. “Anything else?”
“Yes.” Harlow smiled. “I want you to tell my father I got a job here.” Wade coughed.
The man looked genuinely stunned. “Why do you want him to know about your job?” the man asked.
Harlow glanced at Wade. His eyes were dancing with amusement. She looked back at the man.
“I want him to know that I work here.”
The stranger's expression was priceless. “You want me to tell your father that you work at a biker bar?”
“Yep,” she said. Wade laughed, and Harlow liked the way that sounded.
The man shook his head. “Your father is going to lose his mind.”
For the first time all day, Harlow smiled without forcing it. “Good.” The stranger sighed and turned to leave without saying anything else. The door closed behind him, and the silence lasted approximately two seconds before Earl raised his beer.
“To Harlow's first day,” Earl shouted. Laughter erupted around the bar.
Harlow covered her face. “Oh, my God.”
Wade laughed beside her. “What?”
“That was humiliating,” she breathed.
“That was fucking beautiful,” he insisted.
She lowered her hands. “You enjoyed that.”
“Immensely,” he admitted.
“My father is going to murder me.”
Wade's smile disappeared. “No, he won't.” The seriousness in his voice made her chest tighten.
She nudged him. “It was a figure of speech.”
The prospect returned from outside. “Black Escalade across the street. Two guys inside.”
Wade's expression went cold. “Plates?”
“Got 'em,” the prospect said.
“Send them to Butcher,” Wade ordered.
“Already did,” the prospect said.
Harlow's good mood disappeared, and Wade turned toward her. “Hey.”
“What?” she asked.
“You did good,” he praised.
She glanced toward the front windows. “They know where I am now.”
“They already knew,” he insisted.
“My father knows I'm with you,” she said. “You’re in danger now.”
“Good,” he breathed.
Her eyes snapped toward him. “How is that good?”
Wade leaned closer. “Because now he knows where the line is.”
“What line?” she asked.
His gaze held hers. “You.” Her breath caught and Wade straightened.
“Anybody who wants to get to you, they cross us first.” She knew that the us that he was referring to was the Savage Bastards.
Harlow wasn't sure when she'd stopped feeling like a stranger among them.
Maybe she hadn't. But as Earl raised his beer again and one of the prospects said that she poured better drinks than Wade, something warm settled inside her chest. She looked around Wade's Watering Hole.
She had a new job, and her first real paycheck would come from this place. It wasn't much, but it was hers.
She looked at Wade and realized that he was watching her again. “What?”
“Nothing,” he said. His mouth curved. “Get back to work.”
She gasped. “You're actually going to make me work after that traumatic encounter?”
“Yep,” he said.
“Terrible boss,” she griped, making him chuckle.
Harlow picked up the whiskey bottle, and Wade nodded toward the shot glass. “One ounce.”
“I know,” she said.
“Prove it.” She deliberately poured too much, and Wade stared at the glass and then back at her.
Harlow smiled sweetly. “Oops.”
“You're paying for that,” he insisted.
“Take it out of my paycheck.” His eyes narrowed, and she laughed. As Wade started complaining about profit margins, Harlow realized she'd meant what she'd told her father's man. She wasn't going home. For the first time in her life, she was already exactly where she'd chosen to be.