Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“No!” I pulled the quilt tighter around me. “Tuition is already paid. You won’t get that money back. Go to school and let me deal with this.”
“Liam, I–”
“Please.”
“They will hurt you if you don’t pay. I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough.”
I thought of Val, of the way I knew he could crush me easily if he wanted to—or seduce me into doing whatever he said. “Trust me. I know what I’ve done, and I’m going to get us both back on our feet.”
“You don’t have to shoulder all of this.”
“Yes, I do. Now, I need to go so I can get ready for work.”
“Fine. But you better check in with me so I know you’re still alive and not at the bottom of the bay feeding the fish.”
“Goodbye Ava.”
“Bye. I love you.”
I curled into a tight fetal position as I said, “I love you too.”
The next week passed in a whirlwind. Between working at Benny’s—the bar where I waited tables—and dancing at Pound, I was so exhausted I fell into bed the moment I got home, only waking when I had nightmares about the accident, the Marchesis going after Ava, or the day when the rent was due, and once again, I couldn’t pay.
Where was I going to go? I didn’t think I could find anywhere significantly cheaper than the place I was in.
You could stay in Ava’s dorm.
How sad would that be? Even if it was actually an option, I couldn’t afford the gas to drive two hours into the city to work every day.
Maybe one of the other dancers would let me stay on their couch. Of course, for that to work I’d have to actually make friends with someone. So far I’d kept to myself, talking as little as possible to anyone at work other than Tyler who was very hard to ignore.
I hadn’t seen Val again. Every day I expected him to show up to scrutinize my performance and make sure I was following all his rules. I wasn’t. I’d given several lap dances in the private rooms. The men had tried to grope me, but I’d managed to use Val’s name to keep them under control.
How much longer could I keep that up before he found out? And what else could I get away with? I knew many of the other dancers went much further in those rooms and scheduled meetings with the men at hotels. Would I do that? Could I do that?
Once I was homeless I probably would, but if Val found out…Maybe he wouldn’t. He obviously didn’t care enough to check up on me.
And Trevor sure as hell didn’t seem to care. As long as the dancers didn’t cause trouble and showed up on time, he was content. It seemed to be his goal to drink alone in his office all night.
I needed to pay Val back as fast as I could so I could start earning money for myself, assuming he’d let me keep working here after the debt was paid.
Assuming he ever showed back up.
Why would he? Did I really believe he wanted me that much or did I secretly hope I would be caught? Did I want him to punish me? I’d fantasized about it plenty of times. I was tired of always being the one with responsibilities. I wanted to surrender, to give myself over to him completely.
9
VALENTINO
I’d stayed away from Pound for a week, but I’d had to fight myself every single day to do it. I wanted to watch Liam dance, to make sure no one was touching him, to stake my claim on him. I wanted to know if he was following the rules. More than anything, I wanted to punish him if he wasn’t.
I knew just what I’d do if I had the chance, but I tried to push those seductive thoughts from my mind. I had to keep my hands off him.
Was there any way in hell that was going to work? He was made for me. I was sure of it.
My phone rang, and I jumped. Fuck. I hated how on edge I was. The screen lit up with my father’s name. I’d already argued with him about my choice to let Liam work off the debt. He didn’t like it, but he’d accepted it because it fit within the rules he’d laid out, and I’d explained that it was the only way we’d get paid.
Dom liked money even more than he liked killing, but I’d been avoiding him since our tense conversation.
I answered the call, but I didn’t have a chance to say hello before he started speaking. “I need you in New York. Tommy Lorenzo slipped away from your fucking brother, and now he thinks he’s safe there with his family. It’s your job to show him how wrong he is.”