Page 36 of Betting Blind
I try to sit up, but I’m suddenly pinned to the bed as if I’m paralyzed. “What?” I say, struggling to lift my arms or legs. Cassidy’s naked form starts to dissipate, and panic chokes me as the room fades to almost complete darkness.
One of the fuckers who jumped me behind Royals appears, standing in the doorframe while I struggle to move or get away. “I’ll kill you,” I hiss through clenched teeth.
His gold frames shine when he leans in close to me. “You better find that money, Jack. Time’s running out for dear old Ben.” I’m thrashing about in my mind, but my body remains deathly still. He holds a cigarette in front of his face, inspecting the red burning tip before flipping it over and shoving it into my bare skin. I scream from the pain and he whispers with a sneer, “Get me my money.”
Shooting straight up in bed, I let out a cry of pain and grab my right side. I’m panting and covered in sweat as I turn to see that my bed is empty. It was a dream… but it felt so real. As real as the bruises covering my body, burning with every inhale.
I gently move my legs off the side of the bed and rub a hand down my face. Those goons caught me off guard last night. I was waiting for Derrick and Cassidy by the bar, and when I left to take a piss, they slammed my head against the wall before carrying me outside to finish the job.
“Ugh,” I moan as the memory sparks a headache, and I hear their words echo around my skull.
“Ben owes us a lot of money, Jack.” The thinner man had said.
As he squatted in front of me, I’d first noticed his round glasses and made the connection immediately. They had to be the men Cassidy and Juliana saw by their car.
“Seventy-five thousand,” he’d quipped and internally, I’d cursed Ben. “We’re keeping a hold of him so he doesn’t get into any more trouble.” I glared at the man with every ounce of anger my body could muster as a cruel smile curled his lips. “You remember how this goes, don’t you, Jack?”
Feeling the rush of vomit up the back of my throat, I grab a half-empty water bottle off the nightstand and force the sickness back down in several gulps. He was right; I know exactly how this goes.
I’ve got to fix this. Ideas circle around my mind, but every one of them falls flat. I haven’t got a clue how I’m going to make seventy-five thousand dollars magically appear. Running the tip of my thumb across my lip, I consider every possibility. The best I can come up with is taking the thirty grand I’ve saved to renovate the bar and using that to help, but that still leaves a forty-five-thousand-dollar debt.
I need to find Derrick. He’s one of the smartest guys I know; he’ll help me find a way out of this.
A small, neatly folded piece of paper catches my eye from the top of my dresser. Moving toward it, I find that, though I’m sore, I’m able to get around better than I was last night. I lift both of my arms above my head, stretching out the soreness and evaluating the damage to my upper body.
I pick the note up and read Cassidy’s neat handwriting.
Left to grab something from the house. I’ll pick you up at noon. –Cass
* * *
Juliana, Derrick, and I sit around one of the round tables at The Pound. Cassidy’s all fired up, pacing in front of us, wringing her hands nervously.
Derrick looks depressed, sitting back with his arms crossed, and Juliana taps the table anxiously. Cass must’ve told her everything that transpired at Royals last night because she doesn’t show a hint of surprise by this meeting.
“Cassidy?” I raise a brow at her in question. We’ve been here for fifteen minutes and all she’s done is pace.
She turns on her heel to look at me directly, and I smile when she kicks her chin up. The simple action tells me I’m either in for a fight or she’s got a plan brewing.
She reaches into a bag sitting on one of the empty chairs beside Derrick, sifting through it until she finds her wallet. Grabbing a few hundred-dollar bills, she reaches for my hand and places four hundred dollars in my palm. “I had some money left over from the tips I’ve been getting, and I want to give this to you to help Ben. It’s not as much as I was hoping to give, but I hope it helps.”
Her cheeks turn pink as she patiently waits for my response. This small act of kindness pushes me right toward the edge of my ever-growing feelings for her. Here she is, barely making ends meet to give her mother as comfortable a life as she can, and she’s giving me a portion of her savings to save my brother’s ass.
Surprising myself, I stand and crowd her personal space with my body. She tilts her head back to look at me, and fears be damned, I pull her to me and kiss her with everything I’ve got. I don’t give a damn that we have an audience as she fists the front of my shirt and I wind my hands into the fullness of her hair. This woman is going to be the death of me, I swear it.
Derrick clears his throat uncomfortably, and through the roar of pleasure in my mind, I hear Juliana snap her fingers. “Guys! Hello-o?”
Reluctantly, I pull away to see Cassidy’s mouth slightly parted and her eyes heavy with desire. “That is an incredible offer,” I tell her, “but I won’t take your money, Cass.”
“But—”
“You worked hard for it. Besides, it’s not near enough, unfortunately.” I turn my attention to the other two. “He owes Diablo seventy-five thousand dollars.” The words sound scratchy to my ears and Juliana gasps.
“Ay dios mio,” she says and taps the form of a cross in front of her chest and forehead, mumbling a quiet prayer.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Derrick seethes, the vein at his temple beginning to throb.
“I wish. The only solution I have is giving them the money I’ve saved to renovate this place, but it’s still not enough.”
