Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Walker leans on his desk. “As a future employee, I feel like I should let you know that your partner is stealing from you.”
My cheeks heat, but I’m not shocked. “You mean now… he’s trying to steal the company from me?”
He shakes his head. “No, I mean he’s been laundering money out of the business and stealing from you for years.”
Today has already been a roller coaster of emotions, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. “Okay, thanks for letting me know. I just… thanks.”
Dom reaches over and wraps his hand around my arm and squeezes it before taking the attention off me. “So, Walker, you got that check for me to sign?”
Walker laughs. “You mean a check for you to take with you and deposit into your account?”
Walker shoves a check toward Dom, and he flips it over and signs the back of it before sliding it back to Walker.
Walker just shakes his head. “I’m not sure what kind of business you’re running, but you make more money when you actually accept payment for services.”
“And I told you that I’m not going to accept your money. I’m perfectly happy that you make the donation to the women’s shelter each month.”
Walker taps his knuckles on the desk. “When I asked you to do a class every month about standard car maintenance for women in town, I didn’t mean for you to do it for free.”
“Trust me, Walker. I’m fine with volunteering my time.”
Walker nods and gives in. “Okay, fine. Are you coming to the fundraiser this weekend?”
Dom grumbles but nods his head. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
Walker turns to me. “You’re invited, of course. It would be a great way to meet everyone.”
“Come with me,” Dom says. He reaches for me but pulls back at the last second.
Because I don’t know what to say, I look at Walker. “I’ll be in touch, Walker. Thank you so much for this opportunity.”
Dom walks with me to the door but stops before we go out. “Do you care if I talk to Walker for a minute?”
I smile. “Of course. I’ll be down in the gardens.”
He opens the door and closes it behind me. As I make my way outside, instead of thinking about the job offer, I think about Dom and the fact he volunteers his time to teach women in the community about car maintenance. I’m not surprised, and it explains the amount of women that come into his garage.
12
DOMINIC
As soon as I close the door behind Lucy, I turn to Walker, and he has his hands held up. “You know I can’t tell you anything.”
I walk over to his desk and hover over him. I’m trying to be intimidating even though there’s no way Walker is intimidated by me. He stands up. “You know I can’t tell you anything about Lucy’s fiancé.”
I practically growl at him, “Ex-fiancé.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Fiancé, ex-fiancé, partner… whatever you want to call him. He’s a piece of shit, but you know I can’t give you any information and you go off half-cocked out of here.”
My jaw is pulled tight. “He put his hands on her.”
He runs his hand through his hair. “He the one that put that bruise on her?”
“Yes.”
He nods. “Okay, I’m going to get my best people into it. He’s keeping her business from her. Do you know that?”
“Yes… but I don’t even know the name of her business. I can’t look this guy up… if you just give me a name, I’ll take care of it.”
He looks at me with understanding and palms my shoulder. “I get it, I really do, but let me gather some intel.”
“Fuck, Walker, you know exactly how I feel right now. When Brook was kidnapped and in danger…”
He crowds me. “Let’s not bring my wife into this. Like I said, I know exactly how you’re feeling. I’ll get some information that she can use to get her business back—or hell, at least help her salvage some of her income and put the guy away.”
There’s no sense in arguing with Walker, and I know his word is good. If he says he’ll take care of something, he will. “Okay. Thanks for offering Lucy the job.”
He waves me off. “She’s more than qualified.”
I nod in agreement, and after telling Walker bye, I find Lucy in the gardens. “Hey, sorry about that.”
She smiles up at me. “It’s fine.” She spans her hand out at the gardens around us. “Isn’t this beautiful?”
“You’re beautiful,” I answer her.
She blushes and tucks her hair behind her ear. “You know you’re making this hard on me, right?”
I flinch because the last thing I want to do is make anything hard for her. I want to help her.
She shakes her head and steps toward me. “I just mean, how you’re being so nice to me, that’s all. You’re making it hard for me to stay mad at you.”