by Dani Wyatt
But I need him for now.
With his funds added to those I’ve already been promised by my other investors, I’m ready to go. Arbitrage may not sound sexy –most people don’t even know what it is– but the way my mind works it’s as easy as breathing. I just see the opportunities.
Those tiny fluctuations in trading currencies that allow me to swoop in and profit. It’s a fast game and a few seconds one way or the other can make or break you. Securities are too visible right now. With my conviction, going back into that arena simply isn’t an option. And honestly, it was never where my heart lay. It’s the challenge of currency trading that lights up my brain.
The house I rented will not be where I sleep. No fucking way am I ever sleeping away from Mia again. As nice as the rented place is, Tensfield is where she feels at home and personally, wherever she is will be my home.
Call me old school, but it sticks in my craw to think she would ever need to worry about money ever again. That’s on my shoulders and I intend to step up and put any fears she might still be harboring to rest once and for all.
And so on.
My gut is tight. I stopped between meetings at the first cell phone store I found and got both Mia and Nana new iPhones. I was irrationally pissed when I found out she didn’t have a phone at all. Seems her father kept her practically imprisoned physically and technologically and when I prodded her about it, her reply was ‘who would I call anyway?’
Not speaking to her just for a few hours now has me on the brink of insanity.
One more meeting, then I’m breaking some speed laws to get back to her. My mind is racing, my dick is throbbing, and my fear of losing her again is making me crazy. I turn the corner toward the warehouse district. It’s a shithole area, but it’s where Roman Hendrik holds court
Logically, I know Mia is probably safe there at Tensfield with Nana. Nothing has happened to her, but I don’t know...call it fucking PTSD or whatever you’d like but I can’t lose her again. I won’t. And I may be irrational, but if it prevents the nightmare of being without her repeating itself, I accept that I will live as half madman for the rest of my life.
C H A P T E R E I G H T
Mia
THE TAXI SMELLS LIKE fried food and the evergreen air freshener hanging from the rearview. I smooth my skirt down over my thighs as the driver eases around the corner of the alley and down the dirt road, coming to a stop in front of a wood and corrugated iron warehouse. It may not be a brick mansion, but I know not to let that fool me.
I’m battling the panic attack I feel tightening in my chest but out of necessity, I’m pushing myself and praying I get through this.
This warehouse is the place where I’m hoping to take back a bit of control, to find a solution to my current dilemma. It will be a band-aid, that’s for sure. A short-term financial bridge at least to get the back taxes paid, but I’m hoping it will also set me up to figure out how to open some sort of business of my own.
From utilities to maintenance and taxes, I’m ready for an uphill climb trying to find a way to make enough to manage Tensfield on my own. But for now, if I can convince Roman to give me two-hundred-thousand with a lien on Tensfield to guarantee the repayment, I think I have an idea of how to take control of my life.
I’ve been thinking more and more about editing. I don’t know exactly how to start, but I know with the internet, I could probably start a little business and have clients around the world without having to even go out. Or meet anyone. Both pluses for me. If I get enough clients, do well, move to bigger clients, do better...it’s a longshot. I may need to take some classes online but it’s doable and fits in with a lot of my talents as well as my issues.
It’s tenuous, but it’s possible. And it’s all I have.
Every step I take also reminds me of how relentless Walker was last night.
Gawd, I even told him to cum inside me. I pleaded for it. I’m lost somewhere between the heady euphoria that I could already be pregnant and the disappointment at my own irresponsibility. Focusing on that helps the building panic of being outside Tensfield. My hands are sweating and my heart rate is skyrocketing, but I think of Walker, breathe and keep telling myself my fear is all in my head.
“Twenty-six fifty.” The driver is already glancing nervously around him as I fish in my purse and slip him a twenty and a ten through sliding plastic divider.
I fumble in my purse, dropping it on the floor of the cab. I lean down nearly throwing up and do my best to gather everything before finding my wallet.
“Keep the change,” I announce as rush and tug the handle and escape the offending odors of the backseat anxious to get this over with and barely able to form any clear thoughts the panic of just being out in the world about to send me to my knees.
I’d asked the driver if he’d wait for me but he refused since I had no idea how long this would take. I’m hoping Roman will let me use the stupid phone when we’re done. This is not going well at all already.
The sun from this morning has been replaced by gloom. Gray, unmoving clouds cover the sky and the usually pleasant temperatures we expect in June here in Michigan are unseasonably cold, leaving my arms covered with goosebumps.
My cheeks pulse with heat wondering what exactly I’m walking into as well as being out in the world like this. But I also know that bravery is not the absence of fear, it’s being afraid and going right ahead anyway. Because whatever it is you’ve got to do, it takes precedence over your own safety.
Inside the building, it’s a short walk to the heavily armored office on the other side of the open space. It’s not particularly comfortable surroundings, but beggars can’t be choosers. I am still half astounded that Roman Hendrik even agreed to see me, knowing what I wanted, so I guess I should count myself lucky.
He’s an old business associate of my father’s. Never one I liked mind you, I’m not really sure anyone liked him but growing up with the deals that went on around the house, I knew he was one of Dad’s money men. The one he could go to when he needed an influx of cash fast for a deal or to get him out of trouble. Which was more often than a little girl should know about.
A few minutes later, I’m looking into a familiar face. A few years older, but then so am I. He looks me up and down, nods his head and flashes a grin that tops my previous goosebumps with chills. The tightness in my stomach has turned to bile in my throat.
My heart is still beating like a hummingbird’s and my brain is telling me to run, but run where? I’m barely able to breathe let alone run.
“It’s a lot of money you asked for.” Roman doesn’t waste time on small talk. He picks at his thumbnail with this forefinger as he keeps his eyes trained on my chest. With his other hand, he rubs his nose, then it disappears down below the top of the desk somewhere into his lap.
“You know how much Tensfield is worth. Two-hundred-thousand is a small percentage of the value. I’ll repay you. You have my word, but you also have the house. If things don’t work out.”
His chuckle turns my stomach back over on itself. My skin prickles where a bead of sweat slowly lowers down the indent of my spine, finally being absorbed into the waistband of my black skirt. All I want to do is be back at Tensfield, this was a big mistake going out. I can’t handle this.
He clicks his tongue in his mouth before pushing his chair back and coming around to the front of the desk. Roman is a large man, and he’s standing well within my personal space. He hasn’t even offered me a seat. Just straight down to business. And now I’m left standing here, looking up at him as he edges closer, towering over me.
I’ve seen this look before. Roman is eye-fucking me and if I’m reading the energy from him correctly, he doesn’t want to stop there.
“It’s not a problem, girl. I’ll give you that money.” His tongue traces his bottom lip as his eyes turn to slits. “And I’ll take your house if you don’t repay. But we need to seal the deal, so to speak. I want more than just a piece of paper and a promise.”
I c
lear my throat, shift my weight and try to find my voice as my pulse roars in my ears and the room starts to swim. “What else do you want?” I squeak, then clear my throat and force some strength into my words. “I don’t have anything. Just the estate.”
“You know what you have. What I want. Men are simple creatures. You grew up around enough men to understand that.” He brings his hand up to place a finger under my chin. “It’s business. You want something. I want something. Win, win. You’ll be on your knees for a bit, maybe bent over my desk. But you’ll get your money.”
“That’s not part of my offer.” My voice hardens. I surprise myself with the level of finality in my statement.
“Oh, come on, everything is up for negotiation. Especially when your options are...limited.” He pinches my chin and I gasp as his other hand comes to the back of my neck and squeezes me closer to him. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll add another fifty-thousand for your trouble.”
I push back with the heels of both hands, a fire replacing the nausea. “That’s not going to happen.” Blood pounds in my temples. I take a step back, but he counters forward, never yielding the grip he has on my neck.
“What are your options?” His voice thickens. “Don’t you think for a second I do not know exactly what your situation is. I do my research. I have what you need. And you have what I want. Grow up, Mia, this is a good deal. And it’s about time you learned how the world works. How fucking hard is it to suck a cock and get fucked? You should count yourself lucky you have that option. Any man that came to me wanting what you want, I’d turn him away. But, lucky girl, you have something I want right now. Don’t pretend like it’s some big fucking deal. It’s sex. It’s a different type of currency is all.”
“Fuck off.”
He laughs. “Feisty, I like that. I’m not going to rape you, Mia. I’m just not going to give you what you need until you agree to my end of the deal. And if you don’t, I may just go down to the city after you leave here. Pay off the tax lien in my name which, according to the law, replaces their lien with my own. So, don’t pretend like you have any good choices here. Either you give me what I want and you get what you want. Or, I fuck you a different way.”
Now it’s both hands on the back of my neck. His smile reveals cracked, crooked teeth as his eyebrows raise in arrogance and the realization that I am a rookie at this game drowns me in cold reality.
I feel like a mouse in a maze. Every thought in my head is focused on how to figure out a solution to the puzzle, but each one comes up against the same brick wall.
Seconds feel like hours, and Roman’s breath and the pounding of my heart is all I hear until a crack sounds from the closed door behind us.
C H A P T E R N I N E
Walker
I WAS EARLY GETTING to the warehouse when I parked my car and stepped out to take a breath and get my head straight for the meeting with Roman when a cab comes up behind where I’m parked.
“Hey.” The driver leans out his open window. “You work here?”
“What do you need?” I return his question with a question. He doesn’t need to know anything about me.
“I just dropped this fare off here, a girl. She forgot this in the back seat.” He turns and reaches over then dangles a small black case out the open door in his hand. “There some beeping thing going off in there. That’s how I found it, opened it up, I think it’s a medical something. She may need it.”
Blind rage is a term I’ve just realized I never understood until today.
I grab the case from him and hit the door to the warehouse at a run until my hand is on the office door.
I see nothing else.
All I see is his hands on my girl. I see the fear in her eyes.
The world evaporates around me as my vision is laser-focused on the fear darkening her face, my mind clouding with all the ways I’m going to hurt that motherfucker who dares to put a finger on my Mia.
“What the fuck, Walker, can’t you see we’re busy here? I’ll meet with you when I’m done.” Roman Hendrik spies me for a second before I’m on him.
I don’t bother with answering his question. I’ve got tunnel vision. Without any ceremony, I come at him swinging.
My first punch lands full force. I hear the crack of his eye socket as he stumbles back into the desk. Mia’s yelp, her words of surprise, are lost, blending with Roman’s pained groan as my next blow pummels him just below his sternum, dropping him to his knees.
Roman flails with a loose arm, trying to gain some defensive pride but adrenaline is already coursing through me. I used to fight like a street animal, all bravado, and posturingbut that sort of fighting doesn’t get you very far in the pen. In there, there’s no chance to retreat. It’s winner takes all.
I learned to fight like I meant it, and Roman’s finding out just what that means. All I can see in my fire-seared brain is where his hands were on the back of her neck. Entangled in her hair.
“Walker!” Mia’s trembling voice brings me back for a second, and I see my fists landing multiple blows on the huddled figure of the man in front of me. A man who will be lucky to walk out of here alive. “What are you doing here?”
“What the fuck am I doing here?” I slam my open hand into my chest. Her eyes don’t sway my disappointment. “What are you doing here? I told you to stay put at the house.” I grunt out the last words.
“I was fine! I didn’t need you!” The forced snark in her tone tells me she knows full well she was far from fine. “I’m taking care of some business, that’s all.”
“Uh huh.” I stomp toward her and grab her by the arm before walking her a few feet away from where Roman is breathing heavily and groaning, trying to pull himself back to his feet. I give him a halfhearted kick telling him to stay down before moving away. “From now on, your business is my fucking business. Understood? What the hell, Mia?” I shake my head. “Did I not tell you I would take care of you?”
“I’m not your responsibility, Walker. And that’s what I’ve heard my whole life. Just be quiet, let the men take care of things...well, where did that get me? You have your own things to take care of, my problems are mine and for once in my life, I want to handle them on my own.”
I take a breath, ready to give her another tirade, but then stall. I don’t begrudge her the honesty. I’ve known her long enough, known her life but fuck if that’s an excuse for putting herself in danger.
“Listen, baby.” I cup her cheeks, feeling the heat there. “I hear you. I respect you and all of what you have done. You are strong. You are fierce. But I am on your team. Do you get that?”
“Yes.” Her lip is quivering. “But I can’t lay my problems on you. Maybe you can’t fix this.”
In my mind, I’m laughing because I know in my heart anything that she needs, I’ll find a way. But I can’t just make it so simple. She needs to hear more, and I’ll give her what she needs.
“I don’t know what’s going on here, what kind of deal you were trying to make with this piece of shit, but I do know it’s not necessary. And I also know that if anything happened to you, Nana would tear me a new one.” I widen my eyes, making sure I’ve got her attention. She coughs out a laugh. “When we get in the car, we’re going to lay all the cards on the table and find a solution to whatever is going on. But right now,” I tip my head to the heap on the floor that is now sitting up, cupping his hands under the faucet of crimson running from his nose, “we need to leave.”
With that, I say a few corrective words to Roman, making sure he understands there is nothing more to discuss. Any deal that we might have had is off. I’ll find my money some other way or do without than dealing with this motherfucker. I let him know I will not hesitate to return to make things more permanent if need be.
MIA IS BUCKLED SAFELY into the car as we speed down the expressway back to Tensfield. I’m still mad, but not with her. I’m mad at myself. I’m mad at Roman. That fucker got off lightly. But, finally, I’m calm enough to have a decent conv
ersation.
I pull off the freeway and run us down the road a few miles into a park. I put the Camaro into the park under a large Maple tree next to a little river.
“Now, I want to hear every detail of what’s going on. Why do you need money from Roman? That’s not an overdue credit card you’re paying off.”
Rain begins to pelt the windshield. With the rain, no one is around and I need to breathe and have a little discussion with my girl.
I glance over to find her looking straight ahead. The deep blue dress she’s wearing wraps around her curves and lands just up over her knees. She’s holding her breath and I reach over to brush her cheek with my thumb, breaking the tension, before lowering my hand to rest on her knee with a soft grip, letting her know I’m right here and she’s safe.
After another long moment of silence, my irritation is too much to bear, and I increase the tightness of my grip on her knee, adding, “I’m waiting, babe.”
She releases her breath, and I squeeze again which seems to open the floodgates.
“Tensfield,” she starts in an accusatory tone “My fuc—my father didn’t bother with the place once we were gone. The taxes are so far behind. If we hadn’t arrived home when we did, it would have gone into foreclosure with the county. But the taxes are a fortune and I’m left with barely any money. I have no way of paying it. And, don’t take this the wrong way...” She finally looks over and I glance away from the road for a second to see the distress in her eyes. Whatever’s coming, she doesn’t think I’m going to take it lightly. “You just got out of prison. I couldn’t ask you to help. I mean, yes, I want to handle it. But also, even if you had that sort of money, you need it to start your life over. And I was afraid that if you knew what I needed you’d do something that could land you right back in jail.”
When I look over, a flash of the little girl I knew that first day twinkles in her eyes. I pick up on the bit of pride she has that she stood up and tried to take care of things for herself. I do not wish to take that away from her. She needs it. She needs to feel like she’s in control. I get that.