Chapter 21 #2
Patterson grinned and shrugged. “It’s a good look for you but it was a waste of fucking time if you didn’t make any progress.
Men are easy. If you offer up a good time, there’s no reason they won’t fall for it.
” Patterson crossed the room, grabbing her firmly by the back of her neck.
His strength outmatched hers and he squeezed so tightly that she immediately froze while he yanked her robe open, moving his free hand across her soft skin.
“You promised,” she hissed with angry eyes pinned on him.
Patterson only nodded as he enjoyed the feel of her body under his rough hand. “I’m a man of my word. Most of the time.” His dark, sinister smile met her fearful expression. “I’m not going to fuck you. I just wanted to remind you what resources you have available to get what I need from East.”
With his hand still locked around the back of her neck, Patterson gripped Asako firmly at the waist, bringing her against his body, moving his face to the side of hers.
“Use what you have, sweetheart. Apparently it’s all you’re good for.
You will do it or you will end up the last place you want to be, in jail, or worse, at the mercy of the man who would fuck you then put a bullet in your head.
I need that gotdamn money and I need it fast.”
Just as quickly as he had a hold on her, Patterson pushed her away.
He didn’t say another word and left the room, slamming the door behind him.
He paused and bent over, slightly feeling the soreness from the steeled fist that made contact with his ribs as a physical warning that he was running out of time.
After sucking in a deep breath, Patterson stood upright again, raking his hand over his hair and down his face several times to get a grip on his nerves.
He was in deep with a bunch of people who had just threatened his life hours ago.
The sixty grand he once owed had now doubled and the clock was ticking on how quickly he needed to hand it over.
In all the years he had been struggling with his gambling issues, he managed to keep things afloat, until now.
“I’m gonna end up with a bullet in my gotdamn head,” he muttered lowly to himself before turning on his heels en route to his bedroom.
Once inside, Patterson lifted the cheap bottle of bourbon that sat next to his bed, plopping down at the same time he untwisted the top and turned it up.
The harsh burn he felt in his throat didn’t outweigh his need for an escape, so he allowed it to flow a little more before he slammed it down on his nightstand and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Patterson was playing with fire. He had damn near exhausted all possibilities of any real money to cover his debts.
What little he was bringing in from the corner boys, Patterson gambled away, hoping to get that one big break, but his greed always landed him deeper in debt.
When he won, he bet it all, feeling lucky, then losing big.
Now he was royally fucked with no other resources.
He needed Asako to come through with East so he could pay his debt before he lost his life.
Asako sat on her bed down the hall taking in the dark room she occupied.
It wasn’t horrible and was actually kind of cozy, but the pending expectations that surrounded her current situation made it feel like a tomb of death.
She was stuck, she couldn’t run or Patterson would make her family pay the price for her sins.
She couldn’t tell anyone or he would make her regret every bad decision she had made in her life.
And then there was East. She could already tell things with him weren’t going to be easy, but she had to find a way to make it work.
He was her way out and her life was more important than him losing a little money.
Money she was positive he could recover in the blink of an eye.
Asako needed to get close to him, she just couldn’t figure out how to make that happen.
Maybe Patterson was right, maybe she had approached things all wrong.
Shaking her head in desperation, Asako wiped the one tear that managed to escape before she stood and walked over to her bedroom door, locking it then removing her robe and tossing it on the foot of the bed.
After dressing in a pair of leggings and an oversized T-shirt, she climbed in bed, pulled the covers over her body, and dialed her mother.
“I was worried. It’s been a week.”
“I know, I’m sorry but I’ve been really busy.
These classes are taking up all my time, and when I’m not studying, I’m working.
” Asako cringed at the lie she told her parents to cover her absence from their life while she was under Patterson’s rule.
They had been pushing her to go back to school for a while now, so when she told them she had enrolled in online classes, they were so excited that they overlooked her absence from their lives.
“But you’re okay, right? You sound sad.”
“I promise, I’m okay. I just want this so badly. I’ve let you guys down so much—"
“Are you sure you’re okay? You sound upset. I’m worried, sweetheart. When you left last time you—"
“Ma, it’s not that. Not this time. I promise.
” Again, Asako cringed and felt bad. The two years of her life where she got caught up running the streets, getting high, and submerging herself into the world that introduced her to Vega and locked her under Patterson’s control had stressed her parents.
They lost a lot of sleep at night not knowing where she was and if she was safe, not to mention the times she was around them and they witnessed how badly she had fallen because of the drugs.
After she got clean and they admitted their true feelings of the struggle she caused, Asako promised to never do that to her parents again, and now here she was, but for different reasons.
She was doing this for them so they wouldn’t lose everything they worked for, or even worse, suffer the devastation of losing their only child because surely she would die if she didn’t follow through.
Patterson had already made that clear. He promised to make her suffer one way or another, whether that be by ruining her life, her parents, or losing her life.
Neither was a reality Asako wanted to face.
“Sweetheart, I promise you can talk to me. No matter what,” her mother pleaded, which only made things worse.
“I’m fine, I love you. Tell Dad I love him too and I’ll see you guys soon.”
She ended the call, shoving her phone under her pillow as she tucked her arm under it as well and pressed her head further into it.
Closing her eyes, she prayed for a peaceful sleep knowing the days ahead of her were going to be complicated.
One way or another she had to make East trust her enough to let her in.
She just didn’t have a clue how to make that happen, so for now, she was going to sleep and worry about it in the morning.