Free Addiction by Shantel Tessier

that she had saved in her nightstand. I don’t know if they were going for anything particular. And no, the only person I have pissed off is my sister.”
    “They stole from her?” I wonder out loud.
    “Over five hundred dollars.”
    I tilt my head to the side. “And nothing else?”
    “No. Not that I can find.”
    “Does she have a boyfriend?” I’ve been wondering this. If she does, it will make it even harder for me to get close to her. “Maybe it was someone who was stealing from her. Maybe it had nothing to do with you,” I offer. It would be better if it had nothing to do with him. If it’s a problem with her, well, I can fix that with no problem.
    He laughs, tossing his head back. “You should call and tell her that. And let her bite your head off.” Then his face hardness once again. “But no, they destroyed everything in almost every room. It was as if they were just destroying shit for the fun of it and maybe just got lucky and came across her cash.”
    I sigh heavily as I think of this situation. I didn’t miss the fact he didn’t answer my question about her having a boyfriend or not. “This could be bad, Blane. We don’t need extra attention brought to you.”
    “I know,” he growls.
    “Do I need to offer you security?” I have several guys who work for me here at the club. You can never have enough security when you run a business where over fifty percent of your customers are not only intoxicated but also possibly high.
    “No.” He snorts. “It’s nothing I can’t handle myself,” he sneers as if that offer was absurd.
    “And your sister? How are you going to handle her?” I ask truly concerned for her. He may have kept her from going to the cops for now, but what will happen when he’s not around? I’m not worried about her giving them my name; they wouldn’t touch me anyway. I have a reputation, and they know it very well. You fuck up enough cops, and they tend to stay out of your way. Plus, I’m very careful how I run my business. That’s why I have men like Blane—an errand boy. They’ve tried before but can’t pin anything on me. I’m just concerned about what that would do for Blane. He’s no use to me if word gets out on the street he’s working for me.
    He looks up at me, head tilted to the side. “That sounded as if it was a question, but I have a feeling you’re gonna handle her for me.”
    I feel a smirk grow across my face.
     
     
    TAYLOR
     
    I softly knock on the door to my boss’s office in the back of the coffee shop. “What?” he growls.
    “Mr. Binsen?” I ask, opening up the door to peek my head in. “May I speak with you?”
    He doesn’t look up at me but lifts his hand and motions for me to enter. I push the door open just enough to enter. I look around and frown at all the stuff he has stacked in his office. Even more than what he had last time I was in here. He has an addiction to buying junk off the internet. Amazon, Craigslist, or eBay—it doesn’t matter where it comes from, he has to buy it. I once asked him why he stores it all in his office at the coffee shop, and he had said, ‘ My wife won’t let me put any more in our house, and our storage is full,’ and then shrugged. If I were his wife, I would suggest he quit buying junk and spend his money on therapy for his addiction.
    “What do you need, Taylor?” he asks without looking up from his computer. “Make it quick. I have an auction ending in less than two minutes, and I can’t miss this once in a lifetime chance at this luggage set.” He rubs his hands together excitedly.
    Luggage? The man never travels, and his wife is afraid of flying. But that’s not why I’m here. I take a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “Okay …” I clap my hands together to get his attention, at least to get him to look up at me. He doesn’t. “Well, remember how I took off the last few weeks of school to get ready for finals?” He nods once, but I’m not sure he heard what I asked.