Page 41 of Daddy's Little Worker
CHAPTER 18
FRANKIE
Numb.
Frankie didn’t feel anything as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her neck was a nasty, dark purple, almost-black color. It hurt to swallow, but she wasn’t going to have to worry about that if she didn’t drink or eat anything.
A perfect handprint wrapped around her neck.
Phone buzzing, she looked at it to see Dominic telling her he was here. Sighing, she grabbed a scarf and snuggled it around her neck to try and hide the bruise. She knew people would ask, but she could just say she was cold or had a rash.
After grabbing her bag, she closed her door to the best of her ability before heading down to the car. Maybe if she acted like nothing was wrong, no one would ask her questions.
“Why are you wearing a scarf? It’s hot outside,” Dominic commented when he saw her.
Tears pooled in her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Before she could stop them, tears ran down her face, and she jerked her gaze to the ground. She didn’t think talking would be a problem, but she was wrong.
“Frankie.” Dominic knelt in front of her and gently lifted her head.
Without warning, he started to unravel the scarf. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, but it was too late. He was already looking at her badly bruised neck.
“Who did this to you?” Dominic growled.
She shook her head and took a step back.
“No, you don’t get to do that. Who the fuck laid a hand on you?” he asked again.
Frankie shrugged. She didn’t know who it was. How was she supposed to answer that?
“I’m taking you to the hospital.” He grabbed her hand and helped her into the car. “Don’t worry about work. I’m going to call Noah, and he’ll meet us there.”
“N-no.” Frankie’s voice sounded raw and scratchy, but Dominic was already shutting her door and rounding the car.
She didn’t want Noah to get involved.All Frankie wanted was to get to work, with the scarf around her neck, and to do her job. What she really wanted was to crawl back into bed and sleep the day away, but work was the next best thing. She needed the money to survive, and maybe it would exhaust her so much she could sleep tonight.
Though Frankie didn’t know if she wanted to be in her apartment anymore. Her door shut anymore without something propped up behind it. There was no way she would be able to relax enough to sleep there now. Not when it didn’t close, and especially since the guy knew where she lived. What if he came back to talk to her, or worse, kill her?
“Frankie,” Dominic gently said as he looked at her. “This isn’t up for discussion. I am taking you to the hospital to get checked out, and I’m calling Noah. He needs to know since he is your boss.”
She shook her head, tears filling her eyes. She didn’t want to go to the hospital and have everyone look at her weirdly. She didn’t want Noah to know. No doubt he would insist on her moving, which she was okay with at this point, but he would also probably tell her to take time off, and she couldn’t do that. She hadn’t been working at the club long enough.
“Are you opposed to both or just Noah finding out?” Dominic sighed.
Frankie held up two fingers.
“Well, I know a doctor who can make a house call since he owes me one. I’ll have to see if he is working or not. If he isn’t, we can go to a place and he can check you over. If he is, well, then you’ll have to go to the hospital,” Dominic explained. “And Noah finding out isn’t up for discussion. He is your boss and he is going to find out one way or another. Noah will know something is up when you walk into the club with a scarf around your neck.”
Not if he hadn’t been talking to her. Noah and Frankie hadn’t talked to each other in almost two days. The first time she saw him was last night, right before she left work, and it was a brief glance.
Noah wouldn’t know if anything happened to her because they wouldn’t see each other.
“Let me call my friend real quick.” Dominic pulled his phone out.
Frankie zoned out, only hearing him sayMike, andsee you soon. It didn’t matter anymore. She was going to see a doctor, and Noah was going to find out. Maybe she could get out of the car now and make a run for it.
Sliding her hand across the door slowly, she pulled the door handle only for it to do nothing. Frankie looked at the lock to see whether it was unlocked. She glared at Dominic, who wasn’t paying any attention to her.
He’d put the child lock on. How dare he!
