Chapter Nine #2
I don’t have the money to give him right now to keep him off our backs. I’ve tried, but I can’t come up with any way to save the diner. I can’t save my father.
“Please,” I repeat, in a quieter voice. I lift my gaze to his and refuse to look away. I’m hoping he can see my pain, and that he’ll care about it. I thought I felt a connection with him before. Maybe it wasn’t just in my mind. Maybe there’s something there, and he’ll take pity on me.
“I know the diner means nothing to you, but it means the world to me and my father. We can’t lose it, and I can’t lose him. Please, don’t harm him. Don’t take this away from us. We’ll get you your money; we just need time to come up with it.”
Something in his eyes changes. At least, I think it does. I notice a softening. I think he might be listening to what I’m saying. I feel the connection with him again, and I dare to hope for a moment.
Then, it’s gone. He smiles a sick smile, and I know he won’t show us mercy. I know he doesn’t care.
“You know, you tug at my heartstrings,” he mocks me. “You’re making me see how important this is to you, and how devastating it will be if you lose it. I don’t want to be the kind of man who steals everything from someone. Especially not from someone as lovely as you are, London.”
I suspect he’s teasing me, but I hope for a moment he isn’t. Maybe he sees the error of his ways. I know the diner means nothing to him. It wouldn’t affect him one bit to give us the time we need to save it.
“I’m willing to make you an offer,” he says. “One that’s reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. It gives you the chance to be a princess, London. Doesn’t that sound magnificent?”
Now I know he’s teasing me. I cross my arms over my chest. He’s cruel. There’s no way to get through to him.
“I’ll absolve your father of his debt,” he explains, “but in exchange, you have to do something for me.”
I don’t believe him one bit. There’s got to be a catch. “What do you want me to do?”
He grins at me, and I know this won’t be easy. There’s something hidden. This is a trap, but I might have no choice.
“It’s simple. You come to work for me in my secret club, Mercy, for one year. You’ll have to do as I say during this time as my employee. Once the year is up, you’ll be free to go and do as you please. You’ll have worked off your father’s debt.”
He’s bluffing. There’s no way that one year of work could absolve my father of all his debt; he’s racked up too much. I don’t have any special skills that would make it worth it.
It’s something, though, and I’m desperate enough to be open to it. Mason seems very serious.
“What kind of work?” I’m willing to at least entertain the idea, even if it means setting aside my pride to even ask.
“It’s kind of like… housekeeping,” he explains. “Housekeeping with other responsibilities.”
I can do housekeeping. I can work long, hard days as a housekeeper without a day off if my father’s debt is settled in a year. It’s the other responsibilities attached that I’m worried about. Is this stuff illegal? That has to be the only reason why he’s making such an offer.
“What kind of responsibilities?” I ask.
“You’ll have to do whatever I require of you,” he explains. “For one year, you’ll be mine. You’ll belong to me, so you’ll do as I ask. No matter what that is, you have to bow down to my wishes.”
I laugh because it’s absurd. He doesn’t look amused at my outburst.
“So that’s what this is?” I ask. “This is some sort of power trip for you. You want the feeling of control, of having me at your command. You want to know what it feels like to have someone do whatever you ask.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” he scoffs. “I own a business. I have plenty of people who do whatever I ask; I just want you added to the roster. It’s that simple. Be mine. Do whatever I say. You’ll be off-limits to other club members, but after one year, you’ll be free.”
It sounds crazy. It is crazy. The last thing I want is to belong to someone else, especially with the way he makes it sound. I don’t want to allow him to have control over me because God only knows what depraved things he’d ask for, what boundaries he’d push.
I also can’t stop thinking about my father. I think of how much the restaurant means to him, and how he’ll lose everything if he loses this business. We’ll both lose everything. I haven’t put as much effort in as he has, but I’ve still given it my all.
Can either of us afford to let this go? If I don’t do this, we’ll drown in debt. Noah might be able to help, but he’ll be working so much just to pay off the debt instead of building toward his future. That’s not fair.
“I know your father has also mortgaged your home,” Mason presses. “I know everything. You’ll lose it if something doesn’t happen soon.”
As if I could forget. And what if Mason’s men continue to be cruel and physically hurt my dad?
“Now what was that loan again?” he wonders aloud.
“The one against your house. I think it was three hundred thousand. The banks aren’t forgiving.
So, how about I throw in five hundred thousand on top of everything else?
That will make sure your business and home are safe.
Plus, it’ll give you money to keep yourselves afloat while you figure out how to make your business sustainable.
Maybe you’ll even be able to do the marketing, promoting, and general business moves required to help you make a profit again. This could save you both.”
I take that into consideration. It could save the house and business. Plus, I have some ideas for promoting; I just haven’t had the funds to make those ideas a reality.
This could be our chance to make things right. We’ve been drowning for so long, and it’s exhausting to live like that. We both need a break.
“Okay.” I can’t believe I say it even as I hear the word come from my mouth. Something needs to change. This might be what we need. “I’ll do it. But I have one question.”
He tilts his head to the side. “And what is that?”
“Why ask me if you can just take me?”
“Take you?”
“You kidnapped me and brought me here. It wouldn’t be hard for you to hold me hostage.”
“Because, London,” he starts, “I want you to want me, and soon enough, you will.”
“I have a boyfriend.”
“Not when you’re mine, you don’t.”
The truth sets in. “You’re going to make me break up with my boyfriend? You can’t!”
“I can.”
“It won’t make me want you.”
“Oh, I think you already do.”
The way he smiles worries me even more. He looks at me like I’m prey and that he already has so many things in mind for me.
It’s just housekeeper work. I can do that. He probably wants someone to rub his feet at the end of the day, and cater to his every whim. It will put a dent in my pride, but I can do anything for a year. By the end of it, I’ll be thankful I did.
“Anything else I have to do?”
He reaches for some papers on his desk. “I have the contract written up for you to sign.”
“You were so certain I’d say yes?”
“Of course.” He gives me one of those smiles that makes me want to run away. “You had no choice. You struck me as a smart person the minute I met you. I knew you’d make the right decision.”
I’m not too sure it’s the right decision as I pick up the pen. I start on the first page but there are so many signatures required. I glance at the second page and notice it’s an NDA.
“Important stuff.” He lowers his gaze to the paper. Then, his eyes return to me. “If you break confidentiality, there will be consequences. That is vital to remember above everything else. Do you understand that?”
I feel the seriousness in his words. I suspect something very bad will happen if I break this rule, so I have no intention of breaking it.
“I understand.”
I sign the NDA under his watchful gaze. It’s scary to agree to anything regarding him, but I don’t have any options.
“I will warn you that Mercy is not an ordinary club,” he says as I make my way through the signatures. “You’re stepping into a sort of… darkness.”
I pause. I can tell that Mason’s idea of darkness is much worse than anything my mind could conjure up. His world is foreign to me.
I have no way to know what I’m getting into.
I look at the last page of the contract. Something within me warns me that I shouldn’t do this. I’m getting in way over my head, and I doubt it will be easy to back out.
Then, I think of my father and how much this has stressed him out. He needs a way out of this mess. I’m the only one who can give him that.
So, I resume signing.