Bianca
I rose, my cheeks hot with embarrassment and …I did not know what else.
“How dare you…?” I began but Liam O’Grady nodded at his brother and gripped my hands.
‘We will take care of Dean Nelson. In return, you will be our submissive for a year.”
The words sank in slowly and I recoiled in horror.
“OUR submissive? Did you just say OUR submissive, Mr. O’Grady?”
I stammered, as I went on, shock making me widen my eyes, “You mean like…sleep with BOTH of you?’
“Ah lassie, ‘ said O’Grady almost tenderly but his eyes were hot and blue and openly laughing at me as he said,
“Not just sleeping, love.”
I pushed him away fiercely, throwing the sheets of paper at Finn, uncaring as they scattered wildly.
Breathing hard, I spoke in a low voice, jabbing my finger at him.
“So, I have to be your sexual slave for a year and in return, you will free me of my father’s debt?”
I looked from one to the other. Finn was watching me, his face blank but Liam?
His eyes were glowing with an unholy hunger.
“Ah girl,” he began. But I was having none of his Irish charm.
“Take your …your papers and stuff them where the sun never shines, Mr O’Grady.” I hissed in fury,” Yesterday, Nelson asked me to become an escort. This morning, you want me to be Your exclusive hooker.”
My eyes were overflowing with tears; of anger but O’Grady watched me silently, saying nothing.
Finn rose and stepped forward menacingly but I didn’t flinch this time, although he looked grimly insulted by my outburst.
‘We did not ask for you to be a prostitute, Miss Cruz. We would treat you well, like our woman, and give you a good life …”
I laughed in his face.
Stepping to him, I cut him short,
“But at the of the day, I would just be your pet? To be discarded after a year?”
And then, wearily, I sank to the chair, murmuring, between my tears,
“Just GO!”
*
Liam O’Grady strode out of the house. A mixture of emotions coursed through him. The sight of that little vixen in her clothes had made him get an instant erection; her flat refusal to not listen to them had annoyed him…he grunted as his man opened the door of the Mercedes which looked incongruous in the little lane, as he slid in. Finn shut the door with excessive force as he sat down beside his brother.
“I told you…” he began but Liam raised a hand.
“We wait,” he said.
*
I did not tell Heather, a very surprised Heather at that, about the proposal.
She would have been scandalized, I thought bitterly.
Besides, a small part of me felt excited at the thought of being with such men, two of them. As I touched up my tear-ravaged face and readied to go to the bakery, I tried not to think of the two men who had come home.
*
But a horrible surprise awaited me when I reached the bakery. My phone battery had died and I had planned on charging it at the bakery. Which was why I had missed receiving Alice’s frantic calls and messages.
But as I huffed and turned the corner, I stopped short. Alice stood outside, waving and arguing with a couple of big-built men who looked like bouncers.
I rushed ahead and grabbed her arm.
“Alice, what’s going on?” I cried, and my heart sank as I noticed the large lock on my Dad’s bakery door.
“Mr. Nelson had decided to take what belongs to hisself,” declared one of the men, a huge fellow with gold teeth.
I sagged, not wanting to believe what he was saying. But the evil smile on his face told me that he meant business.
“No…” I said shaking my head in disbelief, but just then, the shiny red sports car drove up in a cloud of dust and Nelson stepped out, a grin on his face.
“Miss Cruz?” he said, mockery on his ugly face and I bristled,
“You did not give me any warning…” I began but he stepped into my face and snarled,
“Why, what do you think I was doing in your sh*thole of a house last evening? With that drunk, your stepmother?”
Then he added almost pityingly, as the roaring in my ears increased,
“I shall have to throw you out of your home, Bianca Cruz, because you see, your father had given me the deeds to the house too.”
He moved back, folding his arms across his rotund belly as he said, sneering,
“My offer still stands, you know, Bianca.” And his eyes trailed across my body, making me squirm.
*
I turned away, walking blindly down the road as I heard him start up his flashy little car and roar away. Alice trotted after me and grabbed my hand, forcing me to stop,
‘Child, Bianca,” she said, her voice breaking with sorrow,
“What offer was that little cheapskate talking about?’ At five feet eleven, she towered over me and Nelson.
I sighed, dashing away my tears as I whispered,’ he asked me to become an escort.”
Her face tightened in anger and the grip on my shoulder grew hard.
I winced.
‘And you turned him down, so the dirty old bast*rd is trying to arm-twist you into chagign your mind, right?” she snapped, her eyes flashing. With her tightly braided cornrows and her stellar figure, she was still a beauty.
She fell into step with me, her eyes growing sad as she said softly,
‘You can come and live with me…” I shook my head automatically. Tipsy, giddy headed harmless Heather would be a misfit in Alice’s deeply religious house. And besides, that was not the way I wanted my younger sisters to grow up. Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook my head and hugged Alice.
Then we went our separate ways