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“I don’t understand. How is that possible?” I ask, trying not to be too judgmental but unable to ignore his modest lifestyle. How could he have enough money to pay off my debt and not miss it, but live in that little one-bedroom house with hardly any furniture and just a few movie posters on the wall? Hell, he’s a cinephile. I would think he’d at least have a decent home theater setup if he had money like that. All he has is a thirty-some-inch flat screen and a Blu-ray player.
“I know I don’t live like it but I have money,” he explains like he read my mind.
“Enough not to miss… Your car…” I trail off remembering he didn’t blink at buying a new car worth way more than what I owed Eddie.
“A drop in the bucket of what I have access to.”
“Then, why do you work? Why do you live in that little house and not on a private island somewhere?”
“The money isn’t mine. Well… It is but I didn’t earn it. I inherited it from my uncle who inherited it from his father. I grew up watching what easy money did to my uncle. He didn’t respect it or himself. He burned the candle at both ends and died before he turned fifty.
“I didn’t want that but I did want the money. The safety net. The ability to drop everything and live on a private island if I wanted to.
“So, I hired an accountant to manage my investments and chose to live a modest existence to keep myself from losing my grip on reality.”
My head is spinning. This is a lot to take in.
“Did your fiancé know?” I can’t believe a woman engaged to a man that could give her that kind of financial security would throw it all away like she did.
“No. I wanted to be sure she was marrying me for me and not for my money. I had the prenup written up but I hadn’t talked with her yet when I caught her cheating.”
“You didn’t tell the woman you were engaged to but you’re telling me? Why?”
“Tell me I can’t trust you to keep my secret. You, who knows all too well the agony of betrayal.”
He’s right. Money is why I’m in this mess to begin with. The idea of screwing Liam or anyone else over, even for all the money in the world, makes me sick.
“Still, making the payment is impossible.” Here comes the hard truth. “Eddie doesn’t own my debt anymore. Seth—the Kings bought it.”
“What? You told me—.”
“I know. I didn’t have a say in it. A couple of Eddie’s goons came to the Cinnamon Mink the other day. The guy had his hand on my throat and was about to break my fingers. The deal was done before I had a chance to protest.”
“Well, thank fuck you weren’t hurt. But why didn’t you tell me?” He sounds even more hurt than I expected he would. And I get it. He thinks he could have fixed this if he’d told me about his money sooner. But he’d be wrong.
“What good would it have done? I didn’t know you had the money and even if I did, I wouldn’t have taken it. I don’t want to be indebted to anyone, especially you. And now… My debt to the Kings can’t be paid with money. They collect their debts in favors. Liam—.” I’m about to tell him how a group of them cornered me last night and the vote to make me a clubwhore when he stands and says, “No. You’re not working for them another night. This ends now.”
I know what he’s getting at but it’s pointless to try. “They don’t want your money, Liam.”
“Everyone has their price. Even the Kings.”
“I don’t want your money. I don’t want it to come between us.” There’s still a chance Seth will convince the club to let me pay them off some other way. If not… I have one thing I’ve been holding onto. Something I hope I don’t have to use.
“Nothing can come between us, baby. Not unless we let it,” Liam says sitting next to me again and taking my face in his big, strong hands. “This isn’t a loan, Candace. You don’t owe me anything. You don’t owe me your money. Your time. Nothing. I’m perfectly happy loving you for the rest of my life even if you never love me back.”
“You… Love me?”
“Candace, baby, I’ve loved you since the first night I watched you walk on that bus. I wanted to tell you that night Seth followed you onto the bus that I’d pay your debt. If it hadn’t been for my ex seeding so much distrust… The part of me that hated her and the rest of me that loved you without reason went to war inside of me. But it’s over now. I love you. I want your problems to be my problems. I want us to fix them together. Will you let me help you fix this?”
My heart is so full I hardly know what to do with myself. “Oh, Liam,” I say, throwing my arms around him. “I love you too. And yes. We’ll go to my sister’s tomorrow. Seth should be home in the evening after the club meeting. We can talk to him then. But I still worry the money won’t be enough.”
“Whatever it takes, we’ll make it enough.”
Chapter 12
LIAM
“Oh my god, Candace. I heard what happened. Are you okay?” A near mirror image of Candace, I have to guess is Candace’s sister, pulls her into the little bungalow barely bigger than mine. “I’m so sorry I didn’t call or anything. Seth is dealing with a bit of blowback from handing that cash over without holding a vote. He needed me.”
