Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Jo
I stepped out the front door and came to a screeching halt when I saw the vehicle parked at the curb. With a roll of my eyes, I stomped down the steps and marched straight over.
With a little more force than necessary, I ripped the car door open and flopped myself inside.
"What are you doing here?" I hissed at Nolen.
"I wanted to apologize in advance."
He genuinely looked sorry.
"For what?"
"Your secret is out with the guys, and they didn't seem happy. I'm sure at least one of them is going to confront you."
Ah, so Maverick hadn't told his friends where he went after he found out. Interesting. It was good to know he was able to stick to one of the rules I set forth.
I shrugged it off. "No big deal. I knew this might happen after you asked for my help with Vanessa."
It would've been nice to have a heads-up though.
Oh well. ’Tis life.
"I know, but I broke a promise, and that doesn't sit well with me."
I laughed. "You take things too seriously. Really it's no big deal. I wasn't under the illusion that I would be able to keep the secret forever. Not in a town this small. I'm just happy I've made it this long."
"What's your plan now?"
That was a good question. I didn't know where I would go from here.
"I guess it's going to depend on how the rest of the town feels when they find out."
"After they calmed down, the guys promised they would keep your secret."
I gave him an incredulous look. "The thing about secrets is, the more people who know, the harder it is to keep."
Nolen looked down at the steering wheel. "I know. I'm sorry."
I leaned over the center console and touched his arm. "Stop saying you're sorry. I know you are, and I promise I'm not mad at you." I waited until he looked over at me. "Now is that the only reason you're here?"
I had a feeling it wasn't, and Nolen confirmed it when he winced. "Ah, no."
Sitting back in the seat, I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"No, you're not."
Well, at least he was honest with me.
"All right. Hit me with it."
"Maverick insists you are now under our protection."
I immediately scoffed at the idea. "No, thanks."
Maverick could suck a dick at this point. After how he treated me before leaving, he should count his lucky stars I don't castrate him.
"You don't have a choice in the matter. The guys and I will be rotating out. It would help if you gave us your schedule."
Hell would freeze over before that happened. "Tell your boss I said no, thanks."
I threw the door open and stomped out before Nolen could piss me off even further. At this rate, I was going to be sitting in a jail cell on a murder charge.
Fortunately the drive to the diner was less eventful. Not that it took me long to get there. Less than five minutes, to be honest, and if I didn't walk so much during my shift, I would've absolutely just walked to work.
When I got into work was a different story. Grams started in on me as soon as I walked through the swinging door into the kitchen.
"It's about time you decided to show up to work."
I had to bite my tongue before I gave my grams attitude that would surely get me into a lot of trouble.
"Sorry, I woke up late."
I knew the minute I gave the excuse it wasn't going to fly.
"You woke up late? For an evening shift?"
I winced. "I meant I woke up late from a nap I took."
I was digging my hole deeper by the second.
"You don't take naps," Grams reminded me of something I already knew.
"I do if I'm coming down with something." I placed my hand on my hip and continued with my lie like it was the gospel.
Grams gave me a suspicious look. We both knew she didn't believe a word that was coming out of my mouth, but she didn't keep arguing.
"Are you okay to work today, or do you need to go home?"
Guilt nagged at my conscience. I didn't make a habit of lying to Grams. She and I always had a very open relationship. Except for the B. Feather secret. That was the only thing I kept from her. Oh, and my not relationship with Maverick.
Shit! Apparently I had more secrets I kept from her than I realized.
"No, I'm okay. The nap helped."
Grams nodded. "Okay, well, you let me know if that changes."
"I will." My gaze dropped to the floor as I scurried off to grab my apron and get to work.
Things only progressively got worse when I realized the first table I had to serve was full of the guys from the security company.
With a sigh, I plastered a smile on my face and walked over to the table with confidence oozing from my pores.
"Afternoon, gentlemen. What can I get you to drink?"
I ignored the glances amongst each other and kept my smile fully in place. I waited to see if they were going to let things slide or if they had every intention of confronting me.
I knew which way it was going to go when Hendrix was the first to open his mouth.
"Is this how you're going to play it?"
The one good thing about being a sarcastic bitch was very little bothered me in life. I was a firm believer in life was too short to care what others thought.
"Yes, I am because this is my place of employment, and I wouldn't think to bring drama into your work environment."
That seemed to give Hendrix pause. "You know we will be talking about this eventually."
"Absolutely." My smile took up half of my face. "I wouldn't expect anything less."
"The maturity in which you're handling this is a little creepy." Easton huffed, and I threw my head back and laughed.
When I finally got myself under control, I met his gaze head-on. "Did you expect me to cower when confronted?"
"I certainly expected some kind of reaction," Easton grumbled.
"Sorry to disappoint you, gentlemen, but I stopped giving a fuck a long time ago."
"Who hurt you?" Owen's gaze bored into mine as if he was trying to see straight into my soul.
I carefully masked my facial expression. "No one and my past is never up for discussion."
I was worried they weren't going to drop the subject, but they surprised me by giving me their drink order like I asked when I first stepped up to the table.
Not wanting to wait around to see if they were going to question me further, I sauntered off to get their drink order.
"You okay, dear? You look a little pale." Grams slid up beside me and placed the back of her hand against my forehead. "You don't have a fever, but your cheeks are flushed."
I cursed my body for betraying me. I was supposed to be a badass bitch who didn't let anything affect her, and here I was getting flushed at the first mention of my past.
"I'm fine, Grams. I promise."
At least I would be. There was no way I was letting what happened to me pull me under. I was in control of my destiny. I just had to remind myself of that.
"Okay, dear. You let me know if that changes."
I needed to suck things up and stop worrying my grandmother. She didn't need that at her age.
I filled the drinks for the guys and headed back to the table.
Taking their order, I did my best to treat them just like every other table I served. It was a little hard when, after two hours, they were still lingering.
"Don't you boys have to get back to work at some point?"
It was after five, so maybe they were off for the day, but I knew every one of them had women they could be getting back home to.
"Nope." Hendrix smiled. "As it just so happens, our work is here today."
Then I remembered what Nolen said to me before I came in. "You're here to watch me." It wasn't a question. Nolen had already admitted to it.
"That would be correct," Easton confirmed.
"I already told Nolen it wasn't necessary."
"We disagree," Hendrix was happy to inform me.
With my arms crossed over my chest, I sneered back. "And why's that?"
"Because someone is trying very hard to discover a lot about you."
I merely shrugged at Owen's words. "So let them. It's just a secret."
I could see that my words pissed these guys off. Their scowls were proof of that. "I don't think you understand who you're dealing with here."
"So enlighten me." I was exasperated at this point. I was so sick of men and how they were treating me today that I wanted to crawl back into my bed and start the day over. Since that wasn't an option, I held my head up high and pretended nothing bothered me.
"Los Cangris." Two words was all Hendrix gave me, but it was enough to make my body shiver.
"What about them? Last time I checked, their leader died in prison, and the new regime is weak in comparison."
"That might be so, but an unknown individual is in the background pulling strings, and until we know who and what they're capable of, you're under our protection."
No way. "Thanks, but no thanks. I can take care of myself." I turned around to leave but thought better of it. "Make sure to leave me a nice big tip since you've sat at my table for so long," I told them over my shoulder before walking away.