Page 10 of Secured By the Buyer

My manager’s harsh voice fills the room. “Milo! Pick up!”

I turn toward it, but the stranger catches my hand, the rough callouses on his fingers a contrast to his fancy attire. “When does your shift end?”

I hesitate, unsure I want to reveal so much, but when my manager yells again, I blurt out, “In four hours.”

He squeezes my hand. “I’ll wait for you in the lobby, next to the vending machine. You can decide if you want snacks, or if you’ll let me buy you dinner.”

The radio crackles a third time, and I reluctantly pull free from the stranger’s hold to answer it.

My manager’s angry voice floods the room. “Where have you been?”

“Cleaning,” I snap.

“Well, I need you down in my office.Now.”

Knots form in my stomach around the food I ate earlier. He never pulls me from the hourly rooms early. They turn over too much profit. “All right, I’m on my way down.”

When I hang up, the stranger rises to come closer, leaning against the closed bathroom door. “I hope you’ll meet me later. Us redheads should stick together.”

Confused, I take in his dark locks. While he might have a smattering of freckles, there’s not a lick of red in his hair.

I shake my head. “Don’t bother. I won’t show up.”

As I grab my cart to haul it out into the hall, he calls after me. “I’ll wait, regardless.”

I turn away before he catches my smile.

For the first time in my life, something good might finally happen to me.

4

I’m still smiling when I step into my manager’s office and come face to face with the horror of my father’s beaten body slumped in a chair in the corner.

My heart drops as I take in the bruises on his face, one eye swollen shut, and dried blood crusts around his split lip. The stench of stale alcohol and sweat hangs heavy in the air, making it hard to breathe.

I fight to keep down the food I just ate, my stomach twisting into a sour knot.

The last time I saw him like this, he’d lost big at the tables. That’s when I started cleaning rooms at the casino to pay back what he gambled away.

As I step farther into the office, the happiness theAlpha brought a moment ago vanishes like the dream it was, leaving an empty void in its place.

“Dammit.” My voice shakes as anger bubbles up inside me. “How much did you lose this time?”

In my head, I’m already calculating how I can fit a third job into my schedule. Anything to claw our way out of this hole he keeps digging. It takes all my self-control not to scream at him, but I need to know our situation first.

“Your father lost…quite a bit,” the manager speaks up, his cold tone uncaring. “He was on a winning streak, and then bet it all on a game of craps. His luck ran out.”

My heart pounds, and I swallow hard, trying to push down the panic threatening to overwhelm me. I glare at my father, who still refuses to look at me, and resentment stings like acid.

Why do I continue to cling to a man determined to destroy us both?

I turn to the manager, struggling to keep my voice steady. “I’ll find another job. I’ll work day and night if I have to. Just tell me how much he lost.”

The manager leans back in his chair, a smug smile on his face. “Fifty thousand.”

He lets the number hang in the air, watching thecolor drain from my face as I sway on my feet. That’s more than last time.

More than I can make on my own.

---