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“Now, how can I say no to an offer like that?” she asked.
“You can’t,” he confirmed. “We leave in two days—I’ve already worked it all out.”
“Well, I guess that makes my answer a firm yes,” she said.
“Happy one year anniversary, Love,” Cillian said. Viv didn’t realize he knew what today was until just now.
“You remembered?” she asked.
“How could I not?” Cillian questioned. “It’s been the best year of my life. Thank you for giving me everything I’ve ever dreamed of and so much more that I had no clue I wanted.” Cillian looked over to where Jesse slept in her stroller and smiled. He was right—together, they had built a life she never imagined possible. Cillian was that for her—dreams come true and possibilities imagined. He was her world and she wouldn’t change a thing.
CAT
Catrina Linz stood by the vending machine, handcuffs still on, waiting for her bail bondsman to show up. When she called the company she found in the ancient phone book, the guys baritone voice grumbled something about waking him up and getting him out of his warm bed. Cat wanted to point out that it was the middle of summer in Alabama and nearly a hundred degrees out. Everywhere was warm, so his argument didn’t hold water, as her grandmother used to say. She just wanted to get home and wash away this whole fucking day and every one of the assholes who had used her body for their pleasure. Honestly, it had been a slow day. Fuck, if she was being completely honest, she’d admit that it had been a damn slow month. Cat wasn’t sure how she was going to pay her rent and now, she was going to have to come up with the money to pay back her bail bondsman.
She slumped down into the chair next to the window. Maybe it was time to go back home and try to find some former semblance of her old life but that would mean she’d have to face her mother and her shitty step-father again. Hell, they’d probably insist that she admit she made the whole damn story up but she hadn’t. He was the no-good disgusting fucker she claimed he was. He raped her, taking her virginity when she was only fourteen and told her that if she told her mother, he’d kill her and her little brother. Cat kept her fucking mouth shut and what did her good old stepdad do? He rewarded her by repeatedly raping her for the next two years. That was when she told her mother. The one person on the planet who should have had her back. The one woman who should have believed her and protected her but she hadn’t. Instead, her mother accused her of being a slut and seducing her step-father. Her mom kicked her out and stayed with that douche and Cat’s only regret was having to leave her little brother, Liam behind. He was four years younger than she was and she knew that dragging him with her would be no life for a kid. She was just a kid herself, but the world had taught her the hard way that sometimes, the only thing you can do is run. So, that’s what she did. Cat ran and when she got tired of running, she ran some more. There wasn’t any amount of distance that she could put between her and her step-father that would make her feel safe. She’d never feel that way again—safe, wanted, loved. Not that it mattered. Cat wasn’t sure she had ever experienced any of those feelings in her short life—which sucked. Most women her age were married and had a kid or two. At twenty-seven, she decided that ship had left the harbor. Besides, who would want a woman as used up as she was?
“Cat Linz?” a very tall, tattooed guy looked her over and she squinted her eyes at him, trying to decide if she wanted to admit that he had the right person or send him packing. Honestly, the guy looked like one of her Johns and maybe he had been. With her luck, he was just some asshole who had paid her for sex. His smile was easy and God, he was good looking. Sure, it was in a surly hot biker kind of way, but if she had a type—this guy would fit it. That was one of the occupational hazards she faced though—every guy had to be her type or at least she had to pretend that was the case. His brown eyes were so dark, she was sure she could see her reflection in them and fuck, she looked like shit. He pushed his overly long brown hair back from his eyes and handed her a business card. She took it and tried to turn it over to read, but that feat felt impossible, given her constraints.
“You wanna help me out, here?” she asked, shoving the card back in his direction. The guy had the nerve to laugh and he took the card from her and turned it over, putting it back between her hands.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m Repo.”
Now it was her turn to giggle, “As in like—you’re repossessing a car?” she teased.
He shrugged, “Sure,” he agreed. “But I repossess people. I’m your bail bondsman. Well, that is if you’re Catrina Linz.”
“Yeah,” she breathed. “That’s me. How much is this going to set me back?” she asked.
“Not much into small talk? I like that. I’m not either. Fifteen hundred. I pay up front and you pay me back. We can sign the papers when they process you for release. You don’t pay me back on time—I find you. You run—”
“Let me guess, you find me?” she sassed. He rolled his eyes and nodded.
“This isn’t something I take lightly. This is business,” Repo spat.
“Fine,” she said. “I agree. Just get me the fuck out of here.” Repo called for one of the officers to help process her for release. This was only the third time she had been picked up for working the corner. How the hell was she supposed to know that the guy who picked her up tonight was a cop? Wasn’t that entrapment or something? That was a question she’d ask her court-appointed lawyer because she certainly couldn’t afford one. She just hoped that whoever got stuck with her case was willing to meet her on the street because that would be where she’d be living. Once she got back to her shithole apartment, she was pretty sure her landlord would be waiting for his rent. When she’d finally get around to telling him she doesn’t have it again this month, he was going to toss her out on her ass. He had been threatening to do it for weeks now and she was out of time and excuses.
“Can we hurry this up? I have an apartment to be kicked out of and a street bench to claim?” Repo chuckled, as if she was kidding but none of this was a joke to her. The cop removed her cuffs and handed her a baggie full of her things.
Repo gave her the paperwork and a pen. “Read it over and if you have any questions, let me know.” She smiled up at him and turned to the last page to fill out the personal information he required and signed her name on the line. She shoved the papers and pen back at him and he smiled at her. “Okay then,” he said, taking the papers back from her. “Good doing business with you,” he said. Cat watched as he turned the corner and then looked back.
“You were kidding about having to sleep on a bench, right? I mean, I’m only asking because I’ll need an address to track you down in case you try to skip out on the cash I just put up for your ass.” Repo didn’t bother to walk back to where she was standing, just shouting his question for all the precinct to hear. Not that she cared. Cat stopped caring what other people thought about her a damn long time ago.
“I don’t kid around a whole lot, Repo,” she shouted back. “Business hasn’t been that great and well, I don’t have my rent. So yeah, I’m going to be evicted as soon as I get home. I’m betting my shit is already sitting by the curb, as we speak.”
“Fuck,” he cursed and walked back to her.
“I’m going to need an address or this won’t work. You gave your friend Candy as your point of contact. Can you crash at her place?” She winced at his question. She sort of made that part up. She knew some woman named Candy but she had no idea where she lived. She was just some chick she some times passed the time with while they waited for their next clients. Candy was trying to get her to sign on with Sly—her pimp, but that wasn’t something Cat wanted. She had always gone it alone and if she couldn’t make it in Huntsville, Alabama, she’d find another place to run to because that’s what she was good at.
REPO
“Listen, how about we go out to the parking lot and you let me work off my debt with you and we can call it even?” The hot little piece of ass had landed herself in jail for prostitution and still hadn’t learned her lesson.
“You must give a pretty spectacular blow job, Honey,” he teased. “If you think you’ll be able to work off the whole fifteen hundred.” Cat smirked up at him and he knew she was going to give him some smart ass response. “You didn’t learn anything from your few hours behind bars, did you Honey?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that having a personal epiphany was part of the deal,” she sassed. “So, how about it—you game?” she asked. God help him, Repo loved his women mouthy. It was usually the type of woman he picked up at the bar, Savage Hell, and took back to his place. He found that women who hung out at the MC were always looking to hook up with a biker in hopes of becoming his ol’lady. Problem was—he had no plans of ever making any woman his for long term. He was more of a one night kind of guy. It worked for him but he was bright enough to know that if he took sexy little Cat up on her offer, he’d be out fifteen hundred and he needed that money back for his next bond.
He was always chasing the next one, hoping to find someone who fucked up big time and had no one else to call but him. He needed a big score if he planned on staying ahead of the rest of the games in town. Repo ran a respectable business and he wasn’t going to run the risk of fucking that all up now over one willing woman.
