“Ms. Delaney. Name is Ty. I’m a collector at Collections R Us. I’ve taken over your file from Sergio. Says here you missed a payment on Monday. I’m after our money.”

My blood runs cold. “Where’s Sergio? Why are you calling me now?” I can’t disguise the horror in my voice.

“You know why I’m calling.” His voice is low, rough, and nothing short of menacing. “Sergio is away to deal with a family emergency. I’m handling his files for him, and I want the f**king money.”

“But…it’s Saturday night…you’re harassing me.”

Ty makes a tsk tsk sound. “I’ll f**king call you whenever I f**king want, you little deadbeat. Don’t think you’ll be putting me off the way you did to Serge. You had him twisted around your little finger but that crap doesn’t work with me. The money better be in our account first thing Monday morning or I’ll be taking a part of your paycheck for the rest of your f**king life and selling your parents’ house so fast they won’t know what hit them.”

My hands shake so hard I have to grip the chair. “You aren’t allowed to threaten me. I’ll report you.”

He snorts a laugh. “Christ. Like I haven’t heard that one before. How are you going to prove it? You got a record of this call? No f**king way. You got money to go to court? I don’t think so. I want my money, honey, or you and I will have a date at your workplace Monday morning, eight a.m.”

“Please,” I choke back a sob. “You’ll have your money. Just please leave my parents alone and don’t come to my work…”

Work. Oh. My. God. I’m in Max’s office.

I spin around. Max is standing behind me, only a few feet away. When I catch his gaze, his expression hardens into stone.

“Give me the phone.” His face and his voice command compliance, and right now, I’m not up for a fight.

“I have someone who wants to speak to you,” I say to Ty. I hand over the phone.

“Who is this?” Max thunders.

Ty talks for at least a minute. Max’s lips press into a thin line. His body stills. His face turns purple. Anger rolls off him in waves. His fury at my strip poker shenanigans was nothing compared to this. My thighs quiver and I curl up in the chair with my arms wrapped tight around my knees.

“Tell me how much? The full amount.” After thirty seconds, he barks, “You’ll have your money on Friday and you will NEVER contact her again. Give me the account details.” He stalks over to his desk and writes the numbers on a piece of paper, and then he ends the call.

I shake my head. “I can’t take your money, Max.”

“You will.”

“It’s my problem. I’ll deal with it.”

His jaw clenches. “You don’t deal with people like that. He’ll run you into the ground and your parents too.”

I nod and tears trickle down my cheeks. “That’s why I needed the second job.”

His face stills and my heart skips a beat.

“So take the money,” he shouts. “My company makes more than that in an afternoon.”

“I can’t. I don’t want you to ever think it was about the money.”

He closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths. “I know that, baby. I never thought for one minute you were like the others.”

“I forbid you to make that payment, Max. If you do, I’ll never speak to you again. I’ll find a way out of it myself. I don’t want to be indebted to you. I don’t want to feel I owe you anything.” And I have to know I can walk away. If there was one thing I learned as a child, it was that.

“Aaaargh.” Max throws the phone against the wall. I jump at the sharp crack as it hits the exposed brick and slides to the floor with a soft thud. “Of all the stubborn, irrational…” He rounds on me, striding toward my chair in a blaze of fury. “Why didn’t you tell me? After what they did to my family, how could you not let me know they were after you?”

I exhale a long, slow breath. “It wasn’t him before. It was a guy named Sergio. He was different. More accommodating. We had a bit of give-and-take going. And with the second job I was pretty sure I could make the payments. There was no reason to involve you. And after you told me about your family, I didn’t want to put you through anything like that again.”

“Christ.” Max rakes his hand through his hair. “Do you even understand? He will stop at NOTHING to get his money. I went through this when I was fourteen. He will harass you and torment you. He will show up at your work, your home, even if you go for a walk in the park. He will make your life a living hell.”

“I’ll find a way. If it means I have to get another two jobs, then that’s what I’ll do. I owe the money. I intend to pay it back. If he had just let me make reasonable payments, it would have been fine. Plus I’ve filed all sorts of appeals and Amanda’s going to help me out. She’s just finished a big trial.”

“Take the money and pay me back.”

“I don’t want to owe you anything. My mother never borrowed a cent off anyone. Even when things were at their worst, she always found a way to get by. I admired her for that. I would be happy to have half her character.”

Max slams his hand against the wall. “You didn’t trust me. Again. You didn’t think I could help you. No matter what I do, you won’t let me in.”