Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Chapter Six
Frankie
I stared at the large sum of money sitting in my bank account which hadn’t been there the day before. Yesterday, it held the grand total of 27 dollars and 82 cents because the final check from the nursing home job had not come through yet. I had only asked for the 50 grand up front, but Nick had added a little more which would be enough for me to at least maintain first and last month’s rent along with a security deposit for a new place.
I shuddered when I thought about what I’d have to do to earn this money, and I asked myself, not for the first time, if this was worth it. Then I thought about Adam. Though my brother had let me down time and time again over the years, he was still my brother, and I loved him. He was all I had left, and it was difficult to simply let go. Maybe with the extra money I could send him to a different rehab center, one that would give him the incentive to see things through this time.
I could only hope.
But then I wondered once Adam got the money he needed, would he just disappear from my life and I wouldn’t hear from him again for another chunk of time. Or at the very least, until he wanted something from me again.
As I mulled over this dilemma, another popped in my head in the form of a 6 foot 3 sexy ass demon who went by the name of Nick. I hated his guts for what he was making me do, what else I might have to do. I squirm in my seat as I remember what he did to me in his office. It was going to be a long two months. I doubted I’d be able to walk away with my dignity intact, but there was no turning back now, especially when Nick had held up his end of the bargain.
In the meantime, I’d remain in this state of nervous tenseness until he decided to contact me.
“What are you looking at on your phone that’s putting that ferocious frown on your face, Sis?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin because I’d momentarily forgotten that I wasn’t alone. I looked up to see Adam looking paler than I’d ever seen him. His once vibrant brunette waves were now stringy and lifeless while rings of black underlined his dull, watery blue eyes. His shirtless frame emphasized how emaciated he was, and my heart sunk.
I jumped up and swiftly crossed the room to stand beside him. I briefly touch his skeletal chest, and I wanted to cry. “Adam, are you okay?”
“Couldn’t be better.” But the grimace on his face belies his words.
“Don’t lie to me. You look like shit. Adam, you need help. Today.”
“Sis, I’ll be fine. You have to stop worrying so much. It will age you.”
“Says my younger brother who looks twenty years older than me. Adam, you can’t go on like this. You’re going to die if you keep on this path. Is that what you want? Please tell me it isn’t. Tell me you’re willing to fight for your life and you’re not just here to get what you want and disappear. Do you have any idea what it’s like living in a constant state of fear that one day the police will come knocking to inform me that your body has been found in some gutter. Do you think this is what Mom and Dad would have wanted to become of your life?”
“There you go playing the mom and dad card,” he snorted.
“It seems to be the only card I have left to play because apparently you don’t give a shit about letting me down after the many times you’ve hurt me. You are sick, and you need help. This sickness is the reason you got involved with these sketchy people who are literally threatening to kill you. Maybe you don’t give a shit, but I certainly do!”
He opened his mouth and then closed it as if he was reconsidering his words. Adam licked his dry, cracked lips before raking his fingers through his hair. “Believe it or not, I do care, Frankie. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. Did I tell you that the guys I owe money to dangled me off the side of a 20-story balcony? I fucking shit my pants, and that’s when I knew if I survived that ordeal, I’d get my act together. They gave me this souvenir as a reminder for what I did.”
“You make it sound so casual when, in truth, you had no business getting involved with these characters in the first place. If your life weren’t on the line, I’d go to the police, but I can’t take that risk.”