Fucking hell, I was so tired of this crap. I blamed myself for the mess, I'd made too many wrong choices. I wasn't going to let Reese walk all over me, though. Fuck him for thinking he could betray me and then just get back in my pants. Use me because without him...
Without him I was screwed.
Biting my thumbnail, I looked around the room. There was a match about to start, how long did I have until mine? If Nehro found out I'd come up empty, I was done. I knew what he had planned for me.
Like I'd summoned him, I saw the tall, long haired man coming my way. Nehro dressed like a Gothic vampire, all latex and boots and spikes. It was funny, though he was anything but.
When I'd first met him, I'd thought he was a joke. Then he'd handed me the money I needed, and I'd decided he was someone to take seriously.
I ached for the days before I knew what he had planned. I'd been ignorant. Ignorance was nice, sometimes.
“Zoe,” he purred, his hands deep in his jacket pockets. “I saw Reese leave. Do tell me he's coming back.”
Shivering, I swallowed my bile down. “No. He's not.”
Arching a thin brow, Nehro sighed sympathetically. “Oh dear. That's awful—for you, I mean.” Looking around, he eyed the place as if he could see my future among the rabble. “What are we going to do about that?”
Sweat ran down my ribs. “It's fine, really. I'll find someone to fill Reese's spot.” The lie spilled free, my courage fake and hollow.
The dubious stare Nehro shot me didn't help my confidence. “Who could you find at this hour to stand in?”
“I've got someone in mind. Just give me thirty minutes, okay?” I didn't have a clue who I'd find. He couldn't know that, though. I had to figure something out.
Like a spider, he inched towards me and set long fingers on my shoulder. Nehro rolled a strand of my hair, tugged it with false affection. “Thirty minutes. You find a replacement, or we move to the default section of your contract.” Dipping so that his lips tickled my earlobe, Nehro chuckled—a grizzly sound. “I look forward to your failure. Working off your debt with your body won't be so bad. Trust me.”
Keeping my urge to vomit down, I stood there as he walked away. I had no parting comment, no response. Nehro was a monster. I didn't want to test how far he'd push that fucking contract. It's true that he couldn't legally force me into prostitution.
Legality doesn't matter when the life of a loved one is on the line.
Wiping my palms on my dress, I started to dig for a tissue. I wanted so badly to scrub at where he'd touched me. Shuffling in my purse, my fingers brushed something flat. The sharp corner pricked me. What the hell?
Into the light, I held the business card high. I'd like to pretend that angels sang and bells twinkled. Here was my answer, and just having an answer should have been uplifting. But calling in favors was the thing I hated most—it's what had gotten me where I was. I didn't want help. I just... needed it.
Turning the card, I read the scrawling crimson letters against their dark purple background. Huxton Blake. Muscle for hire. Isn't that what I'm looking for?
Scrunching my eyes shut, I yanked out my phone and climbed the stairs. I felt Nehro's intense stare the whole time. He probably thought I was trying to bail. I would have, if that was possible.
Breathing deep, I held my lungs at full capacity. When I went dizzy, and still no other solutions came to mind, I let the air rush out. This was it. I had to fucking do it.
Seeing Huck again wasn't ideal. The guy threw me for a loop the way every tough acting, confident bad boy type did. I hated that, so the easiest path was to step back and avoid him... and everyone like him.
Reese had been the final straw. I was soured on assholes. They seemed strong and acted like they were into you, but they always bailed when they couldn't get you to spread your legs. They thought with their damn dicks.
I knew better. Even if Huck had made me swoon with his rock-hard body and cocky attitude, I fucking knew better. I would get out of this whole mess. Except to do that...
I had to beg him for help.
This would be the last time. God, let it be the last time.
Lifting my phone, I eyed the card and tapped the numbers in. The ringing was a gong in my skull. Part of me didn't want him to answer. My gut knew he was my only option.
The ringing was cut off. “Hello?” Huck's smooth voice, it had my blood tingling. Even when he wasn't close to me, he was getting under my skin. “Who is this?”
Pacing through the gym, I clutched the phone. It was astounding that my tongue was working. “Huxton? This is Zoe.” I paused, debating how to explain. “From the birthday, earlier.”
“I remember.” Was he smiling? It sure sounded like it. “Honestly, I didn't think you'd call so fast.”
Standing straight, I didn't dwell on his implication that I would have called him at all. “I have... sort of an emergency.” Lifting the card, I read it again, giving myself strength. “When you said you could be hired for muscle, did you mean it?”
Maybe the frantic, breathy quality to my words gave him the hint that I was nervous. His voice dropped, fierce and without question. “What's wrong. Tell me.”
His bluntness cut right to the point. I appreciated that. “Can you get to the cross-street of Hollywood and Oak in thirty minutes?”
Something jingled in the background. His keys? Was he already moving? “Yes, but you need to tell me why.”
“I know. I'm pretty sure you won't like the reason.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
Picturing how Huxton had shoved Kit out the door, I steeled myself. “Huck, have you ever been in a fight? A real fight?”
On the end of the line, there was a moment of quiet. Cold ice rolled down my back, my brain quick to imagine him hanging up and leaving me without a solution. What was I thinking? I didn't know this guy, he'd been a stranger who'd rubbed up on me at my party. There was no way he'd want to show up somewhere in the middle of the night just because I rang his damn number.
Why would Huck ever fight for me?
I wasn't ready for his laugh, or how genuine and rough it was. “Hollywood and Oak, you said?” That time, I recognized the sound of an engine revving. “See you in thirty, sugar.”
I turned the card in my hand for the twelfth time. The edges were bending from how I fingered it. It was all I had to convince myself I wasn't about to get fucked over. Again and again, I read those words and tried to find some faith.
Muscle for Hire. He'll do it, it's a job to him. I was going to be rescued by a male stripper.
Footsteps on the stairs reached my ears. I watched as Nehro climbed into view, his smile too sweet. His voice was candy and arsenic. “It's time. Unless your fighter is invisible...” Craning his neck, he mocked me by searching the gym. We both knew no one was here. “I'm about to have some angry customers, Zoe.”
Cringing, I held the business card so tight it cut into my palm. “He's coming. I swear, he'll be here any second.”
“Who is he?” Strolling towards me, Nehro held his shoulders back; a proud walk. “Is it Reese, did you call him and ask him to return?”
“No,” I snapped. “Of course I didn't.” I had no plans to ask him for help. He'd already tried to abuse the frail nation that I owed him for introducing me to Nehro. A thing I regretted every fucking time I walked into this building.
Dark, silky hair slid over his neck when Nehro angled his face like an owl. “Begging your ex to save you is worse than spreading your legs for me, I take it.” The jagged edge of his smirk turned my stomach.
Crushing the piece of cardboard, I felt my optimism fading. Huck wasn't going to show. Time was up for me. “I'd fight in the ring myself before I'd let you make money off of my body.”