“Time for a quick drink?” Cole asked Draven when they were getting changed after their shift later that day.

“You buying?”

“Yeah.”

“Then count me in.”

They went to a bar down the street. It was fairly quiet, but regardless, Cole took a seat at the back.

The bartender dropped off a couple of beers, and they clinked bottles.

“So, you gonna tell me what’s been bugging your ass all day?” Draven asked.

Cole teased at his beard. “I went to see Detective Black today at the DVU.”

Draven cocked a brow. “You transferring to Domestic Violence without telling me?”

Cole snorted. “Can you imagine me working there?”

“No.” Draven laughed. “You’d be too tempted to ‘educate’ the fuckers.”

“Exactly. No, I went about Millie.”

Draven frowned. “Who’s Millie?”

“The girl from Saturday night. The one at the coffee shop.”

“Ah, your first love?”

Cole ignored him. “She started work at the hotel today.”

Draven’s eyes widened. “Your hotel?”

“Yep.” He picked at the edges of the beer label. “She needed a job. We needed a replacement for Tanya.” And I needed to keep her close.

“So why the visit to DVU?”

“There’s something very wrong. My instincts are firing, and not in a good way. She’s anxious, jumpy as fuck, nothing at all like the girl I knew. She told me Saturday night that she’s left her husband. When she turned up for work this morning, I outright asked her what had happened with him. Her response? Don’t ask me.”

“Well, maybe she thinks you’re a nosy fucker she hasn’t seen for ten years and it was her polite way of saying mind your own goddamn business.”

Cole shook his head. “I’m no expert when it comes to DV, but I’ve seen enough to make me suspicious that’s what might have happened in Millie’s case.”

“What did Black say?”

“That she should make a formal complaint, and that if he turns up and harasses her, they could apply for an Order of Protection.”

“And will she?”

Cole blew out a breath. “No fucking idea. But one thing is certain: if I push, she’ll retreat.”

“So what are you gonna do?”

Cole leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Bide my time. Be her friend. And hope to God she opens up.”

“Have you enjoyed your first day?” Tanya asked as the clock ticked toward six in the evening, the end of her first shift.

“I’ve loved it,” Millie said. “Thank you for being so patient with me, even when I asked the same question multiple times.”

Tanya gestured dismissively. “Ask away. When I leave on Friday, I want to make sure you’re completely comfortable with everything.”

Millie bit her lip. Should she ask? With her life in chaos, she desperately wanted to latch on to a semblance of hope. Oh, to hell with it. She plucked up her courage and crossed her fingers behind her back.

“Cole mentioned you might not be returning after your maternity leave.”

“There’s no might about it. With two kids under three, I simply won’t have the time. I’ve told my guy he’ll have to apply for more overtime at work—he’s an electrician—because if he thinks I’m working an eight-hour shift here and then spending all night cleaning house and running around after two kids, he’s got another think coming.”

The relief must have shown on her face because Tanya added, “Have I just made your day?”

Millie nodded. “I really need the money.”

“Don’t we all,” Tanya said with a grin. “Well, as long as Jax is happy with your work, I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about.”

“Jax isn’t the only owner of this joint.”

Both Millie and Tanya’s heads snapped around. Millie’s heart pummeled her ribcage like a bird desperate to take flight, but trapped in a steel cage, its wings flapping uselessly against the barrier to freedom. The moment she’d privately dreaded all day had arrived.

Calum was dressed in a smart black suit, his beard shorter than Cole’s and his hair longer. Apart from those minor differences, the two had remained identical, just as they’d been in high school. Although they looked alike, Millie had never had any problems differentiating between them. Their personalities set them apart.

“You’ll have to keep me happy, too.” A glimmer of a smile played around his lips without reaching his eyes.

“Oh, Calum, I didn’t see you there,” Tanya said, seemingly oblivious to the icy undercurrent of Calum’s hard stare. “This is Millie. She’s taking over from me when I leave to have the baby.”

Calum sauntered over, his trademark swagger still firmly in place, except now he’d matured, he wore it with a confidence bordering on arrogance.

He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets. “You haven’t changed a bit,” he said to Millie.

Tanya’s eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline. “Do you two know each other?”

“Yeah. We went to the same school. Isn’t that right, Millie?”

Mute, she nodded.

“Well, she’s had a fantastic first day, Calum. I don’t think you’ll even notice I’ve gone.”

“Probably,” he drawled, his attention on Millie. “Why don’t you take off, Tanya. Millie can stick around until Marion arrives.”

Her pulse jolted. What game was he playing?

“If you’re sure,” Tanya said, already reaching under the desk for her purse. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Millie.”

“Bye,” she croaked, her voice husky and raw as she watched Tanya jog down the steps and disappear from sight.

“Cole tells me you’ve split with Tanner.”

She cut her eyes to Calum’s. “Yes.”

He leaned his upper body over the reception desk. “You’re not going to bring trouble to our door, are you, Millie?”

She took a step back. Her lip stuck to her top teeth, and she swept her tongue over them. “No,” and then in a stronger voice, “No, I’m not.”

He looked directly at her. “I hope so, for your sake.”

“I just want a chance.”

“And you’ll get one, thanks to my brother.”

She bit down on her lip. “I know this is awkward. If you want me to go, then I will.”

Calum’s eyes narrowed as he studied her. Millie’s pulse raced. She’d made the offer to go because she wanted to demonstrate to Calum she had integrity, that she genuinely wasn’t trying to cause trouble. But if he accepted…

“What if I said I did want you to go? Would you walk out of here right now and never come back?”

She stiffened her spine and refused to look away from Calum’s daring gaze, even if, inside, her lungs were on the verge of collapse. Tanner’s words often crushed her, but she’d survived. Hell, she’d escaped. If Calum Brook thought he could break her, he was about to be disappointed.

She thrust her chin forward. “Yes, Calum. If you want me to leave, then I’ll leave. I won’t stay where I’m not wanted.”

A flash of surprise turned his emerald-green eyes a shade darker. He opened his mouth to respond, but Millie didn’t get to hear his thoughts because someone else cut in.

“You are wanted, and you are staying.”

A raven haired, olive-skinned beauty strode toward them. She was dressed in a smart navy-blue suit—clearly designer—paired with a crisp white shirt, sheer nylons, and high-heeled shoes. Slung over her shoulder was a fashionable handbag in a deep crimson.

Millie glanced down at her own dress and then back up at the elegant woman before her.

“You must be Millie,” she said, greeting her with a warm, friendly smile that immediately put Millie at ease. “I’m Laurella.” She thrust a shopping bag at Calum. “Take that downstairs for me. Millie doesn’t need you crowding her on her first day.”

The Calum of old would have told Laurella to deal with her own damn bag. Instead, he took it from her without question and pressed a soft kiss to her temple.

“Looks like you’ve got two fans, Millie,” he said. “Lucky for you.”

Laurella rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a stronzo.”

When Calum chuckled, Laurella fixed him with a hard stare. “Are you still here?”

He raised his hands in the air. “I’m going, I’m going.”

“Good.” She turned her back on him. “Ah, here’s Marion to relieve you.” Laurella made brief introductions, then linked her arm through Millie’s and steered her into the bar area. “Let’s have a celebratory drink.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Millie said, thinking about her meager funds. She barely had money for food, let alone expensive cocktails. She’d seen the type of clientele The Miller-Brook attracted. No doubt that would translate to the price of the drinks.

“Nonsense,” Laurella said. She paused, her gaze searching Millie’s face. “It’s been a challenging day at work. I could do with a little female company before I have to spend my evening soothing Calum’s ego. Drinks on me, of course.”

Millie suppressed a relieved breath at Laurella’s offer to pay, even if guilt pricked at her conscience. “If you’re sure?”

Pulling out a bar stool, Laurella indicated for Millie to sit. “What would you like?”

It was the second time in three days she’d been asked what she wanted. She trawled through her mind, mentally scrabbling for the name of a fancy cocktail, or a sophisticated-sounding drink. Coming up empty, she went with, “A Coke.”

Laurella’s hand sliced through the air in dismissal. “No, no, no. That won’t do at all. It’s your first day at a new job. Let’s get a cocktail.” She peered through squinted eyes then. “Unless you don’t drink.”

“Oh, I drink,” Millie said, even though, apart from the one glass of wine she’d had with Cole, it had been more than two years since alcohol had passed her lips. Tanner’s birthday—he’d ordered champagne. She’d drunk more than was advisable. He’d been in an unusually good mood, and they’d staggered back home, laughing and joking, like in the early days of their relationship. Then she’d made a transgression of some sort—she’d never figured out what—and that was when the verbal abuse had started. The guilt trip; how she wasn’t good enough for him; how she’d put on weight; she was becoming unattractive; he didn’t know what he saw in her any more.

She’d plucked up the courage to speak out, telling him if he thought those things about her, then maybe she should leave. That way they’d both be happier. He’d thrown himself on the floor, begging her to stay. Shaking with what she now recognized as pure rage, he’d insisted it was shock and grief. He didn’t want to lose her. She meant everything to him, she was his world, and if she left him, he’d kill himself.

Oh yeah, Tanner wasn’t averse to the odd suicide threat, just to keep her in line. And guess what? It had worked. She’d apologized. Admitted it was all her fault. Told him, of course, she’d never leave him, how much she loved him.

As soon as she’d capitulated, Tanner had reassumed control, and nothing had changed.

“Millie?”

She dragged her thoughts back to the present at Laurella’s interjection. “Sorry, I’m thinking.”

“How about a Long Island Iced Tea? It’s so hot today. And it has Coke in it.”

Millie gave her a shy smile. “Okay.”

“Isa, cara, two Long Island Iced Teas.”

“Coming right up.”

Isa put down their drinks, condensation dripping down the sides of the glasses. Laurella picked them up and passed one to Millie, then clinked their glasses together. “Cheers.”

Millie grabbed a napkin and fiddled with the edges. When her fidgeting drew Laurella’s eye, she pushed the napkin away and took a sip of her drink. Her abdomen pulled and twisted. The woman sitting beside her was so confident, so well put together, so strong in the way she’d dealt with Calum—amplifying Millie’s weakness in her capitulation to Tanner—that Millie couldn’t help feeling a twinge of envy. By comparison, she had a canyon to cross, and without a rope or boat in sight, she wasn’t sure she’d ever reach the other side.

“I’m sorry about Calum. He can’t help himself.”

Millie grimaced. “He has every right to say as he pleases. This is his hotel.”

Laurella raised an eyebrow. “I couldn’t disagree more. I only caught the very end of the conversation, but what he said is not okay. Cole wants you here, and therefore, we all want you here.”

Millie bit the inside of her cheek and cast her eyes downward. A few seconds scraped by. To cover the awkward silence, she reached for her drink and took a tentative sip.

“I don’t mean to pry,” Laurella said as she placed her hand over Millie’s forearm. “I’m happy to listen if you want to talk.”

Millie sucked in her lips, wondering whether Cole had shared about her breakup with Tanner, or whether Laurella’s intuition had been alerted by Millie’s strange behavior. As much as she’d love to offload, she was far from ready. Not to mention a woman like Laurella, fearless and bold as a lioness, couldn’t possibly begin to understand how Millie had allowed Tanner to control and manipulate her until he’d crushed the very essence of her soul.

“There you are.”

Cole’s arrival saved Millie from answering Laurella. Just as well, because she wasn’t sure how to respond. He had a faint bruise across one cheekbone that definitely hadn’t been there that morning.

“What happened to you?” she said, pointing her chin in his direction.

He touched his fingertips to his face. “This? It’s nothing. A scuffle with a perp, that’s all.”

Laurella finished her drink and stood, accepting Cole’s kiss on the cheek. “I shall leave you to it. Welcome to the team, Millie. I’m sure you’ll fit in wonderfully.”

Millie thanked her as Cole slid onto the seat she’d vacated. He shook his head at Isa’s offer of a drink.

“How was your first day?” he asked.

A smile inched across her face. “Okay, I think. I enjoyed myself.”

“So, you’re going to stick around?”

“If you’ll have me.” And Calum doesn’t persuade you to let me go.

Her fingers prickled at his answering stare, so intense and hypnotic, and an alien but very welcome warmth spread through her body.

“I’ll have you,” he answered softly.

The intensity in his voice, the way he studied her as though he could see right inside sent tingles shooting up and down her spine.

She blinked once, twice. A third time. Was there a hidden meaning in those words? No, that was highly unlikely. Her judgment was shot to hell. He was referring to the job, that’s all. She shouldn’t be too surprised Cole had offered her a position at the hotel. Good, reliable staff were hard to find, and she hadn’t exactly kept secret how much she needed a job. People who needed the money made for conscientious employees.

“I should go,” she said. “It’s been a long day.”

Cole stood. “Can I see you home?”

No. She wasn’t ready to show him where she was living. She was more than a little embarrassed she’d fallen so far that her home consisted of one room in what could only be described as a hovel. Cole could find out her address easily enough of course from her employment forms, but she doubted he would. He had too much integrity to snoop.

She grabbed her purse. “I’m good. Maybe catch you tomorrow?”

He shrugged, his usually open expression becoming shuttered. “Sure. Maybe. Safe journey.”

She stepped into the lobby and risked a glance back at Cole. He was staring into space, pensive, his brows pulled in.

An ache she didn’t understand tightened her chest. She dragged her gaze away from the melancholy man sitting at the bar and left.