Heartbreak Me by T.L. Smith Page 0,55
I do not care in the least that I am staring. That’s one great ass.
“Run. Go.”
I don’t take orders from any men, but this one is holding my sister hostage, and that gives me no other choice.
But I really do want to run.
Atlas is at my table, and he’s managed to put his jeans back on when I return. I pull my AirPods out and look at my table. There’s food, and lots of it. Guess he wasn’t lying when he said he would arrange for dinner.
“You ordered?” I ask.
Atlas nods and sips whatever drink he has and looks back at his cell phone.
“Shouldn’t you be leaving now? I’m sure one of your illegal jobs requires your assistance.”
“I actually came here to give you yours back,” he says, placing his cell on the table.
“Mine?” I ask, confused.
“Yes. And you can rehire all the staff who were let go. You will get a pay rise above what you should have been paid,” he says.
“Did you negotiate this for me?”
Atlas looks back at the food and picks up a burger as he answers, “No. The business is mine now. You were way underpaid, did you know that?”
“Yes. Yes, I knew.” I take a deep breath before I decide to move the conversation in another direction.
“Atlas?” I ask. He’s mid-bite, so he bites down and starts chewing when he looks up at me while wiping the side of his mouth. “What about my sister?”
“What about her?”
“You still have her. Do you not?”
Atlas puts his burger down and wipes his hand on his jeans. “Come and eat, then we can talk.”
“You will talk?” I ask.
He gestures to the food on the table. “Eat, and yes, I will talk.”
I do as he says and pull out the seat next to him.
“You ran for a good hour. Something on your mind?” he asks, picking up his burger again.
“Yes. A lot, actually.”
“Such as?” He bites, and I watch in fascination as he eats. He chews silently, and I love that. A lot of men have no idea how to eat silently.
“When is my debt going to be over? What else do you expect me to do?”
Atlas pushes a bag toward me, and I open it to find a burrito, smiling when I pull it out.
“Do you really want it to be over? Isn’t your life so much fuller now?”
“Fuller? No. Dangerous? Maybe. Annoying? Yes.” I bite into the burrito.
“You have a sexy mouth, and I fucking love to kiss it.” Atlas leans over and does just that. His lips push onto mine. It’s a quick kiss before he pulls away, making me forget I was even eating.
“Why did you do that?” I ask. “Why are you even here?”
Atlas’s cell rings, and he pushes ignore, then looks back at me. “I told you, I like to kiss you.”
“Why—” His phone interrupts me.
He sighs and picks it up. I hear fast talking, then his face does this thing I have come to know. It’s like he places on a mask where everything shuts down, and back in its place is the Atlas I first met. When he finishes the call, he stands, walking over to his shirt and pulling it on before he turns to face me. “I have to go.”
I don’t say anything.
“Theadora,” he says my name, snapping me out of my trance.
“Maybe it’s best you don’t come back.”
“I plan to come back and sleep in the same bed as you,” he says while walking to the door. “Unlock it when I call.”
Then he walks out, leaving me sitting where he left me and having no idea what’s even happening.
It’s almost midnight when I get a message telling me to unlock the door. I contemplate not doing it, or not even replying to him, but I know how relentless he can be. When Atlas wants something, my bet is he always gets it, even if that includes me.
I wait until he knocks, and when he does, my feet are sluggish as I go to the door to open it. Pulling it open, I see his eyes are bloodshot, and his lip is busted. He’s changed and is now dressed in a white button-up shirt and dark jeans.
“What happened?” I ask while stepping up to touch his lip. Atlas doesn’t back away or even tell me to move, he lets me touch his sore lip as if he’s relishing my touch. His eyes even close for a brief second before they fling open and he reaches for my hand,