Page 14 of Forbidden Hearts

“Good. Why don’t you show me what you’re going to do to him?”

“We agreed I wouldn’t have to sleep with you anymore if I get you the money.”

Jacob laughs. “You haven’t delivered the goods yet. Besides, it’s the last week of August. We’re up for another renegotiation. There’s no harm in doing it a week early.”

I hold my breath as he speaks, stopping myself from gagging at the foul smell of his mouth. I really don’t want to sleep with him again, but if he holds up his end of the deal, this will be the last time I’ll have to deal with him.

Assuming things go well with Alonzo.

???

I wake up long before the sun is up.

Jacob is still passed out on my bed. His legs are twisted around my bedsheets.

I’ll have to toss those out,I think to myself.

“Jacob, you need to leave,” I say. No response from him. I grab my bat and nudge him on the shoulder. “I have to get ready for school. You need to leave.”

He wriggles and groans. Several attempts later, including pleas from him to let him stay in bed for a while longer, he is out of my apartment.

“See you at work tonight, sweetheart,” he says before I close the door on him.

As soon as he’s out of my hair, I go to the restroom and brush my teeth as thoroughly as I can to rid the disgusting taste he left in my mouth.

I hop into the shower and brush my teeth again. I’ve hated Jacob since the day I met him, and I’m counting down the days when I don’t have to work for him anymore.

The rest of the day goes by faster than expected. I attend two business classes, then head to the library to make a block schedule of all my classes and the time I need to dedicate to each class.

Since I’ve already attended all five of my classes this semester, I can decide which classes should be my highest priority based on how tough or demanding each professor is.

The only class I can’t decide on is Alonzo’s art class. I suck at art, but getting better isn’t the goal of being in the class. Ineed to seduce him somehow. That means I’ll have to spend time outside of class trying to get him to trust me.

On top of that, I have to work at The Den most nightsandtake care of my mom on the weekends.

I dig my face in my hands, already overwhelmed by the semester ahead. But it’s the start of my senior year, and if I play my cards right, I can have enough money to pay off my student loans and help Mom with her MS treatments.

Alonzo’s office hours are on Thursday. I have two days to come up with a way to seduce him. I’ve never had trouble pulling in normal guys my age, but Alonzo is anything but normal. He is a dangerous man, and a part of me feels dirty that I find him attractive.

Why does he have to be so disturbingly good looking?

???

Jacob’s club is packed when I arrive at work. I force my way through a crowd of middle-aged men pooling by the stage, ready for the night’s entertainment.

When I started working behind the bar, Tuesdays used to be the club’s slowest night. Mondays were bad, but Tuesdays were worse. Jacob had to lower the prices to attract customers, but even his most loyal reapers wouldn’t show up to the club that early in the week.

Everything changed when I got ‘promoted.’

“Alex!” Alice greets me from behind the bar. “Are you up next?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Can you serve me a beer?”

I like to drink a beer or two before my shift to ease myself into the proper mindset for work.

Alice tops me off and hands me a glass of the cheap beer on tap. The reapers at the bar raise their glasses at me, and I reciprocate.

Not all these men are terrible people. I have met a few of them, and apart from being in a biker gang by night, most are ordinary folks. Many of them work in transportation since Interstate 35 crosses through the heart of San Marquez. They may be drug dealers, but none of them are killers like Alonzo.

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