Page 14 of Protecting Clove
He shook his head. “I’m not ready to call us a couple.”
Kevlar shrugged. “I think that will come soon enough.”
Bud hoped it would. He had gone from not wanting a relationship with anyone to needing something with Clove. Would she want to be with him? He saw her looking at him sometimes and he thought he recognized the look in her eyes. She was beautiful and kind, plus he really liked Neo. He would have a readymade family.
They spent that evening resting after checking their equipment one more time. Being prepared played a huge part in their success, and they needed to succeed with this mission.
11
Keith pulled out his phone, staring at it. He should have kept Clove with him, but she’d been annoying while pregnant. Then that baby had been born, and he’d seen no use for it. The thing cried so much it gave him a headache. The only reason he was contacting Clove right now was he needed money. Why wouldn’t she answer?
He needed to track her down and make her understand that she had to give him something. He’d given her a baby that she seemed to like, but she’d given him nothing in return.
How would he find Clove? She had left the area after that mishap at the bridge. How was he to know she would have been so touchy? He wasn’t actually going to hurt the kid, not really. Maybe a little, but the kid had been little and wouldn’t have remembered. Clove should have stuck around.
Clove had stopped working at the restaurant after Neo had been born. Where was she now?
He decided to stop by the place she used to work. One of them would spill where she was. He stepped in, wondering if the place had always been this kind of a dump. Clove hadn’t ever cared about how things looked. He’d told her multiple times that this place wasn’t good enough for her, but she’d never listened.
“What are you doing here?” the bartender asked as he took a seat.
“Well, hello to you, too.”
The woman narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “Are you going to drink?”
“Give me a beer.”
“You need to pay first.”
His lips thinned as anger slid through him. He’d always drank for free when Clove had worked here. “What? Why won’t you just give me one?”
“Because that’s not how a bar works. You aren’t at your friend’s place. You’re at a bar, and you need to pay.”
He rolled his eyes and threw a ten on the counter. “Now get me my beer.”
This wasn’t starting out the way he wanted. He’d expected these people to be eating out of his hands. They used to be so nice when he’d stop in here.
He took a sip of the beer as he watched the people around the room. The clientele had never really been great, but they spent money, and back then, he’d convinced Clove to give him part of her paycheck. That damn baby had ruined everything.
“Why are you here, Keith?”
The bartender was a sassy bitch, and he should take time to put her in her place. But he needed information on Clove. Teaching this woman a lesson could wait.
“Have you heard from Clove?”
The woman had the audacity to roll her eyes at him. He squeezed his free hand into a fist while he drank down more beer. This woman really was asking for it.
“If I knew where she was, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.”
He slammed the glass he’d been drinking from down on the bar and stood. “You’re a miserable old bitch, aren’t you? I bet you’re dry as the desert.”
The woman turned her back on him. He thought about picking up the glass to toss at her, but one of the cooks had stepped out into the main dining room. He waved. The guy had always been nice to him.
“Hey, Keith, how are you doing?”
“Good.” He didn’t remember the guy’s name. It was something odd, something not normal.
The bartender waved at the cook. “I’m headed to the bathroom. Watch the bar for a minute.”
