Cruel Lover

Involuntarily, my eyes snap to his, and I can’t keep the look of disgust off my face, but he shakes his head, still chuckling.

“Not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. Like I said, you’re not my type. But Leroy says you’re a lawyer, and that means you’re in luck. I’ve spoken to my bosses, the higher-ups I guess you’d call them, and they have work for a lawyer. You do us favors from time to time, represent our people if it’s needed, get us information from the courthouse, that sort of thing, and I’ll let Winston’s debt slide. Good deal, right? Quarter of a million bucks just disappears, vanishes into thin air, and you and me? We get to be friends.” He grins.

I’m caught like a fly in some sort of spider’s web. I know how this goes, I’ve seen it before. Once I do him a favor, that’s it, I’m in and there’s no getting out.

But what choice do I have? If I don’t settle my father’s debt, next time there won’t be an ambulance.

There’ll be a hearse.

“Tell you what,” he says, “I’ll even sweeten the deal. We both know old holier-than-thou Winston isn’t going to suddenly stop playing cards or putting the church funds on the roll of a die. Next time he gets himself into debts he can’t cover, I’ll make sure you’re told about it first, give you a chance to settle up before it gets out of hand. I’ll even let you cut a check. Can’t say fairer than that, right?”

He stares at me with those bulging, toad eyes, expecting a response. Only I don’t have one. I’m in way over my head here and I can feel my lungs starting to burn. I thought I’d come in here, pay a few thousand dollars and go home. Clean up the house and then head back to the hospital to sit there the rest of the night.

None of this was part of the plan.

“I—”

Just as I’m about to tell him I need time to think, there’s a commotion from the room behind me. Shouting, the sound of furniture shifting, tables being overturned.

“What the fuck is going on out there?” Dan stands from his desk and I step aside, hoping not to get caught up in whatever this is. “Give me a sec, would you?”

Something thumps heavily against the door and I yelp, shrinking back. I don’t belong in this sort of place. I don’t belong in this part of town. I hear muffled words as Dan slides open a drawer in his desk.

“Look at that, Leroy, you clumsy fuck,” I hear through the door, a deep voice that trembles every nerve in my body. “You’re not supposed to try to open the door with your head, buddy.”

“Please, this is my job, man. You’re making me look bad. Fuck—!” Another thump against the door and I see Dan pull out a gun. “Fuck, that hurts!”

“We should try the handle. Maybe it’s unlocked? No need for you to crack your skull open, Leroy.”

Dan raises the gun, pointing it at the doorway as the knob turns. I need to be away from here. I can’t be a witness to a gang murder, I just can’t. In one afternoon my life has been turned on its head.

Everything I’ve worked for…gone, just like that.

Leroy’s face comes inside first, and I see that he’s bent double. But it’s hard to believe that the man standing behind him, holding his arm twisted at an angle that looks like it’s about to snap, managed to overpower such a giant. Sure, he’s big. Built like a bull, shoulders so wide they look almost unnatural. But he can’t be more than a few inches taller than my 5’6”. With dressier heels, I bet I’d be almost at eye level with him.

He turns his face up to look at me, a cocky grin pulling at the corner of his lips, and my body’s reaction is instant. My mouth is dry, my hand going to the crucifix dangling on my chest like I need extra strength to resist this…this pull. Each breath is shallow, my eyes unblinking. A moment ago I was terrified for my life, but right now all I can see is him. I’m drawn to him. It’s all wrong, I hate the way my stomach clenches, hate the urge to bat my eyelids like some sort of cartoon bunny smitten by the cartoon wolf.

I’ve never had a reaction like this. Well, not since…

But that was a long time ago. I’m sensible, untouched. A good girl who was brought up right, went to Catholic school, got her law degree and works hard. I don’t go all gooey for men with tousled black hair and sun-roughened skin.

And I can’t help feeling like there’s something vaguely familiar about him too, like we knew each other in a past life or something. I’m aware that I’m gazing longingly into his dark eyes, wondering how his stubble would feel against my skin. How his infuriatingly sexy lips would feel when he kisses me.