Page 3 of The Debt

Chapter 2

Vasco had gone ahead to the party, leaving instructions for the driver to take her. The venue was the mansion of a well-known Russian Oligarch in Greater Boston. Mira was sick of the parties held in such opulent societies. For the past year, she’d attended more than one hundred of such functions. Even with the expertly manicured lawns and large monumental buildings in which these people lived, nothing could compare to the humble home she once shared with her father.

Upon entering the large open area used as a ballroom, she was greeted with soft rock music and a waiter bearing champagne. She took a glass and finished its contents in one go. Before the waiter could move off she took another. As the second glass touched her lips, someone gripped her arm.

“What is the meaning of this?” Vasco growled in her ear. “Why are you not wearing make-up?’

He was always able to find her in the densest of crowds. She thought that today she would have at least five minutes to compose herself before he found her. Not so today. It wasn’t yet a minute since she stepped into the great mansion.

“I didn’t feel like plastering my face with paint today.”

He gripped her arm and pulled her unto a terrace overlooking a vast swimming pool. She didn’t care about the onlookers and no one would dare utter a word because they knew who Vasco really was.

“You are working my last nerve, Mira. You’re lucky that you are naturally pretty,” he said, exuding a sigh and softening his tone. He raised a hand and brushed the back of it on her cheek. “You’re lucky that sweet tawny complexion of yours is so smooth and soft. That is why you get away with so much with me.”

“If I’m so pretty and my skin is so clear and smooth, why do you insist on me wearing makeup?”

“Because it’s what men expect of the woman by my side.”

She flinched at his touch, recoiling inwardly. “I don’t want to be at this party.”

“It won’t be long. I need you to sweeten one of the attendees, find out what you can about a software he’s hiding.”

“Why?”

Gripping her upper arm once more, he pulled her up to his body. “Don’t question me, Mira. Just get him drunk enough to tell you what you need to know. Just ask about the software and where he has hidden it.”

“Okay, you’re hurting me,” she protested.

He loosened his grip but did not let her go. Instead, he caressed the area on her arm where his fingers had bit into her bare flesh. Inside Mira was screaming, yet she planted a smile on her face. She needed to keep a level head if she was going to get out of this contract.

Vasco guided her back into the ballroom as memories resurfaced. She had signed his contract to be his ‘arm candy’ until the recovery of her father. The doctor had told her with the surgery and proper treatment, he would be back to his old self within three months … maybe less depending on how his body responded.

Three months was no time at all to act as someone’s girlfriend in order to save her father’s life. It was the day of the surgery when a news feature came on in the lounge of the hospital that she realized exactly who Vasco was. He was the one they referred to as ‘The Underworld Boss’. He was renowned for his strong-arming business owners into allowing him to invest in their companies, then taking over the business. He was also a known loan shark and suspected drug dealer.

At that point, all that mattered was saving her father. It didn’t matter that she’d basically signed three months of her life over to him. The deal was sealed. He’d cover her father’s medical expenses and in exchange she would be his girl until her father recovered. That seemed simple enough.

The day of the surgery, Vasco moved her into his mansion and gave her the guest room next to his. He insisted that all that was required of her was attending his parties and being sweet to his guests. Anything else was optional on her part.

After returning to the hospital where she expected that her father should be out of surgery and resting in the ICU. The room her father used to be in was empty. She returned to the nurses’ station to enquire of his whereabouts. They were all busy when she arrived that it took a moment for them to notice her.

“Can I help you Miss Barclay?” the one behind the computer asked.

“Where is my father?”

“His son-in-law took him to a private facility.”

Mira was puzzled. “Son-in-law? What son-in-law?”

“Your fiancé, Vasco Black.”

How could she deny it when she had signed herself away? Taking a deep breath she settled her mind with the son-in-law issue and queried her father’s location.

“Where did he take him?”

“I’m sorry Miss Barclay, we have not been given that information. A private ambulance picked him up today.”

“How could you not know?”

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