Page 13 of Heat & Deceit
“Sorry, Javier, she’s new and...struggling,” she says, instead of delivering the insult that was on the tip of her tongue. “Carmine, this is Javier. He signs your checks.”
“Actually, Lycus does that.” Javier’s voice is deep and entrancing.
“Lycus,” I say.
“Another owner,” Javier supplies. “And then there’s Rome.”
“Three owners.”Yes, Nova, three freaking owners.
Shaking off my shock, the fake smile finds its way back on my face. “Perfect. Your order will be out in a jiff.” I hit the comp button and send the order through to Randal. A ticket prints, the sound almost obnoxiously loud in the quiet settling over the shop. I look around him and smile at the next customer.
Javier doesn’t move like I expected him to, and I slide my gaze in his direction, startled to find him still staring at me. He’s probably wondering why he hired someone who runs away from the scene of a crime. No, it wasn’t a crime. It was an accident. He said so himself.
“If I can ask you to move aside for the next customer.” I gesture to where he needs to go. Clear the hell away from me.
That maddening smirk reappears. “Yes, ma’am.”
My eyes want to narrow, but I force my face to relax.You cannot scowl at him. He’s your boss’s boss. If Tabitha doesn’t fire you, he will!
Speaking of, my manager focuses on Javier, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. At least while he’s here, I don’t have to worry about potentially getting fired.
I smile at the next person. “Hi, welcome to Tranquility. What can I get you?”
Four
JAVI
Carmine squints those pretty, hazel-gray eyes at me before flicking them back to the customer in front of her. I watch her as she works, strangely amused by her attitude. She didn’t fall all over herself trying to please me once she found out who I was. If anything, she seemed indifferent. Tabitha, on the other hand, hasn’t stopped talking while Randal makes my coffee. Out of habit, I scan the back counter, taking in the mess. I’m not bothered by it, because business has been good this morning.
Iambothered by Tabitha, who has clearly seen the mess and refuses to do anything about it.
“Here’s your coffee, Javi,” Randal says with a grin.
I squint at his use of my nickname but let it pass. I prefer to only have my pack call me by that name. “Thank you.”
“And we’ve been thinking about a peanut butter latte, but I haven’t quite got the ingredients right on that one.” Tabitha is prattling on about things I couldn’t care less about.
I’m here for one thing.
Well, my one thing has suddenly morphed into two things. Carmine was an unexpected surprise. I spare her one last glance, taking in the cool confidence she wears while working. She treats everyone the same, no special treatment, and she’s efficient. She and Randal are good employees.
“We need to talk,” I say to Tabitha, turning my full attention to her for the first time.
She blanches a little but quickly hides the reaction. “Sure thing!” Her voice is far too cheery. If I didn’t already suspect her as the person stealing from us, I would now. “Let’s go back to the office.”
Beaming at me, she spins and marches into the back room and into the manager’s office.
“Please, take a seat.” I gesture to the table and chairs sitting in the corner of the office, rather than letting her take the seat behind the desk.
Tabitha falters for a moment but slides into her spot as I take mine across from her. “I was surprised you were here,” she admits. “I didn’t expect you all to visit for another few weeks.”
Setting my messenger bag on the floor beside me, I sit back and look at Tabitha. She’s been the manager for over three years. Tranquility is our longest running franchise and, until now, we haven’t had reason to deviate from our quarterly management visits. The only reason I’m here is because our bookkeeper found a ten-thousand-dollar discrepancy.
We’ve never had a problem like this before.
I take a sip of my drink and hum in approval. Perfectly steamed and pulled. At least I know that part of the business is working as intended.
“Something has come up.” I glance around the office. Her desk is tidy. There isn’t much of a mess, aside from her purse, which is tipped over, her phone and keys spilling out of it.
