Page 52 of Ruined
I didn’t appreciate being interrupted, but the information jolted me. “Three hundred thousand?”
“Three million.” She linked her fingers together. “The luxury apartments, the private school, all of those things Jessa, her mother, swore that they needed. And after the second child, they lowered their standard of living, but the damage was still done. Haley asked for loans too. And there’s interest, of course,” She forced a smile. “I always do what I can for my girls.”
“A second child?”
“She was stillborn.”
That took me a second to process. A stillborn child. Haley must have been devastated when that happened: a sister that never came to be. Unless…
“What is it that you wanted to negotiate?” Dahlia cut off my thought process.
Three million dollars was a large sum, but nothing when it came to the grand scheme of life. I was a billionaire. What did three million mean to me?
“I’ll pay out her contract,” I said.
“We actually don’t allow payouts.” Dahlia tilted her head and tapped a finger to her chin. “These girls are worth more than millions of dollars to me. Without them, I have no club.” She wagged a finger at me. “You’re not the first billionaire to try and buy his way into a marriage. But my girls are not whores or mail-order brides. They can’t bebought. They are entertainers with jobs to fulfill. Debts they owe to me.” She sneered. “What you can do,” she paused, letting the words sink in, “is increase the fees you pay her for the time in the Terrariums. And pay her for all of those times you crossed her lines.”
Crossing lines was something I was familiar with lately. Haley and I were walking on a fine line every time we met, and it wasn’t only Haley on the line anymore. I had a bet to win, and yet my heart was out in the open.
But what did I care if she was stuck in a contract?
If I went through with this negotiation, I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape my feelings for Haley. This conversation would force me to admit my feelings.
Where had my finesse gone? Negotiating business deals were supposed to be my strongest skill, and yet when it came to negotiating matters of the heart, I was useless. Throwing it all away to guarantee that she’d be safe.
But that ended now.
“For the right price,” Dahlia said, breaking the silence, “I’d be willing.”
Money didn’t matter. But letting myself get involved in Haley’s affairs did.
“When you think of that price,” I handed her my business card, “Give me a call.”
We made small talk for a few minutes, but she eventually left. I debated internally whether to stay or leave. There were two hours before the club opened, but it was an hour each way to drive back to Sage City. It seemed like a waste of time to wait for the club to open. But I knew what I wanted.
I had to get away from this place. To put up that mental guard that reminded me that Haley was nothing to me. I would leave the Dahlia District and not stay for the Terrariums.
But first, I would see Haley. For a few minutes.
I texted her, letting her know that I was available if she wanted an early dinner. Within a few minutes, she sent,Be there soon. True to her word, she emerged from the Greenhouse doors. A v-neck shirt tight around her breasts, her hair curly and damp. No makeup, only her naked skin. Her green eyes lively.
She looked like she did that day at the Sage and Ivy Preparatory Academy. It made me smile. I hadn’t known much about her then, but now, when I saw her like this, she was beautiful. And fucking irresistible.
The academy. A stillborn child. Or not…
Perhaps she had a sister at the school. It would explain the loans.
Haley lit up when she saw me, a subtle blush covering her skin. I stood up and held out a hand to shake hers, trying to reinforce that boundary, but she pulled me into a hug.
“What are you doing here so early?” she asked.
Smelling her sweet scent, I gave in and hugged her back. “I can’t make it tonight,” I said. I could have stayed as long as I wanted, but I needed to get away from my feelings for her. “But I wanted to see you.”
She tilted her head. “Even if it’s just for coffee and lettuce wraps?”
“Coffee and lettuce wraps have their place.”
We ordered dinner and coffee, and Haley buzzed about the ongoings of the club. The fire dancer and the snake dancer had not been hired, but Dahlia was still searching for new entertainment. More rumors were spreading that the club wasn’t in good shape financially. Judging from the way Dahlia insisted on forcing the servers to do more for their fees, it wasn’t hard to believe the rumors. Dahlia must have been paying a small fortune to the local mob for protection from the police.
