Page 27 of Demons and Debts
My stomach drops a little. I’m stuck here. What if they—
‘No!’ He takes a step back, giving me some space.
I feel my brow pucker. ‘Have I offended you?’
‘Yeah, you kinda have. The girls who contract with uswantto be here. They literally sign up.’
‘So they get paid?’
He snorts and his gaze moves over me. ‘Looking for a job?’
I make a point of not looking into his eyes. ‘Not even a little bit.’
He barks a laugh. ‘They get paid when they’ve done their time, but they have a roof over their heads, food, a clothing allowance while they’re here.’
‘Where is here anyway? How did I get here?’ I ask, changing the subject so abruptly that he blinks a couple of times and there’s a bit of a pause before he answers.
‘What's the last thing you remember?’ he finally asks.
I swallow hard, thinking about last night in the alleyway. ‘I was on the ground, I think. Stacker was kicking me. No, wait, it was after that. The big guy. He threw me up against the wall and asked me about Drey. Then, I guess I passed out.’
‘Paris brought you back on his bike. You have some cracked ribs and some bumps and bruises.’
I let out a slow breath. ‘And now I get to stay. Goodie.’ I pull my hair tie out. ‘How long are you going to keep me here for?’
Theo shrugs. ‘Vic will speak to you about that later,’ he says cryptically and my eyes narrow.
‘I can't help you find them,’ I say. ‘I don't know who they are. I've never seen them.’
Again, Theo shrugs. ‘Vic thinks you can. Anyway, it’s not me you have to convince. I have nothing to do with the decision. You want a shower?’
He gestures with his head to the door across the room.
‘You should take one,’ he says. ‘You smell like coffee and …’ he sniffs. ‘Something else.’
‘Onions?’
‘Yeah, that’s it!’
‘Soup Special was French Onion last night.’
Again.
Guess I don’t have to worry about coming out of the diner reeking of food anymore.
Theo goes into his closet and comes out with a nondescript sweatshirt. He puts it on the bed with some grey sweatpants that look massive. He surveys me and then looks at his clothes.
‘Actually, I’ll see if one of the girls has something you can borrow,’ he says.
He leaves the room, closing and locking the door behind him.
I don’t wait, sliding my legs over the side of the bed and putting them on the plush, beige carpet. I stand up slowly, testing my weight on my legs. I feel a little sick, but I’m probably just hungry.
I take small steps to the bathroom, holding my side as if that’ll make it feel better. I gape as I turn on the light. It’s huge. There’s a shower and … is that a jacuzzi tub? I thought this was an MC clubhouse and I don’t know what I expected, but I think it was more stained floors and liquor bottles, maybe a nasty, stained commode behind a rickety door. This is so fancy!
Who are these guys?
I turn on the walk-in shower. It’s one of those kind where the water drips down from a massive, flat showerhead like rain. There are even jets that spray water at you from the sides for, like, if you forget to wash a crevice or something.
