I snatched the envelope, ripping it open, to find out how much longer I was going to stay this prisoner. The number on that paper was like everything I had done over the past years didn’t touch it. Chris had racked up debt back to the original fifty grandand then some. I shook my head, trying to deny it, praying that it was some cruel joke and someone would be coming out to tell me so.
“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told y’all from the beginning, I don’t have this money just laying around. You know how long it took me to get this far. Tony, seriously, please. I can’t keep doing this. If I keep going I am going to die from exhaustion before this could get paid.” I pleaded. More like I was going to die from my own pain in my heart. I rarely begged anymore, because what good did it do?
I’d beg Chris to never hurt me again, pleading with him to stop. I begged him to let me go and look where that got me. And after all this, this was my fault for thinking I was in love with a man that made empty promises with heavy fists. Lt. Greene would be trying to convince me that he could get me out of this mess. But I’d never see light like that again.
“Ms… I mean Mia. You are such a strong woman. Reminds me of my mama.” Gage spoke up. It didn’t matter his words, they gave me a death sentence. And if I told them they could just kill Chris which would save me the trouble, the debt would come to me because of the damn marriage certificate.
“While I appreciate the sentiment, Gage, it doesn’t make a difference,” I barked, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. God, I just wanted to sleep for an eternity. I was so damn tired.
Tony sighed, offering a gentle touch to my shoulders. “I can try to give you until the end of the month to figure something out. But you know the boss, if you can’t figure it out on your own, he’ll figure it out for you. Between you and me, sweetheart, I don’t want that to happen to you. You’re too much of a good girl.”
I just wanted to crumble on the ground. I just answered with a simple nod and a shake of a hand like we always do.
Without any more sentiments or threats, they left and I went inside to an empty house, praising that it was the only good thing in my life right now.
As soon as that door closed, I slid my back down the door, hugging my knees with hot tears streaming down my face. The dread of starting over again washed over me. I wished it was that easy to just fork over money like I made of it.
You think about it, in childhood we were sometimes sheltered from the concept of money when in reality we needed to have our eyes opened because it’s not until you’re in high school that you start thinking about not having to rely on your parents for things you wanted. I wished it was that easy to think about a simpler time. But adulthood came rushing and you learned lessons on the fly.
In these moments, it was easy to remember that white knights and fairy tales don’t exist for people like me. If there’s one thing I had learned, it was to rescue myself. I was my own savior. And yet there was still the part of me that wished for love and comfort and safety.
And lord, I couldn’t go home to Alabama back to the small town I crawled out of and go back to my family. They were telling me from the beginning that this would happen if I “turned my back on the family”. They really wanted me to stay back and play the part of running the family farm, it was tradition they would say. I wish I could just go back to riding around on the land and feeding the cattle or even collecting eggs from the chickens. It would never happen, not without being tied to the farm again.
I shoved all thoughts of the past and what could have been deep in my subconscious where they belonged. No one would want to see this spiral of thoughts, this anxious energy that was begging to re-surface.
I showered away the stress, letting the tears mix in with the water, watching them wash away and go down the drain. I barelygot dressed enough for bed in just a t-shirt and underwear. With a twist of my bedroom lock, I hid under the blankets and covers, dreaming of a day where a smile on my face wouldn’t fear to be wiped away.
Chapter 6
Amelia
Ihave earned myself a deep tissue massage and an earth-shattering orgasm but even the amount of rest wasn’t enough before I was starting another ten-hour shift. It was only a few days, but I couldn’t sit still so I tried to return to the hospital.
Sarah and Jennie looked at me like I was the lunatic for coming back early, pestering me about the “energy I was giving off”. I brushed them off with a joke about myself and went about my day.
By the time the shift ended, I glanced at my phone, seeing a few missed calls and messages. One from Tony granting me until the end of the month to make a “down payment for good faith”, one from Chris asking me when I was coming home because he wanted to talk, and a few from Hound Dog and Melody.
I chose not to respond to Tony and Chris. But reading Melody’s message made me nervous to open Hound Dog’s message.
Melody:Hey girl, if you don’t want to talk to Hound you can call me and we can talk more about what he’s asking.
Melody:Sorry, I know you don’t read messages until the end of shift. Sorry for the bombarding of messages.
Melody:I’m just saying, Hound is not as much of a patient man as he’d like to believe. Trust me, I know.
I hide a laugh at that last part. I bet he wasn’t apatientman. The man wouldn’t keep his hands off her. When I finally read Hound Dog’s message, I was even more confused.
Hound Dog:I have a proposal again. I’d be owing you big time.
Another proposal? I groaned, “Why me?”
They had enough men and their partners with enough talent that they didn’t need my assistance with anything.
I sat in my truck, taking a few deep breaths. I could only imagine what Hound Dog wanted this time. I tapped the contact name and waited while the phone rang. After a few rings, the gruff voice came through. “Mia.”
“You know, Hound Dog, I get sometimes why people would want to avoid you. You don’t leave much to decipher. Should I be scared this time around?” I tried to joke, but I was just biding my time. I was already mixed up with a bookie and his boss and with the amount of romance novels I try to read during my shifts, I could only imagine that it was some ties to the mafia. But I didn’t stick around to ask questions I had no business asking nor did I ever want to find out.
“You know I’m worth it. I already said I’d be owing you,” Hound said calmly. But Hound was rarely calm unless Melody was around.
