“What?” I ask, terror running rife at her whispered curse.

“I’m thinking.” Magnolia holds up a hand.

“Has he done this before? Is there a playbook for this?”

She shakes her head. “No. I mean, the man has had plenty of mistresses. He usually orders them from out of the country.”

“And?”

“After a few months, they disappear. Like they never existed to begin with.”

I think of Richelle LaFleur, the girl we knew from church that no one has seen or heard from again and was rumored to have been one of his mistresses. As far as I know, the police consider her disappearance a cold case.

My breathing speeds up again. No matter which way I look at the situation, the only ending that seems to be consistent is me dying.

Magnolia eyes me carefully, as if studying my every feature for the very first time. “After that mess with Richelle, he hasn’t been with any local girls.”

“Why deviate from his pattern now? Why me?” My words come out sounding just as frenzied as my brain.

Magnolia shakes her head. “God only knows.” Her reply doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation. She steps away, crossing to the counter to grab her cell. “I need to make a phone call.”

She leaves me on the couch as she walks out of the room, and I draw my knees up to my chest and contemplate my options. Magically come up with five hundred thousand dollars. Prostitute myself out to a man who has either killed or ordered people killed, and everyone he sleeps with disappears afterward. Or, prepare to die a horrendous death, knowing my friends and family are going to die too.

All because of Brett.

How could I have been so stupid? We’d met online, my first foray into the world of Internet dating. We’d been ridiculously compatible. Our first date had been a dream. It was effortless, the way I thought real love should be. And our chemistry? Off the charts. At least, at the very beginning. I was the one who brought up eloping, and he said it was the most romantic idea he’d ever heard. So, we did it.

And he was a con artist.

I thought he’d been so interested in the distillery because it was my passion, and after we got married, he wanted to be part of running it. We were going to be an unstoppable team, and that thrilled me. Until I spotted him and the other woman. All of a sudden, his reduced interest in sex with me became utterly apparent. He was too busy fucking someone else to want to go another round with me.

It was time to truly face the facts. Brett Hyde conned me. He never wanted to be part of a team. He wanted to use the distillery as collateral for a half-million-dollar debt to a man scarier than any villain Hollywood has yet to create.

I can’t stop picturing a woman dancing on shattered glass until the pain was so horrendous she slit her wrists.

He’s a monster.

I squeeze my arms tighter around myself, and Magnolia returns a few moments later.

“I only have a hundred liquid. I could borrow another two, maybe two and a half from my connections, but I can’t pull together five hundred in a week.”

I blink twice and stare at my best friend until I realize she’s talking about giving me the money. “I didn’t come here for that. I couldn’t take—”

“Of course you wouldn’t come here with your hand out, because that’s not the kind of girl you are. But I would give it up for you if I could. Your ass isn’t on the line by itself, sweet thing. If you default, we all go down with you.”

Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling like I normally do—determined to take on the world of whiskey and make Seven Sinners the household name it has never been. Today, I’m worried about whether I’ll be alive in another week.

All because of Lachlan Mount. No. Because of Brett.

“I already told him I don’t have the money. He knows.”

Magnolia nods, her teeth skimming her lower lip. “Doesn’t surprise me at all. The man knows everything that happens in this town. What does surprise me is that he’s willing to take pussy for payment on a half-mil debt.”

I cringe at her crass language, but one thing I’ve always respected about Magnolia is she calls a spade a spade.

“I’ve heard of him taking property, houses, boats, racehorses, and cars, but never a woman. This isn’t his normal behavior.”

The gears in my brain turn slowly, as though rusted together from information overload. “Why deviate from the pattern?”

Magnolia tilts her head to one side and studies the wreck I surely am. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? I mean, when you weren’t puking your guts up?”

I roll my eyes.

“Ke-ke, you are shit hot. I could book you out every night of the week and twice on weekends.”

“I know you mean that as a compliment, but—”

“But nothing. You got tits, ass, and that gorgeous red hair that makes a man think he’s gonna find fire when he gets you under him. And don’t get me started with those eyes of yours. You’ve cornered the market on untouchable class. And what’s more, you’re totally and completely oblivious to it.”

“Brett clearly didn’t think so.” I don’t even know why I say it. Reminding myself my husband was cheating on me sucks more every time.

“Brett was a fucking tool and never deserved you. And right now, you need to quit worrying about him and start worrying about Mount.”

I unwrap one arm from around my chest and pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t even know where to start.”

Magnolia cocks a hip to the side. “I have a feeling he’ll be calling all the shots, so it won’t matter either way. Actually . . . maybe that’s what’ll save your ass. From what I’ve heard, the others were all meek and submissive—”

I jerk back into the couch cushions. “That’s definitely not me.”

She holds up a hand. “No shit. And maybe that’s it. You’re full of fire and sass to match that ass of yours. You gotta use it.”

I don’t like where she’s going with this, and my belly flips in agreement. “I seriously have no idea what you mean. At all.”

“When you’re Lachlan Mount, no one defies you. No one gives you sass. Something about you caught his eye. I feel that in my bones. You have to use it. Work it. Don’t let him walk all over you.” Magnolia’s voice quiets. “Don’t let him break you, Ke-ke. You keep ahold of your pride and never let go. He won’t know how to handle you.”

The thought of Mount handling me turns my stomach again. “There’s really no other way? No other client—” I can’t even believe I’m throwing the option out there as a possibility.

Magnolia destroys my last hope with a shake of her head. “You’ve already been marked. Lachlan Mount owns your ass, regardless of whether he’s tapped it yet. No one else will touch you because they’ll want to keep their limbs intact.”

“He gave me a week. I have to find another alternative.”

“That’s the part I’ve been trying to figure out. Normally, when a debt to Mount is due, it is due.”

“Can’t I go to the police? Won’t they do something?”

Magnolia looks toward the ceiling, as though seeking patience from a higher power. “Please tell me you’re joking. Because if you take one step in that direction, we’re all dead.”

“So you’re saying . . . I have to do this.”

She lowers her gaze to mine, and I feel the grimness of her stare. “You don’t have a choice. Not another one you can live with, anyway.”

“And you want me to defy the man who’s never been defied?” I cough out a strangled laugh. “Are you trying to get me killed?”

She shakes her head again, biting her lip as she holds up a finger. “No. I’m trying to save you.”

“Fuck,” I whisper. Because honestly, what else is there to say in this situation?

“But there’s one more thing you gotta watch out for, girl.”

I don’t want to know where she’s going with this, probably down some other dark and gruesome road, but I have to ask. “What?”

“When you’ve got as much power as Mount, that much charisma, that much presence, it does things to people.”

“You’re losing me.”

“Listen to me, Ke-ke. Hear me.” Her sharp tone clues me in to the fact that this is no joke. “He’s going to make your head go to war with your body.”

My heart kicks up again. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

Magnolia lets out a long sigh. “I’ll put this in plain terms. You’re gonna tell yourself that you don’t want him, that you hate him, and that this is all happening against your will. But there’s something about that man that tells me he’s gonna fuck with your head and turn your body against you. Mark my words, Ke-ke. He will make you enjoy it. He will make you want him.”

The gravity of her stare presses me back into the couch. “No way. No fucking way.” I jump up, my arms at my sides, my hands fisted.

“Yes fucking way. Get this through your head.” She comes toward me and wraps a hand around my arm, her nails digging into my skin. “There’s no shame in enjoying it, if that’s what’s gotta be done. My girls do it all the time. Drop-dead gorgeous client, one they’d fuck for free? Doesn’t even feel like work.”

I stiffen under her grip. “I’m not one of your girls.” The words come out from between gritted teeth.

“But you’re still female, and chemistry isn’t something you can fight.” She surveys me with knowledge in her eyes I can’t begin to imagine. Her grip on my arm loosens. “Just . . . be careful. He’s not like any man you’ve ever met. But whatever you do, don’t show fear. Don’t let him fuck with your head. You’re strong. Hold on to that. But if you enjoy it . . . what’s the harm?” She releases her hold on me with a shrug.

“No way in hell.”