Broken but Breathing (Jinx Tattoos 2)

s going to make for a learning curve.”

“Girl, here you won’t use half those fancy drinks. Our regulars live on pretty classic drinks, and the girls will ask for something sweet. You give them good service, and throw in a few of those fancy tricks of yours, and they’ll tip you really well,” Kali said.

Estelle stood a little taller. “I can do that.”

“Then you’re all set, Sprite. I want you to work tomorrow. It’s time we see how you handle the floor with traffic. It’s a relatively slow night for us, so you should be fine. I told Snake I’d be working with you personally, so I’m your trainer. That could be a blessing or a curse depending on how it all goes down.”

“I think we’ll get along just fine,” Estelle said. Fake it until you make it.

“I hope so. We could use another solid bartender onboard. Not everyone can handle Rain. We have a lot of folks who walked right out those doors not long after they walked in.”

“Won’t be me.” The promise was to herself. She owed this to Snake. A deep seeded desire to make him proud had taken hold once she’d accepted the job offer. The rest was a need to prove to herself she could do this.

“Keep the fire about you, Sprite. I’ll let you leave early because I want you back tomorrow at five and you won’t be leaving until close.”

“Aye, Captain,” she replied, giving a mock salute.

Kali rolled her eyes playfully as Estelle clocked out and moved to the back to grab her purse from the employee locker room.

Riding high off her good day, she drove toward her apartment. When her phone rang and Snake’s name appeared, she answered it via her blue tooth.

“Hey, you have perfect timing. I just got out of work.”

“How’s that going?”

She frowned. His voice was off.

“Good. I have my first actual day tomorrow working from five until close. Are you okay?”

“No, this gig I’m doing now is a hard one.”

“Anything I can do to help?” she asked, instantly concerned. It wasn’t like him to skate around issues or be so closed lip about things that bothered him. She knew the Wild Ones were more than a motorcycle club and whatever he was doing probably wasn’t legal. A few years ago that would’ve horrified her. Now, she couldn’t care less.

“Just talk to me. Tell me how things are with you.”

“Good, class ends Friday if you can believe it. I’ll be graduating. I’m enjoying working at Rain, though Kali can be a real hard ass.”

“She giving you shit?” Snake asked. The edge in his voice made her shiver.

“No more than she would any other newbie. It’s fine.”

“If she steps out of line—”

“You’ll what? Fight my battles for me. No, I’ve got this. I’m more worried about you right now.”

“Been a long time since that happened for me,” he said softly.

“I understand if you can’t tell me everything, but I can’t help if I have nothing to go on.”

“The area we’re in is littered with ghosts from my past. I got a case of the what ifs. You know, they never found my Jocelyn’s body. That’s one of those things that keeps me up at night.”

Jesus. “I’m sorry, Xavier.” She was learning to distinguish the man from the larger-than-life biker.

“Me too. What if I’d had a gun in the house instead of that bat? Hell, what if I had never moved them down to this shit hole town in the first place?”

“You can’t do this to yourself. You’ll never be able to answer these questions. I won’t tell you everything happens for a reason, because that’s just bullshit. But we both know you can’t go back in time. If it was that easy we would’ve done it by now.”

“Fuck, since when are you the voice of reason?” he asked shakily.