Chapter 4
CHAPTER
FOUR
AUSTIN
I don’t know why I told this man all of my business. Nobody knows about my mother’s loan or the cosigning, and I wouldn’t have anyone to tell anyway. I’m so embarrassed and ashamed that I even cosigned for her, let alone gave up my entire life and dreams because she fucked me over.
I’m also completely ashamed that I didn’t have a career that made enough money to actually pay back said loan without having to resort to stripping to begin with. The amount wouldn’t have been so devastating had I gone to school and had a real job.
Adam watches me, his eyes searching mine, and then he clears his throat.
“How much do you owe?” he asks, then before I can answer, he adds. “Or rather, how much did your mother fuck you over for?”
“A hundred thousand.”
Saying the words aloud makes me sick. Not to mention the thirty-two percent interest because, shockingly, my mother’s credit is trash, the loan is for seventy-two months, and the monthly payments are completely outrageous and crippling, especially tacked on top of all my normal bills.
“Do I even want to know what the loan was for?” he asks.
That makes me cringe.
I didn’t agree with it to begin with, but my mother swore to me that it was an investment for her that would pay off for me. She was going to pay the loan and give me some money at the end as a thank-you.
I should have known that she was full of shit the moment that she said she was going to give me free money. Patricia doesn’t give a damn thing away for nothing. Never has and never will.
“She wanted to consolidate all of her debt into one payment. It included her brand-new Camaro and all of her credit cards.”
The moment I finish saying the word cards, Adam shoots up to standing. His eyes are wide, and his face instantly turns red. He leans forward, his body almost bent in half, and his face is close to mine.
“You’re telling me that she had you cosign on a loan for a fucking car and shopping debt?”
His words come out in a hiss. I lean backward slightly, feeling his anger roll off of him. I watch as he sits back down on the edge of my coffee table. This time his leg begins to shake as if he’s filled with so much unused energy that he can’t contain it inside of his body.
I open my mouth to ask him why he cares so much, but then snap my lips closed when he continues.
“What kind of mother does that?”
I’m not sure if he wants me to answer that, but at the same time, I feel as if I need to soothe him.
Reaching out, I wrap my fingers around his forearm.
I open my mouth to tell him that it’s okay—that this is how my mother has always been, and I blame myself for this more than anything—but he doesn’t let me.
ADAM
“Take me to her,” I demand.
Austin’s eyes widen, and her fingers flex around my forearm right before she shakes her head a couple of times. I watch as her tongue sneaks out and slides across my bottom lip, wetting it before she speaks.
“Why do you care so much?” she asks in a whisper.
My lips curve up into a grin. She’s not getting it. That’s okay, she will. I’ll make sure that she fucking gets it and gets it nice and good. Hard too. Slow, then fast as well. In every fucking way there is to get something.
“Adam?” she asks when I don’t respond immediately.
Jerking my chin toward her, she’s taken me out of my thoughts. Really great fucking thoughts, too.
“I give a shit because I don’t want you on that stage, but more importantly, you don’t want to be on that stage and you aren’t there for fun. You feel fucking trapped, and your own goddamn mother trapped you.”
Wordlessly, she stares at me, and even I have to admit that my speech was pretty fucking good. I don’t know where it came from, but I mean every goddamn word of it.
“But why do you care?” she asks me again.
My lips twitch into a smirk. “Because baby. I’m gonna claim you for myself, and no woman of mine takes her clothes off for anyone but me.
But more importantly. No woman of mine is going to be fucking manipulated by her own fucking mother.
Someone who is supposed to protect her. Fuck that shit, fuck it wholly and completely. ”
I hear her breath hitch. Then, before I realize what’s happening, her mouth is on mine. Lifting my hands, I grip her waist, spread my thighs, and pull her closer to me. Her fingers grip the strands at the back of my hair.
Opening my mouth, I slip my tongue inside of her mouth and taste her.
She gasps and I use the moment to take over the kiss.
Sliding my hands from her waist, I glide them down her hips and then to the backs of her bare thighs before I pull them forward and tug her off balance so that she’s now straddling my hips.
Fuck.
Me.
I did not expect this from her, not yet. It’s forward and hot as fuck. Sliding my hands back up the outside of her thighs, I grip her waist and tug her a bit closer. Her hips roll against my jeans, and I wish my cock was free instead of pressing against the inside of my zipper.
When I break the kiss, nibbling on her bottom lip, I lean back slightly and look into her eyes. “What is happening?” she asks in a whisper as her fingers tug my hair a bit tighter.
My lips curve up into a grin. “I don’t even know your last name,” she breathes.
“Adam Hughes. But the men in the Dark Horse call me Second.”
“Second?” she asks, her brows knitting together in confusion.
Jerking my chin, I clear my throat. “Yeah, Second. My father is the president.”
She licks her lips again, her gaze searching mine for a long moment, and then she lets out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know what that means. What this vest means, what president means. I don’t know anything about that or about you.”
“You don’t need to know what any of it means, baby. All you need to know is that I’m going to help you, and you’re mine.”
She flicks her gaze down to my lips, then shifts her eyes up to meet mine again. Her exhale is heavy as she watches me for a long moment. She’s going to attempt to reject me again, but her attempt will be futile—all attempts will be.
“I don’t even know where you came from, Adam. I don’t know anything. I can’t just pretend that my problems don’t exist because a hot guy walked into a strip club.”