Page 29 of Whips and Chains (Saint View Murder Squad #2)

I gave Vincent a smile and moved past him, into the club.

Unlike last night, the door to the cloakroom and the sex club behind it was closed, locked up tight.

Psychos was back to the grungy dive bar it was most nights of the week, with sports playing on big-screen TVs mounted on the walls and the smell of fried food lingering in the air.

People sat around at tables, drinking beer and eating chicken wings, a cheer going up as I passed a large group of college-aged guys, but when I glanced over at them, I realized they all had their gazes trained on the football game.

I slipped behind the counter and tucked my purse into the safety box Bliss had shown me on my first shift.

She wiped her hands on a towel and gave me a quick hug. “Are we okay?”

I blinked. “Of course. Why?”

“I wouldn’t let you work last night.”

I waved a hand around like it didn’t matter, even though it kind of did. I didn’t need people telling me what I did or didn’t need. And yet I could respect that she needed staff who weren’t going to be a danger to the public or her business.

Which was kind of a hilarious notion when I knew exactly what Scythe and Vincent were capable of, and they were here every night she was.

But I could respect her need to protect her livelihood.

And I had been a bit of a mess last night.

I probably still was and would be for a long time.

There would be no just “getting over” what had happened to Toby.

I imagined I would still feel the loss of him until I was old and gray.

There would be many more nights of crying myself to sleep, I was sure.

But keeping myself busy in between was what I wanted.

“You said I could come back tonight,” I reminded Bliss.

She nodded. “I did, and I’ll stay true to that, if you’re sure.”

“I am.”

She threw the towel at me. “Then you’re up. I’ll get you to help with the bar and serving while we’re busy. When it settles down you can switch to cleaning. Sound good?”

“As long as I have something to do all night, I’m happy.”

Bliss jerked her head toward the room packed full of bodies, mostly male ones, all needing food and drinks.

“I think we can keep you occupied.” She pointed toward a table in the far back corner.

“Could you start with that guy over there? He just came in, and I haven’t had a chance to take his order yet. ”

“Of course.”

I grabbed a notepad and a pen from beneath the counter and wove my way in between tables, ignoring the fact X had sat himself down in the middle of a table full of guys from Levi’s club.

They all clapped him on the back and welcomed him like he was a long-lost member, and I just shook my head, thinking about how nice it must be to be that extroverted.

I stopped at the table Bliss had pointed out and poised my pen, ready to take the man’s order. “Hey, I’m Violet. What can I get you?”

He lifted his head from the menu and peered up at me from beneath the brim of a white baseball cap.

My heart stopped.

“I know your name, Violet.”

My fingers clenched so tightly around the pen the cheap plastic cracked. “Travis.”

He chuckled with a deep laugh. “Why do you say my name like you’re choking on it?”

Because I was.

I glanced over at X, surrounded by a table full of Levi’s friends. And then at Vincent on the door. There were plenty of people here who had my back.

There was no need to make a scene, even though my gut wanted to scream that he needed to get out and leave me the hell alone.

But Bliss hadn’t let me work last night because she’d been afraid of me breaking down and causing a commotion that could hurt her business. I didn’t want to prove her right.

Didn’t want to let anyone know my nerves were so frayed that just the sight of my foster brother had me wanting to sink to the floor, cover my ears, and rock back and forth until he was gone.

I sucked in a deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly through my mouth.

I wasn’t going to let him get to me. He couldn’t hurt me here, surrounded by all of these people.

He was just any other man. I forced myself to believe it before I spoke so my voice wouldn’t wobble. “What can I get you?”

“What’s good?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “All of it.” None of it. I didn’t care. I just wanted him to order and leave.

He dragged his finger down the menu, all while staring at me. He stopped halfway down and tapped it. “This.”

I bit my lip, hating that he was forcing me to lean in closer to him, just so I could read the text he was pointing at. “Buffalo chicken wings and beer combo. You got it.” I spun on my heel, desperate to get out of his space.

Because even though he was just sitting there, it felt a whole lot like he was poisoning the air around him, and it was killing me to stand there and breathe it in.

“Wait. You didn’t ask me which sides I wanted.”

I pressed my lips together and turned back to him, trying to breathe deeply so I didn’t explode. I tried to remind myself that the hidden dangers in my life, the psychopath playing murder games, was a whole lot scarier than this man sitting right in front of me with his patchy beard and beady eyes.

But the little girl inside me remembered exactly how cruel he could be. And that I needed to be on guard every second I was around him or bad things would happen.

I forced words out. “Which sides would you like?”

He leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. “How about a side of ‘heard you’ve got a rich new brother.’”

I stiffened at the mention of Fang but fought to keep that anger and fear out of my voice. “You can order your sides, or the kitchen can choose for you, sir.”

He snorted on a laugh. “Sir? Is that what you’re going to call me now that you’ve replaced me with a real brother?”

“You were never my brother,” I couldn’t help myself from hissing at him.

His smile turned smug. “Good thing, too, ’cause otherwise me watching you in the shower would have been real creepy.”

I shuddered. “Fries it is.”

“I need money, Violet.”

I didn’t care what he needed. I was done talking to him. I moved back through the maze of tables, headed for the kitchen to put his order in.

X’s gaze caught my eye, and even though he was smiling and laughing with the Slayers, I could see the concern in his expression. He must have been able to see something in my face, because he looked back at Travis and then back to me, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

I didn’t even know what that eyebrow meant.

But whatever X was thinking, it would probably mean a scene and that would probably result in me getting fired. Which would be so incredibly awkward if I took this thing with Levi further and I had to see Bliss at every Slayers event.

I gave my head a slight shake and was relieved when X nodded back, accepting my decision for him to do nothing.

Travis was a pest, but he would leave, and I would finish my shift.

And that’s exactly what happened. When Travis’s food was ready, I grudgingly brought him his plate full of chicken wings and a glass of beer and set them down on his table without a word.

When he tried again to bring up Fang and the fact my brother lived in a fancy mansion in Providence, I ignored him.

Twice more he waved me over, and I went, because I could feel Bliss’s gaze on me, watching me to make sure I was doing a good job, and I wanted to prove to her I could, but each time he refused to actually order anything. He just kept prodding about Fang and how much money he had.

Eventually, I set the bill down on his table and walked away without a word.

But I watched him from the corner of my eye as I wiped down tables and pulled beers for the guys at the Slayers’ table.

Eventually Travis gave up, threw some money down, and stalked out without saying another word to me.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and while mentally praying he never came back, went to clean his table. I gathered up the money he’d left on the table, noting it was the exact amount of his meal and drinks and not a cent more.

Of course he was a stingy bastard and didn’t tip. How unsurprising of him.

I picked up the bill he hadn’t taken with him. The messy handwriting I remembered from when I was in my early teens was scrawled across the neatly printed paper.

No tip for you, rich bitch. I’ll be back. I haven’t forgotten what you owe me.

My fingers shook, and I crumpled the slip of paper into a ball, pushing it deep into the pocket of my apron.

I put the money into the register, and Bliss gave me a sidelong glance.

“Everything okay with that customer? You look a bit shaken up.”

I forced a smile. “Just someone I used to know and wish I didn’t.”

Understanding dawned on her face. “Oh, an ex, huh? They’re the worst. If you ever want to feel better about yours, ask me someday to tell you about mine. Because that story is a doozy.”

I tried to laugh with her, but I knew it wasn’t reaching my eyes and she would notice soon if I didn’t get out from under her gaze. Bliss was so sweet and kind and attentive to those around her. All beautiful traits…until you didn’t want anyone seeing what you were feeling.

“I’m just going to take a bathroom break,” I told her.

“Sure, it’s starting to die down now anyway.”

I nodded, but I was already moving away from the bar to the hallway where the bathrooms were. I pushed inside, finding it thankfully empty, though that wasn’t terribly surprising considering that Psychos’ clientele on a regular night skewed very heavily male.

I locked myself in a stall and sat on the closed toilet lid, sucking in deep breaths of cold bathroom air.

At least it smelled reasonably good in here now, since I’d started cleaning the place regularly.

It was a much nicer place to have a mini mental breakdown than it had been a few weeks ago.

The main door to the bathrooms swung open, and I held my breath, not wanting anyone else to hear me fighting off a panic attack.