“This and that,” he mumbled. “None of your concern.”
“None of my—?” She glared at him in utter fury. Her father’s inability to meet her gaze told her all she needed to know. She’d long suspected her mother’s drinking habit and penchant for fine dresses was out of control. Her father’s addiction to expensive tobacco and fine wine wasn’t helping either. While she’d lived like a pauper, they’d squandered every dime they’d had left as well as what she’d earned them.
“How much do they owe?” she asked the stranger.
He told her a sum equal to almost all her savings. His mouth of narrow teeth bent in what was supposed to be an expression of pity but looked a little too much like a smile. No doubt if he repossessed the house, he’d probably profit heartily on its resale. “I’m afraid if the balance isn’t paid in full today, I’ll need to contact the authorities and initiate foreclosure.”
Harlow’s heart sank into her stomach. If she bailed them out, she’d barely have enough left for a single cycle’s rent on the apartment. How would she feed herself? There wouldn’t be enough left to gamble with either. And she’d already been paid for the work she was doing for Marius. There’d be no other money coming in until after the end of this cycle. She needed that nest egg to live off until she could establish herself in a career that was more stable than gambling on pit matches.
“Wait here,” she commanded. No matter how crazy her parents made her, they were her parents. She wouldn’t allow them to be thrown out into the street when she had the resources to keep that from happening. As hard as things had gotten these past months, she knew they’d do the same for her.
She strode through the house and into her bedroom, carefully closing the door behind her. She flipped up the mattress and wriggled her hand into the secret opening there. Her fingers closed around the bag of coins. She counted out what they owed and sighed angrily at the pittance that was left. She shoved it back into the mattress.
When she returned to the door, her father’s eyes expanded into saucers at the sight of the gold tallons in her hand. “Here.” She dropped the coins into the stranger’s palm. “I’ll need a receipt.” There was no way she was going to risk this man pocketing the money and not crediting their account.
His sleazy grin widened, and he pulled a section of scroll from his bag, affixing a wax seal to the bottom. “Of course, my lady. Pleasure doing business with you.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Where in Hades did you get that much money?”
Harlow ignored her father’s gaping jaw and strode into the house, her chest heavy with the loss of the independent future she’d hoped for. It felt like a small death, and she grieved it. How she’d longed for that little room above the old woman’s shop.
Her dad slammed the door behind them. “Harlow, answer me!”
“Don’t you mean to say ‘Thank you, Harlow, for saving me and your mother from certain homelessness’?” She leaned up against the table and crossed her legs at the ankle.
His lips pursed as if he’d tasted something sour. “Thank you, Harlow, but if you’d shared the money with us in the first place, Flavius wouldn’t have called in our debt to begin with. Plus, we could have saved ourselves the embarrassing experience of being the neighbors’ entertainment tonight.”
“Are you sure? Because it seems like you’ve blown through every other amount I’ve given you since we moved here.” She slammed her palms down on the table behind her, and it tipped on uneven legs.
He gasped, looking as offended as she’d ever seen him. Chin held high, he pointed a finger at the ceiling. “I don’t think that’s fair, Harlow. We’ve all suffered incredibly adjusting to our change in lifestyle.”
Her mother came out of their bedroom then, looking haggard with a bag slung over her shoulder that rattled with her movements. “Is he gone?”
“He’s gone,” Harlow answered.
“Thank the goddess. I need a drink!” She smoothed the side of her elaborately coiffed hair.
“A drink is the last thing you need.” Harlow strode toward her mother and unzipped the bag. It was filled with gold and jewelry. Thousands of dragmars’ worth. “What in Hades? Why didn’t you hock this to pay your bills?”
Lemetria’s eyebrows shot up. “Our bills, Harlow. You live here too, and you’re an adult. This is our insurance plan, only to be used in case of emergency.”
Harlow gestured toward the door. “What exactly did you think that was?”
She tipped her head toward her shoulder. “We had one more warning. If he started foreclosure, we’d pay him then.”
Harlow covered her face with her hands. “Fine, then sell it and pay me back for what I paid him.”
“Two-thirds of it, you mean,” her father said. “Again, it’s the three of us here.”
“Fine,” she said through her teeth.
Her mother dropped the bag of jewelry on the table. “Ugh! This is all so stressful. Darium, do you have any more of that tribiscal wine?”
Harlow’s hand came down on the table again with a slap. “No, Mother, you do not need a drink right now, or another dress! You don’t need anything but to talk about what just happened and how to prevent it from ever happening again!”
“Honestly, Harlow, I think you need a drink. Relax. It’s over. Let’s all get on with our lives.”
