Shackled (The Lord Series) by Amy T

161. Mose

“You are taking time off right when the restaurant is doing better than ever?” Alma, my associate, voices her

displeasure

Since we opened the restaurant more than three years ago, I went to work every single f u c k i n g day while Alma went on vacations whenever she wanted, and I never said a word about it.

Continuing with the inventory of the cold room, I say, “Jimmy is a good chef. He already knows the new menu. You do your part, the others will do the same, and everything will be fine.”

“Can’t you take time off in a month or two?” Alma suggests.

I look at her. “Sure. Let me grab my phone and let my blood-brothers know we need to push back all the shi t that is going on at the farm right now,”

Alma folds her arms under her boobs. “Is the new chica giving you problems already?”

I don’t understand why Alma is so curious about other people’s lives. Her favorite sport is gossiping.

“It’s not Olivia giving us problems, but her brother,” I reply. Alma would pester me until I do it anyway.

Alma lets out a squeal and I turn to see if she is alright. Her eyes are light up. “Do you like her?”

I frown. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. This is the first time you bothered to remember a woman’s name. So, you like her.”

*Just because I call Olivia by her name doesn’t mean I like her,” I huff.

“There you go again. What is Olivia like?”

This woman is too nosy. She needs to find something to occupy her time with. “Don’t you have a hobby or something?”

“People are my hobby,” she points out..

I shake my head and resume the inventory. “Find a new one. Or a friend or something.”

“A friend,” Alma murmurs. “I think I will do that.” Good, maybe then she will leave me alone. “I am sure Olivia won’t mind if I visit her, right?”

I turn on my heels. “What?”

“You told me to find a friend so I am going to do exactly that, I think Olivia needs a friend, also. Besides, you keep her on that farm, isolated from the rest of the world. On top of that, she has to put up with Rueben.”

Alma and her parents moved to Veross City about five years ago. My blood-brothers and I met her at the Blood Lodge. Rueben thought she was one of the pornais only because she was wearing something revealing. When he told her to

161 Mose

suck his dic k, she kicked him in the nuts. Since then, they are at each other’s throats.

Rueben thinks Alma needs a man to put her in her place, while Alma says Rueben is a misogynist.

If Alma comes to the farm and learns what Rueben and Tyson did to Olivia, she will go running to the Blood Lodge to tell everyone. As the daughter of one of the Priests, Alma was basically raised in the Blood Lodge. Not here, but in Puerto Rico, since she lived there her entire childhood.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.

“Why?” Alma wants to know.

“Because Rueben doesn’t want you there.”

“Rueben can go ahead and k*ss my as s. Come on, no seas cabrón.”

Alma always calls me a bas t a r d when she doesn’t get her way.

I need to find an excuse to keep Alma away from the farm. “We are renovating the house. I will let you know when we are done.”

“You are preparing the Lair,” Alma inquires.

I don’t know why she is coming up with such ideas. “Something like that,” I mutter,

Alma taps her cheek with her finger. “She must be very special if she managed to tame Rueben. Let me know when I can meet your Olivia.”

Olivia is not mine. “Sure.”

Alma pulls out her phone. “You should hurry home. The snowstorm just started. Do let Olivia rest.”

“I am not following.”

“You are so dense. Five guys, una chica, and a blizzard.”

“I am still not getting it.”

Alma throws her hands in the air, frustrated. “Tyson has more imagination than you. Sex, I am talking about S*x.” Winking at me, she adds, “Föllala bien.”

F u c k her well.

Since I started working with Alma, I started picking up on some Spanish.

I need to get out of here before Alma spews more stupi d i t i e s.

“See you in a few days,” I say and shove the notebook and the pen in her arms before I get out of the cold room.. Jimmy is in the kitchen, going over the menu and on my way out, I pat him on the shoulder. “You got this,” I say and grab my coat.

161 Mose

My car is parked in front of the restaurant. I pull out the keys and as I open the driver’s door, I glance at the sign above the entrance-Korean Delight When Alma and I opened Korean Delight, my parents cut all contact with me.

1 They never got over the fact I quit medical school. My dream was never to become a doctor, but my mother’s. My father never said no to my mother and she always thought she could do what the withed. Even if she knew I didn’t want to become a doctor, she pressured me to. I accepted to go to the university, and for the next few years, I was miserable. It wasn’t until Alma proposed we became associates that I realized my real passion was cooking.

I enter the car and start driving horne. My thoughts turn to lason and his cronies. Why is he so desperate to get Olivia back? For sure, he has more women who work for him. Olivia, while she is decent looking-if not for the substance abuse, pretty sure she would look more beautiful-doesn’t have the charm of pornais. It can also be a trick since some women are good at hiding things, giving men the impression they are good girls when in reality, they are w h o r e s.

I drum my thumbs on the wheel. Usually, I read people pretty quickly, but Olivia is a closed book. She speaks when spoken to, but she rarely says anything.

Pushing aside everything I know about her from Tyson and Rueben, I wonder who Olivia truly is. If I am to f u c k her, can at least try to get to know her a bit. It will make the entire experience go smoother. Rueben and Tyson might not care who they f u c k, but I am not one to stick my c o c k in any b i t c h who opens her legs for me. That’s why I hate going to the Blood Lodge to f u c k the porai there-because we are not supposed to establish a connection with them. That’s easier said than done, since the brain produces dopamine after S*x which leads to bonding with the person you are f u c k i n g. So, I tend to keep away from the pornais as much as I can.

With Rueben being a selfish pric k and not choosing a woman for us when given the opportunity, I am so S*xually frustrated it is affecting my sleep.

The wind blows stronger and I speed up.

I mean, why bring Olivia home if Rueben ultimately wants to get rid of her? I get why the S*x tapes and shi t, but we could have taken her to Alekos’s cabin, f u c k e d her, killed her, and moved on. Having her on the farm complicates things. Jasper seems to like her, Ansel could care less about her, while Tyson and Rueben hate her with passion. Then it’s me, who I have no f u c k i n g clue what to think or feel regarding the whole situation.

We were supposed to bring our future wife to the farm, not the city’s whor e, Jasper has been nagging about starting a family since last year. Ansel and I want the same, but how will we do that if Olivia is living with us?

Then, there is the fact that we need a woman to anchor ourselves to her. No one knows when he will start hearing the dark whisper, his demon slowly consuming him. Rueben is crazy as they come and I fear that one day I will feel the link between us break.

Lately I have been focusing on the restaurant, wanting to make it a successful business, and I neglected other aspects of my life. The others did the same. Now that I have a few days free, and after we get rid of Jason, we should focus on taking down Senator Deymar.

When I get close to the farm, I park the car to check the cameras. The ones around the property only capture the blizzard. No wonder Jason sneaked into the pasture and left a dead animal there. We need better cameras. I make a menta l note to talk to Cirro then I switch to the cameras inside the house.