Chapter 2 - The Debt He Never Expected Me to Question
I scrambled backward so quickly I nearly fell from the sofa.
“I'm sorry.”
Victor lowered the pistol.
“For what?”
“For falling asleep.”
“You were working.”
“I shouldn't have touched you.”
“No.”
His eyes stayed on me.
“You probably shouldn't have.”
My face went cold.
Victor noticed.
Then, unexpectedly, he placed the pistol on the table.
“But you did.”
A knock came again.
“Victor?”
“Come in.”
Paul entered.
He stopped dead.
His eyes moved from Victor's open shirt to me standing beside the sofa.
Then to the blanket that had somehow ended up around my shoulders.
Paul raised an eyebrow.
“I see you're recovering.”
“Choose your next sentence carefully.”
Paul immediately became serious.
“Understood.”
I grabbed my cleaning bucket.
“I'll finish the rug.”
Victor looked at the spotless floor.
“You finished it hours ago.”
I glanced down.
He was right.
I couldn't remember doing it.
“Then I'll leave.”
“Claire.”
My hand stopped on the door.
“Come back tonight at eight.”
I turned.
“Why?”
Paul looked genuinely alarmed that I'd asked.
Victor didn't.
“We need to discuss your brother.”
That ruined the strange softness of the morning.
“Liam?”
“Eight.”
I left.
Liam was waiting outside my apartment that afternoon.
I knew something was wrong immediately.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Nice to see you too.”
“You promised you'd stay away from the estate.”
“I did.”
“Then why are you nervous?”
He rubbed his face.
“I need money.”
I laughed once.
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
“Five thousand.”
I stared at him.
“You owe Victor Hayes one hundred and eighty thousand dollars.”
“I know.”
“And you're gambling again?”
“It's complicated.”
“No, Liam. It really isn't.”
He grabbed my wrist.
“Just listen.”
I pulled away.
“I work eighteen-hour shifts because of you.”
“I never asked you to.”
The words hit harder than he intended.
We both went silent.
Then Liam muttered, “I'm sorry.”
“You need help.”
“I need five thousand.”
“Leave.”
“Claire—”
“Leave!”
At eight, I entered Victor's study.
He was standing near the fireplace in black trousers and an unbuttoned black shirt, a clean bandage covering his shoulder. Tattoos stretched across his chest and disappeared along his ribs and forearms.
He looked healthier.
Which somehow made him more intimidating.
“Sit.”
I sat.
Victor placed a folder on the desk.
LIAM CARTER.
I stared at it.
“What did he do?”
“Your brother borrowed another twenty thousand dollars yesterday.”
My stomach dropped.
“From you?”
“No.”
“Then why do you care?”
“Because he borrowed it from Anthony Vale.”
I didn't know the name.
My expression told Victor that.
“Vale isn't patient.”
“And you are?”
Victor almost smiled.
“Compared with Vale? Extremely.”
I stood.
“I'll find Liam.”
“No.”
“He's my brother.”
“And you're exhausted because you've spent three months trying to save a man determined to drown.”
My jaw tightened.
“You don't know him.”
“I know gamblers.”
“You profit from them.”
Silence.
Paul, standing near the door, looked at me as if I'd just volunteered for my own funeral.
Victor's gaze sharpened.
“You think I forced your brother to gamble?”
“No.”
“You think I forced him to borrow?”
“No.”
“Then why are you angry with me?”
“Because you own the debt.”
Victor leaned forward.
“I bought the debt.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Liam didn't originally owe me.”
He pushed the folder toward me.
“He owed Vale.”
I opened it.
The original amount wasn't $180,000.
It was $310,000.
My eyes widened.
“You reduced it?”
“I purchased it and removed the interest.”
“Why?”
Victor didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, “Because Vale's method of collecting would have destroyed your family.”
I stared at him.
“Why would you care?”
Victor's expression became unreadable.
“That is an excellent question.”
Before I could ask another, Paul entered quickly.
“We found Liam.”
“Where?”
Paul looked at Victor.
“Vale has him.”
My chair scraped backward.
Victor was already reaching for his coat.
“Where?”
“The old warehouse on Fulton.”
“I'll come.”
Victor turned toward me.
“No.”
“He's my brother.”
“And Vale wants you there.”
I stopped.
Victor stepped closer.
“That is why Liam borrowed the money.”
“What are you saying?”
“He didn't borrow twenty thousand dollars because he wanted to gamble.”
Victor's voice hardened.
May you like
“He borrowed it because someone paid him to bring you outside my gates.”
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