REDEMPTION | MAFIA ROMANCE | SMUT

CHAPTER TEN

I hadn't heard a peep from Josh since our eventful lunch date this afternoon. He's the head barman but rarely upholds his position behind the bar with us conquering ladies. The man had mastered looking busy at doing sod all. He patrolled the club floor to collect empty glasses or laid the chivalrousness on thick to achieve digits from women.

"I love redheads." Josh waved a lipstick-stained napkin in my face. "They give the best head."

Thanks for that knowledge, Josh. I wouldn't have slept without it tonight.

It's not as though I disliked working behind the bar. I quite enjoyed interacting with customers while they voluntarily spewed absurd, drunken tales. However, aside from Josh, the bar is predominantly Natalie's territory. Keeping me in the same proximity as the apparent nemesis often formulated an unbearable workplace. If I have to listen to the witch call me a "lousy worker" or "new girl" one more time, there is a likelihood that her head will end up in the ice generator.

Natalie's bitterness is exhausting. If she had valid reasons for hating me, I'd tolerate her catty behaviour. But her unexplainable degree of schadenfreude just for self-gratification goes beyond callousness. You cannot abominate, target, revile or make someone's workplace unendurable based on irrational speculation or, in her case, dislike without reason.

I pondered discussing the matter with Liam. Natalie's malevolence and name-calling is a form of bullying. Tattling to the big boss might be unwise, though. We are all adults around here, so I need to learn how to handle tricky quandaries.

Moreover, as much as it pains me to admit, Liam and Natalie are close. Not in the literal sense. But I am ninety-nine percent sure that she is one of Liam's many conquests as she frequently joined him in the office. Every visit lasted approximately thirty minutes. If they weren't fucking each other six ways from Sunday, then what's the reason behind-closed-door meetings? With this in mind, I highly doubt that Liam will take raised grievances seriously, not at the cost of upsetting his love interest.

"There is someone on the phone for you, new girl." Natalie intentionally rammed her shoulder into me as she sauntered past. "So, get gone."

Ignoring the acrimony in her voice, I went into the back of the bar, backside parked on the glasswasher, and put the multi-line phone to my ear. "Brad, if you send me on another wild goose chase, know that I'm going to defy you," I warned, battling the need to laugh. "The last job you gave me was too far." When Brad's bored, I become his targeted pastime. "I am still traumatised by that bathroom job." He'd ordered me to clean the accessible toilets knowing a frenzied couple occupied it with their loud moans and hammering hips. I still see their disturbing display every time I try to sleep. "Comprende?"

"Miss Haines," Liam said sharply, and I all but fainted. "My office. Now."

The phone line went flat in tandem with my heart rate.

Natalie appeared in the doorway. "What did he want?" Her face was red and freckled. If she could get away with murder, I'd be six feet under by now. "I asked you a question, new girl."