A Dirty Business (Kings of New York #1)(96)

“Since you’ll be working, I might be later than I’d intended.”

“Maybe you can swing by and give me a ride from Katya?”

“That sounds very domestic. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me too.”

I wished Ashton wasn’t in the vehicle with me but also wished I wasn’t in this vehicle heading an hour out of the city. “You want me to come back? Ashton can handle this. It’s not imperative that I’m in attendance.”

“Hey!” Ashton gave me a dark look.

I ignored him, waiting for her response.

“I think working is the best thing for me right now. I’ll see you when you get back.”

She hung up, and I stared at the phone for a second.

“What? No goodbyes? No ‘I love you’ yet?”

“Shut up.”

“Man,” Ashton grumbled. “If you two don’t move faster, you’ll be dead like the dinosaurs.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Means you’re going fast. I was being a dipshit.”

“When are you not.”

“When I’m—”

“It was not a question. I wasn’t asking.”

“I’m aware, but please. Let me answer anyway. I enjoy that shit.”

Ashton aside, that wasn’t good. Jess and I were still learning about each other, but I knew she needed to be busy. She’d never not been busy since I’d met her. She did not understand how people slept in on their day off. It wasn’t that she wasn’t aware of what it meant. It was that she literally couldn’t comprehend why people would do that.

She hadn’t iced me out. She’d shared about the work, but I knew better.

“Job, huh? She’s not fired?”

We knew this would happen, though Jess and I had not sat down and talked about how to handle this when it did happen.

“I’m guessing. She said she was taking time off. That’s code for—”

“Getting fired.”

“Or suspended?”

Ashton thought about it. “She was probably suspended. So the firing will happen later when they realize she’s still going to be at your place every night.”

“If that happens.”

My gut was churning. I knew it would happen, but I didn’t like hearing about it, and I didn’t know how to process how she was handling it. She shared, but she also didn’t share. Would she share later? Was she one to talk about her feelings? I couldn’t see Jess being that type of woman. I hadn’t known her to be that type of woman. She moved. She kept busy. That’s how she handled life.

“You love her, right?”

That question was a shock. “Yeah. Why?”

He had pulled his own phone out and was scrolling through it. “She’s not a woman that’s fickle. She knew what she was doing when she chose you. She said the actual words. Whatever this is, you don’t need to be spooked by it.” He paused in his scrolling, looking at me. “She’s one of the toughest women I know. The literal definition of ride or die. This, her job, is going to be nothing for you guys. You’ll figure it out. You don’t need to worry about her. She’s got it handled until you pick her up tonight. She asked for you to do that. That’s her telling you she’ll need you, but it won’t be till tonight. Till after you both do your jobs. She might be annoying as fuck for what career she likes to do, but you, my brother, got a good one.”

I grinned. “There you go. Being annoying and a dumbass, telling me nothing that I don’t already know.”

He smirked back.

He knew I appreciated it.

Anthony: She just picked up shifts for every single night except Sunday. Do not shoot me. She informed me that’s what she wanted and you told me to treat her like a normal employee. I’d be stupid not to take up her offer, but I also enjoy having a job so don’t shoot the messenger.

Anthony: Please.





CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR


JESS


It was a different staff on weeknights. Felt weird, but Anthony put me at my normal section. I had seniority over the other bartender, who’d been sending me nasty looks the whole shift. She was disturbed by it all. I wasn’t, and most of the other bar staff shared how bothered she was that I didn’t care.

The other thing I noted was that she didn’t keep her inventory updated. I was low on five bottles of liquor that should never be low. I’d already done the trip back for a refill on Patrón, but I’d have to go again. We were barely hitting eleven at night. I had three full hours left and would need a full stock of vodka. I sent Anthony a text, letting him know where I’d be for a few minutes.

Anthony: On my way to cover.

I had to laugh. He should offer just to go and get it, but Anthony wasn’t that type of manager. He’d man the bar until I got back. That was the type he was.

That was the third thing that felt off—no Justin, not that there’d been a Justin to cover me for a while.

It was me. I was off. The whole thing was off.

When I saw Anthony heading my way, I held up a hand in a wave and headed to the back room. As soon as I got there, I went in and was grabbing my third bottle when the door opened again.