Gibbs helped me again when he found out my dearly departed had stolen all my savings. A grand total of three hundred thousand dollars. That was everything I had to finish paying for grad school, put a deposit on a house, and also set up my own private practice when I qualified.
He found out Hunter used my money to pay for drugs, prostitutes, and splash out on luxury vacations for the wife and kids I never knew he had.
The motherfucking bastard was already married, and he had two kids under
five.
Months before Hunter proposed to me, Paige claimed she’d seen him with a woman and two small kids at Millennium Park. When she said he and the woman looked like a couple, we had the biggest argument ever. It turned out that the woman Paige described and the kids were the ones Gibbs showed me pictures of.
When Gibbs finished laying out all the dirty secrets, I didn’t know what the fuck to do with myself. Of course, everything fell apart, including going back to L.A. to finish my training.
After finding out that my dead husband was a cheating, lying, thieving bastard, the worst thing was not having anyone to turn to for help.
Paige and James have been in Italy for the last eight months, so neither of them even knows Hunter is dead. Or maybe they do and think I deserve what I’m getting.
No… Paige isn’t like that. No matter how badly our friendship ended, she wouldn’t wish anything bad on me.
She would also hate that I had to go back to the club.
My life has been such a disaster, and I chased away the one good person who loved me.
Paige was possibly the only one who could have helped me now.
If I hadn’t burned the bridge between us, Paige would have been the first person to come to my rescue when the shit hit the fan.
If I hadn’t called her a selfish bitch and told her to stay away from me, I could have run to her after the threats were issued on my life. James would have kept me safe because that’s the kind of man he is. He takes care of his wife and those important to her.
If I hadn’t singlehandedly destroyed my friendship with Paige, I would still have a friend.
Some things can’t be undone. But if I get out of this mess, the first thing I’ll do is fix things with her.
I just have to survive first.
* * *
“Fucking hell.” Bill’s eyes nearly pop out of his head as he looks at the ten thousand dollar check I just handed him.
I roll my eyes when he holds it up to the light, checking it’s real.
“How the fuck did you manage to get this?” His Columbian accent deepens. “It’s a fuck of a lot of money for a woman who was broke weeks ago.” His dark eagle eyes flick back to mine with raw scrutiny.
“That’s none of your concern. I’m paying the debt, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I just wouldn’t want anything preventing you from continuing your payments.”
Lies.He doesn’t care about me that way. Judging from the sullen expression on his scar-riddled toad-like face, what he doesn’t like is that I was able to pay such a huge amount. The motherfucker wants me to fail so I can become one of his sex slaves. Better yet, he wants me to be his fuck toy.
“I can assure you there won’t be anything of the sort.”
Bill places the check down on the desk, swipes a hairy hand through his balding head, then looks me up and down.
“Looks like you’ve been cashing in on your assets.” He looks at my breasts and licks his lips.
My stomach churns when he flicks his tongue out. I hate this guy. He looks like old dried-up shit but has the kind of ego and confidence a better-looking man would have. Money can do that for you and make you believe any type of shit you make up in your reality.
Deciding to ignore his comment, I summon courage I don’t feel. “I’ll be back as soon as I have more money.” Hopefully, I’ll have another spell of luck like last night.
He laughs and brings his hands together. “You think you call the shots?”