Page 15 of Ruthless Heir

The next red flag was who we got the loan from. I still remember Nick taking me to this dimly lit office to meet Vito. The air smelled of cheap cigars and danger. It was the kind of place you just know you shouldn’t be in. But Nick said we could get a low interest loan with a higher amount.

We got seventy thousand dollars. And that led to the next red flag. The money was deposited in Nick’s account.

That was the turning point for us. He was different after, controlling and volatile.

Nick started using more hardcore drugs and became violent. Violent with me. It was like the old him had been a mask the entire time and he’d unleashed the real him.

“I’m sorry. I just get angry because things are hard. I’ll never hit you again,”he’d say.And I believed him.

I believed him to the point where we kept adding more money to the loan in an effort to make things better—less hard. That’s how it got to be as big as it is.

But none of it was used for the original purpose of buying a house.

I kept hoping for him and our situation to change when he started doing business with these investment type people. But they turned out to be just as shady and disappointing as Nick.

I felt like such a fool when the lawyers revealed that Nick had spent the money on drugs, booze and high-end prostitutes.

He was a monster.

But nothing was as bad as watching Nick murder those people at that convenience store in cold blood like a wild animal starved for blood.

Nick was acting weird before we even left the house. He also seemed to be high on shit. I didn’t want to get in the car with him but I was too scared to say anything. Now I wish I had.

All I managed to do was prep a message to send to Beth in case I needed her.

Nick took me to the convenience store and used me as a decoy. While I was paying for snacks he pulled a gun I didn’t even know he had and shot the cashier and his wife. Just like that they were gone.

One minute they were talking about their upcoming family vacation and the next they were on the ground dead, lying in a pool of blood.

While I was screaming Nick simply stepped over their bodies as if they were never real living people, then filled up his rucksack with the cash in the register. After that he grabbed me, placed his gun to my head and forced me to go with him.

Beth was the only one who knew about Nick’s turn to the dark side. We made a pact that if I ever called her and didn’t start talking straight away, she was to call the police and get them to track my number.

That’s what I did. And that’s how I saved myself.

As Nick carried me off and drove away in his car I feared that he’d kill me too, since I saw what he did. I also feared that I’d beseen as an accomplice to the murder because Nick made me look like I was helping him.

The only thing that kept me alive until the cops caught up with us trying to cross the state line was Nick’s twisted idea of love for me. It was even more twisted that that night was my only way out of our bad relationship.

Luckily the police had the surveillance footage from the convenience store so they were able to see that I was being used.

I was asked to testify against Nick, which I happily did, and as I did it I looked him in the eye from the witness stand so he’d know I helped put him behind bars.

My phone rings on the nightstand and I nearly jump out of my skin at the sound.

I don’t need to look at it to know who’s calling.

I already spoke to Beth and it’s late, so the only person it could be is the man I’ve feared speaking to for the last few months.

Vito—the loan shark.

The knots in my stomach grow tighter and the air in my lungs stalls.

Deciding to be brave, I sit up. Dodging his calls will only make things worse.

I pick up the phone, confirm it’s him, then drag in a deep breath and summon all the courage I’ve ever had so I can speak to him.

“Hello.” My voice sounds child-soft, a cautious rasp.

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