Page 14 of His Weekend Wife

“That’s just it. I can’t cancel. Rox warned me if I cancel one more time she’d have no choice but to replace me.”

Ash blew out a long breath. “Then maybe it’s time to move on. You said the escort service work was only temporary until you found something better. It’s been almost two years now.”

Abby chuckled. “It’s easy to get used to the money.”

“What happened to budgeting, unless…”

Abby’s gaze widened. “Unless what?”

“Unless you’re supporting a bad habit.” Only one other time had she had this conversation with her sister.

“We’ve been through this before. I told you no.”

“But has anything changed?” Ash set her cup down and coffee sloshed out onto her fingers.

“I’d tell you, Sis. You know I would. This isn’t about drugs.”

“Then make changes, Abby.”

“You don’t understand.” Abby dropped her forehead into her palm. “You just don’t get it.”

“Then explain what I’m not getting. I want to understand. I’ve tried to understand, but you never give me a solid answer.”

“Don’t come down hard on me. Why is it that when a man and woman meet for dinner and have sex, it’s called a date, but when I do the same thing, and there’s money left in an envelope next to the bed, I’m looked down upon.”

“Abby, we’ve been through this, long ago when you started. I don’t have to agree with your decisions, but I love you and I’m worried about you. Please tell me what’s going on.”

“We owe people some money,” she blurted.

“You owe who money?” Ash gripped the edge of the table.

“Phillipe and I are into some trouble with a few of his friends.

“If they’re ‘friends’, then you shouldn’t be into trouble. They’ll understand.”

“Not these kind of friends, Ash. We got in over our heads in gambling. At first, we did pretty good, and then we lost big. We couldn’t seem to get the money back. Our intentions were good, but we just betted on the wrong number. That’s all.”

Ash attempted to wrap her fuzzy brain around the fuzzier details. “Pay them back.”

Abby shook her head in jerky movements that sent more tendrils of hair out of her bun. “That’s why I need this job. The money I make will help, but no man will want to date me when I have a black eye.”

“How much do you owe these people?” Ash heard the words, but she didn’t realize she’d said them. Her mind automatically started calculating her savings, if she had anything to sell to make enough…

“Thirty thousand.”

“Oh shit, Abby. I don’t make that much in a year.”

Her sister’s eyes filled with moisture. “You’re right. This is horrible. But if we don’t come up with the money soon, Phillipe will be their target. They’re seedy people. They mean business.”

Ash stood up, paced the small space, then stopped and looked at Abby. “You can go somewhere, Abby. A safe place. If they’re not after you—”

Abby jumped up, knocking the chair against the wall. “I’m in this too, Ash! Don’t you see? If they don’t get their money from Phillipe, they’ll come after me.” The tears fell to her cheeks and she swiped them away. “These people aren’t the kind you fuck over and get by with it. They’ll hunt me until they find me.”

Fear looped through Ash. She couldn’t believe what her sister was telling her, and yet it explained why Abby had been disconnected, aloof, over the last six months. “I can scour up some cash, but I can’t come up with that much.” She took Abby’s hand. “We’ll go to the police. They can protect you.”

“No, they won’t. There’s only one way that you can help.” Abby’s eyes pleaded.

“I don’t understand.”

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