Betrayal of the Dove - By Capri Montgomery Page 0,2
with her, “not so ritzy,” jewelry store, people started speaking with her as well. That third robbery had changed everything because Shatrel Milano had been beaten, raped and left for dead. Her cash register had been cleaned out and her supply of Gucci handbags was gone. She had been closing her store at ten. She stayed open an hour later on Saturday nights because her store was one of the few stores on the Row that actually closed on Sunday. She was on her way out when it happened and she wasn’t found until nearly sunrise the next morning. One of the cops on the Scottsdale PD was driving down the Row, not on a routine drive, not even on his usual route to work, but he drove down that morning. He saw one of the store lights on and he stopped. Thank God he had because the doctors had said another hour and she might not have made it. After that robbery the fear level escalated to extreme heights and nobody felt safe. This was the Row. This was the place where people would bring their kids and take them to the ice cream shop down by the rose garden for the day. This was peace, a little slice of heaven on earth and somebody was hell-bent on ruining it.
She was more afraid because she lived down here. That and the fact that Shatrel’s store was just ten shops and a bistro down from hers. Whether she had the money in her budget for security or not, Alyssa knew she needed somebody on hand at least through close of business. After that she was on her own.
“I can only pay you eighteen an hour. You’re worth more than that.” She tried to hand him back his resume, but he wouldn’t take it. She didn’t want to be that employer who underpaid their workers. She had gone through that herself and she knew how much she hated knowing her skills were worth more, doing the job of five people and being paid less than the job of one. She needed security, but she also wanted to be fair. She couldn’t afford to pay him what he was worth.
“I’ll work for it, and when things pick up you can give me a raise.”
Good Lord the man was underselling himself. She wasn’t sure if she should let him. He would just hate her for it in the end. He would end up being one of those types of employees that grumbled about their underappreciated work because their pay wasn’t on par with their skills. He would quickly move on. She had been there. She had been that employee, and eventually she had moved on. Although she couldn’t really complain. Having a crap job with crap pay was what made her realize she needed to go out there and make her own way. Fortunately, she hadn’t spent years in “going nowhere” jobs before she made the switch.
She liked this guy on paper, and he seemed to know what he was doing, but she couldn’t hire him. She needed somebody with less skill. She shook her head; no, she needed him. She just couldn’t really afford him.
While she was processing the situation a tall lanky man with wire glasses came in with his resume. His blond hair was cut low, almost to the point of being shaved. He was dressed in a suit; that was the first thing she noticed about him because it fit him as if it had been tailored to fit his body and his body only. Given his height she gathered he probably had to buy custom clothes. He looked taller than Thomas, but it could have just seemed that way because he was lanky and lean while Thomas was all muscle. This guy looked like a friggin’ tree and suddenly, even in four-inch stiletto heels, she felt small.
“I’m here about the security position,” he said as he slid his resume onto the counter. She looked at the man already in front of her. She wanted this man—on so many levels, which was actually problematic because if he came to work for her she would have to get over her growing lust for the five foot nine inch muscles to die for, guy standing in front of her. Dark hair, green-blue eyes, oh yeah, she liked. Most women liked taller men, but for Alyssa, his height was perfect. She was only five feet and with four-inch heels on she would