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Adelina hated this damn place. She hated the men that stared at her as if she would spread her legs for all of them. She hated the stale smell of alcohol, the sticky sensation on the old hardwood floors as she walked across them, and the look on Sergio’s face as he eyed her over. She wore a sweater jacket to cover her dress, but it wasn’t doing much to stop attention from being drawn to her. The only other women in the place looked like used goods, currently working over some of the losers.
“You look incredible! Hot date? Or did you dress for me?” Sergio asked as she entered the office.
“I have the money. There’s eight there. I’ll have the last two this week, then we’ll be done.”
He took the envelope and skimmed through the money.
“I don’t think there’s enough here.”
“What?” she asked, hearing her anger in her voice. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. What game was Sergio playing?
“I gave you just about everything to pay off our debt. I owe two thousand more, that’s it.”
He shook his head and made a sound with his lips as if patronizing her.
“You see, honey, there’s a thing called interest.”
“Interest?” She swallowed hard. She could feel her heart racing, and she thought she heard the door to the office opening but her ears were pounding and she thought she was going to be sick. He was screwing her over.
“I don’t understand. I paid almost everything. I’ll have the last two—”
“No, Adelina.”
She heard the voice and swung around, recognizing it immediately.
She nearly fell against the desk as Raymond came into view.
“Raymond? What are you doing here? Oh, God, did they make you come here? Did they tell you that I owed them money?”
Raymond moved closer and then reached out for her hand.
“Sergio, please gives us some time alone. There are things that Adelina and I must discuss,” he stated very firmly. His eyes never left hers. Sergio walked out of the room, a smirk on his face.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
He stepped forward and she instinctively stepped back. Her rear hit the desk and she jerked, and gripped the wood.
“My beautiful Adelina. You have come to mean so much to me in such a short period of time.” He reached up and placed his palm against her cheek. She flinched at his touch, suddenly fully aware of that instinctual pull in her gut. Raymond wasn’t whom he said he was.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m going to explain exactly what I want from you, and what we will be from here on out.”
“I don’t understand.”
His eyed seemed to darken and his eyebrows furrowed. “Listen, do as I say, and it will all work out.”
He caressed his thumb over her lower lip.
“Raymond?”
“Shh, Adelina, I am going to tell you a story. You see, I wasn’t always such a successful businessman. Although I know I was meant to live this life, there were some bumps along the road. Four, actually. You see I was working for a major drug cartel in Columbia when some federal agents found out about my warehouse and distribution center. I thought I had managed to eliminate all the threats, but you see, the man who was in charge, my superior, for lack of a better word to describe the dumb fuck, wasn’t too smart. There was a raid by the feds and everyone went down. Most died in the process, and what we thought was a major operation with multitudes of undercover agents if not hundreds, was actually the work of four agents and their soldiers.” He caressed her hair with his hand and tugged on the one curl by her cheek. His knuckles grazed her skin.
“I had to escape, and wound up in a bad place, filled with very bad people who wanted my boss dead for losing the supply and the entire operation.”
His hand slightly shook as he told her his story. She had no idea what he was talking about, but obviously it had affected him. She still didn’t know what he wanted with her.
“I don’t understand,” she said, and he gripped her by her shoulders and pressed his body against hers and the desk. She gasped.
