Ria looked up at Ajax. “If you’ll just put me down, boss, I’ll help—”
He just turned away and walked towards the stairs, still carrying her.
“Ajax.” She wiggled in his hold, aware of how ridiculous she probably looked. Fuck, this was embarrassing—and he knew it.
He set her down by the stairs then gestured for her to go first. “Up. Office. Now.”
She gave him a wary look and wisely bit back her protest. Sophie came up behind her, slipping her hand into Ria’s. She was trembling softly and Ria immediately let go of her hand and wrapped her arm around her friend’s waist.
They moved up the stairs and into Ajax’s office. It was a masculine space, filled with a big, wooden desk, some cupboards against one wall and a large one-way window that looked out on the dungeon. There was a monitor set up on the wall displaying camera views of the bar, the foyer, and both entrances.
Ajax’s chair was huge and comfy-looking but across the other side of the desk sat two straight-backed, hard chairs. She guessed he didn’t want people sticking around too long in his space.
She led Sophie over to one of the chairs and leaned over her. “You okay, Soph? He hurt you?”
The other woman shook her head, but she could see the way she trembled. She crouched down and reached for Sophie’s hands. “It’s okay. You’re all right now.”
“Here,” Ajax said gruffly. Moving to the cupboards, he drew out a soft, fluffy blanket. Then he walked over and wrapped it around Sophie. “That better, sweetheart?”
“Yes. Thanks,” Sophie replied quietly.
“You sure you’re not hurt anywhere?” Ajax asked her.
She shook her head.
“Maybe we should call for a medic.”
Sometimes he still sounded like he was in the Special Forces.
“No, really. I’m fine.”
Ajax studied her for a moment, as though trying to figure out if she were telling the truth then he nodded and moved over to look out the window at the dungeon below.
Tension filled the room. Ria snuck a glance over at Connor. If he was worried about Ajax’s reaction to what just happened, he wasn’t showing it. Aside from a rip at his collar, he didn’t even look like he’d been in a fight. He was leaning back against the door, arms crossed over his chest, looking like he didn’t have a care in the world.
She wished she could say the same.
“Ajax—”
“Hush, Ria,” Ajax told her, his voice gentle. She forced herself to stand, even though her legs protested having to support her.
Finally, Ajax turned, bu
t he didn’t look over to her and Sophie. Instead his gaze moved to Connor. “You want to tell me how one of my waitresses was attacked and the other one very nearly ended up in a bar brawl?”
It wasn’t so much the words as the tone of his voice. Low and calm, like the eye of a storm. With no way of knowing when the calm was going to end and shit was going to fly.
Ria opened her mouth and both Connor and Ajax shot her a look.
“It was my fault,” Sophie whispered. “Not Connor’s.”
“How you figure that?” Ria asked. “That dick grabbed you.”
“I thought they were just having fun. Being friendly. Must have flirted too much with him. Gave him the wrong idea.”
Oh, hell no.
She leaned in so Sophie could see her. Could see how serious she was. “I don’t care how much you fucking flirted with that shit for brains. He had no right to grab you. He certainly had no right to keep holding you after you told him to let you go. That’s not on you. It’s on him.” She straightened and glared at Ajax. “They should never have been allowed in here.”