Page 127 of Masters of Pleasure
The entire kitchen had come to a standstill while she gaped at Chad.It was like a bad dream, except she knew it wasn’t.This was real.
Everything she’d feared at the beginning.
Everything she hadn’t wanted.
It was real, and she had no defense.
They would all think she had earned her place on her back by doing freaky shit no self-respecting woman would do.
They would all thinkshewas a freak.
They were staring at her.Waiting for her to stay something.To defend herself.To tell Chad he was wrong.
She couldn’t.
It was all true.
A rushing noise filled her ears, and it felt as though time had slowed—stopped—and everyone was waiting to see what she did next.
She turned and ran.
Ran away from their judgment.Ran away from Chad’s sneer.Ran away from being exposed.
Ran away from the roar of sound that swelled as soon as she reached the hallway to the back.
Ran out the service door at the back of the restaurant, like the coward she was.
Nick
Shouting in the kitchen had Nick jerking his head up, and he wasn’t the only one.It wasn’t the usual shouting but didn’t sound like an emergency.There was no panic, just angry shouting.
“What the hell?”Luke frowned, getting to his feet alongside Nick.Behind the bar, Shane had straightened, frowning.
Not bothering to answer, Nick bolted for the door.That was his domain, and if something was going on, he needed to know, especially since it wasn’t just the bar that could hear everything.The servers, the hosts, and the few people who had trickled in early for happy hour were also staring at the swinging doors between the restaurant and the kitchen.
The only saving grace was so many people were shouting, individual words were hard to make out.
Shoving the doors open, one with each hand, Nick stalked through them to the center of the kitchen.
“SHUT UP.”
Despite how many other people had been yelling, his dramatic entrance and command compelled them all to silence.From what he could see, it looked like Darnell and Alice had gotten into a shouting match with Chad, while Sandra, their pantry chef, stood frozen in the hallway that led to the walk-in, not sure if she wanted to come into the kitchen proper.Behind Nick, he could hear the doors flying open again as his brother followed him in.
“What the hell is going on in here?”His own temper was up.He’d been enjoying himself and was ticked off that his entire staff was unprofessional enough to scream at each other when his brother was there.Where was Avery?Why wasn’t she taking care of this?Since no one was answering his first question, he gave them a follow-up.
“Where the hell is Avery?”
Relationship or not, he would have to ream her out about this.She should be on the clock by now and in the kitchen.A pang of worry hit him because it wasn’t like her to be late, much less missing, especially without giving him a heads up.He was about to pull out his phone to check it, even though he knew he hadn’t felt it buzz or heard it go off, when Alice and Chad started talking at the same time.
“Dickhead chased her off.”
“She ran off.Hey!Don’t call me a dickhead!”
“Then don’t act like one, Dickhead!”
“Hey!”Nick half-shouted again, hopefully not loud enough to be heard in the dining room.Holding up his hand, he glared at both of them, then turned to Darnell, pointing at him.“Explain.”
Chad mumbled something under his breath, and Nick had a feeling it was probably good he hadn’t been able to hear the man.He was a good chef, but Alice was right; he was a dickhead.That didn’t automatically disqualify anyone from the career.In fact, there were times Nick thought it might even be necessary, but it didn’t make him easy to work with.Dickheads still needed to act professionally.
