He laughed sadly, as if to mock me. "Well, Mia. When you come here and go through so much shit, yeah, your language changes."
My heart ached. "Oh, Andy..."
He looked both shocked and sick at his own aggressive reaction toward me. He worked to rectify himself by pulling me into his arms. "I'm sorry, Mia. I'm just so shocked, that's all. Tell me who did this to you, please?"
"I told you. It's nothing."
"Shit! Mia, it's not nothing. The bite marks. The bruises. Those only happen during... when... Fuck!"
I was shaken and said, my voice trembling, "When what?"
He growled in frustration. "Sex, Mia! When you have sex. Real. Hard. Core. Sex."
"What? But it wasn't hard. At least... not that hard," I stammered.
"Were you raped?" he asked urgently.
"What?" I was confused.
"Were you raped, Mia?"
I shook my head. "No, of course not."
He was quiet for a moment and then said, "Oh, I get it."
"What? Get what?"
"It was Mr. Maxwell, wasn't it?" he asked, his eyes bright and dark at the same time.
Slowly, I nodded.
"Shit! I can't believe he did this to you," he said in disbelief. Then he chuckled sadly. "I thought he was different from Matt. Shit! They're friends, aren't they? But I thought Mr. Maxwell was different, since he was married once and everything."
I didn't get what he was talking about. "Andy?"
He turned to me. "Mia, what type of contract did you make with Mr. Maxwell? I know I said I'd sort everything out before you left... But now it looks like I have to sort it out immediately. I can't leave you in his hands. You'll suffer more than this; you know that. And I know... Oh fuck!" He raked his fingers through his hair again in frustration. "I won't let you suffer... the pain... the humiliation... Shit! I won't let you go through what I went through!"
I was scared at his strong emotions. "Andy, please. It's nothing."
He shook his head. "No, Mia. No. It's not nothing. You always say that. It's never nothing. Tell me what type of contract you signed with Mr. Maxwell."
I sighed. "Me," I said. "I signed myself over for the two million."
He looked confused. "What? Come again?"
I swallowed and took a deep breath. "I signed a contract as James's mistress in exchange for the two million."
He just stared at me as if he couldn't believe what I'd just said. Well, I wasn't surprised, of course. I wouldn't believe him either if he told me he'd just signed his life away as an escort or whatever in exchange for a debt.
"Fuck!" he swore. "Oh, Mia. It's because of me, isn't it?"
"It's for the debt, Andy. The two million, like I told you last night." I couldn't believe he actually forgot about that. I thought I'd mentioned it to him already. Unless, of course, he'd heard but refused to fully accept it, accept I was now a mistress to some billionaire in order to pay off his debt.
He took a deep breath and nodded. "For the two million." When he looked at me closely, I saw the determined look in his eyes. "I'm going to fix everything, Mia. Please trust me on this one."
I bit my lip. "I trust you always, Andy. But please don't do anything stupid."
He just looked at me for a moment. "I promise he won't hurt you again." Then he took a few steps back. "Get changed. I'll be back soon."
"Where are you going?" I couldn't help asking, panic in my voice.
He raked his fingers through his hair again and shrugged. "Personal business," he said, his eyes on the floor.
Relief swept through me. So it was nothing to do with me and my bruises, then. Thank God. I nodded, clutching the shirt and pants against my chest.
Before he closed the door, he said, "And don't leave. Promise me you won't go back to your own room, okay. Please wait for me until I get back."
I nodded. "All right. But don't be too long, okay?"
He gave me a smile and nodded. "See you soon."
He closed the door before I could ask him what type of personal business. But I held myself in check as I didn't want to overstep my boundary yet again. Even though we were close as siblings, I had no rights to intervene in his life. And I personally wanted what was best for him, to let him enjoy his life and his freedom, which we both never really had since our parents' death.
Then when I turned eighteen, I'd had enough of being under our aunt's and uncle's thumbs. I'd taken Andy and moved to another town, a smaller one, where hardly anyone knew we existed, where no one knew us or our history.
I returned my attention to dressing myself, shaking my head, wondering if Andy was overreacting about my bruises. But then again, he'd always overreacted where I was concerned, hadn't he?
Once I was dressed, I turned to look at myself in the long mirror. I wanted to laugh. I looked like a senior high school girl in boy's clothing. Andy's shirt fit me just right, though. To make it look more fashionable, I rolled up the sleeves and then tugged the hem under the waist of the jeans. I cocked my head to one side and nodded with approval. Yes, I look pretty good. If I was a few inches taller, I could be a model. I smiled at the thought and headed back out the door to wait for Andy's return.
* * * * *
CHAPTER 33
James
"You know how hard it is to keep those bastards under control," Matt said, rolling his eyes heavenward. "Fuck! The police are useless. Drugs and prostitution are booming in Las Vegas."
"All you need to do is keep our turf save," James said. "Make them understand we're not to be fucked with."
Matt laughed. "No need to worry." He crossed one leg over the other. "It's taken care of."
"How's Andy going with the infiltration?" James asked, his eyes dark.
"Good, I guess," Matt said, shrugging. "Can't we put him in another job? That boy's too fucking tempting for most men."
James laughed. "Come on, Matt, you know how it works. We need someone like Andy. Someone with the good looks and the brain that still looks innocent and gullible enough to be lured and fall into a trap. He's smart enough to look after himself."
"James, I get it," Matt muttered. "You don't need to lecture me. He just worries me sometimes."
James wasn't surprised by that. Matt was falling in love with Andy and he didn't even know it. Come to think of it, James worried about Mia a lot, too, ever since she'd come into his life. Did that mean he'd fallen in love with her, too? No. Not possible. Just not possible. It was just lust between him and Mia. That was all. And he worried about her because she was worth two million.
"Did you know about the darkroom?" Matt brought up another subject.
"I heard rumors," James said.
"Prostitution. Apparently, it's going very well. And apparently, William attended one or two."
James frowned. "William?"
Matt nodded. "He bought one, too. Just the other day. Five million. She's so fucking young. Like high school."
"Jesus!" James swore under his breath. "I would have thought he'd stay away from shit like that."
Matt shrugged. "You can never read him. Just like his old man."
James agreed with a nod. "By the way, I saw Tory last night."
"Oh?" Matt stood and headed over to the vast window that overlooked the city. "And?"
"Having dinner with him and the gang tonight," James said. "Care to join?"
Matt chuckled. "No thanks. I have my hands full tonight." By that, he meant Andy. It was a pain in the ass having to watch over the boy every night while he worked. That private nightclub, reserved only for those with money, was notorious for wealthy mobs who wanted to do real business as well as drugs and prostitution. And his Andy was working in the midst of that fucking shit.
James didn't press the matter. Matt and Tory never really got along, just as with him and William. They always rubbed each other the wrong way. Yet they were sworn blood brothers. They'd made an oath once upon a time--he, Matt, William, Tory, and Mark. Five of the toughest, richest boys in high schoo
l, who ruled the streets of Las Vegas. Now they were all the toughest and most ruthless billionaires.
"I heard Tory's doing some business in Australia. The Gold Coast is apparently booming with tourists. You know, all the hotels and resorts."
"Good for him," James said. "What? Are you planning on doing business there, too?"
Matt chuckled. "Not yet. Got my hands full just dealing with all the shit here."
James didn't doubt it was probably mostly to do with Andy. Putting that boy in that particular position, infiltrating as a waiter in one of the hottest clubs, was probably too dangerous for Andy, considering he was wanted by both the Mexican and the Albanian. He understood it worried Matt, but they needed Andy as bait to lure out the snake, the man behind all the drug dealing and the prostitution.
Heck, James understood without that sort of business, Vegas just wouldn't operate. Sin City's economy soared because of the drugs and prostitution, but at the same time, he believed they needed to be kept under control. And the police were doing a fucking shitty job of it.