Chapter 24

24

I paused, foot up in mid-skip, and turned to look at the man.

Grant and Reed growled.

Jong-min growled and said, “Apologize right now! You can be angry at us, but you do not disrespect Kassidy.”

The man continued to glare at me, but said, “Sorry.”

“I’m sorry. We’ll be in after we talk to him,” Jong-hyun said and kissed my cheek. “Family drama,” he whispered before he pulled back and smiled at me.

Grant intertwined our fingers on one hand and pulled me into the bar. “That’s their brother.”

That explained the similarity in appearance.

“All fed and happy?” Silver asked.

“Yes,” I said with a nod, determined not to let anything get me down again tonight. “Where’s Theo?” I asked, looking around.

“She and Gina went into the pool room,” he said before heading over to a new patron, who walked up on the opposite end of the bar.

Theo and Gina walked out of the pool room, cash in Theo’s hand. I gasped and said, “You cheated on me?”

She put the money behind her back, eyes wide. “Uh, no?”

Fake sniffling, I asked, “How could you? I thought what we had was special?”

“Look, sometimes your partner just needs a change, okay? Or is the reason you’re upset because you’re worried she’ll like me better?” Gina sashayed by me and leaned against the bar top with a smirk.

“So cruel,” Grant said and shook his head. “You poor, poor thing.”

“I swear, it was just this once,” Theo said, continuing our joke.

“Liar. You’ve probably cheated on me with others when I wasn’t here to catch you in the act,” I fake sobbed.

“A girl’s got to eat,” Theo said with a shrug.

Immediately, we all burst into laughter.

“Another round,” Theo called out to Silver and set a one hundred on the counter.

Jong-min and Jong-hyun walked in, heads together, whispering, and scowling.

Jong-min pushed Grant out from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, to hug me from behind. “I’m sorry about my brother. He’s upset with us because we cut off most of our communication with them.”

I patted his arm that was around my stomach. “It’s okay. It’s not the first and definitely won’t be the last time I’ve been called a whore. Did you guys work out your issues?”

“We’re going to meet him tomorrow after work to talk more,” Jong-hyun answered and kissed me on the temple.

“Speaking of tomorrow, I’ll be coming by the restaurant in the afternoon,” I advised them.

“Oh?” Jong-min asked.

“After she comes to work for me,” Gina added from beside us.

“Work for you?” Jong-hyun asked, looking back and forth between us.

“Gina offered me a job,” I explained.

“Do you need a job if you’re going to get royalties?” Jong-hyun asked.

I nodded. “The royalties won’t be enough to sustain me, plus I can’t be certain how much I’ll get each month. I’d rather not be worried about it every month and just use that as savings or bonus cash when I do get the royalty payments.”

“That’s smart,” Theo said.

“I have smart ideas occasionally,” I replied and flipped my hair over my shoulder, accidentally smacking Jong-min in the face with it, which made us all laugh.

I arrived at Gina’s place at nine o’clock like she asked. Thankfully, I wasn’t super hungover even though I had drunk a lot the night before to drink away my blues.

“Morning!” Gina called out as she walked into the walk-in fridge when I entered through the backdoor.

“Morning,” I replied.

She exited the fridge, three of her tentacles sticking out from under her dress, each carrying a bucket. “So, I didn’t really talk to you about it last night, but I don’t want you to work here and cook. I want you to work here as a manager.”

“A manager?” I asked, eyes wide.

She nodded. “I have enough workers who can make the pizzas and they get paid starting wages. What I need you for is to manage them and manage the customers. Basically, my other employees will run the back of the shop here, while you run the front of the shop. So, let me give you a rundown on things. Then, we can talk money and I’ll have you sign some paperwork. Okay?”

I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

It only took her ten minutes to explain things to me, but the register was the hardest part for me to learn because she was stubborn and hadn’t gotten a new one in a decade. Once I finally did learn it, we went to her office so I could fill out the paperwork. She offered me more than I anticipated, so I gladly and gratefully accepted.

After that was finished, we exited the office and she introduced me to the first shift workers, Tyler and Marie.

“Kass is our new manager, so be nice to her and cut her some slack as she learns the ropes,” Gina said and patted my shoulder.

“Be extra mean and expect her to know everything now, got it,” Marie said with a smile.

“Marie likes to joke to try to make the day go by smoother,” Tyler said and sighed. “It makes it go by slower.”

Marie rolled her eyes. “Only because you don’t appreciate my humor.”

“Kass will be starting her first day tomorrow,” Gina informed them. “Nine o’clock sharp tomorrow, okay?”

I nodded. “You got it, boss.” Waving, I headed out and down the street to my parents’ restaurant.

As soon as I opened the door, Mom started yelling at me, but it was in her native language, which I did not understand.

“Hello, Mother. It’s nice to see you, too!” I said with a wide smile as I walked up and hugged her.

She sighed and hugged me back. “You’ve been away too long.”

“Are my handsome boyfriends not helping enough? Do I need to beat them?”

She rolled her eyes. “Dramatic as always. We all know you don’t beat them.”

“How are you?” I asked and leaned against the counter. “And where’s Dad?”

“He’s in the back. I’m fine. When are you getting mated?”

Snorting, I shook my head. “When I’m asked, I suppose.”

Her eyes widened. “Do they know you feel that way?”

I shrugged. “Most likely.”

“Hm, I do not think so. I will find out.”

“You can’t just ask them, Mom.”

“Course I can,” she said and patted my arm. “I find out for you.”

Shaking my head, I changed the subject. “How’s the restaurant? Getting enough business?”

“Oh, yes. Lots of business with the twins here. Lots of female customers.” She smiled when she noticed my irritation. “If you mated them, you wouldn’t have to worry about the female customers.”

“I got a new job,” I told her to change the subject. “I’m working at Gina’s now.”

“Twins told us,” she said and smirked. “They give me updates knowing you won’t. That means you come by more, yes?”

“Yes,” I said and nodded.

“Good.”

“Hello,” Dad said as he walked out of the back, wiping his hands on a towel. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” I replied and walked over to hug him. “How are you?”

“Old,” he said and sighed. “Good thing the twins help.”

“Yes, I’m glad they’ve been helping you.” It really did take a huge weight off my shoulders to know they were here.

“Speaking of that, we have news,” Dad said. He glanced at Mom. “You tell her yet?”

Mom shook her head. “I was going to wait until you got here.”

My stomach tightened nervously. “What’s going on?”

“We are going home,” Dad said when it became clear Mom didn’t want to tell me.

“Home?” I frowned. “Are you not feeling well? Do you need me to run the shop tonight?”

“No, not our house here. Our homeland,” Mom explained. “My sister is ill and we are going to return to be with her.”

“How long will you be gone?” Since I was just starting with Gina, I could help the twins run the restaurant while they were gone without issue.

“We aren’t returning, Kassidy,” Dad said softly. “The journey is difficult and so we have decided to stay there.”