Traded

by Rebecca Brooke

  Her concern ate at me and I felt the tears slip down my face. “Oh, Gretchen, I’m helping Dominic pay off a debt he owes.”

  “What did that fucker do now?”

  Telling her seemed like more trouble than it might be worth. I couldn’t have her interfere, but she was my friend and deserved the truth. “He made a deal with the loan shark he owes money to.”

  “And what’s the deal?” I could tell by the tone of her voice that her brows were narrowed down over her eyes.

  “I . . . umm . . . I have to stay with the loan shark for the next three months,” I rushed out, fumbling over my words.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” she yelled. “That’s it. I’m calling the police.”

  “No!” I panicked. “Please, Gretchen, I need to do this.”

  “So he trades you like that chick off Indecent Proposal and you think that’s okay?”

  “It’s not like that. Ashton doesn’t expect me to sleep with him. And if I don’t stay, they’ll do awful things to Dominic.”

  “Asshole deserves it,” she mumbled.

  “Please, Gretchen, you have to promise me you won’t say anything. If you’re my friend, you’ll do this for me.”

  “This pisses me off.” She paused. “I won’t say anything—as long as you promise me that if this guy tries to hurt you in any way you’ll call and I’ll come get you.”

  “I promise. Thank you. Look I have to go. Ashton wants to show me something. I’ll call you later.”

  “’Bye, Elena. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “I do.”

  “Be safe.”

  The call disconnected. I was just about holding it together, nearly succumbing to the tears, when there was soft knock at the door.

  “Elena, is everything okay?” Ashton called.

  Putting on a brave face, I stood and opened the door. “I’m fine.”

  “Good,” he said softly. “Now, let’s go. I have a surprise for you.”

  I was hesitant to say the least. The last time someone surprised me, I’d ended up tied to a stranger for three months. I’d had enough surprises to last me a lifetime. But it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice.

  Ashton led us through the house until we reached a door.

  A garage.

  He grabbed a set of keys off the hook by the door and opened the passenger side of a sports car for me. I climbed in and waited.

  Ashton backed out of the garage and down the drive. I was so nervous my hands were shaking and I gripped the sides of my seat, my fingers biting into the soft, supple leather. “What kind of car is this?”

  He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “It’s an Aston Martin DB9.”

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “Thank you.”

  I twisted my hands around in my lap. “Where are we going?”

  He smirked. “You don’t like surprises?”

  “Not after the last one. I thought Dominic was taking me out to dinner. He told me to pack a bag. He hadn’t had to correct me very much lately. I thought he might be rewarding me. Not once did I expect to be traded for his debt.”

  I couldn’t believe I just admitted all of that to a stranger; a man I’d only met the day before. Dominic didn’t like me to talk to other men, so I wasn’t normally that comfortable around them, particularly in such close proximity. Yet, for some reason, I found Ashton easy to open up to.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t think about it that way. I’m taking you to a spa. Figured you’d never had the chance to be pampered.”

  “A spa day? You don’t have to do that. We already owe you enough money.”

  “I’ll say it again, Elena.” His voice was firm. “Your husband owes me the money, not you. Besides, this is something I’m doing for you. Did you pack much in that bag of yours?”

  I looked out the window, embarrassed at not being prepared. “Just what I have on, plus the dress from yesterday.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “Yeah, I’ll need to use your washing machine tonight after you go to bed, if that’s okay?”

  “No.”

  My eyes opened wide as I turned my face to him. “What do you mean? What am I going to wear?”

  “I’m having a personal shopper meet you at the spa. She’ll take your measurements and have clothes sent over to the house for you to try on later.”

  “Ashton, please, you can’t keep spending money. I won’t be able to pay it off.”

  “I don’t expect you to pay it off. These things are for you, nothing to do with the money Dominic owes.”

  The car came to a stop outside what looked to be a residential address, the tall pillars on either side of the heavy wooden door giving it a grandiose feel. Reading the name on the brass plaque to the left of the door, I realized where Ashton had brought me. I’d read about it in magazines at the diner. Celebrities had been spotted here. It was one of the most expensive places in the city.

  “Here?” My voice was incredulous. This was too much.

  “Yes, here. Come on, I’ll walk you in.”

  On legs that felt like jelly, I climbed out of the car and followed Ashton inside. My shoes clicked against the marble floor of the foyer, and pictures of models sporting different hairstyles lined the walls. At the counter stood a woman, dressed in a tan business suit, her long hair hanging loose. Soft music filled the air.

  “Hello, we have an appointment scheduled for Elena.”

  “Let me check,” the receptionist said. “Ah, yes, here we are. Full session?”

  “That’s correct.”

  I noticed the way the girl’s eyes focused on Ashton every time she thought he wasn’t looking. It wasn’t hard to see why she was staring, with his neatly styled blonde hair, and green eyes hidden behind his glasses, Ashton was absolutely gorgeous. Wait. “What’s a full session?”

  Ashton smiled at me. “It means the works. You’ll get all of the services today.”

  “All of them?” I knew I was just repeating what he said, but I needed to make sure I’d heard him correctly.

  “Yes. Now promise me something.”

  “What’s that?”

  It was hard not to smile back at him when he was being so sweet. Last night he scared me when he’d hurt the other man and he could have used me, done what he wanted then discarded me, but he hadn’t. Instead, he’d put me in a beautiful room, told me to go to bed and get some sleep, and now he was sending me to get pampered for the day.

  “Promise me you’re not going to worry about any of the bullshit with Dominic. Relax and enjoy yourself.”

  “I’ll try.” I faced the receptionist. “Okay, I’m ready.” My heart raced, but it was hard to keep the grin off my face.

  “Great,” she said, her bubbly personality shining through. “My name’s Lisa, and I’ll show you around before getting you ready for your first appointment.”

  Ashton leaned forward, his mouth dropping down to my ear. “Lewis will be here to pick you up later. Remember, relax.”

  I nodded and clasped my hands together to keep them from shaking and said, “Thank you. I’ll see you later.”

  Following Lisa back through the door, I embarked on my first day of being pampered. Why would Ashton set this all up? Did he want me to sleep with him? No, that was stupid. I’d tried last night and he turned me down. There had to be a reason, but until I figured it out, I’d been brought here to be pampered.

  Might as well enjoy it.

  CHAPTER 5

  Ashton

  Seeing the look on Elena’s face, I knew I’d made the right decision in getting everything set up the night before. The way things were, Elena couldn’t see her worth, but I intended to change that. It would have to happen slowly, though. Her low self-esteem, no doubt ingrained by her husband, had been given years to take root. Changing the way she saw herself was going to take time. I needed to do it slowly.

  First things first, I had to stop by my dad’s house and let him know what had happ
ened. He’d be looking for the money sooner or later. I figured a face-to-face explanation was the way to go.

  The drive to his place gave me an opportunity to plan what to say. While I preferred a house outside the chaos of downtown, Dad liked living right in the middle of things. Fucking stupid, if you asked me. With all the pies my father had his fingers in, surrounding himself with law enforcement was asking for trouble.

  So far, Dad was off grid as far as the police were concerned. To the community, he was nothing more than a local businessman, and that was by design. He was clever. Regardless of their suspicions, the cops could walk into any one of the four car dealerships he owned tomorrow and demand to see his books and wouldn’t find anything. It helped that he had a forensic accountant on his team. Tired of working for the government, he helped disguise any wrongdoing, keeping it away from prying eyes. My father paid him handsomely to make every transaction look clean.

  My brother, Miller, was not so invisible. Sports betting was harder to hide. He’d had a few run ins with the police, but lucky for him, he had a few politicians in his pocket and having them owe him favors helped to make any potential problems disappear. Miller got smarter after one instance. He went to ground for a while and came back having created a system that eliminated the need to use the back room of a bar to place the bets. Lately, he’d also been helping Dad at one of the dealerships. I couldn’t deny the business was a great cover. It didn’t do too badly either.

  Someday I hoped to get out of my dad’s business, but I wouldn’t have what I did without him. Growing up, all I wanted was to be a chef in my own restaurant, but reality came knocking not long after I finished culinary school. Dad was insistent in handing over the collection business to me. He promised I wouldn’t have to deal with the people who didn’t pay—he’d take care of that—I just needed to collect the payments. That eventually turned into a few of my dad’s men joining me, and what was supposed to be a thing on the side became my responsibility; my job. It wasn’t something I’d taken on lightly, but Dad made up for it by giving me the money to buy the restaurant. I used the profits from the first to buy the next two. I’d realized my dream, but it came with conditions.

  After he’d paid for the restaurant and culinary school, I didn’t feel like I could walk away from my obligations. Someday, I hoped that would change. But that someday wasn’t now.

  When I pulled up into the valet of my parents building, I saw my brother getting into his car. “Miller,” I called before he shut the door.

  “Ashton, hey.” He stepped out of his car and pulled me in to clap me on the back. “What are you doing here?”

  “Just business.”

  We both knew that you never talked in the open. It was a surefire way to get your ass thrown in jail.

  “Oh, things not going well?”

  My jaw went tight and he read it. “Explain later, yeah?”

  He opened his mouth then promptly shut it again. My brother happened to be one of the few people who knew me well enough to understand that my silence meant something seriously fucked up had happened. But being as smart as he was, he also knew when to leave it alone.

  “All right, man. You know whatever it is, I’ll help.”

  “I know.”

  “Just call.”

  “I will. Later.”

  Walking through the front door, I noticed the lobby full of people going about their lives, oblivious to anything but themselves. The elevator doors opened and I climbed in, pressing the button for the penthouse but the doors remained open. It took me a moment but then I remembered. The key. Every single time, I forgot the damn thing. I slipped the keycard out from my wallet, pushed it into the slot, and the doors closed, the elevator rapidly making the climb to the top floor.

  The doors opened to reveal my parents’ front door. Without bothering to knock, I let myself in.

  “Mom? Dad?”

  Mom came out of the kitchen wearing an apron covered in flour and her trademark smile. “Ashton, what are you doing here?”

  I bent and kissed her on the cheek as she wrapped me in a hug. “I needed to talk to Dad.”

  She stepped back and put her hands on her hips. “Never to see me. Let me guess—business.”

  I laughed. As much as she might grumble, my mom knew how things worked. It was, after all, Dad’s business that kept her in the life she loved. That didn’t mean she didn’t like to pull our legs about it, though. “Yes, business, but I need to talk to you too. I just need to talk to Dad first.”

  She beamed. “I can deal with that. He’s in the office. I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  Despite being able to afford to hire staff, my mom did all the cooking. She refused to hire anyone to work in her kitchen. Growing up, she taught me how to make different foods and she was the one who’d inspired me to go to culinary school. That was why I had to speak to my dad first. I knew I’d end up helping her in there for at least an hour before I left.

  The office door was open, but I still knocked before going in. Most of the time, I didn’t want to know what my father was dealing with, the less I knew the better, so it was always safest to err on the side of caution.

  "Dad?"

  “Ashton. Come on in.” He closed a file and leaned his arms on the top of his desk. “What’s up?”

  Normally I would have closed the door, but Mom was going to find out all about what happened anyway so there was little point. “We have a problem.”

  His eyes narrowed. “A non-payment? You know how to handle those.” He waved me off, opening the folder and dismissing the whole conversation.

  “It’s more than that.” I took a seat and waited for him to pay attention.

  He looked up. “Jesus Christ, Ashton. Fuckin’ handle it already. I’ve got enough of my own shit to deal with.”

  Sometimes the only way to truly get my father’s attention was to shock the shit out of him. “Dominic Tolley, he couldn’t come up with the cash. Offered to trade his wife to wipe out the debt.”

  Dad’s head snapped up. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

  “The bastard offered me his wife for three months and made it clear she was to fuck me every night to pay off his debt.”

  Dad knifed up, the force of his hands slamming against the desk causing his pen to jump and roll onto the floor. He left it where it was. “Motherfucker! I hope you had Brock follow his ass home and take care of him.”

  “No.”

  The muscles in his neck strained, the blue veins covering his skin like rivers on a map. “You sent her home with him, right?” My eyes dropped to my shoes and he growled. “Tell me you didn’t, Ashton. Tell me you didn’t take the girl in lieu of payment.” I lifted my chin and he got his answer. “Jesus, fuck.”

  “I made him a deal,” I said. “I get Elena for three months, and he pays back half of what he owes.”

  “Half? Are you crazy? Does she have a golden pussy or something? She must have. There must be a good reason for this . . . insanity.”

  By this point my dad had rounded the table, grabbing handfuls of my shirt, pulling me flush against him, his face millimeters from mine as he shouted his displeasure. My fists clenched at my sides. At six-one I was a big bastard, but Dad was bigger. He could take me without breaking sweat. Even so, my voice was tight when I looked him straight in the eye and replied, “He abuses her, Dad,” the volume dropping slightly when I continued. “I don't know to what extent but she won't even look me in the fucking eyes when I talk to her. Can't make a decision on her own. Swear to Christ, she jumped six fuckin' feet in the air when I touched her hand. I have no intention of touching her, but I couldn’t let her leave with him. If I shot him down and let Brock rough him up a little, imagine what that would have meant for her.” I paused before saying quietly, “You of all people know what that would have meant.”

  Understanding washed through his features and he lowered me to the ground, releasing my shirt from hi
s grip, smoothing out the crumpled material. "She's staying with you?"

  "Yes." I made the split-second decision to share my plan with him. "I've only got three months to repair what he broke. It'll be tough but I'll be damned if I don't give it a try."

  Dad leaned back against his desk, his heavy sigh audible in the otherwise silent room. “I don’t understand why you didn’t kill the bastard.”

  “Trust me, I thought about it, but you know as well as I do it wouldn’t do any good. Just like Aunt Veronica, she’d end up with some other loser to bully her. I can break the cycle. Show her she’s strong enough to leave him on her own. I just need the next three months.” I paused. “Then I can send Brock in.”

  Dad nodded. “Interesting plan. Three months isn’t long, though. It took at least a year to repair what that cocksucker broke in Ronnie.”

  Leaning back in the chair, I crossed my ankle over the top of my knee, my foot twitching as I thought out loud. “I’m starting with simple things, like having her make her own choices. She wouldn’t even choose from the menu at the ballpark last night. And today I sent her to the spa.”

  He nodded. “Makes sense. Show her how she should be treated,” he murmured to himself.

  “Exactly. I’m also hoping Mom can make a big dinner sometime next week and invite Aunt Veronica. I think a talk with her would do Elena good.

  “I think that’s an excellent idea.” He clasped me on the shoulder and gave a squeeze. Then his voice lowered. “I’m proud of the way you handled that. I know you don’t always agree with the things we do, but no woman should ever be treated that way by a man.”

  “No she shouldn’t. It’ll make us short, but I think it’s worth it.”

  “It is. And half is better than nothing. I’ll call Ronnie tonight after you talk with Mom.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” I stood. “I’m gonna get going. I know I’ll end up spending some time cooking before I leave.”

  “Most likely.” He laughed and waved me away, returning to work on whatever he’d been dealing with before I walked in. That was my dad’s way: if you had an issue you talked it out. Things might get heated, but they’d also get resolved, then everyone moved on. Some might disagree with this approach, but it worked for us.