Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“I can’t… Let me go.”
“No. That’s a terrible idea. Borrow the money you need from me and let your body have what it wants. You’d enjoy that so much more.”
“Dammit, Vito. Let me go.”
I liked my name on his lips. “Not until you tell me why you’re here.” If he was in trouble, I wanted to know about it. No one was going to hurt him. No matter what he had done, we’d work out a solution. I wasn’t supposed to get personal with clients, but my brother had gotten away with it, and I fucking would too.
I waited several seconds. When he stayed quiet, I said, “You need money.”
“Obviously.”
“I’ve got lots of money to give you.”
“I would never have come here if I’d known you… That your family… Please just leave me alone.”
I stroked the side of his face with the back of my hand. “Tell me why you need money.” He shivered and I pressed myself against him harder. “I’ll take care of you.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I know I want you.”
“That’s…” He shook his head. “Not what I’m looking for.”
“So sit down and tell me what you are looking for.”
“No. I can’t get involved with you.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I’m afraid you already are.”
“You’re stalking me. I didn’t ask for that.”
“No, but you came here today. You called my family for help. We don’t like when people stop by and then don’t do business with us.”
“Great, now you’re fucking threatening me.”
“Baby, you called the Marchesis to borrow money; what did you expect?”
“Let me go.”
I released him, but he didn’t open the door. I had him. He wanted to stay. He wanted to talk to me. He was desperate, and God help me, I was going to take advantage of it.
“Come sit down. Do you need something to eat or drink? The coffee is good, and the cannoli are fucking amazing.”
He shook his head as he sat. “I can’t eat anything right now.”
“All right, but you’ve got to keep up your strength. You’ve got practice later.”
He slid a hand across his face and pushed back his hair. “Don’t fucking remind me.”
“I’ll do better than that, I’ll drive you there.”
“No. Stay away from the arena.”
I leaned back in my chair, put my feet up on the desk, and crossed one over the other. He shifted in the chair, looking everywhere but at me.
Finally, he spoke. “I got into some trouble in Vegas. I was stupid. I earned too much money too fast, and I blew it at the fucking casinos. As I’m sure you know, I make a hell of a lot of money. I’m not squandering it anymore. I can make payments, but I need to settle my accounts back there.”
I narrowed my eyes as I studied him. “Who did you borrow from, and why should I believe you’ll pay us when you ran out on them?”
“It doesn’t matter who, and I’ve got things under control here.”
“Then why not use the money you have to send payments to Vegas?” He twisted his hands together and looked down at his feet. “Zeke, how far behind are you?”
“Too far.”
“Are they threatening you?”
He nodded, and the pain in his eyes made my chest tighten. I knew right then that I wasn’t going to let him go, not now, and not after we’d fixed his problem.
10
ZEKE
Ididn’t know why I was telling him all this. It wasn’t like I had to. He wouldn’t really stop me from leaving, would he? How serious was he about customers not walking away once they contacted his family? I’d known he was dangerous from the moment I saw him. What did it say about my fucking luck that he was the kind of dangerous man I needed right now?
He already knew I was desperate. What difference did it make if he got the details? He would give me the money, I was sure of that, but then he’d have even more reason to follow me, and I’d have even more chances to give in to what I wanted.
Don’t do it.
They’re going to come after me. I need to pay them everything.
Vito is a danger to you too.
“How much do you need?” he asked.
I stared at him for a moment, not wanting to admit how bad it was.
“I can’t draw up a loan contract if you don’t tell me how much you need to borrow.”
I took a deep breath and swallowed. His gaze tracked the movement of my throat, and I forgot what I was supposed to say for a moment.
“The amount, Zeke.”
I told him and he gave a loud whistle. “You really did get yourself in trouble.”
“I told you I was stupid, but I’m good for it. I can pay you back.”
“For an amount like this, I’m supposed to get my father’s approval.”
“Oh.” My heart hammered. I was in so fucking deep, even a loan shark wasn’t going to give me what I needed.