Page 83 of Ruthless Protector

“Please, it wasn’t their fault. I bribed someone, and…”

The smirk turned into a grin. “A woman who goes after what she wants, I can appreciate that as well.”

What did I say to that? “Thank you,” I said lamely.

“As nice as this is, you’re not here for a social call, so let’s get down to business.”

Tomas was my last hope. I couldn’t screw this up. “I heard you…that you…” Spit it out, Willa. “Lend money?”

He shrugged. “Occasionally.”

Okay, so far so good. “I’m here for a loan.”

“How much money are you asking for?”

I held his steady gaze. “Twenty thousand.”

Not a twitch, or a blink. Nothing. “May I ask what it’s for?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“And how do you plan on paying it back?”

“I make good money at the club. Paying it back won’t be a problem.”

“You have any kind of security, anything of value?” he said, that expression still void of any emotion.

I shook my head.

“I can give you ten.”

I grabbed the edge of his desk, gripping tight. “Ten…it’s not enough…”

“I’m doing you a favor. I give you twenty, you can’t make the payments, I have to find other ways of getting it back. That’s not something I want to have to do, Willa, you understand?”

“Mr. Mendoza, please…”

“Take or leave it,” he said.

Fuck. He wasn’t going to budge, it was written all over his face. He didn’t care, not about me, or my predicament. There would be no appealing to his softer side. I doubted he had one. My mind spun, trying to come up with a solution, what I’d tell Trent. When that solution came to me, I had to fight past my pounding heart for my next breath. I nodded. “I’ll take the ten.”

He dipped his chin. “You understand there will be interest. This isn’t a charity. And like I said, there are consequences for people who don’t meet their payments.”

I nodded again, fighting off the fear twisting behind my ribs. “That’s not something you’ll have to worry about.” I’d pay Tomas back. I’d work my ass off until the debt was clear. At least with Tomas, there was an end date. With Trent, there never would be. He’d never stop harassing and terrorizing us, bleeding every penny he could from me, and using Tilly to do it. I wouldn’t allow that. And until I got him out of Tilly’s life, there was no escape.

Tomas’ gaze moved over me. Not in a creepy way, assessing, like he could see inside me, like he had some kind of built-in lie detector or something, and he was reading me.

He stood suddenly. “I’ll be in touch with the details in a couple of days.”

“But…”

“I have somewhere I need to be.”

He left me no choice but to stand as well. “You can’t give me the money now, you can’t…”

“I’ll be in touch,” he said, then walked out of the room, leaving me standing there.

I stared after him, the tight grip of loss, of fear, making me sick to my stomach.