Unleashing Sin - A. M. Wilson Page 0,39

and slam it into his chest. The breath leaves his lungs in a small poof.

“You’ll need that to collect the empties.”

He glares at me as he passes.

“Right. That’s done.” Craning my head over my shoulder, I see Shelby trying to merge with my back and catch her scared eyes. “Come here.”

A grin tugs at my lips when she slides around my body without letting go. She ducks under my arm and plasters her front to mine. “Yes?”

I grip her shoulders and pull her back a step. As good as she feels against me, we are here for a purpose.

“You ready to help me?”

“Help … you?”

“Look at this place. It’s clear that fucker can’t handle it himself, and I need to get my bar back in order. You up for that?”

She looks at her feet. “I don’t think I can be here.” Her eyes come back to mine, and she whispers, “There are so many men. What if one of them … knows me?”

Every single time, she eviscerates me with her fear. “Nobody is going to touch you. If one of them so much as looks at you funny, I’ll take ’em out.”

“I don’t know …” She trails off.

“Shelby.” I command her attention with my tone. “I swear to you, I will take down anyone who so much as looks at you funny. Trust me.”

Her eyes flit back and forth between mine. Indecision is written all over her face, so I make the decision for her.

As gently as I can, I move her to the inside corner of the bar. “You’ll be safe here. Help me get drinks, yeah?”

Then I step up to the bar. “Everyone, listen up.” The few regulars let out a couple of whistles and cheers while Christopher’s frat boys look confused as fuck. Wouldn’t be surprised if he told them he owned the place. “I’m back in town so business as usual. That said, this girl right here is mine, and if any of you fuckers so much as look at her the wrong way, I’ll snap your neck.” I trail my gaze slowly through the crowd, trying to make eye contact with as many of those pricks as I can. I know they receive my message when a few of them look away and turn pale.

“First round’s on the bar since you’ve had to put up with my new manager for the past couple of weeks, and I can see he’s done a piss-poor job at keepin’ up with the place.” His crowd laughs while my regulars glare at where Christopher is trying to balance a full tray of empties.

“You drop those, I’m takin’ the money out of your check,” I bark over the noise. He glares at me but somehow manages to carry the tray into the back without making a mess.

After my announcement, the pace picks up, and I’m busy filling drinks. Shelby helps grab bottles from the coolers. It isn’t long before she starts to relax and even smiles once in a while. I like that she seems to be enjoying herself. The atmosphere of my bar is pretty friendly when I don’t have douchebags trying to turn it into a frat house.

Once the initial round of free drinks goes out, we have a few minutes to clean up. I keep her in the inside corner but test her by walking farther away. The first time, I fill a new sanitizer bucket for wiping down the bar top. She tenses the farther away I go. I can see the indecision in her eyes, warring with herself to follow or stay put. When I return, she busies herself with cleaning up any spills.

The second time, I refill the ice from behind the bar. I grin to myself when I come back around the corner and find her pretending to clean the very back corner of the bar. As soon as she sees I’ve come back, she relaxes.

The thing is, I’m a dick, and I wouldn’t be Sin if I wasn’t, so I push her. I push her because it needs to be done. I don’t know what Elias has been doing with her while I was out tearing my life to shreds, but I’d guess it wasn’t much. He treats her like glass while I want to show her she isn’t going to break.

Bill, one of my regulars, calls me over, and an idea forms in my head. I give Shelby a reassuring glance and walk over to the other side of the bar.

“You