Nicole sat at the table and began eating as if it were a race. Unfortunately her stomach had shrunk over the months and she wasn’t even able to finish a quarter of the food she’d placed on her plate. His housekeeper came and tried to clear her plate and she almost growled at her. The woman looked up startled.
“I’m not done yet,” she said and could feel the awful red flushing her cheeks again.
“Let Maria take the plate and if you get hungry again, then you can grab some fresh food,” Ryan said to her with a little chuckle. Nicole glared at him, snagged the muffin off the plate and reluctantly let his housekeeper take the rest away.
“Okay, I think it’s time to have our chat now,” Ryan told her. Nicole took a deep breath and got ready to beg. There was no one, other than her sister, who she’d lower herself for. Since she was more of a mother to Patsy than a sibling, she’d do whatever it took to make sure she’d be okay.
“Patsy has a rare heart disease requiring surgery but her insurance doesn’t cover it. They say it’s an elective surgery and yet if she doesn’t get it, she won’t survive to her seventeenth birthday,” Nicole said in a rush. She was fighting tears, even speaking of the thought of losing Patsy. She loved her so much and she was supposed to take care of her. She was supposed to be the one who made sure she didn’t get sick and now Patsy was barely hanging on. The thought of it nearly destroyed Nicole.
“So you need to borrow money?” he asked her. He leaned back in his chair and was looking at her like she was a piece of meat he was about to devour. She had to fight not to glare at him.
“It’s killing me to borrow money from you. I just need someone to pay her surgery costs. I’ll get a new job right away and pay every dime of it back,” she said stubbornly. She couldn’t tell from his expression if he was going to do it or not. The waiting was killing her a bit more inside.
Ryan felt an immense satisfaction to have her sitting before him. It made up slightly for those years of pain he’d gone through. No other girl had ever come close to holding his attention like she had.
“What are you willing to do for me if I do this?” he asked her coldly.
“I…I don’t understand,” she stuttered.
“Come on Nicole, you’re so much smarter than this, or at least you used to be. Money means nothing to me. I can pay the bill without it even placing a dent in my wallet so I don’t need, nor want you to pay me back,” he told her in a smug tone of voice.
“What do you want?” she asked him, far too afraid of the answer he may give. He smiled at her and her stomach clenched. She was terrified of what was going to come out of his mouth next. What if the thing he wanted wasn’t possible for her to give? If it was within her power, then of course she would do it but she couldn’t figure out what he could possibly want from her - she had absolutely nothing.
Ryan knew he was going straight to hell but he didn’t care. He wanted her and now he had the chance to get what he wanted. He would get from her what he wanted and when he was finished he’d walk away. Then maybe he wouldn’t feel the ache. She would never know he’d already arranged the surgery and had Patsy moved the night before.
She didn’t know that even if she walked right out the door and told him to go to hell he’d still help Patsy. He’d loved the little girl when she was only a couple years old and toddling at his feet. He’d help her without requiring anything. But on the other hand why not get something out of Nicole if he could. He looked straight into her eyes so there would be no chance of a misunderstanding.
“I want you in my house, in my bed, at my beck and call. You’ll be here for me night and day for whatever I need until I’m bored with you. Then I’ll set both you and Patsy up in a decent place since apparently you’re homeless at the moment and have nowhere for her to recover,” he told her. He added the last part to drive home her desperate need of his help.
He watched her expression as his words registered. Her eyes widened in comprehension and if he would’ve seen only horror in her expression he would’ve backed off but it wasn’t the only thing he saw. He saw passion in her eyes and a quickening of her breath at his words. She wanted him, he was sure of it. He would bet his entire fortune on it. He also knew the moment he won. He saw the slump of her shoulders and she lowered her eyes in defeat.
“I require an answer, now,” he commanded. He didn’t want to give her any time to change her mind.
“What choice are you giving me?” she yelled at him, as a tear slipped down her cheek. She’d never hated the man more than she did at that moment. How could she not do whatever it took to keep her sister safe? It appeared the man knew everything and if the people at the hospital found out they were currently homeless, they would take Patsy away for sure and she would be placed in foster care. Nicole had managed to do just fine keeping them both safe until Patsy had come down with heart disease.
They were both survivors and she knew they would get back on their feet again. She only had to guard her heart from falling in love with Ryan all over again. She didn’t know how that was possible if she’d be sleeping with him. Since Ryan, she’d been unable to give her heart or body to any other man.
Ryan refused to be swayed by her tears. For all he knew, she was letting the water works fall, as all women did, to get her own way. He turned from her and poured himself a shot of bourbon. He knew it was much too early in the day for a drink but it was either that or pull her into his arms and he wanted to save that for later.