Unleashing Sin - A. M. Wilson Page 0,38
“What happened?”
“N-nothing happened.”
“Are you hurt?”
She shakes her head, but it doesn’t go far with my hands holding her still.
“Did Elias do something to you?” The words taste bitter in my mouth. I know that man would never hurt her, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t say something unintentionally that upset her. Even so, he’d never let her run off alone.
“No,” she murmurs.
“Then what the fuck is it?” The confirmation she hasn’t been hurt relaxes me some, but my heart still races at a hundred miles a minute.
Her fingers twist in front of her stomach. “I wanted to see you, so Elias dropped me off. I told him I’d be fine to walk myself up but …”
She starts to look away. Using my thumb and index finger, I capture her chin and bring her eyes back to mine.
“But what?”
Her eyes well with tears, and the words come spilling out. “But then I remembered how mean you were this morning and that the last thing you probably wanted to do was to see me, so I stood outside your door for I don’t know how long.” She dashes away a stray tear with the back of her hand, and my heart breaks for her. “I tried to use this stupid cell phone to call Elias back, but I don’t know how to work it.”
My stomach bottoms out at her distress. “Shelby.”
“A few men walked by, and I thought I was going to die I was so scared. I realized it was either you or them, so I finally knocked. I’m sorry,” she mutters in a defeated voice.
Without thinking, I slide my hands around her back and crush her against my chest. I nudge the hair away from her ear with my chin and put my lips there. “You’re so brave, blossom. So damn brave.”
It doesn’t pass my notice that her hands hang limply at her sides while mine are wrapped around her tight, but once I praise her for her courage, she slips hers around my waist, and she fists the shirt at my back. As the seconds pass, her grip gets tighter. She takes a shuddering breath, and as she releases it, her body starts to melt into mine and relax.
“Atta girl. You’re fine.” If I could stay clamped tight, I would, but I need to let her go. As I pull away, I can feel her reluctance to step back. Using my index finger, I swipe some hair away from her eye.
Shelby steps back and swallows hard.
“Gotta grab my keys and coat, then I’m takin’ you for a ride.”
“Where’re we going?”
“You’ll see.” I snag her relaxed hand and tug her out the door.
Having her pressed against my back on the bike is no less thrilling than the first time. I just wish it lasted more than ten minutes. We pull into the alley behind the bar and park. As I move to dismount, it hits me. I look over at Shelby, but she doesn’t seem to recognize where we are. And I’m not about to point out the dumpster she was left beside just a handful of weeks ago.
I thread my fingers through hers again and unlock the back door. Music and conversation filter through to the stock area. Good. That means there are people here.
“What are we doing here?” she shouts above the music, but I just pull her along. She’ll see in about thirty seconds anyway.
We hit the main space, and fury hits me at the sight. The place is completely trashed. Garbage litters the floor, and empties cover the majority of the tables. People aren’t even sitting at them. Some are dancing, but the majority are crowding the bar where my newly hired manager, Christopher, is taking a body shot off some nearly naked bitch.
I want to wring his damn neck, but this is on me. This is what I get for hiring someone and disappearing for weeks without checking in.
Shelby chases after me as I nearly drag her through the crowd to the bar. I lift the partition and pull her through.
“Hey, you can’t be in-Oh.”
“Yeah,” I reply darkly. “Oh.”
Christopher takes a step back, and Shelby presses in behind me. She can probably feel the rage coming off me.
“Get your ass out there and clean up my fuckin’ bar, or you won’t see a dime.”
His face hardens, but he knows he has no ground to argue if he wants to get paid. “Sure. Okay.” He starts to edge past me, so I grab a serving tray