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"Come outside, you motherfucker if you don't like what I'm about to do." One of the men yells from outside.
"Who are they?"
Jeff's face reddens. Beads of sweat gather on his forehead, and he avoids my eye contact.
He walks away from the window, pacing the room.
"What's going on?" I'm freaking out. "Who are these guys?"
He stops pacing and rushes towards me, grabbing my shoulders. "Look, you have to hide. Those guys are capable of doing terrible things. Please, I'll explain this to you later."
"I'm not going anywhere. So, you better start talkingnow."
Jeff rushes to the window again. The Benz is a total mess now, and they're moving to my car.
"Tell me who they are now. Why are they destroying our cars? I'm calling the police."
"No. You can't." He grips my shoulders, and the sounds of glass shattering make me jump.
"That was my windshield, Jeff. What did you do?"
"They're loan sharks. I borrowed... They loaned me some money, but I haven't been able to pay it back." He stutters, looking away from me.
I clench my fist so tight that my nails dig into the skin of my palm. My eyes burn with rage as I stare at Jeff. "How could you be so reckless? We still owe Tristano money, and yet you think it's all right to borrow from somebody else?"
He turns away from me and clamps his jaw shut in a futile attempt to resist my interrogation. "It's complicated, all right? I'll explain later, but for now, just get out of here."
I lean forward until I'm just inches away from him, demanding an answer. "What did you do with their money? "
A frown crosses his face. He undoes the first button of his shirt, then settles on the couch. Jeff detests being questioned, but he has no choice this time. "I borrowed five hundred grand from the loan sharks to pay Tristano."
"Who would give you money? You never pay it back."
"I told them about the hotel."
My stomach drops. "Are you insane?"
"I had the money, Aurora. But then I bid half of it. If I had won, I'd have been able to clear Tristano's bill and pay them back, then still have some money. But I lost, so I'm left with half of the money."
"Un-fucking-believable."
He shuts his eyes, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry. I had it and just like that…,” he snaps his fingers, “…it was gone."
A gasp jumps out of my mouth. The noise from the thugs ruining our cars out front, mixed with Jeff's confession, set my insides on fire. I press a hand to my forehead, peering at Jeff in disbelief.
He'll never learn.
I hear a shattering sound from the kitchen, then hurry in that direction. The second car has been destroyed completely. Now they're smashing the windows on the house.
"I'm not going to stand here and do nothing."
Jeff hurries towards me. "Please, go back inside. I'll fix it."
With rage, I shoot him a dark look. "Fix? You had the chance to make things right, but as usual, you blew it. I'm done trusting you."
I grab my phone and dial 911. But the door bursts open before I can get a response. The armed men are in the house.
I dart toward my bedroom while Jeff goes toward his. One of the men comes after me. He's taller and maybe stronger. My phone tumbles out my hands as I approach my room.
