“We’ll see,” he said.
His advances started off pleasantly. He offered her meals at fancy restaurants, which she turned down. He left flowers and Bergalian chocolates for her, which she tried to return, or just gave away to the other girls.
Then one day he banged on the door to her room, telling her he had ordered her costume and professional photo shoot, so she would have to work to pay him off.
The way he stood over her cot was so threatening that she didn’t dare remind him of what they both knew - that she had never agreed to dance.
The next day she began looking for other work off-planet, even though she knew it would mean breaking her contract at the club and risking prison time if she ever went home.
Now that she was safely here with the bonus, she could buy out her contract and quietly pay off Vlax D’agryx for the costume and photos with the balance.
She pulled up the profile of the other club owner, who had been kinder to her, and sent him the price of her remaining work contract. She even included a message thanking him.
Then she sent the rest to D’agryx even as she wished she could hold onto it and have an emergency fund. Without anything in her account, she would be more dependent on this job than ever, and that was tough when she didn’t really know where she stood with Khall.
But keeping the Rivvor family and herself safe from future visits was more important.
Having taken care of the two things that had her the most worried, she let out a sigh of relief. She was thinking about which of the girls at the club she should write to first, when there was a light knock on her door.
“Come in,” she called out, expecting it to be Bo, feeling bored.
The door swung open to reveal Khall’s massive form. He stepped inside, looking anywhere but at April.
She couldn’t help but notice that his face had faded to a paler shade of green.
“Hi,” she said softly.
He’s going to close the door behind him and tell you that last night was a mistake,she told herself, trying to steel her heart against the words that would hurt so badly. Be strong, you can’t have him firing you. Bo and Minerva need you.
“That was work,” he said curtly. “I’ve been called in to take an emergency long haul tonight. You should take care of any errands you need to do now because I’ll be gone for two days, so you’ll be with Bo full-time.”
She blinked at him, unable to comprehend for a moment.
“Uh, thanks,” she said at last. “I really appreciate the heads up, and I’m glad to be on days and nights.”
His amber eyes met hers for an instant, but what she saw there made no sense. And he looked away before she could be sure of it.
She couldn’t be sure, but it looked like Khall Rivvor was in pain.