Page 13 of Hidden Heir

“Does the Irish Mafia ring a bell, Ant? Are you sick in the head?” I struggle not to raise my voice and the trembling almost consumes me. “You got into bed with the fuckingmafia?”

His pale face turns completely ashen and he stands with unexpected steadiness. “Brooke. How do you know about that?”

“You want to know how I know?” I hastily drag one hand through my hair. “Because the men you stole from, the men you’re fucking hiding from, came to my store today and destroyed the place, Ant. They came there looking for you and threatened me. They wanted to know where you were and when I refused to tell them, one of them put his hand in my mouth and a very large knife to my belly. That was after he shoved me up against the wall and had his hand around my throat and?—.”

“Shit!” Ant interrupts and starts to pace around the room. “Did you tell them I’m here? Did you tell them where I am?” Suddenly he’s in front of me, gripping my shoulders tightly. His eyes are wild, his pupils blown, like black holes. He’s scared.

“Didn’t you hear what I just fucking said?” I gasp, recoiling from his grip. “Ant, they hurt me, they threatened me, and all you care?—”

“Did you tell them I’m here?” he barks again, shaking me back and forth. “Did you screw me over Brooke?”

“What?” I wrench myself free. “No, I already said I didn’t tell them where you were. I’m hoping you’ll explain to me what the fuck is going on!”

“I have to go. You don’t understand, Brooke. If they find me, the shit they will do to me isn’t something you can stomach.” He moves away, snatching up some of his stray clothes. It seems to have escaped his notice that I was already attacked, and despite the anger that rises, a familiar excuse fills my mind.

It has to be the drugs. He can’t focus on important shit when there’s drugs in his system.

“Ant!” I grab his arm as he passes by me. “Is it true? Did you really steal from them?”

“It’s not what you think,” he says quickly, and hurries off to the kitchen. I follow hot on his heels.

“You’d better tell me the truth, Ant, because they destroyed the shop, they hurt me, and they threatened Tiff! They said you were skimming product off the top and then you stole a shipment. You’d better tell me the fucking truth right now because they want me to fuck some random guys to pay off your debt and I?—”

“What?” Ant interrupts me again. He pauses with a can of soup in one hand and a bag in the other, staring at me from across the kitchen. “They want you to dowhat?”

My blood runs cold and I wrap my arms around myself as I recall those poisonous words being poured into my ear. “One of the men, Paul, was his name. He said he would kill me and sell Tiff. But if I agreed to be sold instead he would leave her alone. He said he would sell me at his auction to fuck some random guys, no time limits, to pay offyourdebt.”

It doesn’t sound like the words are even coming from my mouth. My voice sounds alien to my own ears. My heart pounds as my entire body trembles. Tears threaten behind my eyes as Ant stares at me with an unreadable look on his face. When he abandons the soup and the bag, I think he’s going to hug me.

I need that hug. I need comfort. I need him to tell me it will be alright and that he has a plan. That he stashed the drugs somewhere and will give them back.

“Brooke,” Ant says as his face melts into a strange smile. “This is… amazing!”

“What?” Suddenly I understand the look on his face. It’s not shock. It’s hope. He’s actuallyhopefulthat me selling my body will get him out of his mess.

He grasps my shoulders, lighter this time, and sags forward. “I can’t believe you would do this for me,” he says softly.

“What makes you think I said yes?” I ask hoarsely. “Ant, do you understand what they are asking me to do? It’s not just some back alley blow job! You owe them seven hundred and fiftythousanddollars. Small change to men like that, I’m sure, but holy shit! Why can’t you just give the drugs back?”

Ant’s face drops and he steps back. Suddenly, he deflates before my very eyes and when he sits down in the kitchen chair, he resembles a dirty shopping bag, wrinkled and weak. “I can’t do that,” he says. “There’s nothing to give back because I didn’t steal from them. They just think I did because I’m an easy target and they’re dumb fucks. But don’t you see?”

“Ant!” I yell, unable to contain the surge of desperation that rises within me. I wanted him to help me, not so readily agree. “Do you not understand? They want tosellme to sleep with random men, who can, and most certainly will do anything they want to me!”

“And?” Ant fixes me with a cold look. “It’s just sex, Brooke. It’s so fucking easy and you’ll walk away just fine. But me? What have I got to save myself, huh? I didn’t steal from them but they won’t care, they won’t believe me. They’ll torture and kill me, Brooke. Don’tyouunderstand?”

My heart pounds as I recall Paul’s offer of cutting me open and carving me up until he had his pound of flesh. It dawns on me that’s what they will most likely do to my brother.

He looks up at me, his eyes swimming with tears. It’s a familiar routine, and each time I tell myself I won’t fall for it, he reaches right for my heart.

“It would be so amazing if you do this for me. It’s our chance, you see that right? I mean, it’s just sex, and once you pay off the debt then we’re free. All three of us. Tiffany will be safe. You and me, we’ll be safe. And then we can really start fresh. No debt. Nobastards hunting us down. No drugs.” He sniffles. “You have an opportunity to save me, Brooke, and I…”

His voice closes up, his head drops down to his chest, and my heart breaks. There’s nothing I want more than a normal life. I want to be safe with my daughter and have my brother back, the one who is healthy and drug free. That can’t happen while the Irish mafia is accusing him of stealing something he can’t return because he doesn’t have it.

What choice do I have? I have to protect my family.

“Okay,” I say hoarsely. “Besides, I already agreed. I don’t think they’d let me back out. But you have to protect Tiff while I’m away, okay?”

I hug Ant tightly and he clings to me like a child.

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