- Lucy -
t first I was worried when I didn’t see Aiden at our table. Not because I expected him to wait for me there but because I was feeling a bit dizzy after my run in with the police and knew nothing would comfort me like his attention.
But then I felt eyes on me and looked across the room towards the dance floor where Aiden and his Mom were standing still and looking in my direction.
A wave of relief passed over me as he excused himself from her company and headed my way. I had a strange feeling as I watched him coming towards me, like I was about to be rescued. Like I was a princess in a castle and he was moving in slow motion on horseback or something.
I guess it just struck me because he must’ve walked towards me a million times over the years, but something was different in the way he moved this time. I don’t know if it was his stance or his pace or the seriousness in his face, but it felt weirdly exciting to be the thing he was striding towards, even if it was only for a brief moment.
“Are you alright?” he asked when his final step landed in front of me.
I nodded. “I’m fine, yeah.”
“Did the cops leave?”
“Yeah, sorry about that again.”
“Don’t apologize,” he said. “Do you want to sit down and tell me what’s going on?”
I was in no hurry to sit down for another interrogation, but I wasn’t sure if I had any other options.
Until I noticed Dave twirling Claire around the dance floor behind Aiden.
“Actually, would you dance with me?” I asked.
A smile lifted his face. “It would be my pleasure.” He stuck out his elbow so I could take his arm.
Being the girl on his arm was fun, but when he turned towards me and slipped his hands over my hips, I felt transported away from the stress of being questioned by the police.
I slung my arms over Aiden’s shoulders and exhaled, feeling my tension melt into the wooden floor.
“So?” he asked.
“So.”
“Are you going to tell me what the hell that was about?”
I shook my head. “I’m not even sure where to start.”
“The beginning is fine.”
I sighed. “Okay. You know my boss?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Well, he fired Fiona a few weeks ago.”
“What?!”
“That’s why she was drunk and running her mouth when you stopped by that day.”
“I see,” he said. “What did she get fired for?”
I cringed. “For kneeing him in the balls.”
He stopped rocking on his feet. “What?!”
“He grabbed her- groped her- whatever. Basically, she freaked out.”
“Jesus.”
“Anyway, as far as I was concerned, it was the last straw. So I decided to get some legal advice.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Cause it’s not your problem.”
“But my family tree is crawling with lawyers.”
“I know but-”
“Plus, lawyers are expensive. Can you even afford a lawyer right now?”
“More than I can afford your charity.”
He rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t offering you charity, okay? I know you’re as capable as you are stubborn but-”
“The other reason I didn’t tell you was because I didn’t want you to freak out about Chuck and add more stress to the situation.”
He clenched his jaw.
“Please don’t be offended.”
“I suppose legal justice is more than I think he deserves.”
“I know, and you’ve already threatened him, and I just didn’t think telling you right away was necessary… though I probably would’ve told you by now if you hadn’t been blowing me off.”
His mouth formed a straight line. “So Nathan is your lawyer?”
“Yeah, he’s a volunteer so he’s been helping me for free.”
“That’s nice of him.”
“He’s a nice guy. In fact, I feel pretty bad that he was dragged out here on a Saturday because of my case- or not my case, but some other case that-”
“Slow down.”
I took a deep breath. “To make a long story short, I’ve been gathering evidence from all the girls at the salon over the past few weeks, and when Nathan submitted our reports to the police, they were really interested because Chuck was already on their radar.”
“For what?”
“Well, I guess Pedenko isn’t really his last name for starters.”
Aiden shook his head.
“And they didn’t say much, but it sounds like he has at least one other business where he may or may not be employing illegal immigrants, some of which may or may not be underage.”
He exhaled through his nose.
“So I guess when our evidence of his sexual harassment arrived, it got flagged because they think he might be breaking more laws than they realized and that underage women could be in danger.”
“Holy shit, Luce.”
“I know.”
“So what did they ask you?”
“Nothing much really. They just wanted to confirm how I got the evidence Nathan submitted, how long I’ve been working for him, and whether I know anything about what he does when he’s not at the salon.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Which I don’t.”
Aiden’s hands slid up my back and he hugged me against his chest.
I felt cocooned in his embrace and would’ve happily snuggled there forever with his cheek resting on my head… if it weren’t for it being slightly awkward considering all the people dancing around us.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, taking a step back.
“I am.”
“He hasn’t touched you since I threatened him, right?” he asked, searching my eyes.
“No,” I said. “Not a hair on my head.”
He exhaled and rolled his shoulders back. “Good. You would tell me if he did, right?”
My lips fell apart.
“Seriously, Lucy. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“I fucking hate you working there with that creep.”
“I don’t think it will be much longer,” I said. “As soon as Fiona finds somewhere else, I’ll probably try and follow her.”
“She hasn’t found anything yet?”
I shook my head. “She’s had a few close calls, but nothing’s panned out yet.”
“If you need help with your rent or anything-”
“Thanks for the offer, Aiden, but I need your support, not your money.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“Anyway,” I said, “as much as I like talking about my creepy boss, maybe we could change the subject?”
“Sure,” he said. “Thanks for filling me in.”
“Thanks for being such a good sport about… earlier,” I said, rolling my eyes towards the ceiling.
“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “If it had been anyone besides cops at the door I would’ve told them where to go.”
I laughed. “Well, thank you for your self-control.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, his eyes darkening. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid I don’t have any left.”
“Is that a warning?” I asked.
He smiled. “It’s a line.”
“You’re full of ‘em, aren’t you?”
He pulled me close and his voice dropped to a whisper. “Lucy, let me make something clear.”
I turned my head so I could feel his warm breath on my ear.
“There is absolutely nothing I wouldn’t say to get you into bed.”
I smiled. “You mean back into bed.”
He shrugged. “To be honest, the bed isn’t even a requirement.”
“Seems a shame not to have a bed in a place with this many though.”
“So true. And actually, seeing as how we have a room each, we’re spoiled for choice.”
“Are the rooms the same?”
“I think so, except mine probably still has a bottle of champagne in it.”
“It would be terrible to let that go to waste.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Plus, knowing my Dad it’s probably crap stuff anyway.”
“So it won’t keep?”
“Exactly.”
I pretended to consider the information carefully.
“Actually, I was going to put us down for one room in the first place, but I didn’t want to be presumptuous.”
“Oh?”
“I was trying to be a gentleman.”
I smiled and felt my stomach drop. “That won’t be necessary.”
“I’m so relieved you feel that way.”
“Why’s that?”
“Cause as far as the rest of our evening is concerned, I have nothing polite planned.”