Criminal: A Bad-Boy Stepbrother Romance Read Online Free Page B

as it is.”
    People are looking at us, but by this point, I think
they’ve come to expect fights between us. Every day for the
past week he’s been doing something to shame me in front of the
customers. Every minor indiscretion was worthy of his telling me off
in public, despite him not being my boss.
    I get why he’s doing it, but that doesn’t
mean I’m not sick of it.
    “Listen, Kaiden , that’s sexual
harassment in the workplace, and if I’m supposed to put up with
that, then I need to be making a lot more than $10 an hour. I’m
not a stripper, and if I were? I’d probably be making a lot
more!”
    He blanches, and I’m proud of myself for a
second. I like it when I can get in under his skin in revenge for all
the times he’s done it to me.
    He reaches out, grabbing my upper arm and staring
down at me.
    “Listen, Abigail, just get the fuck outta here.
Go back to school, do whatever goody-goody shit you wanna do, but you
can’t cut it in this place. If you don’t want gross old
guys grabbin’ your ass, this isn’t the job for you, Princess . Just like I told you a million times before.”
    I tug my arm, but he holds tight and my lip twitches.
He’s so strong, and he’s always doing little things to
remind me of that and intimidate me.
    “I can do this, Kaiden. I’ve been doing
it for two weeks now, without a break. I’m tired, my legs hurt,
and your attitude isn’t helping right now.”
    “Doesn’t sound to me like you can cut it, Princess .”
    His green eyes flash at me, along with that pierced
tongue of his, and he thinks he has me in the corner. That I’m
going to back down at any second, but I refuse. I’m not going
to do that.
    I can’t!
    I mean, part of it is my pride, but not for a moment
do I think that if I disappeared, Ryder would forget about me. Or
that he’d forget about Kaiden’s potential to screw him
over.
    Oh my God, if I left, Ryder might even think that
Kaiden had hidden me away just so that he could tell the judge or
whoever about Ryder’s business! About the attempted murder or
threat or whatever it was that spooked Kaiden so bad.
    I’m trembling as I stare up at him, but I lean
in close, my body pressing against his as I angle my lips to his ear.
    “You’re not getting rid of me so easy,
Kaiden,” I swear, and I lower myself back to the floor, daring
him to disagree.
    He finally releases me before picking up the nearest
pint glass and tossing it at the wall.
    I shake and squeak as it shatters, flying into dozens
of pieces.
    Before I can even gather my words, though, he’s
storming out the front door and leaving me to clean up his mess.
    I’ve seen him mad before. Violent, even. But
this is way more intense than anything else.
    I move towards the nearest shards, starting to sweep
them up with the grimy broom and dustpan as the rest of the bar goes
back to their conversations. The music is loud and has a little bit
of static to it, and it’s getting on my nerves, just like
everything else here.
    Just like everyone else here.
    I don’t realize how fast I was breathing until
I lean against the wall with the glass in the dustpan and feel my
heart racing.
    I know Kaiden’s only trying to protect me, but
I’m trying to protect him, too. We’re all each other
has...

The day I hate working most, so far, is always
Saturday. I don’t know what it is. The run-of-the-mill
Monday-Thursday drunks I’m getting used to, but Friday and
Saturday night? It’s as if everyone is on cocaine.
    Which, I guess, is entirely plausible.
    I move to the next table, tray of drinks perched on
my arm as I smile. A woman who’s here every night smiles at me
with her orange lips and blue eyes, taking her gin and tonic.
    “Thanks, honey,” she says with an
exaggerated wink. She’s always hoping I’ll let her know
who the big spenders are, and she’s always nice, so sometimes I
point her in the direction of someone especially hammered.
    Despite how much I hate being called honey,