Sir storms in, his eyes blazing as he takes in the scene before him. For a split second, relief floods through me. But then I see the cold fury in his scrutiny, and my heart plummets. Despite my current state of disorientation, I know this looks like something else entirely. Me sprawled out on the sofa, Reggie standing there looking exactly like what he is - a small-time criminal, and almost everything in the room showing signs of being moved or tampered with.
“I don’t remember giving you permission to invite your friends around,” he says, his voice dripping ice as he stares at Reggie. Even the stupid gangster has the sense to know when he’s out of his depth. “I was just making sure Linnea got back safely.” He gives a nervous laugh and hurries to the door, but not before throwing me a look that reeks of pure evil.
“So, this is how you repay my trust," Sir growls, his tone low and dangerous. “You invite your lowlife lovers over to case the joint? Were you planning to rob me blind before I arrived home? Or were you going to wait until after you got your hands on the handsome amount I was due to pay you next week?”
"No!" I cry out, my voice hoarse as I struggle to my feet. "Sir, please, it's not what it looks like…"
But Sir's face has hardened into a mask of rage and betrayal. He stalks over, grabbing my arm, his actions rough and dismissive of my wellbeing in a way he's never been before, even during his harshest punishments. "I trusted you," he hisses. "I let you into my home, gave you freedom, and this is what I get in return? I should have known any woman who sells their body like a common whore would have all kinds of other dirty little tricks up her sleeve."
I shake my head frantically, tears welling up. "Please, Sir, you don't understand," I plead, my voice cracking. "That man, he's from the mob. He followed me here; he was threatening me. I would never betray you like that!"
But Sir's eyes are cold, unfeeling. He doesn't believe me. My heart is pounding so hard I feel like it might burst from my chest.
"Save your lies," he snarls, yanking me over to the front door. "I've heard enough excuses from worthless sluts like you. And you can rest assured, I will be taking this up with the company. I’ll make sure you don’t get a fucking penny."
I stumble behind him, panic rising; everything is falling apart. “No! Please, I need the money. I’ll do anything you ask. I’ll change my limits. Anything …”
He laughs, but it’s not a nice sound. “Save it for your boyfriend,” he barks, the cruelty in his voice not so different from Reggie's now, no matter how I’ve built him up into something else over the past two weeks.
“You can’t do this. They’ll kill me or worse. They’ll hurt my mother.”
But my words fall on deaf ears as Sir grabs my purse, opens it to check I haven’t taken anything I shouldn’t, which hurts almost as much as his words, and shoves me through the door, slamming it behind me as I tumble against the wall.
I slump to the floor, my legs giving out as the full weight of what just happened crashes over me. Tears stream down my face as I crawl over and pound on the door in desperation.
"Please, Sir! You have to believe me!" I sob, my voice cracking. "I swear I'm telling the truth!"
But there's no response. Just deafening silence.
My mind is a chaotic mess; panic rises inside me. What am I going to do now? Without the money from this contract, I have no way to settle my father's debt. The mob will come for me, for my mother. Images of Reggie's leering face flash through my mind, his threat to ‘up the ante’ echoing in my ears.
I sit back against the door, hugging my knees to my chest as I try to catch my breath. How did everything go so wrong so fast? Just this morning I was dreaming of a better life, and now...
A ding from the elevator startles me. I scramble to my feet, hastily wiping my tears. I can't let anyone see me like this. As the doors slide open, I duck into the stairwell, my heart fracturing. There’s nothing left to do but go home and confess the bad news to my mother.
Except I don’t even get that far. Seems like Reggie didn’t appreciate being sent out like a naughty boy, and since he correctly read the room, it appears he hung around, waiting for me.
As I exit the lobby, I spot him leaning against the wall of the building with a cruel smirk on his face and my heart sinks. There’s no one to save me from him now.
"Well, well, princess. Looks like your sugar daddy kicked you to the curb," he sneers. "Guess you'll be needing a new way to pay off your pop’s debts."
I try to push past him, but he grabs my arm, his grasp painfully tight. "Not so fast. You and I have some business to discuss."
"Let go of me," I hiss, trying to wrench free. But Reggie just laughs, dragging me towards a crappy vehicle which is glaringly out of place in this neighborhood, and not just because it’s double-parked.
Reggie's eyes glitter with malice. "Sorry, sweetheart, we're going for a little ride," he says, jabbing at the button for the central locking. “We need to have a chat about your new payment plan."
Panic claws at my throat. I know what this means - they're going to force me into prostitution to work off the debt. Or worse.
Nope, not without a fight.
Since we’re on the street, I chance my luck, even though I doubt anyone will intervene. But I’m hoping that making a scene in this swanky area, where the cops are less likely to look theother way, might be enough to compel Reggie to leave me alone. For now.
I don’t doubt I’ll pay for it later, but maybe it’ll buy enough time to come up with another plan. Or simply fucking run.
There’s nothing keeping me here except my mom. The house is mortgaged to the hilt, we can’t afford the payments, and if it were sold right now, I expect it would just mean yet another debt. Both of us have crappy jobs that don’t pay worth a shit. But if I can just get home, get the pair of us packed, we could leave it all behind and just drive.
It’s got to be better than the alternative.
