“Speaking of turning things around, we got the keys to the microbar yesterday. I have a manager lined up and bar staff. I’ll be running the doors for the first few weeks,” I say.
“You?” asks Blu.
“Yeah, me, brother. Problem?”
He shakes his head, smirking over at Cree. “Usually you pass that shit to us.”
“Well, I don’t wanna risk you fuckers screwing up the first clean business we’ve owned. I don’t want it getting back to Anna that we own this place either. As far as she’s concerned, It’s Vinn’s.”
I arrive five minutes early for my appointment with Eleanor. Her receptionist smiles at me in the hungry way she does every time I sit in the waiting room. “This is so unprofessional of me,” she begins, “but I was wondering if you’re single?”
“It’s complicated,” I mutter.
“I know all about complicated,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Maybe we can hook up for a drink some time and compare stories?”
I stare at her for a minute. She’s pretty, blue eyes, blonde hair, good sized tits, and a feistiness about her, but I find myself shaking my head. “You’re right,” I say as the office door opens and I stand. “It’s very unprofessional of you.”
Eleanor takes her usual seat. “How’s things?” she asks.
“I fucked things up with Anna, even more than before,” I say bitterly. “I said a load of shit that I didn’t intend to say, things I hadn’t even thought about.”
“Like?”
“Like I wanted a divorce.” I begin to pace. “That hadn’t entered my head. She’s mine, I ain’t divorcing her. But you know what? She didn’t argue. Like she’s accepted we’re done. Then I told her I was fucking a woman from the club. A woman I’ve not touched!”
“How did Anna react to that?”
“She was upset. Of course, she was. Christ.” I flop down on the posh chair.
“You didn’t get around to telling her the truth?” she asks and I shake my head. “You don’t need me to tell you that talking to her will make all this go away.”
“And then what? She comes home? She sticks by my side?” I snap.
She shrugs her shoulders. “Maybe.”
“And I’ll spend the rest of my life worrying she came home for the wrong reasons. I’ve set her free. Released her from the burden.”
“A burden isn’t how I’d describe it. You think you’ve set her free, but you haven’t given her the option. Anna sounds like a woman who would like the option to make her own choices.”
“She’s agreed to manage the new bar,” I say, changing the subject. She allows me to, which is rare cos usually she pulls me up on that shit. “Well, sort of. She doesn’t know the club owns it.”
“Is lying the best way to start this off?” she asks.
No. “Yes. She wouldn’t take it if she knew the truth.”
Eleanor gently places her notepad on the side table and stares at me. “Remember when you said you felt like you’d been tricked by Anna?” I nod. “It upset you enough for the whole thing to snowball out of your control. Isn’t this the same sort of thing.”
“I know what I’m doing. I know what Anna needs.”
She picks the notepad back up, her eyebrows raised slightly. “What would you like to happen next?”
“I want things to go back to how they were before . . .”
“Before Anna? Before Willow? Before the cancer diagnosis?”
I stare down hard at my fingers.
Before all of it.
Chapter Six
ANNA
I don’t think it’s possible to love a place as much as I do the Easy Riders Bar. Leia was right, this place is amazing. It’s small, and we’ll get fifty customers at one time tops, but it’s intimate, which only adds to the ambiance of the place. Cree hands me a bunch of keys. He spent yesterday showing me around and going through how things work. The most exciting part is I have an office above the bar. That blew me away—I’ve never had my own office.
“Any problems, call me.”
“You?” I repeat. “Not Vinn?” He mutters something vaguely about Vinn being too busy. “Grand opening in a few hours. Exciting,” I say. “Are the bar staff going to appear soon?”
“The schedule is pinned behind the bar. One of the guys will be here soon to cover the security side of things. I gotta go. Call if you need anything.” I watch Cree rush off and head behind the bar to check out the schedule. I guess that’ll be my job from now on. I narrow my eyes when I see Raven’s name down for tonight’s shift. Just what I need—NOT!
Almost an hour later, Raven turns up looking amazing. She’ll get guys in here spending their cash just so they can watch her. I smile stiffly, reminding myself it isn’t her fault my husband is an ass and she looks stunning whereas I—I glance down at my jeans and roll my eyes—look so mumsy. “I’m so excited,” Raven gushes, looking around.
“I thought you were working in the office for Vinn?” I ask casually.
“Yeah, I am. Office worker by day, bar worker by night. I’m saving hard and I love to be busy.”
I show her the office and point to a cupboard where staff can keep their bags and other belongings safe. “Have you done much bar work?” I ask.
“Loads. I really love bar work, chatting to the customers, it’s a great job.” Damn, she’s just so happy and enthusiastic all the goddamn time!
The office door opens and Eva marches in. She smiles and throws her arms around me. “This place is fantastic.”
I nod. “I’m so excited,” I say. Raven slips out the door and goes back down to the bar. “Is she like Superwoman? I mean, she’s stunning, she’s so nice, she works two jobs. Give me at least one flaw so I can hate on her.”
Eva smiles. “Sorry,
