1
Owain
There’s nothing like unwrapping a new, pretty toy.
Except I couldn’t decide if I wanted to keep her, or kill her.
Maybe a little bit of both.
Rolan pulled the black cotton hood off her head. She blinked, eyes adjusting to the bright white lights shining from the warehouse ceiling. Water dripped down a wall nearby and the concrete floor must have felt freezing under her knees. Crates loomed at the edges of the room. My guys stood around checking their guns and reading magazines. Viktor lit a cigarette and Rolan cracked the seal on a new fifth of vodka.
“What… where am I?”
The girl stared at me. Pretty blue eyes, long brown hair. Her body was tight and slender, her round ass stuffed into a pair of dark jeans, her black shirt cut low enough to show off a hint of her round breasts. Her skin was pale and smooth and I had the absurd desire to see her strip down right then and there in front of my men.
Of course, I wouldn’t do that.
No, I was the jealous type. I didn’t like to share.
“You’re in my warehouse,” I said. “Do you know who I am?”
She squinted. “I have no clue.”
“My name’s Owain.”
“Never heard of you. What’s going on? What are you doing?”
“Your brother heard of me.” I tilted my head and crossed my arms over my chest. “Me and Jason, we knew each other very well.”
I saw her eyes go wide then she sat up on her knees and struggled to compose herself. I had to admit, she did a pretty good job. Her face was almost neutral, though the fear still trickled through.
“How do you know Jason?”
“I was his piggy bank. For a while, anyway.”
Her breath came faster. Her chest rose and fell.
“I don’t know what you want from me.”
“I think you do.” I smiled a little. “It’s always about one thing, especially with Jason. And I’m not talking about the drugs.”
She looked away. I saw the pain in her eyes.
Couldn’t blame her.
Jason died last week. I heard she found him slumped over his desk in the back room of their little store. I could guess how fucked up and hard that must’ve been, but I didn’t really need to.
I had my own memories of finding dead bodies of people I cared about to deal with. I didn’t need hers.
“Money,” she said, her voice soft. She looked down at the floor. “All the money for our store.”
“That’s right, darling.” I smiled and spread my arms again. “You figured it out fast.”
“He was going to you.”
“Bingo. Like clockwork. I’d lend him some money and some drugs, he’d go back to you, and you’d be none the wiser. I didn’t know much about you of course, just that he was in business with you. I had no clue his sister was so hot.”
A flash of something. Anger, maybe? Excitement?
No, definitely anger.
She looked up at me. “I don’t have it. If that’s what you want, I don’t have it. All that money went into the store.”
“I know. You two ran a nice little business. You sold the stuff and designed the shirts, and he ran around town pretending to court investors. Really, he was getting high and begging me to write him checks.”
“Why’d you keep doing it?” She narrowed her eyes. “If you knew he was a junky, why’d you keep giving him money?”
I frowned slightly. It was a good question, I had to admit it.
“I’m an optimist.”
She snorted. “What?”
“I believe all people are good at heart.” I gestured toward my guys. “Look at these men. Do you think they’re good people?”
She opened her mouth then shook her head. “I don’t know them.”
“Come on, boss,” Rolan said. “We’re a bunch of fucking saints, right?”
“These guys are scumbags,” I said. “Rolan especially.”
Rolan laughed. “Fair enough, but if we’re scum, then you’re king of the scum. You’re the scum prince.”
I grimaced. “Not the nickname I want, but okay.”
“I don’t understand.” She sounded desperate and the fear was coming back.
“I thought your brother might be able to make good. Well, no, I didn’t think he could. But I did think you might be able to pull it off.”
“Why? You said you didn’t know much about me.”
“I saw the business. I came in once. Bought a couple shirts. I liked what I saw.”
She shook her head and tried to shift side to side on her knees. “I still don’t understand. You wrote him checks because you liked the store, but why give him the money and drugs? Why not come to me if you wanted to invest?”
“Like I said, I’m an optimist. And hey, maybe it would’ve worked out if he hadn’t tried to pump too much shit into his arm and ended up dead.”
Another wince. The wound was too fresh. She didn’t like hearing about her poor overdosed junky brother.
The asshole that hung her out to dry.
“None of this changes anything. I don’t have the money. It’s all tied up in the store.”
“Maybe I don’t want the cash then.” I took a step toward her and bent forward. I was a big guy, and she was a small girl. But I liked the way she looked down on her knees in front of me.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to come work for me.”
She let out a strange, half-strangled reply. I couldn’t tell if she was about to cry or throw up.
“Work for you?” she finally managed. “What… do you want me to do?”
“What the fuck do you think?” Rolan asked. “You’re a pretty girl. You seem smart. Use your fucking head.”
I gave him a look. “How about you let me do the talking?”
He grinned, shrugged, and paced off down to the other side of the warehouse. Viktor chuckled and smoked his cigarette.
I turned my attention back to Leigh.
“I want you to work for me. Can you do that, little Leigh? Can you pay off your debts?”
“I don’t owe you anything. My brother borrowed. I didn’t know. I didn’t… I didn’t know.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not how this works. You’re on the hook. So let me ask you again.” I got down on one knee and looked into her eyes. I saw the fear then—the uncertainty. “Can you work off your debt?”
“I won’t be your whore.”
I leaned toward her and looked into her pretty eyes. She stared right back, defiant and gorgeous.
God damn, I was half hard just staring at her.
“You’ll be whatever the fuck I want you to be.”
She took a sharp breath. “I won’t fuck for money.”
I stood up. “I’ll make this easy then.” I turned my back on her, pace away a few steps then turned back. “You come to work for me and do exactly what I tell you to do, and after a few months you’ll have paid off your brother’s debts.”
“Or?” she asked.
“Or, I put a bullet in your head and parade your corpse around the city so every mother fucker around knows that they can’t default on a debt to me without losing someone they love.”