Page 40 of Daddy's Little Worker
“If you need to move out, Noah has a couple of apartments, or we can put you in a hotel until you can afford a place,” Trent gently offered.
“No, I’m okay,” she whispered, but it was a lie.
She wanted to get out as soon as possible, but she didn’t want them to do it only out of pity. She would put away as much money as she could after this paycheck came through and save up.
“Fran—”
She turned around and looked at him. “I told him I was fine. Noah said he wouldn’t do anything until something badhappened, and guess what? It hasn’t, so he can’t do anything. None of you guys can. I’m saving up and will get out of there on my own.”
Heaving a breath in, Trent looked at her in shock. Before he could say anything, Frankie walked off to the employees’ room. She needed to get her things and leave before anyone else stopped her and asked questions. She didn’t want to talk about it.
After quickly grabbing her bag, she stuck her head out and looked around, trying to see if anyone was out there. With a deep breath, Frankie walked out of the employee room and straight toward the front entrance. Taking one look back, she sucked in a deep breath when she saw Noah standing at the end of the hallway looking for her.
Frankie waited a couple of seconds to see if he was going to say anything, but when he didn’t, her shoulders sagged and she walked out of the building. That was her clue that he wasn’t interested at all, and it broke her heart. Blinking several times to get rid of the tears, she walked to the car, not daring to look back.
“Everything okay?” Dominic asked when she got in the car.
She shrugged. “I’m tired,” she whispered and closed her eyes.
“I’ll wake you when we get to your place,” he gently said.
Frankie was sittingon her bed, looking at her white wall, not knowing what to do with herself. What was she supposed to when she felt like her heart was broken and there wasn’t anything worth living for?
It was an exaggeration. She had a lot to live for, but right now, it didn’t feel like any of those things mattered.
“Lita, do you think everything is going to be okay?” she quietly asked. “It doesn’t feel like it. I don’t know how I’m going to go back to work. If I do, it will be exhausting trying to stay away from Noah. The pay is too good to leave, but how awkward is it going to be? I need the pay and the insurance so I can get my medicine cheaper.”
Lita just stared at her, not saying a word.
“Okay, I hear you. I need to go to bed or try to sleep so I don’t look as dead in the morning,” Frankie mumbled.
But she didn’t want to go to bed. Something had happened next door, and she wasn’t sure whether her neighbor was okay. Loud bangs, smashes, and lots of yelling went on for at least an hour.
Frankie lay in her bed and pulled the covers over her body, holding Lita close to her. Maybe tonight she would be able to get some decent sleep. After that fight next door, it was a lot quieter than normal.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out, allowing her body to relax. But that didn’t last long as her door handle started to jingle. Her eyes narrowed on the door, waiting for someone to say something on the other side. Grabbing her phone, she looked to see if Noah or Dominic had texted her, but they hadn’t. It was late at night, and no one would be near her apartment.
Holding Lita close, she carefully and quietly got out of bed and slowly made her way toward the bathroom. But before she could make it to the bathroom, her door burst open and she screamed. A tall burly man stormed in and headed straight toward her.
“I don’t know anything!” she screamed.
He gripped her neck, pulling her close to him. She whimpered as pain engulfed her and breathing grew harder. She stared at him with wide eyes. Was he going to kill her?
“Fucking bitch,” he growled.
A scar ran across his skin through his eye. It was discolored, like he couldn’t see anything out of it. Frankie searched his face more, trying to find something to distinguish who he was in case she made it out alive. Would she go to the police? She didn’t know, but if she wanted to, she would have a description of him.
But before she could look any further, he tightened his grip on her throat. “Are you going to talk?” he asked, his voice low and menacing.
“N-no,” she choked out as much as she could.
“I know where you live. Talk to the police or anyone and I will come back to finish the job.” His grip around her neck tightened even more, cutting off her airflow.
Frankie’s lungs screamed at her to breathe, but she couldn’t. She was going to die.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on you.” he said before letting her go.
Frankie crumpled to the ground as she watched him stomp out of her apartment, the door still wide open and broken.
