Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
The four of us worked the clock every day of the week, with alternating Saturdays while the shop was closed on Sundays. This past Saturday was actually supposed to be my shift, but luckily for Atlas, I had Golden cover for me because I had shit to do.
During the week, Golden and I both started our days at seven, an hour before the shop opened in the morning, while Roc and Joren came in at ten for the closing shifts, which ended at seven.
As they said, the early bird catches the worm, so yeah…I’d checked her little ass before Roc had the chance to coddle her.
“Yup.” I started toward my station with him on my heels.
“And everything’s good?” he asked, staring at me like he expected the opposite.
“Fuck you think? She’s still here, isn’t she?” Annoyed, I yanked open my tool chest to start my daily checks. Believe it or not, my slight OCD and paranoia helped keep my temper in check.
Sometimes.
“Can you blame me for checking, though? It’s not like you have the best track record dealing with employees, and you and baby girl already got off on the wrong foot.”
“That’s because her stuck-up ass wouldn’t let me fuck,” I responded with an indignant sniff. I was serious as a heart attack too. I was used to females who fell to their knees and begged to suck my dick. With Atlas, I felt like I was in high school again, having to work for the pussy with professions of love and flowers.
All right, I’m bullshitting.
I never had to work this hard, even then.
I looked over to see Roc giving me the side-eye. “She’s a little young, isn’t she?”
“Didn’t know that at the time,” I defended, even though I wasn’t sure I cared anymore. “I was hoping she was older. Black don’t crack, know what I mean?”
“And now?”
All I could do was shrug as I moved some tools around. I’d never felt the need to lie before, and I wasn’t going to start now. “She’s an employee.” It was all the assurance I could offer that I wouldn’t touch her. “Why do you care so much anyway? I’ve never seen you go this hard for Tuesday.”
“I don’t know,” he said in a tone that suggested the opposite. I gave him a look, and the seal on his lips broke a second later. “All right, but you better not say shit to her.” I promised no such thing, but his gossiping ass didn’t even notice as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure we wouldn’t be overheard. “She told me her father died, and from the state that I found her in, I’m guessing it was recently.”
My gaze flew to the reception desk where Atlas was helping a customer. She was smiling, and I stared long and hard as if I could peel back the layers and see the grief she was hiding underneath her soft exterior. I wanted to penetrate that young bitch in the worst way, and I was beginning to suspect not just her body.
“What state was that?” I asked without taking my gaze from Atlas.
Her smile was strained now, as if she could feel my attention and was forcing herself not to look my way.
“I don’t know…sad?” Roc answered unhelpfully. “On the low, it sounded like she ran away from home and had nowhere else to go.”
“It’s why you hired her,” I mused aloud. I forced myself to turn away from the window.
Suddenly, it all made sense, the reason Roc had brought her into the fold with barely an interview and felt the need to grill me about every interaction I had with her. Having a daughter himself, it was all he saw when he looked at Atlas.
A lost little girl without her father.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s something about her too. I can’t put my finger on it. Seems like I…know her.” His voice had trailed off, and now he was squinting as he stared at Atlas through the window. “O…sh-she don’t look familiar to you?”
All I’d allowed myself was a quick glance over my shoulder. “Not really. Where would we know her from? She’s young as fuck and not from around here.” Her license had read Ossella, which was clear on the other side of Mississippi.
“I don’t know—just a feeling, I guess. You talked to Golden? He’s been acting distant lately.” I gave him a flat look. “I mean more than usual,” he amended.
“Yeah, I talked to him,” I reluctantly admitted. I didn’t want to give credence to this paranoid delusion slowly eating away at our inner circle. “He pretty much said the same as you. He thinks we know her.”
He’d also been avoiding her too.
Roc was staring off in the distance for a while, and then he mumbled, “Maybe we do,” before walking off.
I frowned, my gaze following him all the way to his station next to Golden’s, which overlooked Temperance.