good at that. “You’ve got to know this doesn’t benefit me at all.” He huffs and narrows his eyes at me. “You know what you’re really worth. Which means, you’ll have no objection to me wanting a little extra. I need to do something to cover the losses you’re about to incur me.”
Here it comes.
I knew it would come down to this. He was about to give me some sort of astronomical number that I would never be able to earn on my own. The sort of number that would break my spirit and cause me to just submit.
I’ve prepared myself for this. Whatever he throws at me, I’m not going to back down.
“I want a million dollars,” he says without batting an eye. “One million. That’s the price of your freedom, little bird.”
My heart is pounding. It’s lower than I thought it would be. I fully expected him to head right on up to one hundred million or even a billion. But one is actually something I could do. It would take some time, but I could do it. I was about to agree when he stopped me with a finger to my lips.
“I’m not finished,” he says as if reading my mind. “I want it before December 31st. A full one million dollars sitting here on my coffee table.” He bangs his heel against the table to emphasize his point. “Before the last day of the year.”
I’m gonna be sick, but I don’t let my face give me away.
“So you go, you play whatever game you want.” He waves a hand toward me dismissively. “But if I’m not counting fat stacks of cash at my New Year’s Eve party, then you’re going to be right back to work on New Year’s Day. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“Good. Now get out of here.” He jerks his head toward the door.
Spinning on my heel, I have to force myself to walk calmly from the room. The warm sun of early December is low in the sky when I set foot outside. It’s a balmy seventy degrees, but I can barely feel it.
Before he changes his mind, I scurry across the parking lot of the rundown apartment complex and climb into my car. It’s the one thing that’s actually mine. Once I’m out of the parking lot and well on my way downtown, my emotions finally let loose.
A million dollars in less than a month?
He knows I can’t swing that. There’s nothing I can possibly do to earn that much money so quickly. I’m not exactly a high price escort who’s capable of raking in those elite alpha clients who are willing to pay ten grand just for me to hang on their arm for an evening.
It would take my best night of tips at the strip club every night for the next six months straight in order to come close to making a million dollars. But I promised my new boss I wouldn’t dance there anymore…back when I promised I wouldn’t be taking escort clients either.
But if I want any shot at earning my freedom, I don’t really have a choice.
My thoughts are running a million miles a minute as I reach the far side of town where Glass Bay Apartments is located. We’re close enough to smell the ocean, but not close enough to see it. Still, it’s a short drive if I ever want to bury my toes in the sand. Or walk into the sea and never come back out.
He can’t harass my parents if I’m gone, can he?
As I park the car, a wave of emotion completely overwhelms me. Resting my head against the steering wheel, I finally let myself cry. I never cry when I’m downtown. I can’t risk anyone who knows my old boss seeing me. I can’t show that kind of weakness in the crowd I’ve been forced to run with for the last few years.
But here, in the parking lot of this quiet little apartment complex, in this simple suburb, far from the hustle, I actually feel safe.
Until a knock on my window makes me flinch.
I jerk my head up in surprise, desperately wiping away the tears.
Kind, blue eyes gaze down at me. It’s one of the other residents of Glass Bay. I’ve seen this guy around a few times, but mostly from a distance. He’s a good-looking alpha with a smile that’s to die for. But right now, his face is lined with concern.