High Stakes Seduction - Book 1 (13 page)
Read High Stakes Seduction - Book 1 Online
Authors: Ami LeCoeur
And no matter the circumstances, no matter how good looking he was, I certainly wouldn’t be Antonio’s… play thing… his…
call girl
.
"I'm sure you mean well, Antonio." As shocked as I was, I still couldn't be rude to this man. "But there's a line I simply won’t cross."
I opened the door and walked to where Thompson stood on the stoop with my bags. My shoes seemed suddenly heavier as I struggled to put one foot in front of the other. My body started shaking but I wasn't sure exactly why. Was it fear, relief or panic? It was all too confusing. In the middle of my turmoil I realized I’d probably just lost any possibility of paying off Dad's debt and saving our mortgage.
I heard the limo pull away from the curb, the sound of its fading engine carrying away the last shred of my hope. I stood there for a moment, steeling myself before facing Maria.
Maria was on the phone when I got inside. After getting my bags into my room and thanking the nurse, I pasted on my best smile, one that would have even impressed Naomi. But when Maria ended the call and turned to me, my smile melted away.
"What’s the matter?" I asked.
"That was Dr. Quesh," she said, her eyes full of tears and her voice barely a whisper. I rushed to the couch, wrapping my arms around her shaking shoulders. "He got the results from my last tests. He said…” She paused, lifting her hands to cover her face. Great, heaving sobs wracked her shoulders.”
I just held her, praying harder than I ever had, the tormenting shaking through my sister also vibrating through me. Finally, she calmed enough to tell me, “He said it doesn’t look good. I really did a number on my back with that fall, Ange."
"Oh honey." I held Maria, smoothing her hair.
"But, Sis. It's not all bad news. There's something else," she said, then took a deep breath and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "He said… apparently there’s an experimental surgery… something that could maybe help me. It’s just in trials. But so far, it’s all been very successful." She looked up at me a mixture of hope and pain in her eyes. "He said… there’s a chance… Oh, Ange,
maybe I could walk again
."
"That’s fantastic!" I said, giving her hand a squeeze, relief flooding through me. “We should be celebrating, not crying.”
"No, Ange, you don’t understand."
I leaned back, puzzled. "Isn’t the chance to walk again good news?"
"Dr. Quesh can get me into the trials, but it’s going to cost a ridiculous amount of money. More money than we could ever imagine."
"Oh," I said, my eyes dropping, my heart and stomach dropping too. I stared down, considering our options. Antonio’s words came back to me and my insides knotted.
Maybe there was a way.
Maria meant everything to me. She’d been through so much, and she never complained about any of it. The question was, did
I
have that much courage?
Then Maria laughed. "Where’s Uncle Benito when we need him, huh?"
Uncle Benito?
Yeah, right. Might as well ask Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. I took a deep breath, trying not to let my voice shake. "It’s all right, Maria. I’m going to get you into those trials."
Hilary gave me a startled look when I marched right into Antonio’s office the next morning. Antonio glanced up, but didn’t seem surprised to see me.
"I want to discuss your offer," I said, leaning over his desk. The words came out in a rush as I forced them out before I lost my nerve. In fact, it had taken monumental effort to drag myself into the elevator, press the button and come up here at all. But I kept thinking about the look on Maria’s face, and hearing her quiet sobs in the night.
"My sister—my sister needs an operation that we can’t afford. I know we owe you already, but this… she…" The emotions that I had been trying to keep buried pressed against me and I felt the hot tears burn my skin as they fell. I stepped back, turning away from him.
He spoke my name and I heard him rise from his chair. I moved toward the door, but I felt his hand on my arm, stopping me.
"Angela," he said again, as he stepped around to face me. "I’ve already offered to erase your mortgage debt—"
"I don’t care about the mortgage," I said, unable to look him in the eyes. "My sister needs this operation. I—I would be… willing… " I took a deep breath, pushing through my own resistance, "willing to accept your offer, if you could help us with this. If you could help my sister."
"Come away with me."
I blinked up at him, not understanding.
"I'm scheduled on a cruise in a few days. Come with me, and I will make the arrangements for your sister’s operation. Once we return."
I stared up at him, searching his face. His eyes didn't have the usual cool appraisal or even the strange, hungry look he sometimes gave me. In fact, I couldn't read his face at all.
"And… your conditions?" I couldn't help but ask.
"You know the conditions. Our arrangement hasn't changed. Hilary will give you the details," then he waved me out the door as he buzzed his secretary.
Hilary looked up from the phone as I stepped back into the foyer. I was a little dazed at the suddenness of it all. I'd accepted the challenge. It was done. Just that quickly.
But as I stood there at the desk, waiting for information about the cruise, the cold hard knot in my stomach made me wonder if I'd just given my sister salvation or signed my own ticket to purgatory.
>>>>End Book 1<<<<
Book 2
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Book 3
- due out October 24, 2014
Book 4
- due out November 7, 2014
Book 5
- due out November 21, 2014
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Ami
Like most romance writers, Ami LeCoeur is a romantic at heart, but in her heart it's the classic Romanticism of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
She is also a painter, glass artist, and award winning poet, as well as a writer.
When she isn't traveling, she lives on California's Redwood Coast with her husband and two kitties. She loves her wonderful ocean view, and when the fog comes in—as it always does—she's either curled up with a good book, or busy writing.
If you like Ami's stories, please let your friends know.
PUBLISHED BY:
Career Life Press
Copyright © 2014
Ami LeCoeur
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior written consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events, is entirely coincidental. All names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and situations are either the product of the author's imagination, or used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real.