I wasn’t mean to women.
I was never mean to women.
Unless they ended up The Son’s victim, I never treated women cruelly. I had a sister and was raised by a wonderful mother. My love and respect for them ensured that I always held the fairer sex in high regard. I was always mindful that the random woman walking down the street was someone’s daughter, mother, sister, etc. That’s why I had The Ruby, goddamn it.
And here I was, treating the second women of the night like shit.
My mother would be ashamed, and my sister would kick my ass.
“You know what, Brenda?” I said, irritated as fuck. “My apologies. Have a wonderful night with Howard.” With that, I shut the door in her face and punched a hole in the drywall. And I knew what was going to happen next.
I was going to take my sorry ass home, pull my dick out, and fuck it with the same hand that held Robbie’s tit earlier.
I was fucked.
Chapter 8
Roberta~
Saturdays were always busy, and that’s how I liked it. Sure, my body still ached, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I actually preferred it to the slow Friday morning shift I had yesterday. There was too much down time and, during every lull, my mind kept drifting back to Ciro Mancini. The hate and nastiness I could accept and get past, it was the other stuff that had kept occupying my mind.
My body kept remember too, the traitorous bastard.
Even though I knew he grabbed my breast to degrade me, the knowledge hadn’t taken away from the pleasant feeling of his touch and that was what was messing me up. He accused me of being a whore, and all I did was prove to him that I was.
Even though, I really wasn’t.
I didn’t date any more or any less than the next single girl. I was a 27-year-old healthy woman. I had romantic aspirations and dreamed of true love, but I also didn’t ignore my baser instincts either. I enjoyed sex just like everyone else. I just preferred the man I’m with be my boyfriend or have some exclusivity, at least. And, as painful as it was, I could admit I had horrible taste in men. I always seemed to find the guy whose charm always morphed into disappointment. Randy hadn’t been the first, but he was by far the worst.
“Five more minutes,” Teddy announced. “Five more minutes and it’s a wrap.” Teddy was our bartender and that one friend you could call on for anything. He was a decent guy, and that was probably why I never felt attracted to him.
I smiled over at him. “I’m already thinking about tomorrow,” I replied. I had the next two days off, and I was looking forward to them.
Teddy winked at me. “Get going then,” he kindly said. “I’ll keep my eyes open for you.” I blew him a kiss and started untying my apron. Heading to the back of the restaurant to where our breakroom was, I threw my apron in the laundry hamper, grabbed my purse from my cubby and walked out of the back. Still not having a car, I usually walked, but my Saturday shift being a night shift, I headed towards the bus stop.
That is, until I was stopped.
There was no mistaking their intent, and I almost wept with the exhausting thought of ‘what now’. They didn’t look familiar, but that didn’t mean anything. They were obviously here for me and the fact that they had me cornered in the back of the restaurant told me this wasn’t good.
“Robbie Regal,” the taller of the two said in lieu of hello. “We meet at last.”
I didn’t immediately panic because we were still close enough to the restaurant that, if I screamed, someone was bound to hear me. Maybe they just wanted to talk. “And you are?”
He smiled, and he wasn’t an unattractive man. He was about a few inches taller than me, but not by much. I’d peg him at five-ten, maybe, while the other guy was closer to my height. They really seemed like a mismatched sort of duo; the tall one with dirty blonde hair and light brown eyes, the other with red hair and blue eyes. One thing that stood out more than their odd combination?
They were both in shape.
“The name’s Gary,” he answered. “This here is Merrick.”
I adjusted my purse strap over my shoulder. “Can’t say I’ve heard of either of you,” replied, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Oh, but we’ve heard of you,” he tossed back.
Randy.
There was no other possible connection. Sure, I had friends and went out on occasion, but I didn’t do much beyond that. I might live in a bad neighborhood, but I didn’t spend time hanging out in my front yard.
“Is that so?” I wasn’t going to give away anything. I didn’t know what this was about, and I wanted to get away from them unscathed, if possible.
“We’re friends of Randy’s,” Merrick said helpfully. “Good friends.”
My heart started to beat a frantic tattoo inside my chest, but I did my best to school my features. “I’m sorry, but he’s never mentioned you guys,” I replied smoothly. Or, at least, I hoped it was smoothly.
“That’s okay,” Gary said. “I could see how he’d want to keep you all to himself.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I prayed to God this wasn’t going where I thought. “I don’t know where he’s at if you’re looking for him,” I told them. “We…we broke up a while back.”
Merrick tsk’ed. “That’s a shame. Breakups are always difficult.”
“Yeah,” Gary agreed. “Messy things, those.”
What. In. The. Actual. Hell?
For a brief moment, I wondered if they were on something. “Well…uh, as you can see, I can’t help you if you’re looking fo-”
Gary interrupted me. “We’re not looking for Randy, per se, Robbie. More like…we’re looking for something he was…holding for us.”
“You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” Merrick
