Page 14 of Cherished By the Sinners
“You dare—” the woman who held her phone began.
“You dare!”Mason shouted.
When Darlene turned her head to look at him, he had a very long knife in each hand.He stalked slowly toward Darlene, stopping only when he was standing next to her.
“You come here, ask for our help, safety, and support, then abuse our people because you’re feeling peckish?”Mason’s voice was low and rough, rolling over the room like a clap of thunder.
Darlene tilted her head to one side.What did peckish mean?Peck, like chickens?
“I should kill you all,” he added, snarling like he’d already decided to do it.
“I’ll help,” said another deep and dangerous voice from the doorway.
Magnus stood there, a sword in his hand.He stepped into the room and behind him, Anna Breznik followed.She didn’t have a weapon, but she looked really unhappy.Her frown sent a shiver up Darlene’s back.
“Darlene?”Anna said in a calm tone that didn’t belong in this room full of threat.“Come here, please.”
Darlene’s feet moved before she consciously knew what she was doing.Anna Breznik had this air about her, like she was in charge and could fix any problem.“Yes, ma’am.”
She stopped in front of Anna, while Magnus joined his brother facing the guests.
Anna smiled.“Please tell me what happened since you entered this suite.”
Darlene took in a deep breath.“I asked permission to enter, and the man on the floor let me in.He followed me as I worked, too close, not at a respectable distance like the Japanese guest did.”
“Oh?”Anna asked, sounding only slightly interested.
“Yes, ma’am.Our Japanese guests were very polite.They asked how I liked working here, one of them even said he liked my singing.”
Anna nodded, glancing at the man on the floor.
Darlene cleared her throat.“Anyway...I asked the man over there to step back to give me more room to work, but he refused.He looked at me like I was...was...dirt under his shoes.Men have looked at me like that before.They always hurt me when they looked like that.I tried to explain that you and Mason and Magnus and all the Brezniks don’t allow anyone to hurt their staff, but he didn’t believe me.”
Anna looked at Darlene’s arm and pointed at it.“What happened here?”
“He grabbed me,” Darlene said, lifting her arm and seeing the beginning of some bruises.“It hurt.Mason got here and everyone got scary in a hurry.I was afraid that they would attack and hurt him, so I kneed the man holding me and tripped him.”
“You were afraid they wouldhurtMason?”Magnus asked, his voice low and quiet.
Darlene wasn’t fooled.He only talked like that when he was furious.“He was outnumbered, and they all looked like street thugs who are about to gang up on someone.”
“Thugs,” Mason said, drawing out the word, then barring his teeth at the guests.“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
“We are not thugs,” one of the female guests spat out.
“And yet, that is how you are behaving,” Anna said, studying the guests with a cold gaze.“Words are meaningless if you act contrary to them.You have all been told of the standard of behavior we demand from everyone, staff and guests.You agreed to follow that standard, yet you treat one of ours like she has no value.”
“She is cleaning,” one of the other female guests said, a frown on her beautiful face.“Is she not below those who speak?”
“No,” Magnus said in his deep rumble.“All of our people hold the same status.If you treat one like shit, you’re treating us all like shit.”
Darlene sucked in a quick breath.Us?
He was lumping himself, his brother, even his aunt in the same group as herself?
Magnus and Mason whipped their heads around to stare at her.
She took a half step back.Had she made a noise?
