Page 22 of Gin & Jewels
“Because”—he waved his arm toward the kitchen—“that’s your brother.”
I chuckled. “A brother who didn’t care what this would do to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You guys scared the shit out of me, and I saw an innocent man get shot.”
“To be fair, I think you only saw your brother get shot. The bullet went through him and hit that guy.And,” he stressed, “I would have never shot you.”
“But apparently you didn’t mean to shoot Keith.”
“That guy threatened to kill him. What was I supposed to do?”
“Not fucking rob my workplace!” I yelled and walked away, slamming my bedroom door behind me.
A week later, I was starting to feel less worried that Keith and his friends would come back in. I’d been avoiding them all like the plague, though it wasn’t like I ever hung out with them to begin with. I assumed they got Keith patched up because he was still alive. A few times Micky tried to ask me if I’d talked to the cops, but I ignored him and stayed in my room.
I didn’t tell the cops anything. While I felt bad for Steve, he said that the insurance covered what was stolen, and that made me feel a little better. He also hired security guards, which made me—and I assumed the rest of the staff—feel safer. There was no way I would turn Keith in, though. I couldn’t.
He was my blood.
He was my family.
He was myonlyfamily.
The door to the store opened, and when I looked up to see who had walked in, my heart skipped a beat. It was the same reaction from before. Was it because of the man who walked in or because I knew who was responsible for the sling he was wearing?
“Oh my gosh, how are you feeling?” I asked. A part of me wanted to run around the counter and hug him because he tried to be my shieldandbecause he’d been shot. I felt as though I was responsible in some way.
Brad smiled a smile that made my belly dip. Not only was his arm in a sling, but his beard was a little longer since the last time I saw him. “Doing good. On the mend.”
“That’s good.” I relaxed a little, hearing that he was going to be okay.
“I came to see how you were doing.”
“Me?” I furrowed my brows. “You were the one who was shot.”
“Yeah, but you were pretty shaken up if I remember correctly.”
“True, but we hired security”—I motioned to the guard at the door—“so that makes it better.”
Brad looked over his shoulder to where I’d pointed. “That’s good. Makes me feel better too.”
I liked that he was checking on me because no one else had. “And you’re going to make a full recovery?”
He looked back at me. “Yeah, the bullet didn’t go in deep, and I’ll probably get to take this thing”—he messed with the strap of his sling—“off in a few more days.”
“Good. That makes me feel better too.”
Brad looked at me with his dark eyes. “What time is your lunch break?”
I felt my face get hot. “My lunch break?”
He smirked. “Yeah, Cassie. I was wondering if you’d like to have a quick bite with me?”
I glanced over at Ray, and he made a shooing motion at me as though he approved of Brad wanting to take me out. I looked back at Brad, still feeling guilty about what Keith had done. “Sure. I have an hour break.”
“Perfect.”
