“You’re in the house on your own. I don’t care how big you think your balls are, you’re vulnerable, and I won’t leave you unguarded. I’m not a bloody monster.”
Irina grinned. “Tell that to the poor sods walking around this city with missing fingers.”
Yeah, well… I had no answer forthcoming for that one. “One of our bean containers is being held at the docks.”
“Coffee beans from a country notorious for producing drugs will do that,” she said easily, and maybe it was just that simple. Wasn’t it why we transported the beans in the first place? We weren’t being targeted any more than any other poor fucker who’d decided Colombian coffee producers were sensible people to do business with. If we had some other produce in our containers, it was no one’s business, just so happened, this one didn’t.
“I’ll sort it this afternoon.”
“It will just be paperwork, someone fucked up their end, or wants more money from us. You know how inept they are. Besides, most of the bean containers get seized, and you damn well know why. People know who we are and what we do, even if they can’t prove it. Stop fretting, it’s nothing.”
See, this. We could do this. Have a conversation, talk business without trying to strangle one another. It was refreshing, so I relaxed and ate the rest of my lunch in a more comfortable silence, rather than an awkward stand-off.
Maybe, just maybe, Irina was coming to her senses and finally willing to let go. Going forward might not be so bad after all.
Jolie
The fist to the side of my head came out of absolutely nowhere and caught me by total surprise. I definitely hadn’t been expecting it. The drunken slurs I could hear around me made sense once I shook my head and focused. Pinned against the wall, a hand around my throat, another tugging at my hair, I glared up at CeeCee, her glazed stare back, murderous.
“You got me fired, you bitch.”
“That was all your doing, not mine.”
I heard a laugh from behind her, only then realising CeeCee wasn’t alone. There were two other women standing at her back, and one was built like a goddamn weightlifter.
CeeCee had yanked me down an empty alleyway between the buildings, two streets from work. I could hear the sounds of London around us but couldn’t see the mouth of the next street, nor could I see any other people. Shit, this wasn’t good at all.
The hand in my hair yanked harder, tears springing to my eyes at the pain as CeeCee pulled my head toward her then slammed it viciously back against the brick wall. I groaned, snapping my eyes shut and clenching my teeth. God, that fucking hurt.
“Now I have your attention.” Suddenly, she didn’t sound so drunk, though her breath smelled like she’d been at it all day. When I opened my eyes again, hers were laser sharp and focused. “You’re going to talk to Bill, get me my job back.”
Laughing abruptly, I winced at the shot of pain slicing down the back of my neck. “No way. Bill’s won’t listen to me.”
“Oh, he will. You see, if I don’t get to come back, bitch, I’m gonna come looking for you and I’ll be doing more than smashing that ugly face of yours against a wall. A smack to your head is gonna be the least of your worries, you hear me?”
“Come on, CeeCee,” I moaned, a nauseating churn turning over in my stomach. “Bill doesn’t work like that. You know it.”
“Maybe if you give up that prissy little pussy of yours, he’d be more inclined to listen.”
One of the women behind her laughed and the dinner I’d eaten an hour ago made a valiant effort to come back up again. “I’m not going to fuck anyone for your job, for Christ’s sake.”
A hard slap to my cheek threw black around the edges of my vision, the hit most likely bruising. It was so hard.
“I think you will. You got ‘til Sunday. If I don’t get a call from Bill, then your bestie Carol will stand and watch your sorry arse burn instead of dear old mum’s.”
Sucking in a gasp, I glared at her, unprepared for the sucker punch she delivered right to my gut. Doubling over in pain, I didn’t notice they’d taken off until I righted myself again. In agony, I ended up sitting on my arse and leaning back against the wall she’d bashed my skull into.
Fuck, I was bleeding, a wet trickle down my neck feeling warm. Touching my hand to my head, I winced when I pulled it back and saw my fingers streaked red. And bloody hell, my face was on fire, that stupid cow knew how to punch.
Was she right in the head? I couldn’t get her job back. No way was I sleeping with Bill, especially not for her, in fact, not for anything. CeeCee was stark raving mad if she thought I was going to plead for her employment, she’d deserved to be let go, and not just for doing what she had in the hallway. With little doubt she’d carry out her promise, I had until Sunday to figure something out that didn’t involve grassing to my boss and making the matter worse.
Giving myself ten minutes to get my heart rate back to normal and to compose myself the best I could, I thought about blowing off work entirely and just going home. It wasn’t really an option after having two weeks off earlier, and I was closer to work than I was to home, so Caulder’s made more sense. Christ, the silly woman had no idea what she’d
