“There is no second chance out there.” I had just finished a search of a room for contraband and came up with an aerosol can that was mostly empty under the bed. “If you don’t get it right in here, what makes you think you’ll ever get it right out there?”

Juliet was crying as they always did when caught. The only reason I suspected anything was because she came on to me that morning. She’d been trying to convince everyone she had turned a new corner and was better. She wasn’t better. She was getting hits at night when no one was watching.

At six foot five and two hundred forty pounds, I should’ve been too intimidating to try anything with, but they didn’t think right when they were looking for a fix. Sure, I puffed my chest out when they’d say my green eyes were mesmerizing and I was a tree they wanted to climb, but my dick stayed in my pants.

I’d spread the legs of a drunk bitch at a bar who said that, but not a high cunt who was just trying to manipulate me. That was how I knew someone had been slipping and it earned them a search. I wasn’t one to flirt with. It wouldn’t get them anywhere. I was there to make sure they got clean, not get their rocks off. They thought if they could sleep with me, it would buy them favors. It didn’t. It bought them a search.

“It’s so hard.” She kept crying.

“If it’s hard in here, it will be impossible out there. Do you want to be here? I have at least six people waiting on this bed. Why shouldn’t I throw your ass out tonight and let someone else in who wants to be here?”

“I want to be here. I want to get help.”

I shoved the can in her face. “Not this way you don’t.” I held it out to her. “Take it. Go on. Finish the can.”

“No.”

I bent down and leaned in. “No? Did you just say no?” I stood up. “Get your shit. This is grounds for automatic dismissal.”

“No!”

That was the fight I wanted to hear.

“Why?”

She wouldn’t answer.

“Tell me why! Why shouldn’t I give someone else the chance you’re throwing away?”

“My kids!”

I’d take that answer, but it needed to change. She needed to be there for herself. When she could answer that question without hesitation—that she deserved to be there to be the best Juliet she could be—then I knew she would be on the right track. Until then, I’d take her fighting for her kids.

Her ex-husband was the one paying for it. He wanted her to stay and get clean. I felt he held some of the guilt for why she wasn’t sober to begin with. The life he led and dragged her into was not one of sobriety. The music business rarely was. Any lifestyle where there was fame and fortune was met with drugs and alcohol.

People achieve their dreams and realize life isn’t always better, and most of the time it’s harder. You have higher stress since more than just your family is counting on you. The demand for your time is outrageous. The decisions you make have to be meticulously thought out or it could all come crashing down.

It didn’t matter if you were in the music business, an actor, an athlete, or a CEO. They all came to me at one time or another. I’d take control of their lives for them until they could stand on their own two feet to take their lives back. They couldn’t do anything without my approval. They had to earn everything they got.

Some called it tough love. I didn’t love anyone or anything. I used to love getting high, and all that did was try to kill me and destroyed my family. There was no love involved, but I was tough. Which was another reason I knew her attempt to seduce me was a ploy. Most hated to see me come down the hall.

Until they got clean.

“Brody, your appointment is here.” Tim, my little brother, popped his head in. He was the only one who stayed with me when the family disintegrated. Sucker. He should’ve gone with our father and sister. He’d have a happier life. He’d probably get laid more, too.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

“I don’t think you want to keep him waiting.”

I turned and took a step toward him, causing him to back up. “I know who he is. He can wait.”

He nodded and left the room. I turned back to Juliet. I picked up her empty bag and threw it onto the bed. She cried and pleaded with me to let her stay.

“I’m not kicking you out.” I pointed toward the bag. “You live out of that bag until I tell you to unpack. One more fuck up like this and that bag is ready to go. Remember that.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Pack.”

I walked out of her room and straight into a pissed-off little brother. “I don’t have time for this. You told me not to keep my appointment waiting.”

I didn’t get too far before he grabbed my arm and tried to jerk me back around. It was cute to see him try to overpower me. It was never going to happen.

“Brody, that was too much in there. You need a vacation.”

I turned and narrowed my eyes. “And just who is going to oversee all of this?”

“I will.”

I laughed and turned back toward the office. He couldn’t oversee shit. He didn’t have the balls to tell them no and throw them out when they needed to go. He was a pansy and emotional little bitch. He couldn’t handle the tough jobs I did.

“Go sit in your circle and tell them all how you feel. I won’t tell Dr. Panties you started without her.”

“I wish you would stop calling her that.”

I turned quick and shoved my finger in his face. “This is the exact reason you could never do what I do. You give a shit about how other people feel. I couldn’t care less, so I have no problem telling them what the fuck their problem is and why I’m throwing them out onto the streets. You can’t do that. You never could, and you never will.”

I left him in the hallway and went straight toward the office. I slammed the can down onto the desk of our office girl, April. She jumped and looked up at me.

“I told you we are to order non-aerosol only supplies here. Did you order this?”

“No.”

“Then how did Juliet get it?”

“I don’t know. Did you ask her?” April D’Angelo had a mouth and wasn’t afraid to use it. I liked that. It was the only reason she stayed. I lost count of the office staff I’d let go before her. They couldn’t take me, and I wasn’t going to change for anyone.

April didn’t take my shit, though. She dealt with it and accepted it, but didn’t take it. She flung it right back in my face. Normally, I’d hate that, but she never did it out of disrespect or bitchiness. She just picked up whatever attitude I’d flung her way and flung it back.

Truth was, I would’ve been lost without her. She handled most of the office bullshit except for the budget. I never wanted to hire her, but I sure wanted to fuck her the first time I saw the hot little blonde number in front of me. I tried to come on to her before the interview even started and she put me in my place. The fact she could put up with my shit made her Employee of the Month every single month.

“No, I didn’t ask her. I doubt she’d tell me the truth anyway.”

She shrugged one shoulder and went back to her computer. “It could be the dumpster out back. We aren’t the only ones who use it. The people across the alley use it, too.”

“Fuck.” I couldn’t control that. “I’ll search it later.”

“Search it?” She looked up. “Why the fuck get in that mess? Just walk over and knock on the door, and when they open it, ask if they bought the can. Fuck it.” She threw her hands in the air and went back to the computer. “When I’m finished with this billing task, I’ll go ask them myself. You’ll end up shoving the can up someone’s ass.” She held her hand out for the can.

I placed the can in her hand and walked to my office. I’d almost forgotten the appointment I had. A rich father who thought he owned the city had a drug addict for a daughter and he was embarrassed to be seen with her. Another run-of- the-mill story that I’d heard all too often. I was bored before he finished his sob story over the phone.

I walked in and didn’t address him until I sat down. Even then, I only looked at him and didn’t speak. Joshua Mosley worked to gain the reputation he had and was proud of it. I didn’t need firsthand experience with him to know he begged for nothing. He took what he wanted, and the only thing he never took was no for an answer. He’d try to intimidate to get his way, and when that didn’t work, he’d threaten. He met his match because one answer I never gave was yes unless I wanted to, and no one intimidated me, including his paid monkey in the corner.

I looked at my watch and back to him when he didn’t speak. “Time is money.”

“You just think you’re some kind of hotshot asshole, don’t you?” Joshua Mosley was a sleazy motherfucker I didn’t want to give the time of day. He may have looked the part of a successful businessman with the three-piece suit and styled hair, but I wondered if his eye color was because he was full of shit or if they were just brown. I was betting on the shit.

“No. I’m an asshole, but I don’t think I’m a hotshot.” I slid a file off to the side. “What do you want? A bed for your daughter? You? One of your hired men? Stop wasting my time and tell me what it is you want. Then, I’ll tell you if you can have it and how much it’ll cost you if you can.”

“You will break my daughter of her addiction.” He looked around. “I’d hate to have any violations found in your establishment, Michaels. All these people you’re helping—they’d have to start over somewhere else.” He shook his head. “That can’t be good for them.”

His use of my last name did nothing to intimidate me. I could call him by his last name, as well. “Your chances of getting a bed are decreasing every word you speak, Mosley.” He may have had friends, but I had higher friends. He didn’t scare me. “Perhaps if you just cut to the chase and tell me what you’re expecting with your daughter, we can move on to the availability and cost of my services.”

“My daughter is blind to the effects this addiction is having on our family. We used to be so close, and now she barely speaks to me. I’ve tried everything I could to get her to come home where she belongs, but she stays where she is.”

Parents were usually the last people to help their children with addiction. If they could help, their kids wouldn’t have the problems they did in the first place. It didn’t make them bad parents. Some of the best parents I’d ever met had come to me for help with their kids. They were too close and enabled them too much to be of any help.

I grabbed a paper from the folder I’d just pushed aside. “How long has she been addicted?”

“It started two years ago, but I don’t know if that’s when the addiction started. I should’ve tried to stop it, but it seemed harmless at first.”

“Harmless?” I looked up. “Did she start with something small like pot?”

He shook his head. “It isn’t drugs.”

“Drinking? Did she start with beer?” I narrowed my eyes when he shook his head again. “Gambling? I’m not sure what else it could be.”

“His name is Bryce.” It was said with such a snarl he almost looked inhuman.

“I’m sorry. Did you say Bryce?” I threw my head back and laughed. “You don’t like the boyfriend your daughter brought home, so you think it’s an addiction because she’s choosing him over you?”

He sat up and pounded his fist on the desk. “She will not choose him over me.”

I sat back in the chair and placed my fingertips together as I looked at his red face and angry eyes. His hand was still in a fist and shaking. He wasn’t a well man. If I said no, he would find someone else to free her of her addiction. Clearly, love is not an addiction. Although it may make you do crazy things like an addiction, it isn’t a habit you can break.

“How, exactly, am I supposed to break her of this addiction? What do you propose?”

“She needs a bed.” He narrowed his eyes and looked at me as if I were the one with a screw loose. “You’ll keep her from him until she comes to her senses. It isn’t that complicated.”

“Love is always complicated.”

He slapped his open hand on the desk. “This isn’t love. He’s fucked with her mind and turned her against me. She needs to be taken away from him. The break will do her good.”

“What makes you think she’ll go for it? The break, I mean.”

“She won’t have a choice.”

I looked at him and glanced at the man in the corner, but the sneer on his face didn’t help calm my suspicions. Was he suggesting I take her whether she wanted to be taken or not? That was a big job I wasn’t sure I could do. The center wasn’t a place for her. It was for true addicts who needed help. The only thing she needed help from was her father.

“So, what’s in it for me?”

“Money.”

“I can get that from the next person who sits in that chair.”

He relaxed his fist and sat back. Giving him my interest in it was calming him down. “What do you want?”

“You understand what you’re asking is considered kidnapping. I mean, it’s a federal offense to take someone against their will and hold them until they do what you want. You do realize if you’re caught, it could be very bad for you.”

“It would be very bad for you, as well, so I’m confident you won’t get caught.”

“If he isn’t capable of the job, I already said I’d do it, boss.”

“Shut up, Marco. You’re needed elsewhere.”

“You wouldn’t even have to pay me extra. It would be my pleasure to get Laney away from that guy.”

I watched as Marco adjusted himself in the corner. If just thinking about taking her was giving him an erection, there was no way he’d be able to control himself if he had her alone. How hot was Mosley’s daughter?

“What’s your answer, Michaels?”

I looked back to Mosley before looking at the intake paper I had started to complete. The point of opening the rehab center was to help people who were too sick to help themselves. It was what I knew. I didn’t know anything about love or trying to make someone fall out of it.

I let my gaze wander just beyond the desk enough to watch Marco move his hand in his pocket, and my stomach churned. I may not have known anything about love or how to do what he was asking, but I did know scum when I saw it, and that man was worse than scum.

I wasn’t sure why I was considering the crazy plan before me, but I did know the reputation of the man in front of me. There wasn’t much he hadn’t been accused of doing. He was a master at hiding his business practices or pinning them on someone else. It would prove to be interesting to get involved with him, or stupid. I hadn’t decided which yet.

I had nothing to lose, but the woman they were discussing did. Could I have walked away from that? Could I have let them do what they wanted and turned a blind eye? I wasn’t sure I could.

Truth was, the center could’ve used the extra money. The updates Tim wanted to make would cost money we didn’t have. Unless it was a well-off client, we didn’t make much more than what kept the center afloat. I wasn’t going to empty bank accounts for people who were desperate to help their families.

I clenched my jaw and wondered if I could put up with a brat for a few days. Surely, if she grew up around the asshole in front of me, she’d be just as big of a bitch.

Of course, it would be one hell of a vacation. Tim was right. I was starting to lose it. I couldn’t even keep a straight thought as I debated what to do with the situation in front of me. The same thing day in and day out was starting to get to me. I needed a break. I wondered if the hatred Mosley had for her boyfriend was because he’d done something or if it was because no one would be good enough for his daughter.

“Why don’t you like the boyfriend?”

“What does it matter?”

I shrugged. “If I decide to take the job, it could help me to turn her against him.”

Mosley looked around the room before he settled back on me. “Let’s just say he wouldn’t fit in with the family.”

“You mean, he wouldn’t fit in with your crooked ways.” I held up my hand before he could say anything. “No legit, sane man will ask a complete stranger to kidnap his own daughter. No one.”

“He will if he’d do anything to save her.”

“You haven’t told me what you’re saving her from.”

He sat back and placed his hands on his thighs. “Do you not read the paper or watch the news?”

“I don’t have time for other people’s problems. There are enough problems right here in my own world.”

“Bryce Chase was accused of molesting a child.”

“Accused? Why isn’t he in prison?”

“I’m not sure. You’d have to ask the police.”

I didn’t believe a word he said. He probably had something to do with that, as well. I wondered how many plans fell through before he concocted the grand idea of kidnapping her.

I looked away and scratched behind my ear. I didn’t want him to see the wheels turning for my own plan. His daughter did need saving, but I believed it was more from the man who sat across from me or the man in the corner than her boyfriend.

I narrowed my eyes and looked Mosley over. “I want to do this on my terms. You want me to break her and her boyfriend up.”

“Fiancé. He’s her fiancé.”

“So, you want me to break up their engagement?” It kept getting better. She was engaged.

“Yes, I need her back home. With me.”

That sent chills up my spine, and I sat forward to hide the reaction. He wanted to control her. It had nothing to do with her fiancé. I hoped control was all he wanted. Between him and the asshole jacking off in the corner of my office, I had a very bad feeling about her chances if I said no.

I looked back down to my desk. No matter how ridiculous the job was, I wasn’t letting anyone else take it. I’d kicked people out for using while occupying one of my beds, and occasionally they’d be found dead a few days later. It wasn’t a good feeling when that happened, but they had to help themselves. I couldn’t do it for them.

His daughter didn’t know she couldn’t help herself. If I said no and heard on the news a few days after that she was found dead because she wouldn’t conform to his standards, or worse because his hired help couldn’t control themselves around her, I’d never forgive myself. I didn’t know what the fuck I was going to do with her, but she had a better chance of getting out of it with me than she did with any of them.

I cleared my throat. “If I don’t do this, you’ll just hire someone else who’ll fuck it up. If I do agree to do this, you have to follow my rules. I’ll drop her off at the boyfriend’s house if you so much as breathe wrong. Is that clear?”

“What kind of rules are you talking about?”

“You can’t have any contact with her while I have her.”

He sat up, and his eyes grew wide. “Why?”

“Because you’ll ruin any progress I make with her. I’m already going to have a difficult time convincing her she doesn’t feel what she feels. If you’re around to remind her how much you hate him, she’ll rebel and continue to love him no matter what her heart says. Her mind will be all over fucking you up. Is that clear?”

He sighed and sat back. “Yes. How long do you think she’ll be here?”

“Oh.” I sat back again. “She won’t be here.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is not an environment for someone like her. She isn’t an addict in the true sense of the word. I get the feeling she’s more like brainwashed than addicted.”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s exactly it. She does everything he says. She doesn’t even eat meat anymore.”

“Then I need one-on-one time with her without interruptions. It will take time. I won’t promise you a week or two. It will take a lot of time to make her understand she’s better off without him.”

“I can wait. If it means she’ll be free of that cocksucker, I can wait.”

She’d be free of a cocksucker, for sure. It just wasn’t the cocksucker he was thinking of.