I forced myself to hold my own, to mask the feeling of inadequacy threatening to show on my face. As memories pushed their way to the forefront of my mind, I could feel the hurt surfacing.
No.
I looked away, but something must have trickled across my face, causing Cain to take a step back. “Rose, you know I didn’t mean what I fucking said. I had to say it to save face in front of Brent.”
Whipping my head back toward him, I snarled, “You knew how I felt about you, Cain. And you knew how he treated me. Yet you still sat there and called me—to my face—what was it again? Damaged goods, trailer trash? Wait… No… That wasn’t all you said.”
“You know I had to. If he knew I was after his girl, he would have murdered me. He would have murderedus.”
“Bullshit, Cain. Brent and I were so on-again off-again, he wouldn’t have cared either way. When I walked away from him for good last year, he didn’t come running. Plus,wenever did anything. You and I were nothing but unexplored feelings and lustful looks across the room. It’s never been about your actions. In this case, Cain, it was aboutyourwords. Howyoutreated me. I expected better from you. You were always the nice one.”
“He’s my fucking brother, Rose. What was I supposed to do?”
“It doesn’t matter what you should have done, because you did nothing. And now, I wantnothingto do with you. I’ve let it go, Cain. Moved on. You should too.”
Without waiting for his reply, I ducked beneath the arm keeping me caged against the banister, and took the stairs down two at a time, not sparing him a backward glance as I pushed open the door to the main floor ofmybar, Andromeda.
CHAPTERTHREE
“Hey boss, you’re here early today.”
It was just past two in the afternoon the next day when I walked into Andromeda with an armful of supplies for the restrooms. Owning a bar wasn’t as glamorous as it sounded and somehow, as a business owner, you ended up being your own bitch just to save a few bucks. I hoisted the bulk bundle of toilet paper onto the bar and peeled off my oversized cat-eye sunglasses.
“Hey, Indy,” I greeted my lead bartender with a smile before shoving the sunglasses into my black leather crossbody purse.
Indy had been working at Andromeda longer than I had, and was my right-hand woman for literally everything. She had bright pink hair and snakebite piercings, and wore her eyeliner dark and thick. She was a 2000s punk wet-dream, and I was here for it. Loved her for her enthusiasm and A plus work ethic, too.
“I’ll be in my office if you need me. Hold my calls and cancel my appointments. I have books to balance,” I told her with a cheeky smile.
“Hold your calls from the phone we don’t have and cancel your appointments with the ghosts I set up earlier this week? You got it, boss. Anything else?”
“Yeah,” I told her as I pulled the bundle of TP off the bar and slung it over my shoulder like I was a hotter, edgier, beardless Santa Claus. “Keep being you, punk princess.”
Her laugh brought a smile to my face as I rounded the corner. The hallway was secluded, but my office was even more so, hidden speakeasy style behind a row of mirrors. Which I had to mention was truly hysterical considering no one came down this hallway to begin with, but the previous owner was a paranoid idiot who’d made some poor life choices and was convinced every mob, gang, etc, was after him. With his paranoia in full effect, he installed several hidden doorways around the bar and a full wall of floor-to-ceiling bulletproof one-way glass, which allowed him to watch everything around him without anyone knowing he was lurking in the shadows.
Eventually, he went into a full mental breakdown and thought everyone—everywhere—was out to get him. His wife insisted they move out of Ridgewood and start over, so that’s exactly what they did. Fast, too. Andromeda had only been open for a few months before it went up for sale, but as soon as I caught wind of it needing a new owner, I jumped.
Could I afford to buy a bar? Not really. But I’d sure as shit bust my ass every day to make it work.
With a few bats of my eyes at a dusty loan officer at the bank, I was approved for the exact amount to buy the bar I’d fallen in love with the second I stepped foot in it on opening night.
Now I was riding down a path I had never expected for myself: a business owner in charge of giant adult headaches such as bookkeeping and business taxes. Did you know the government expects you to pay quarterly taxes? How the hell are you supposed to do that when business has so many ebbs and flows?
Yeah, I learned that term too. Ebbs and flows. And my high school economics teacher said I’d never amount to anything.Joke’s on you, Mr. Kromer.
Most days I questioned why I bought this place. Then night fell, the ceiling twinkled like the night sky while the patrons happily drank and grinded, and I remembered why.
Pushing the frame of the mirror, the hidden door gave way, allowing me access to the darkened office hidden behind it. My fingers effortlessly found the light switch, and I flicked it on. Light swept over the room, a low warmth glowing over the furniture I decorated the area with once it became mine. Everything faced toward the mirrors—my desk, the couch. The idea of not being able to see my full surroundings made my skin crawl. I wasn’t as paranoid as the previous owner, but I had plenty of experience with how people were, and I knew better than to give an enemy my back.
Or a friend, for that matter.
You never know who you can trust, and I was as distrusting as they came.
I could count on one hand the number of people who had my full, unyielding trust. I only needed three fingers.
I spent many hours concealed behind the one-way mirror, enjoying a full view of my bar. It didn’t matter if it was day or night. I could stay in here for hours, cloaked in privacy, enjoying the scenery.
From the bar side, the floor-to-ceiling mirrors elongated the area, giving the space the illusion of being larger than it was. In my opinion, it also gave the space sex appeal, and from the number of women I witnessed watching themselves as they grinded against another sweaty body, I’d say I was right.
