Chapter 10
Sarah
The rain felt like punishment, each drop hitting my skin hard enough to remind me I was still alive even though I didn’t particularly want to be.
My clothes were soaked through within minutes of leaving Hector’s building, and I didn’t bother looking for shelter.
What was the point? Everything was already ruined.
You’re fired.
The words kept replaying in my head, mixing with the sound of rain and traffic and my own ragged breathing. I’d lost jobs before, plenty of them, but this one hurt differently.
A car horn blared somewhere close, and I jumped back just as headlights swept across the spot where I’d been standing. The driver yelled something I couldn’t hear through his closed window, probably cursing me for walking into traffic like an idiot.
I pressed my hand against my chest and felt my heart trying to break through my ribs. That was close, too close, and I needed to pay attention before I ended up as another statistic in this city’s endless collection of preventable tragedies.
But my brain wouldn’t cooperate because all it wanted to do was replay Hector’s face when he’d fired me. The cold certainty in his voice, the way he’d looked at those ballet shoes like they were a curse instead of gifts.
My phone buzzed in my pocket—probably Delia calling to check in, but I couldn’t face talking to anyone right now. Couldn’t face explaining how spectacularly I’d destroyed the one good thing in my disaster of a life.
The street looked familiar now, and I realized I was only two blocks from my apartment.
Except when I turned the corner onto my street, I saw them.
Two figures stood under the broken streetlight, and even through the rain I recognized their shapes. The taller one who always smiled with too many teeth, and the shorter one who never smiled at all. My stomach dropped somewhere around my knees.
I considered turning around, running in the opposite direction, but they’d already seen me. The tall one stepped forward and waved like we were old friends meeting by chance.
“Sarah Tinsley.” His voice carried over the rain, friendly in a way that made my skin crawl. “Funny running into you here.”
“The deadline isn’t up yet.” My voice came out stronger than I felt. “I still have time.”
“Oh, we know. We’re not here to collect.” He moved closer, and I forced myself not to back away. “We’re here to have a conversation about your employment situation.”
My blood went cold. “What?”
“See, we’ve been keeping an eye on you. Making sure our investment is secure.” The shorter one spoke now. “And we noticed something interesting. You work for Hector Valdez. The restaurant guy. The one with all that money.”
They’d been watching me. Following me. Knew where I worked and who employed me. The violation of it made my hands shake, but I curled them into fists and held my ground.
“That’s none of your business.”
“Actually, it’s exactly our business.” The tall one’s smile grew wider, and I could see his yellowed teeth even in the dim light.
“Because if you’re working for someone that rich, you should have no problem getting our money.
In fact, we’re thinking maybe we undercharged your daddy.
Maybe his debt was bigger than we thought. ”
“Don’t.” I hissed the word. “He’s not my personal bank. I can’t just ask him for money.”
“Why not? You seemed pretty friendly when we watched you go into his building.” The shorter one pulled out his phone and showed me a photo. Me and Lily leaving the penthouse, both of us attending the ballet building. “Cute kid. What’s her name?”
Everything inside me went very still—and very cold. “Don’t you dare.”
“Dare what?” The tall one’s smile turned ugly. “We’re just making conversation. Commenting on how sweet that little girl is, how tragic it would be if something happened to her.”
“Touch her and I’ll kill you myself.” The words came out before I could stop them, and I didn’t care.
The fear was still there, coiled tight in my chest, but underneath it burned something hotter.
Something that would burn the whole world down if it meant keeping Lily safe.
“I swear to God, if you go anywhere near that child—”
“What? What will you do?” He laughed, and the sound made my skin crawl.
“You can barely protect yourself, let alone some rich man’s daughter.
But hey, maybe you don’t have to worry about it.
Maybe you just ask your boss for a little advance on your salary.
A hundred thousand doesn’t mean much to someone like him. He probably spends that on shoes.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to find other ways to motivate you.” His hand moved fast—too fast—and I didn’t have time to block before his palm connected with my face. The impact sent me stumbling sideways, and pain exploded across my cheek. My vision blurred, and I tasted copper.
“That’s just a preview.” His voice came from somewhere above me, and I realized I’d fallen to my knees on the wet pavement. “Next time we won’t be so gentle. And if you still can’t pay, well, maybe we’ll have to focus on your little girl, she’s much closer to hurt than your pathetic brother.”
He grabbed the front of my jacket, hauling me up, and his fist pulled back for another hit. I flinched. My eyes shut close, bracing myself for the impact.
“I suggest you step away from her. Now.”
The voice cut through the rain, cold and sharp as a blade.
My eyes fluttered open.
Hector stood at the end of the alley, and even through the rain and my blurry vision, I could see the absolute fury radiating from him. He held his phone in one hand, and his entire body carried a threat that needed no words to communicate.
The tall loan shark dropped me, and I hit the ground again, this time catching myself on my hands. The pavement was rough under my palms, and the rain kept falling, but all I could focus on was Hector moving toward us.
“The police are on their way,” Hector said, his voice never rising above conversational. “They should be here in a minute. I suggest you use that time to disappear.”
“This doesn’t concern you,” the shorter one said, but he was already backing away.
Hector’s eyes never left them, and something in his expression made both men take another step back.
The sound of sirens began to echo.
“I’d run now if I were you.”
They ran.
I watched them disappear into the rain, heard their footsteps fading, and only then did I realize I was shaking. My hands trembled where they pressed against the pavement, and my face throbbed where I’d been hit. The adrenaline was leaving my system, taking all my strength with it.
Hector crouched beside me, and his hand came up to touch my face with a gentleness that didn’t match the fury I’d just witnessed. His fingers were warm against my skin, careful around the place that was already swelling.
“Are you alright?” His voice had lost all its edge, going soft in a way I’d never heard before. “Sarah, look at me. Are you hurt anywhere else?”
I forced my eyes to focus on his face, and what I saw there made my chest ache. Concern, real and raw, the kind that couldn’t be faked.
“I’m fine.” The words came out rough. “Just my face.”
“You’re not fine.” His thumb traced along my cheekbone, avoiding the bruise. “You need to go to a hospital. That needs to be looked at properly.”
“No hospital.” I tried to stand, and he helped me up, his hands steady on my arms. “I can’t afford it.”
“I’ll pay for it.”
“No.” I pulled away from him, even though every part of me wanted to collapse against his chest and let someone else handle everything for five minutes. “Thank you for helping, but I’m fine. I just need to go home.”
“Sarah—”
“What are you even doing here?” The question came out sharper than I intended.
Something in his expression changed, going from concern to something more complicated. “I came to apologize. To talk about what happened.”
He’d come to apologize. Hector Valdez—who never apologized for anything—had driven through a storm looking for me. The information wouldn’t process properly, kept bouncing around my skull without landing anywhere that made sense.
“You fired me,” I said flatly. “There’s nothing left to talk about.”
“Come back to the penthouse. Let me make sure you’re okay. We can deal with everything else later—right now I need to know you’re safe.”
The offer was tempting, dangerously so, but I just wanted my privacy. I needed to be alone.
“I’m fine,” I repeated. “Thank you for helping—and for calling the police—but I can take care of myself.”
“Are you sure?” His eyes searched my face, looking for cracks in my tough facade. “Sarah—”
“I need to go.” I stepped back, putting distance between us before I could change my mind. “Thank you again. For everything.”
I turned and walked away before he could argue, before the concern in his eyes could break down what was left of my walls. His voice followed me though, quiet but clear through the rain.
“They won’t be coming back,” he said quietly. “I’ll make sure of it.”
I didn’t turn around, didn’t acknowledge the promise even though it settled something in my chest. Just kept walking until I reached my building and climbed the stairs to my apartment.
The door hung open, the wood splintered around the lock like a wound.
I stopped in the hallway and stared at it, at the way the wood was splintered around the lock. Someone had forced their way in, and they hadn’t been gentle about it.
I pushed the door open wider and stepped inside, then immediately wished I hadn’t.