Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
* * *
So my dad has a gambling problem. He’s had one for a while. It got worse after my mom left him eight years ago. Maybe if she’d stayed, it wouldn’t be so bad today, but it was the reason she left him in the first place. She gave him an ultimatum: her or the casinos, but he chose the casinos.
Ever since then, things have never been quite the same at home. Dad’s problem has only gotten worse, but while Brit may not have faith in him, I do. I think he has the power inside him to get better, and I believe that one day, he’ll overcome this issue of his. I refuse to give up on him.
When Brit and I pull up to my house, there’s an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway: an all-black Mercedes in a neighborhood that consists of mostly used cars with hundreds of thousands of miles on them. It stands out like a Great Pyrenees at a kitty daycare.
“Your Christmas present?” Brit suggests as she pulls up to let me out. I may be an optimistic person, but even I know that’s totally out of the question.
“Yeah, right.” I shake my head.
“Maybe your dad won big?”
An unsettling feeling swims through my stomach. This car is out of place here, and everything in me is telling me it’s not a good thing.
Again I shake my head, “No…”
I can feel Brit looking at me. “Do you want me to stay?”
“That’s okay,” I say, forcing a smile at her. “I’ll see you at work.”
I grab my purse, hop out of the car, and trudge through the snowy driveway up to the door. There’s a pit in my stomach that I can’t shake. I suck in a deep breath as I place my hand on the doorknob, then slowly turn it and step inside.
“You knew who you were dealing with when you stepped foot in that casino,” I hear an unfamiliar voice from the living room say. “Or did you really think we’d just forget about the money you owe us?”
Shit.
I realize instantly. Dad’s gotten himself into debt at the casino again, and not just any casino; he’s gone to one owned by the mob, and they’re here to collect.
Shit! Every muscle in my body goes tight. How could he be so stupid? Everybody knows you don’t borrow money from a mob casino, and this is why.
Slowly, I walk into the living room to see a suited man with his back to me standing over my dad, who is practically cowering beneath him on the couch.
“What’s going on here?” I ask.
The man turns and locks the fiercest brown eyes on me I’ve ever seen. He looks like he could either be a model or a killer, with high cheekbones and a chiseled jaw, broad shoulders, and arms that look like he owns a gym. I’ve never been looked at the way he looks at me. This is my home, but I suddenly feel as if it belongs to him.
“Go to your room!” my father barks. Slowly, the man turns his attention back to my dad. “I…I just need a little more time—”
Out of nowhere, the suited man swings his arm with blinding speed, sending an ornamental coffee table bowl flying into the wall. It shatters everywhere.
“You’ve had time, Rick,” he growls. “More than enough time. Right now what I want from you is money. I want everything you have.”
“I have nothing left to give you, Sterling!” my father pleads. “I’m tapped! I swear—”
“Nothing left to give, huh? I don’t know about that…” Sterling turns away from my father, slips his hands casually into his pockets, and levels his eyes back to me.
It takes both me and my dad a second before we realize his implication.
“No,” we both say, almost completely in unison.
“Oh, yes.” Sterling nods, the hint of a smile appearing at the corners of his lips. “That’s right, Rick. I’ll take your daughter here as payment for your debts.”
2
Sterling
Rick must have had a hell of a wife to produce such a beauty of a daughter, because this girl is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life. She’s an absolute work of art. I could barely take my eyes off her when I first saw her. She should be a movie star—at least a model. Whatever it is she’s doing for work, she’s definitely above it. Whatever man she’s dated before this, she’s definitely above him.
Christ, the thought of her even dating a man is already making me jealous, and we’ve barely even spoken to each other. How the hell is this happening? Within the Esposito crime family, I’m known for being ice cold, never partaking in any extracurricular activities with the girls who work for us at our businesses or using my influence to get myself laid.