Chapter Sixteen
Claire
Steele was right. He was my escape. When I was with him it was easy to forget about Reese's troubles or the debt I had taken on. I had let myself get lost in our whirlwind of dates, but time was running out. I had to stop messing around and start getting the cash together.
Steele called again but I turned my phone over and ignored him.
We had grown so close over such a short amount of time. It couldn't be real. No matter how much I wanted him or how well we got along, Steele Channing was not for me.
That much had come clear when I had spotted Reese's tormentor roaring toward us on a lowrider motorcycle. Steele had hailed him like an old friend. And, if that wasn't bad enough, Steele then decided that I wasn't good enough to meet the rest of his motorcycle club.
Steele told me that I understood him better than anyone he had ever known. Understanding was supposed to be a two-way street, though, and he didn't understand why I was upset. It didn't matter that he was trying to spare me from his rough-and-tumble motorcycle friends; it was the fact that he was keeping me out.
My phone rang again and then there was a sharp knock on the door. I sprang to my feet and marched over, ready to explain my hurt to Steele at top volume.
"Whoa! Whatever it is, I didn't do it," Reese cried.
I grabbed my front door as it bounced against the hinges and swung back. "That's right," I said. "You've already done enough."
Reese followed me inside my modest condo. "I thought you were going out on another date with Mr. Fancypants."
I slumped down on my old sofa. "No. I think I'm done with that."
Reese sat down and nudged me in the ribs with his elbow. "Can't stand his snotty friends? I don't blame you, but you shouldn't give up when you've got a good thing going."
I edged away from my brother. He always had a different angle. "What do you mean 'a good thing?'"
"I figure a few more dates, maybe some, um, intimate time, and your sugar daddy will be more than happy to cover my debt," Reese said.
I jumped up as my brother kicked his shoes onto my coffee table and leaned back with his hands behind his head. "That's not going to happen."
"Wait, what?" Reese rolled his eyes. "Why can't you ever take the easy route? This Channing character is worth billions and he seems genuinely interested in you."
"That's what I thought too." My voice turned as blurry as my teary eyes.
"Oh, Claire. Please tell me you didn't," Reese said.
I lifted my stubborn chin and sniffed. "Didn't do what?"
My brother stood up and leaned forward to study my face. "You did. You fell for him. What were you thinking, Claire?"
I shoved Reese in the chest. "It doesn't matter. I told you it's over."
"But what about the money?"
I wrenched open my front door. "I told you I would take care of it and I will."
Reese reluctantly walked out the door. "Hack has backed off. I don't know why, but I know it won't last forever. Time's almost up."
I answered my brother by slamming the door in his face. Then I stumbled against the closed door and slid to the floor. Reese was right, I couldn't take the easy way out. I was trapped.
Like a fool, I had used my skeletal bank account to pay for dates with Steele. Two lunches, a few drinks, and one expensive dinner later and I was living paycheck to paycheck. There was no way I would be able to raise the money to pay that slime ball Hack.
I let myself sniffle for a few more seconds and then clawed my way back up to standing. I grabbed my car keys and squared my shoulders. Hack would have to renegotiate. That's all there was to it.
I recognized the way to the Rebar Roadhouse from my last motorcycle ride with Steele. It looked different from the inside of my little economy car, and I reminded myself it was yet another part of Steele's life where I did not belong. It was a relief when I didn't spot his motorcycle in the dusty parking lot.
Hack, on the other hand, seemed to perpetually be at the road house. He appeared from the shadowed porch and spit into the dirt.
"Got my money early?" he called.
I shut my car door but stayed next to it. If I couldn't get past Hack and go inside where there were other people, the safest place was my car. He scowled but sauntered down the steps and came to me.
"I can't raise the money. You'll have to think of something else," I said.
He scrubbed his sparse beard and looked around. No one was nearby and his beady eyes narrowed with nasty possibilities. "Then give me your watch."
"What?" I covered my Rolex with my hand. "It was my mother's."
Hack held out a shaky hand and gave a hissing laugh. "And now it's collateral. You miss the deadline and you'll owe me double."
My chest squeezed with frustration. "That's ridiculous. I told you I couldn't pay. How do you think I'm going to get double the amount?"
He rubbed his nose, a habitual cocaine user's gesture, and sniffed hard. "You're lying. I know you're some fancy doctor. I looked you up on the internet. Doctors get paid big bucks."
"I work in an ER. I'm still paying off my debts," I explained.
Hack spat in the dirt again. "Do I look like I care? Ask that snooty surgeon friend of yours. He was really upset when I said you and I were old friends."
"You went to my work?" The thought of Hack sniffing around Julie and the other nurses made me feel nauseated.
"If you ask me that surgeon wants to be more than friends. Maybe he'll clear your debt if you give him what he wants." Hack reached out a finger and tickled the collar of my shirt.
I jerked back but couldn't hide my revulsion. He caught my wrist and unhooked my mother's Rolex. "Wait, stop. I'm sure we can come up with a reasonable deal."
"I don't need reason, I need money," Hack said. He yanked me closer. "And if you can't pay then I'll find someone who will. Lot of men wouldn't mind putting down a fat stack of cash for a tasty woman like you."
My stomach did a sick flip. I twisted my wrist and sprang free of him. Hack dangled my mother's watch in the air then shoved it deep in the pocket of his grimy jeans.
"You can't do this," I said.
Hack looked all around the parking lot. Not another soul was outside. He gave me a wolfish grin. "Tell you what, darling. This watch buys you an extra two days. After that, you'll take the place of the money you owe me."
I made it back into my car and locked the doors before the first tear slipped out my eyes. My mother's Rolex was engraved, a special message from my father, and it was the only way I could remember his soft, loving voice.
"Oh, god," I sobbed to my long-dead father. "What am I going to do?"
It was then I remembered the storage unit. I had purposely put the rent on auto-payments and forgotten all about it. Pretending it didn't exist had kept my parents' few remaining belongings safe from my brother. I searched for the storage places number, got directions, and started my car.
I was numb by the time I stood in front of the storage unit with the key in my hand. Keeping the valuables from my brother wasn't the only reason I had shoved the storage unit out of my head. It hurt to think about what was inside.
My phone rang and I answered, figuring anything was better than what I was facing.
"Claire! Don't hang up, please. We need to talk."
"I can't right now, Steele. I'm dealing with something," I said.
His voice softened. "What's the matter, Claire? Are you all right?"
"No." I stopped myself and held my breath. Then I slowly exhaled. "I will be. I just need a little time to sort some things out."
"Can I help?" Steele asked.
I leaned against the cold door of the storage unit and pressed my forehead to the steel. "Look, Steele, I think we need to slow down. It's been fun. I mean, really great, but I can't do it. I don't fit into your life. Either of them."
"I knew it," Steele swore under his breath. "This is because I didn't introduce you to the guys in the club. Do you really want to meet them that badly?"
"No," I snapped. "I don't want to have anything to do with the Road Claws. Any more than I have to."
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Steele asked.
I heard it, some offer of peace and understanding in his voice, but it didn't make sense to me. "I'm sorry, Steele. This just isn't a good time. I'll call you when I can."
I hung up the phone and struggled to unlock the storage unit through my tears. Everything in me had wanted to confide in Steele. Deep down I knew he was a man I could trust, but I was too embarrassed. How could I tell him my stupid money troubles? He'd think I was just after his money, and that wasn't it at all.
I loved Steele, but I wasn't good enough for him. My life was a mess, thanks to my brother, and I was the only one who could clean it up.
The door screeched as I pushed it open. A single bare bulb lit the storage unit and I blinked under the harsh light. I saw my mother's silly lemonade pitcher, the one shaped like a white rabbit, and my eyes blurred with tears again.
Most of the stuff I had saved was junk. Like the plastic bunny pitcher, most of the things I unboxed were worth nothing. Except for the memories. There was my dad's old football helmet with the heart my mother had drawn on it in high school. Underneath it was her letter jacket with her state champion track and field patch.
As I dug through all I had left of my parents, I started to hate my brother. This was all Reese's fault and he expected me to clean it up. He was off somewhere having a cold beer and not worrying about a single thing. I was in a dank room dividing precious memories into piles based on how much they'd fetch at a pawn shop.
Then I found Reese's old stuffed dinosaur.
He'd gotten really sick in grade school. Hospital sick. Every day I had to go straight from school to visit him and I would find him clutching that stuffed dinosaur. It was my job to cheer him up until my parents got done with work and joined us.
One day, he wasn't in his room. The surgery that was supposed to correct his intestinal track had failed and he was bleeding internally. My parents were stuck in traffic. I almost lost him. My sweet, funny, scared little brother. I swore that day that I would take care of him.
I took the two small crates I had managed to fill with valuables and loaded them in my car. Then I kissed that scruffy little dinosaur and packed him carefully back in his box.
"I'll do my best," I told the memory of my parents. Then I shut and locked the storage unit and drove into the city to find a pawn shop.