Dante's Way (3 page)

“I’m listening.” Peeling back the shiny wrapper, she took a nice sized bite moaning when the first delicious morsel danced across her tongue. God! She loved how
good
this tasted. It had been way too long.

“Amara, I want to help you get off the streets. You’re a beautiful young woman and I worry about you being out here night after night on your own.”

Taking another bite of the burger, Amara peeked at Mr. Lee from the corner of her eye before swallowing. Minutes past by while she ate more of the hamburger and fries while Mr. Lee sat there watching her every move.

“Do you have anything for me to drink?” Amara inquired, wiping her mouth with a napkin she found inside of the paper bag.

“Sorry, I forgot to bring it to you,” he apologized, reaching into the backseat. He dug inside of a grocery bag and pulled out a soda and handed it to her.

“Thank you.” Opening the soda, Amara took a drink and then placed it in the console between them. “Can I ask you something?”

Mr. Lee looked at her for a few minutes and then nodded his head. “Go ahead.”

“Why have you taken such an interest in me? I mean there are a lot of homeless females living out here on the streets,” she pointed out. “What about me made you go the extra mile to seek me out?”

Amara’s body slowly started to relax as the food filled her empty stomach and the heat in the car dried her wet clothing. She hoped Mr. Lee would finally let her know why he decided to devote so much of his personal time into her.

****

Sighing, Mr. Lee moved away from Amara running his hands down his face like he didn’t want to or have the words to answer her simple question. She could tell that he was hiding something from her and she would find out what it was.

“I’m not ready to talk about it with you or anyone else quite yet,” he confessed finally looking at her. “All I want you to know is there are some good people left out here more than willing to give you a helping hand without wanting anything in return for their kindness.”

What was Mr. Lee keeping from her
? She believed they were friends, so he could tell her anything.

“Why won’t you tell me anything about yourself?” Amara pushed. She balled up the food wrapper tossing it back inside the bag and then reached for her drink again.

Taking a sip, she continued to study Mr. Lee as he stared off into the distance through the windshield. After a few minutes had passed, he glanced back in her direction. She immediately noticed the faraway look in his light blue eyes. Something was wrong, but she seriously doubted he would tell her what was going on.

“You remind of someone I knew. She was just like you--full of life. Jennifer believed she had the world in the palm of her hands, but she didn’t understand what her future held. I tried my best to help her but she ignored me and then it was too late to save her.”

Shock coursed throughout Amara’s body at Mr. Lee finally opening up this much to her, but all she could do was stare at him. What else could she get him to tell her? She wouldn’t know unless she asked him.

“Who was Jennifer?” she questioned placing the half-full drink back inside the holder. “Why was she so important to you?” Amara heard the door being slammed and the key being tossed away as she questioned Mr. Lee.

“I’m done,” he said after a minute. “I can’t say anything else about her right now. Like I said, I wasn’t able to save her; but at least let me try to help you out of this life. I know I can do it if you would only let me.”

Dropping her head, Amara ran her hand across her forehead. Why couldn’t anyone understand there wasn’t any way to help her now? Being out on the streets was such a huge part of her life nowadays that she wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle anything different.

“No, I don’t think I can,” she finally answered.

“Would you please listen to me?” Mr. Lee pleaded with her.

“Fine, I’m listening. Tell me what you want me to do,” she sighed.

“I can see you are more than this. I know of this warming center...” Placing his hand on top of hers, he gave it a light squeeze.

Mr. Lee was out of his mind if he thought she would
ever
lay her head down in one of those ‘so-called’ shelters. Those places were just as bad, or worse, than a homeless shelter cops constantly tried to shove her and her friends into when they were arrested on the streets trying to get money.

“No, I won’t go,” Amara shouted snatching her hand away. She grabbed the bag of food and reached for her drink. As Amara’s hand reached for the car door Mr. Lee’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm preventing her from leaving.

She glared at him over her shoulder.
What in the hell did he want with her now
?

“Amara, please wait a minute,” he pleaded with her. “I swear this warming center is better than those other places you have been to in the city. It’s at a shelter on Twentieth Street. I’ve been friends with the man over it for more than ten years. Pastor Allen isn’t like the rest of them. I swear to you. He’ll help you get out of the cold then if everything goes well, he might even be able to help you find a steady job.”

“I don’t know. I still think all of those places are the same, but just in different wrapping paper.”

“Why don’t you give it a try for me? I told him about you this morning and he promised to hold a bed for you, but you can’t wait too long to accept it,” Mr. Lee begged her. “I know how independent you are, but I’m really getting scared for you out here.”

Her mind was already made up before all of the words were even out of his mouth. She didn’t even give his suggestion a second thought. She wasn’t going to ask the Pastor Allen for any kind of help.

“I don’t think so. How can I leave my friends out here? We are a family and need each other. They are the only protection that I need.”

Sighing, Mr. Lee let go of her arm. “If you don’t want to see Pastor Allen about the room, will you at least try to work things out with your family and go back home? I know they are probably going crazy with worry. Don’t do this to them.”

She wished it was that easy, but it wasn’t. He didn’t know half the story and tonight wasn’t the night she was going to confess it to him. She would go back home if she could but Amara knew that day had passed a very long time ago.

“I’m sorry and going back home isn’t an option for me anymore. So, please don’t bring it up again. I’ve got to go because I need to get some sleep. It has already been a long night for me.”

Opening the car door, she hurried out before Mr. Lee would find another way to stop her. Running away, she made her way back to her hiding place. All she wanted to do was crawl back underneath the boxes, garbage bags and get some sleep. Since the rain had finally stopped, she wanted to get herself covered back up before it started back up again.

Stopping by the cleaners’ back door, Amara spun back around and found Mr. Lee still watching her through the windshield of his car. She waved at him and then smiled when he waved back at her.

She knew he wanted to help her and she wished she could take it but she couldn’t. Not after everything she had already been through in her life. It just wouldn’t be fair to either one of them to give him false hope that her situation would change.

Amara took one last look at Mr. Lee before turning back around and going to her sleeping bag. At least talking with him tonight had temporarily got her mind off the incident at the club with the gorgeous Dante. She didn’t want to wonder about him anymore, but she couldn’t help it.

He was unlike any other man she had ever seen before in her life. A part of her might not want to see him again, but another side of her hoped she might see him again even if it was just from a distance.

Chapter Three

The row of numbers on the accounting report kept running together the more Dante stared at the screen in front of him. He hadn’t been to bed yet, because he couldn’t get his mind off the run-in with the homeless girl. He’d spent a better part of the night searching for her and found nothing. He knew he probably wouldn’t find her, but he had to give it a shot.

The terrified look on her face right before she broke free of his grip and ran from him was burned into his memory forever. He shouldn’t have manhandled her so roughly, but he never gave one thought to the thief being a girl instead of a boy.

Why would he
?

After he realized his mistake he ran after her hoping to apologize and then give the poor girl something to eat. Yet, when he made it around the corner of his building, she was nowhere in sight. Finding her was at the top of his list because it wasn’t safe for someone as young as her to be out on the streets.

Usually he was more understanding and sadly he hadn’t acted with compassion and offered her his help. His anger had taken over his common sense making him act out more than he usually would in a situation like what happened with her.

Closing his eyes, Dante laid his head against the headrest of his leather chair. He hoped to get a few minutes to himself before anyone else showed up at the bar and wanted him to do something for them. The weekends were always the craziest and he definitely needed time to recharge even if it was only for a few minutes.

All of the other wayward thoughts were cleared from his mind as Dante felt his body begin to relax after sitting and thinking about nothing else as the minutes gradually ticked by. His tension along with some of his guilt eased away as the much needed sleep he missed out on last night started taking over his exhausted body.

Just as Dante was about to get a visit from the sandman, he got interrupted by the unexpected sound of his office door being flung open crashing against the wall.

His eyes flew open as he jumped up from his chair glaring at the intruder standing in his office. “What in the fuck is your problem?” Dante demanded, wishing he had thought about locking his office door before deciding to take a quick catnap. “Why are you barging into my office like it’s yours?”

“How in the hell are any of your employees supposed to get anything done if their boss is back here asleep?” Caleb Dash teased, stared at him and then frowned. “God man, you look horrible. Have you hooked back up with Bambi again and not told me about it?”

“No, I’m not getting involved with that controlling chick again,” Dante said, rubbing the heel of his palms across his tired eyes. “You know I can’t handle how much she wanted to know where I was all of the time. She never gave me a chance to even breathe at work or at home. I broke up with her weeks ago and I’m about to fire her since she isn’t able to handle us working together anymore.”

“I can’t believe she’s still working here. I told you not to let her get her claws into you. She only saw you as a mark and nothing else when Jim ignored her advances. I don’t know how you didn’t see it before now.”

Walking further into the room, Caleb took a seat and then gave him a huge grin. His buddy looked like he was busting to tell him a secret. Lord only knew what it was.
Why didn’t he call in sick instead of coming into work
?

“Okay, if it’s not Bambi then what waitress kept you up most of the evening? I called your house several times last night and didn’t get an answer. Was it the red-head who’s been practically tossing herself at you every single night?” Caleb teased. “Come on, spill it. I know that you want to tell me who it is?”

Dante narrowed his eyes at the smug man sitting across from him. He loved Caleb like a brother. The two of them had been friends since senior year of college. They had met during football practice and struck up an instant friendship. Caleb was part owner of the bar with him and Griffin, but sometimes his buddy had a way of speaking first and thinking second.

Why did Caleb keep bringing up various women when he knew that he had no interest in her whatsoever? He was the one who liked to be the hunter and not the hunted.

“No, I wasn’t out with her either,” Dante replied as he sat up straighter in his seat. “You know that I don’t date my employees anymore. Unlike you, who have dated almost every new client at
Inked
that you’ve worked on in the past two and a half years. If you don’t stop you won’t have anyone left willing to let you give them a tattoo.”

Caleb held up his hands in mock surrender as he leaned away from him. “Sorry man. I didn’t know I’d hit a nerve this morning. What in the hell is wrong with you?” he complained, lowering his hands. “You usually take my teasing better than this. So, honestly tell me, what does have you so tied up in knots? Did something happen at the club last night?”

Running his fingers through his hair, Dante eyed Caleb knowing he should apologize for snapping at him for no good reason, but he wasn’t in the mood to do it. All he wanted to do was make it through the day and take another look around the neighborhood for the girl.

“Nothing happened last night,” Dante lied as he put his hands on the arms of his chair.

“Now, Dante you shouldn’t lie to old Caleb there. He would love to know how you almost had a poor, hungry homeless teenage girl arrested for stealing food off your motorcycle,” a voice taunted interrupting their conversation.

Groaning, he pinched the bridge of his nose, and closed his eyes. Slowly, Dante counted to ten and then reopened them glaring at Griffin who came into his office and took a seat next to Caleb.

“What girl?” Caleb questioned as he glanced back and forth between them. “What is Griffin talking about?”

Since his old buddy had decided to open his big mouth, Dante knew he had to tell Caleb everything now. When they were alone he was going to make Griffin understand when he needed him to keep his mouth shut!

“Last night when I was leaving the club, I caught someone stealing from my motorcycle in the alleyway and when I warned the thief to stop, the person took off running instead, so I chased after them.”

“You actually ran after someone during the rainstorm last night.” Caleb, shocked, sat closer to the edge of his seat. “That doesn’t sound like you at all. Why did you do it?”