“You’re working anyway,” he tells her before swigging back the last few mouthfuls. “Good shite,” he curses before setting the empty bottle down.
“Do you have to be such a savage?”
“Aye,” he tells her. “It’s why the ladies can’t keep their hands off me.” With a chuckle and a wink, he pushes to his feet. “Be careful tonight,” he warns. “The punters coming in may pay well, but they’re handsy. So, watch yerselves out there.”
“Aye, we will do,” Callia says, and Sully nods, leaving us to get our arses over to O’Hagans.
As we walk out of the bar area, I can feel the heat of Monster’s eyes on me. There’s no doubt he’s staring. I shouldn’t look back, but I can’t help myself, and when I do glance over my shoulder, I lock eyes with him. Darkness swirls in his watchful gaze.
“Come on,” Lia says as she tugs my arm, pulling me behind her. As the door shuts, the moment is gone, broken. “You really like him,” she says, catching my attention.
“What?” I flick my stare to hers, and she laughs.
“It’s obvious.” She shrugs, seemingly not bothered by the fact that I do have a crush on Monster. I don’t want to admit it to anyone, not even myself, but when Callia looks at me, I don’t say anything. “I knew it. Nothing wrong with it. He’s hot. I mean, I am not interested in him at all, but I can see the appeal.”
The van is waiting to take us to work, and as we slide in beside each other, the air is thick with her questions.
We sit in silence for a moment before I ask, “Do you think he hates me?”
“I think he doesn’t know what to do with ye.”
It doesn’t take us long to get to O’Hagans, and the parking lot is already mostly filled up when the van pulls up outside the entrance. There are two prospects at the door checking IDs.
Callia and I walk into the club, where only a small handful of customers are already seated in front of the stage. The music is playing, but I can hear her.
“I have a feeling the man is stunned by yer beauty. He’s attracted to ye, which makes him put up barriers.”
Shaking my head, I shrug. “I doubt that.”
“Aye, he’s been through shite. He doesn’t spend more than one night with anyone, ever,” she explains. “I think if you were to sit down and talk to him, get to know him, you’ll see he isn’t as bad as he makes himself out to be.”
“He just always looks at me as if I’m an enemy.”
“I wouldn’t necessarily say enemy, but you have to remember everyone is a stranger until you befriend them.” This time, I look into Callia’s green eyes that shimmer with mischief. She’s serious, though. I wonder if I could ever get through to him.
Shaking my head, I focus on getting ready. There are trays of glasses that need packing away, so instead of continuing our chat about Monster, I change the subject.
“What about Rebel?” I ask Callia.
Her soft giggle makes me smile. “He’s… difficult.”
I stop what I’m doing and look over at her. “Aren’t all men difficult?”
“Aye, but I don’t know if I can ever be with someone,” she admits, and the sadness that flickers on her face makes my chest tighten.
I don’t know what her story is, and I’m too afraid to ask. We haven’t really had deep heart to hearts yet. Mainly because I don’t want to get attached to her and then leave. I can’t imagine what that could do to her.
Or me.
“You never know,” I say softly.
We work in silence after that, which leaves me time to consider what I’m doing. There’s a constant twisting in my gut when I think about them finding out who I am…when Monster finds out who I am. The need to want him to accept me is a constant reminder of the affect he has on me.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Callia stops to look directly at me.
I sigh because I know she won’t stop until I’ve told her something. And even though I can’t tell her everything, perhaps I can offer some hint of how I’m feeling. The thing about it is, I don’t want her to tell Monster anything about me; at least, anything more than he already knows.
“I was just wondering if I should try to contact some long-lost family,” I finally say.