Elijah:The Boss's Gift(4)
“You mean not to tell her that I was a gift from some crazy drug dealing person.”
“Pretty much.”
“You’re not going to fuck me?” she asked.
“No. I’ve got a lot of other willing women who fill my bed.”
Cherry didn’t mind. She’d never had sex with a guy when she’d been willing. At a young age she’d learned to lie quietly so they finished quickly. Tears filled her eyes, and she dashed them away. Weakness was not something men respected or admired. She needed to not be weak but to be strong.
Lying back against the seat, she kept her eyes open on the road ahead of her. Elijah didn’t make a move to talk. He put the radio on, and some romance music filled the small space between them.
She wondered if there would come a time when she’d ever become a nurse. For so long she’d dreamed about being a nurse, using all of her available free time to study in the library. If she could have she’d have tried to make it as a doctor. She didn’t get the grades in high school and was working like crazy to get through nursing school.
Time passed. She didn’t know how much before Elijah pulled onto a very fancy street. The houses were huge, like something you saw in Christmas movies with lights decorating the outside. The only time she got inside one of those houses was cleaning one. A life of crime clearly paid.
Elijah pulled up into the long drive and garage. Cherry had already clocked two of the three guards he posted for protection on his daughter.
“Do I need to go over everything again?” he asked.
“No, I’m good. I remember what you warned me.”
Climbing out of the car, Cherry stood and waited for Elijah to proceed. He rounded the car, grabbed her hand, and led the way up to the house. Opening the door, she was met with a wall of garlic and tomatoes.
“Daddy, you’re here?”
Around a corner, Cherry saw a brown haired girl appear. She wore a pair of pajama shorts and a vest shirt.
“Hey, honey,” Elijah said.
Mindy threw herself into her father’s arms. “If you hadn’t called I’d so be kicking your ass right now.”
He chuckled, releasing Cherry’s hand to embrace his daughter.
“I saw that. You were holding her hand,” Mindy said, pulling away and turning her attention on Cherry. “Are you my dad’s girlfriend?”
What?
Cherry shook her head. “No.”
“This is a friend’s daughter,” Elijah said.
“Which friend?” Mindy folded her arms across her chest. “Dad, if you’re wanting to bring girlfriends home you don’t have to lie about it. She’s beautiful,” Mindy said.
Okay. Cherry didn’t have a clue what to say or do. Her face was bruised, she needed a bath desperately, she’d been threatened with death, and this girl thought she was beautiful. She really didn’t know how to handle this.
“My dad would have killed me if he saw the trouble I was getting into,” Cherry said.
“You’re wearing a maid’s uniform and you’re bruised.”
“Again, bad day.”
Mindy stared at her for several minutes. “So you’re not dating my dad?”
The disappointment was clear to see on the young girl. Cherry felt bad for her.
“No, I’m not.”
“Damn, here I was hoping you’d found a woman to deal with your crap.”
“Language, Mindy.” Elijah scolded his daughter. It was strange to see. Cherry rarely saw men telling their daughters off. She’d never had a father herself. “Come on, I’m starving.”
Mindy took her coat and urged her into the dining room. “Sit, I’ll bring it all through.”
Taking a seat beside Elijah, Cherry kept her hands on her lap. Neither of them spoke as Mindy hummed bringing in pans filled to the brim with sauce.
“She makes a really good pasta sauce.”
Cherry nodded, doubting he wanted her to talk. Her life had taken a dramatic turn, one that she wasn’t really prepared for.
Chapter Two
Ignoring his guest Elijah focused on his daughter, asking her about school.
“Dad, seriously, it’s boring,” Mindy said. “Serve up.”
He stood, serving all three of them with pasta then with the sauce and the slightly burned meatballs.
“I’m sorry. I burned them. I needed to make sure that the meat was cooked through.”
“Don’t worry about,” Elijah said. Friday night was always interesting on his taste buds. Mindy wasn’t the best cook, but at least she tried.
“You like to cook?” Cherry asked.
She was another complication he didn’t want to think about. He responded to her in a way he hadn’t responded to anyone since Mindy’s mother. Elijah closed off the memories of Bethan. She’d been the woman he loved more than anything else.