Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
If he has his sights set on Cloud 9, maybe it’ll be impossible to protect it.
22
DAWN
I lead Chantelle out of the bar to the chill-out area at the back. She’s still trembling, even though Barrow left the bar over fifteen minutes ago. "He’s gone," I confirm again, trying to reassure her as she slumps onto a bean-bag chair and swipes at her tear-streaked face.
"I can’t believe he’s the one who’s trying to ruin your friends’ business," she says. "I wish I could give you better news, but Barrow just doesn’t give up. He’s like a shark with razor-sharp teeth. He’ll do anything, and I mean anything, to get his way."
I take a seat on the beanbag opposite but lean forward and rest my hand on her leg. "He shouldn’t be able to keep getting away with it," I say. "He shouldn’t get to walk around doing whatever the hell he wants and damned the repercussions on anyone who gets in his path."
"He shouldn't," Chantelle says, rubbing the back of her hand across her blotchy cheeks. "You don’t know how many times I’ve tried to convince myself to go to the police about what he did to me. But I’m not brave enough. For all I know, he could have the local police in his pocket. If you have money, you have influence and control. I don’t have money. I’m a nobody, and Jeffrey Barrow is friends with so many people in high places…and low places too."
"Maybe if you just talked to someone at the station, off the record. There might be other people who’ve done the same. If there’s enough smoke, maybe they’ll try looking for the fire."
She shakes her head. "I’m too scared, Dawn. I’m not brave like you."
My throat swallows involuntarily because I’m not brave. I’m scared, just like she is. Scared to face the possible truth. Scared to find out if my life might be heading in a direction I’m not strong enough to deal with.
"It’s okay," I soothe. "You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do."
Although it would help us all at Cloud 9 if Barrow was pulled up on sexual assault or harassment charges, I’m not going to push Chantelle to do anything she isn’t comfortable with. That would make me as bad as Jeffrey. I wouldn’t want that man's wrath directed at me, so I can’t expect Chantelle to shoulder the risk, either.
But something has to be done.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and when I pull it out to see who’s calling, I find three missed calls from my dad. Just the sight of his name and what it represents is enough to have my heart skittering. The longer I avoid talking to him, the angrier he’s going to get, and I don’t blame him. I made a promise and I’m breaking it with every day that passes.
All it would take is one little phone call. I’d get dad off my back in less than five minutes. But that five minutes could change my life forever. I know he’s only hassling me because he loves me. I understand that, but I’m not ready to know what he wants me to find out. I just need more time.
More time for what? I hear the words in Dad’s frustrated voice and go cold all over.
To live my life unburdened. Is that even what I’m doing?
I need to escape. I need oblivion and that’s what I have here. Nine men to take me to another place where I don't have to worry about my dad’s frustration or my avoidance of the burden of truth.
I understand Chantelle’s desire to just put all her troubles behind her, safely tucked up in the bed of the past. I understand her avoidance of potential repercussions. We’re not all brave enough to head into every problem headlong and without concern for the consequences.
"Do you need to call someone back?" Chantelle asks softly, and I blink up at her, realizing I drifted away on my own reflections.
"No," I say. "Not right now."
She smiles a sad smile. "I just wish life was simpler. I wish there weren’t problems or people like Jeffrey. I wish I didn’t have to adult all the time."
I snort, leaning back in the beanbag chair and staring up into the starlight sky. "Adulting sucks balls," I say loudly, and we both burst into fits of emotion-laden laughter, wobbling on the precipice of crying for different reasons.
Tonight, when the bar is closed, I think all my men will need the escape of sexual oblivion. They’ll all need a chance to feel powerful and strong, and I’ll revel in feeling owned by nine gorgeous men. Between them, they can erase all my worries, and maybe, for a time, I’ll be able to erase theirs.
I chill with Chantelle, exchanging stories, until the bar is closed and the men who are going to take me to the cloud nine in the sky all appear. They’re tense and worried, evident in the bunch of their shoulders and furrowed brows, but they still greet me with relieved smiles. Logan arranges a cab for Chantelle and when I’ve hugged her goodbye and she’s making her way safely home, I lead nine men into the comfortable safety of my room, and we all get lost in a place the rest of the world can’t touch us.