I stared down at the pile of overdue bills in front of me, my phone still clutched in my hand, Alf’s, “Sorry, girl,” still ringing in my ear, and did my best not to break down. When I saw Alf yesterday and pleaded my case, he’d been sympathetic; well, as much as Alf could, but he hadn’t budged. I’d put my pride aside one more time—who was I kidding, my pride had left the building long ago—and called him again. The answer was still no. I was too unreliable.

I dropped my phone and covered my face with my hands.

I’d kept an upbeat front for Tilly when she got home from school yesterday, while we’d baked her cake, then again, this morning, walking her to the bus and waving her off like I had the day before; like everything was fine, like nothing had changed. Having no job, worrying myself ill about money, her father’s sudden contact—that was my concern, not hers. That little girl was mine now, my responsibility. I was the only adult in her life that she could depend on. I’d do anything, anything, not to let her down. To keep her safe.

She’d had more than enough sadness and fear in her life.

I just had to figure a way out of this. My job hunting yesterday had been unsuccessful. I’d tried a few salons, but since my old boss had refused to give me a reference when I’d left in a hurry, leaving her in the lurch, it was pointless. I didn’t even have anything I could sell. My mother, Rebecca, they certainly hadn’t had anything of value, that’s for damn sure. We were on our own and I had to figure out what came next, and fast.

There was a knock at the door, and I jolted.

I wanted to ignore it, but it was probably Fay. I’d seen her yesterday and told her I’d be home; she’d worry if I didn’t answer. I hadn’t showered yet, still in my sleep shorts and a tank. That was usual for me at ten in the morning, but we’d been running late for the bus, so I’d just thrown on a jacket, then I’d gotten sidetracked by Alf and my growing pile of bills, and the morning had gotten away on me.

I pulled the door open, a smile that I knew must look forced on my face.

The smile froze and I jolted, jerking back. Trent.

Oh God.

I tried to shove the door shut, but he stepped forward, forcing me back inside and followed, shutting the door behind him.

“Get the hell out. Now. You can’t just come into my house like this…”

He kept coming, a smarmy grin on his face. “I got sick of waiting.”

My back connected with the wall, and he pressed in, so I had nowhere to go. “Back the hell up, Trent.”

His hand came up, fingers circling my throat, and he squeezed. Not hard, but the threat was there all the same. “You think you can run off with my kid and not tell me, that you can hide her, keep her from me, and there wouldn’t be consequences?”

I grabbed his wrist and tried to wrench it away. His fingers tightened. “You don’t care about Tilly,” I choked out.

“She’s my daughter,” he snarled in my face, spraying me with spittle.

“When did that ever matter to you?” I snarled back. “You want money, and you’re willing to use your little girl to get it.”

His face twisted, expression turning even uglier. “You always thought you were better than me, that Rebecca was too good for me…”

“She was!” I yelled. “It’s your fault she’s dead, it’s your fault Tilly lost her mother.” I stared him down, fighting the fear, letting the anger come forward. I had a lot of it. “Do the right fucking thing for once. Leave Tilly alone. She’s better off without you and you know it.” I dug my nails into his wrist. “You’ve taken enough from her, hurt her enough.”

He hissed, pulling me forward, and slammed me against the wall. “I’ll leave, when you give me the money I asked for, and not before. You hear me.”

“I don’t have any money, asshole. It’s taking everything I have to keep this roof over our heads. Christ, how can you do this to your own daughter?”

“Shut the fuck up!” He moved closer. “You hate me? Well, bitch, I fucking hate you too, and I’m going to make your life a living hell until you start paying me what I’m owed.”

I tugged on his wrist again, but he refused to let go. “What you’re owed?”

“You want to keep Tilly, you’ll pay for it.”

And there it was. “You make me sick.”

“Maybe it’s time I worked at getting visitation with my girl. I bet she misses her daddy.”

Tilly never mentioned him, ever. She was scared of him. “No…don’t you…”

He squeezed tight enough to cut off my oxygen.

“Yes.” His forehead brushed mine, his stale breath washing over my face. “You don’t pay me, that’s what comes next. I’ve done my time. I’m grieving the loss of my woman. My daughter is all I have left.” He smirked. “They’ll eat that shit up…”

Someone banged on the door beside us and Trent’s head snapped toward it.

The outline of someone standing there was visible through the glass. A big someone.

Trent stepped back abruptly, letting me go.

I gasped for breath, scrambling along the wall to get as far away from him as I could.

“Willa, you in there?” a deep voice called through the door.

Jude.

“Who the fuck it that?” Trent hissed.

“My landlord. He’s an ex-cop, and he doesn’t like trash like you hanging around his house, so get the fuck out of here, or I’ll tell him you got physical with me.”

He got in my face again, eyes wild. “I need money, Willa, you hear me. I fucking need it.”

Jude banged again, harder. “Willa, you in there?”

“You tell him I was here, you’ll be sorry.” Trent shoved me away, then jogged down the hall, through the kitchen, and out the back way.

The banging got more insistent and the next time Jude called my name, there was real concern in his voice. I rushed to unlock the door, trying to calm my racing heart as I gripped the door handle. I yanked it open and stared up at him. He was scowling, but I didn’t think he was angry, more worried, going by the way his eyes moved over me. The man was assessing me, expecting the worst. I had a feeling he did that a lot, only this time he’d be right.

On the way up, his eyes came to a stop at my throat, then narrowed.

There was no point trying to hide the marks Trent had obviously left now. My only option was to brazen it out.

“What happened to your neck?” he said, low, with an edge that lifted the hair at the back of my neck.

I worked on giving him my best what-now expression, and lifted my fingers to my abused skin. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s red, like someone had their hands around it.”

I made a show of walking to the hall mirror to check it out. Shit, Trent’s grip had left a bright red band. “Oh wow, I didn’t realize it was so bad,” I said, and turned back to him. “Silver allergy. I put on an old necklace of my mom’s, thought it was junk, turned out to be real.” I shrugged. “So, what brings you here this morning?”

He continued to stare at me, in a way that made me shift my feet from side to side. He was still assessing, trying to decide if he believed me or not. Finally, he said, “Security upgrade, remember?”

“Right, of course.” I forced a smile.

His gaze dropped back to my throat, then lower. My nipples hardened instantly into tight, achy little peaks. Jude’s eyes narrowed again and I quickly crossed my arms.

He looked away, walked into the living room off the entryway, and called out, “You might want to get dressed. My security guy will be here soon to start the work.”

I glanced down at myself. Okay, sure, I wasn’t exactly dressed for the day, but I wasn’t buck naked either. I wanted to tell him where to go, that he could shove his suggestion up his ass, but I needed a minute to compose myself after my run-in with Trent.

Still, I wasn’t going to let him think I was the kind of woman to follow some heavy-handed macho man’s orders either. “You have a problem with the way I’m dressed?”

He turned around from his position in the living room, and his gaze moved over me again, from head to toe. “No,” he said, voice impossibly deep.

Goosebumps lifted across my skin and whatever I was about to say to put him in his place, evaporated with my shaky exhale. “I was going to get changed anyway,” I muttered, heading for my room.

Nice comeback, Willa. You sure showed him.

Christ, what was it about him that got to me? I had no room in my life for some grumpy, ex-cop, do-gooder. I didn’t want him sticking his nose in my business. Trent’s nasty, twisted expression filled my head. I needed to give him money, something to get rid of him. Once he had what he wanted, he wouldn’t give Tilly another thought. I knew that much. I needed another job, something that paid well, and I needed it now. I shoved it from my mind for the moment.

My landlord was in my house and keeping his suspicions about my situation to a minimum was my main priority. I got the feeling if the man decided to get involved, there would be no stopping him.

The only way I could think of to keep him out of my business, was to throw enough attitude his way that he’d be glad to see the back of me, though not enough, he’d kick my ass out of this house. A fine line, but a challenge I was up for.

I changed quickly, throwing on a bra, and putting on basically the same thing I was already wearing, only my shorts were black denim and since I needed to do laundry, I rummaged around in the bag of castoffs one of the girls at the bar had brought in. She’d had breast implants and a bunch of her tops didn’t fit anymore. We’d all grabbed a few items each because her clothes were awesome and barely worn. The one I pulled out was army green, and had something written in black on the front. I turned it to read what it…

“Hey, Willa, Cage is here. He needs your keys and codes for the alarm,” Jude called from the hall.

I quickly shoved on the tank and rushed out. I didn’t want Jude rummaging around the kitchen for my keys and finding the stack of bills still sitting on the table. “Let me just get them,” I said…then pulled up short.

There was another guy standing with Jude. Cage, I assumed. Similar height. Scruff that was close to being a beard, and intelligent, intense eyes. He was also built. His t-shirt stretched across his chest and had McBride Security printed on it.

Both men stared at me, then their gazes dropped to my chest.

Cage smirked, and Jude’s chin jerked back up, his eyes slicing to mine; they were dancing.

“What?” I said, glancing down at myself.

My other ride is a Beard, was printed across my chest.

Seriously? My face heated as I looked back up at the bearded men still watching me.

“You trying to tell me something?” Jude said, face way too serious. But I knew he was teasing because those brown eyes were still dancing with humor.

Still, my belly swirled in a way that I was not happy about. “What? …No.”

Jude tilted his head to the man beside him. “This is Cage. He’s gonna be putting sensors on your windows and an extra motion detector light at the back door.”

“Is this really necessary?” I said, because being difficult was the ultimate goal, right? “We’re fine. We don’t need all this.”

“Not doing it for you,” he said. “This is my property, I meant to do it a long time ago.”

I snatched up my keys from the hall table and handed them to Cage. “Whatever, it’s your money.”

Jude made no move to leave, and I didn’t want to get stuck in the same room with him making small talk, especially after all he’d done for me with the rent and meds. I felt like a charity case, and I didn’t like that feeling one bit, so I gave Cage the codes and headed for the door. “I’ll be over at Fay’s,” I said, and rushed out before he could reply, hit the steps to her place, and knocked on the door.

She opened it with a grin. “Get your ass in here and I’ll make you some tea.”

I chuckled and followed her to her kitchen. Her house was almost identical to mine, only the first floor was still part of her house, not a separate apartment like at mine. It had a bar, dartboard, and a pool table down there. Her husband had used it as his “man cave” when he’d still been alive.

“I see you got visitors over there,” she said.

Fay was wearing Birkenstocks, black jeans, a Rolling Stones t-shirt, and a wide studded belt. Her long black and silver hair was down, and she had a thin braid down one side. She looked cool. She always looked cool. I plonked down at her kitchen table. “Yep, Jude’s upping the security.”

Fay smiled down at the mugs she was dropping tea bags into. “Is he now? Well, that’s awfully nice of him.”

I snorted. “Don’t even think about trying to match make. One: whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong. The upgrade has nothing to do with me. And two: I have zero interest in a man, any man, in my life, permanent, casual, or otherwise.”

Fay stirred our drinks and put a mug in front of me. “If you say so.” She took a sip of her tea. “So, what’s bothering you, besides having a giant hunk of a man hanging around and making sure you’re safe?”

“Fay…”

She lifted a hand. “I know, no men.” She gave me a look that said I was nuts. “I won’t go on, but I know you’re not blind. Jude’s not exactly hard to look at. A man like that, big, strong…” she smirked. “The positions that boy could put you in, is all I’m saying.”

I choked on my drink. “Fay!”

“What? I’m just making sure you know what you’re passing up on.”

Oh, I knew, not that there’d been an offer. But yeah, I’d thought about…that. More than I should. “You’re wasting your time. He has not shown the least bit of interest in me.”

Fay rolled her eyes. “If you think what he’s doing over there has nothing to do with you and Tilly, you’re kidding yourself.” Her expression turned grave and she took my hand. “Take it from a woman who hasn’t gotten any for way longer than I’d like to think about.” At my obvious surprise, she grinned wickedly. “There’s only so much fun you can have with a vibrator, girl. Nothing beats the real thing from time to time.”

A laugh exploded past my lips. I didn’t think that was possible after the morning I had; God, the whole shitty week. “Look, I’ll agree with you there. But Jude barely knows us and I don’t think screwing your landlord is such an intelligent idea, do you? And like I said, I don’t…”

“You don’t need a man.” She waved a hand. “Bah, if you say so.” She took another sip of her tea. “Now, are you going to tell me what’s really bothering you, ’cause you’re doing a crappy job of hiding it. Talk to me.”

I slumped back in my seat. “Alf won’t give me my job back and I’m getting behind on…God, on everything. I’m worried I’ll lose that house. I can’t lose it, Fay.” There was no way I was telling her about Trent. She might tell Jude, thinking she was helping, and there was no way I was getting anyone else involved. I wouldn’t put Tilly at risk like that.

She tapped the side of her mug. “You need fast money?”

“Yes, I’m desperate.”

She stared at me for several long seconds. “Do you know how I met my husband?”

I shook my head. I knew he’d been “the one” for her, but I’d never asked too many questions, afraid bringing up those memories would upset her.

She took another sip of her drink, then put it back on the table. “I moved to the city when I was seventeen, a naive country girl, escaping a bad situation at home. I found myself in an even worse one here, no money, close to getting thrown out of the place I was renting. Then, while I sat crying at the bus stop, terrified to go home, but not sure what else I could do, a girl sat beside me and introduced herself. Her name was Jennifer, and she told me she could get me a job and I should meet her boss. Mr. Esposito—Samuel—was sitting behind a big desk when I walked into his office, wearing the most beautiful suit I’d ever seen.” She gave me a wicked grin. “Not surprising, since he ran the finest strip club in New York.”

My eyes widened.

Her grin stayed in place and she shrugged one shoulder. “He liked the way I looked, hired me on the spot. He was training his sons, Mateo and Raul, to take over the business one day, maybe expand. For Mateo and I, it was love at first sight. A few months later, he asked me to marry him, and the rest was history.”

I sat there, blinking over at her, shocked. “You were a dancer? A stripper?”

Fay smiled. “One of the best. I made great money. I only stopped dancing after I got married, but I still had a lot to do with the club, made costumes, helped the girls when they needed it. Jen and I stayed friends; in fact, she recently moved back to the city since her son still lives here.”

“I had no idea.” But then, Fay was always full of surprises. Did she really think I should, that I could…? “Are you suggesting I strip?”

Fay shrugged. “I’m not suggesting anything. Though, there’s nothing wrong with it, nothing to be ashamed of. You can make a lot of money, and fast.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I shook my head. “No…I couldn’t. For one, I can’t dance worth a damn.”

She chuckled. “You just need to move; the men won’t be assessing your dancing skills.”

“What kind of money are we talking about here?” I wasn’t contemplating this, was I?

“In a week, five times what you were making working for Alf.” She looked over at me, eyes soft. “I’m not saying you make it a permanent thing, I’m just saying it might be a good way to get you out of the bind you’re in.”

I shook my head. “I couldn’t. I wouldn’t even know where to start, where to go.”

A small smile curved her lips. “Well, I can help you with that.”

She stood, walked over to the side table by the back door, and rummaged around in her purse. She came back with a black and gold business card and put it down in front of me. Stilettos was written in curly gold script. “What’s this?”

“Mateo’s brother, Raul, you’ve met him, comes by to visit sometimes. He still owns the club. He’s a good man. He’s good to his girls, is accommodating to the ones who have families.”

“Raul?” Yes, I’d met him. He’d always been polite. An older man. Dressed sharp, had a nice smile and a really nice car.

“He’s family. You want a job, I can talk to him, organize an interview.” She frowned. “He’s always trying to throw money at me, or asking what he can do for me. He gets frustrated, wants to look after me.” She frowned harder. “He’ll be happy I’m finally taking him up on his offer.”

My mouth opened and closed several times before I managed, “I don’t know if I could. Can I think about it?”

She patted my hand. “Course you can. If you decide you want to meet Raul and talk about it, you let me know, and in the meantime”—she got up again, opened one of the top cupboards and pulled something down—“this is for you. I’ve been saving it up, for an emergency, and I think that’s where you’re at.” She put a jar down in front of me. It was full of cash.

My gaze shot up to hers. “What is this? I can’t take your money.”

She sat back down. “It’s not mine, it’s yours. Every time you paid me for minding Tilly, I put it in there. I knew money was tight, and I didn’t think you’d be able to save much.” She shrugged again. “I don’t need it. I live modest because that’s the way I like it. I look after Tilly because she’s a sweetheart and I like spending time with her. I don’t need paying to help out a friend.”

I hadn’t cried, hadn’t let myself cry, since Rebecca’s funeral. Tears welled in my eyes now, tears that I didn’t think I was going to be able to choke back. “Fay, I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Nothing to say, honey. Not one thing.”

I hugged her tight.

My good mood dissolved a short time later, though, when I went home and discovered Jude was gone, and he’d left some guy I didn’t know in my home.

“Be finished in about an hour,” Cage told me, when I made it clear I wasn’t happy about the situation, not one damn bit.

I went back to the kitchen, pulled out my phone and opened my messages, hitting Jude’s name.

You left a stranger in my house, without me here. Not okay.

His reply came while I was making my bed. He’s a friend and a professional. You can trust him.

His reply was arrogant and presumptuous. Like I should just take his work for it. Like I should trust some stranger in the house I live in with my niece because he said so.

I don’t even trust you, like hell am I going to trust some random guy you brought here. I fired back.

Maybe I was making a bigger deal over this than was necessary, but this was Tilly’s safety we were talking about. When it came to her, I could never be too careful.

His reply was almost instant.

You don’t trust me?

I stared down at his reply half-pissed, and weirdly, a little guilty. I had no idea why. I shoved that aside. Could the man be any more arrogant?

I tapped out my reply. I don’t know you.

And that was the honest truth. Did anyone ever really know someone. I’d had a handful of interactions with this man, and suddenly, he was demanding my trust. Yeah, he’d been good to me with the rent, and helping out when Tilly had her migraine, but he couldn’t be serious?

My phone beeped again.

Do you want to get to know me?

What the hell did that mean? My heart started racing faster, my lower belly getting all squirmy and warm. I didn’t like it—mainly because I did. Way more than I should. Okay, yeah, he was hot, but I didn’t want anything more to do with him than landlord and tenant. If that was what he was getting at, I didn’t need it. Maybe I was reading too much into his words, but then again, maybe I wasn’t.

I typed out two words and stared down at them. Too blunt? Should I add more? I didn’t want to piss him off, but I also didn’t need him hanging around, playing the white knight, especially not when I had Trent to deal with. If he was fishing for more, he was looking at the wrong girl. All the men in my life had left or let me down, or both. Why would I want to put myself in a situation that was doomed to end in disappointment? I wouldn’t do that to myself or Tilly.

And you made a promise to Rebecca.

I ignored the weird, kind of queasy feeling in my stomach, left the text as it was, and hit send.

Honestly? No.

I stared down at my reply, watched as Delivered popped up. Then Read. I waited for several minutes, but no reply came.

A phone rang in the other room. Cage’s phone. He talked for a couple minutes then got back to work.

I winced when my phone beeped a short time after that.

I fucked up leaving Cage there without telling you. The last thing I want is to make you feel unsafe. He’ll show you how to change the codes before he leaves.

I read it two more times. He’d owned his mistake and he’d dropped the getting-to-know-you talk.

My message had been received loud and clear.

Good. That was what I wanted, right?

I ignored the instant feeling of regret, the unhappy twist in my stomach, and sat on the edge of my bed, pulling the card Fay had given me from my pocket.

I got the feeling Jude wasn’t the kind of guy to abandon a woman in need. And that’s how he saw me. That’s how he’d keep on seeing me until I got my finances sorted out and paid my rent.

I wanted things to go back to the way they were. Jude Wayland just being a name on a deposit slip. Trent to disappear and stay the hell gone. But if Fay saw him hanging around, she’d call Jude like she had last time. That couldn’t happen.

Which meant I needed money, and lots of it, fast.

I tapped the card against my knee, staring at the gold script.

Shit.