I looked at the clock and let out the deep breath I’d been holding.

In five minutes, it would be one in the afternoon—an hour past the latest deadline I’d given Calvin, which was two weeks after the original deadline.

I shook my head. Some guys just never learned.

Normally, Calvin and the rest of the guys we played cards with had a gentleman’s agreement when it came to our gambling debts. Some weeks we’d be up, some weeks we’d be down, but no matter what happened, we’d always settle up by the time poker night rolled around again.

We didn’t have to worry about it, and we didn’t have to explain it—that’s just how we did things.

Except for Calvin.

He had a reputation for being down more often than he was up, and every one of us had let some of his smaller debts go on occasion, because that was just good karma. It’s what guys did.

Not this time, though. Calvin owed me ten grand, and after weeks of excuses and broken promises, my patience had run out.

Today was the day he’d have to pay up, one way or another.

I just hoped, for his sake, that he didn’t try anything stupid. I left the window where I’d been pacing and crossed the room to pull my Glock from under the couch cushion before tucking it into the waistband of my slacks.

I might be hoping for the best, but I was prepared for the worst. I’d learned over the years that when a man is cornered, there’s no telling what he might do—no matter how badly that might end.

With a heavy sigh, I put on my tailored jacket—black, for business—and took one last look across the courtyard.

“Time to pay the piper, friend,” I said aloud. “I hope you’re ready.”

I walked the short distance across the courtyard from my condo to Calvin’s, silently dreading the confrontation that was about to take place even though I was careful to keep my features blank and emotionless—another survival skill I’d honed well over the years of side hustles and shady business partners.

There was no part of me that wanted to do this, but that didn’t change the reality that I had to. I might like Calvin as a friend, but I couldn’t let him take advantage of me. All the other guys we played cards with knew the situation, and it wouldn’t take long before they started to think I was weak.

When that day came, I might as well open my wallet and leave town. My business dealings in Miami would be finished if nobody respected me.

If nobody feared me.

So, by the time I was standing in front of Calvin’s door, I had made peace with what I had to do. Hopefully, he’d pay his debt quietly and we could both go about our day as if nothing had happened. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to rough him up—or worse.

But those hopes didn’t mean that I wasn’t prepared for whatever I might have to do, no matter how distasteful.

I knocked the same way I’d been knocking every day for years—three short, loud raps on the door—but when first one minute passed, and then another, then another, I knew that Calvin was likely on the other side of that door pissing himself.

He knew what day it was, and how much time had passed. He knew our agreement.

He knew this wasn’t just a social call.

And when he finally answered the door, head down and unable to make eye contact, I knew one more thing for certain.

He still didn’t have the money.

“Good, um—” Calvin swallowed hard, finally looking up to meet my gaze. “Good afternoon, Angel. How’s everything going?”

For several long seconds, I remained silent, just staring at him—almost willing him to somehow prove me wrong and suddenly come up with the cash he owed me.

But he and I both knew that wasn’t going to happen, and the more I prolonged the inevitable, the weaker it made me look.

“Everything could be better, Calvin,” I said, flatly. Don’t show any emotions. This is just business. He’s not your friend right now. He can’t be. “I think you know why I’m here.”

His eyes broke away from mine for a split-second and darted to the staircase behind him. Shit. Was Bella home? I’d hoped she’d be out—in class or with friends or somewhere else—for his sake as much as my own. The last thing I wanted was for her to see or hear what might happen next.

That was out of my control, though, and there was no backing down now, no pretending that I wasn’t there to collect a debt.

“Look, Angel…” Calvin’s voice was shaking, but it was too late for pity, too late to settle for anything aside from what I’d gone there for. “Maybe we can work something out. Maybe if you just gave me a couple more weeks, or—”

“No.” I shook my head, not even letting him finish. “That’s not gonna happen, Calvin. I’ve already given you extra time, and then extra time on top of that. Your time has run out, my friend.”

I could hear movement upstairs, and I was again reminded that Bella was up there somewhere, probably with no idea of what was happening—or about to happen—between me and her father.

“Listen,” I said, lowering my voice a little, “I don’t want to make this difficult. Just give me the money, or something equivalent—watches, jewelry, whatever—and we can put this little incident behind us, okay?”

That would be the best-case scenario. Calvin could settle his debt and I could still save face. It was a win-win situation.

“I don’t have the money,” he said, finally. He still sounded nervous, but also a little… defiant? Almost like he was challenging me to claim otherwise. “I tried to get it together, Angel. I swear I did. But,” he shrugged, “I just don’t have it.”

“That’s not good, Calvin.” I took a deep breath and reminded myself to leave emotions out of it, to leave our friendship out of it. “That’s not gonna work for me.”

I took a step forward and he flinched, taking two steps back as I walked through the doorway. At that point, I wasn’t going to wait for him to invite me in, and I sure as hell wasn’t going anywhere until we’d settled this issue.

“What do you want me to do, though?” He asked, that hint of defiance creeping back into his tone. “I already told you, I don’t have the money. I don’t have anything you’d want. I promise, Angel.”

I shook my head again but didn’t speak as I took another step toward him. He backed up another step, and I followed his gaze as it flicked to the small end table at the end of the hallway.

And to the pistol sitting there.

Before he could make another move, I’d pulled my gun and pointed it at his head. Thankfully, he froze. We were in a small space at point blank range, after all. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to calculate his chances of winning that fight.

“No, Calvin. Nope. Don’t even think about it.” There was a faint metallic taste as the adrenaline coursed through my veins, but my hand was steady and so was my voice. “You and I go way back, so don’t make me do this—”

A scream from the top of the stairs cut me off and made us both jump, but I waited for Calvin to look away first before I took my eyes off him for a moment.

The look of fear and panic on Bella’s face as she stood there looking down at us was enough to make me wince in actual, physical pain as my stomach clenched.

“Kimbella,” Calvin’s voice rang out, a little too loud but more confident than he’d sounded the entire time. “Go back to your room and stay there until I come get you, okay?”

“What the hell are you doing?” She completely ignored her father, her tear-filled eyes pinning me to the floor where I stood. “Why are you here? What’s going on?”

“Bella, just do what your dad says and go back to your room.” I let my eyes flick from her back to Calvin. “This is just business. It’ll be over soon.”

“No. No,” she wasn’t crying, but her voice was full of emotion as she started running down the stairs. “I’m not gonna let you hurt him. Get out.”

I only had a few short seconds to decide what to do. I wasn’t going to hurt her—wasn’t even going to threaten her—but I had to make her stop, and I couldn’t risk taking my eyes or my gun off Calvin.

“Move,” I gestured at Calvin with the gun. “Stop her. Now.”

Thankfully, for once, he didn’t hesitate.

Calvin moved to the bottom of the stairs just as she got to the last step, intercepting Bella and tucking her behind him as he turned to face me again.

“Okay, look,” Calvin said, wide-eyed. “I don’t want any trouble. I don’t want any of this to happen. You can take what you want—anything—but I don’t have the money.”

I clenched my jaw as I considered his words. There wasn’t anything he had that I wanted. I tapped my finger against the trigger of the gun that was still pointed directly at him.

“I don’t need to walk around this condo to know that you don’t have anything I want,” I said.

Bella peeked from behind her father’s shoulder, her dark, sexy eyes so full of anger and emotion as they burned into me. Fuck, the things I would do to her. With her.

Maybe Calvin had something I wanted after all.

“Well,” I gave a half-shrug, “I guess there is one thing I could take.”

“What? Tell me,” he said. “Anything.”

I could hear him speaking but I wasn’t looking at him anymore. My eyes were locked onto Bella’s, and in that moment I knew that she knew what I wanted.

Her eyes widened in a flash of recognition as she partially stepped from behind her father, then narrowed, calculating as she looked me up and down.

“If I go with you, you have to promise not to hurt him.” Her voice was quiet but firm, and she took a step forward. “I want your word.”

I was speechless. I was half-joking when I even hinted at her coming with me… I didn’t think she’d actually volunteer.

It had taken Calvin a minute to realize what was going on, but when he did, he looked just as surprised as I was feeling.

“No,” he said. “No. No way I’m letting you take my daughter out of here, you son of a—”

“Daddy, stop.” Bella put her hand on his arm and shook her head frantically, only looking back at me for a split-second with those big, fearful eyes before turning her attention back to Calvin. “Don’t you see there’s no other way? There’s no other choice here. I have to do this.”

Seeing her plead with her father was hitting me hard. I didn’t want her to beg—not like that, anyway. I didn’t want her to feel completely trapped. I wasn’t a fucking monster. But she was right that Calvin was quickly running out of options, and it had gone way too far to simply turn around and walk away.

His debt had to be settled. Today. Now.

“There’s always a choice,” I said, finally. I was looking directly at her, but I meant the message to be for both of them. “You don’t have to do this, Bella. You don’t have to pay for his bad choices. He’s the one who owes the debt. He’s the one I came to collect from. You can walk away from all of this right now and I swear to God I won’t hurt you.”

“And what?” She hissed, nearly spitting the last word. “Let you kill him? That’s not a choice.”

“It was his choice,” I repeated, raising my voice and shaking my head. “Maybe it doesn’t make sense to you—and maybe it shouldn’t—but that’s the way this world works, and your dad knew that. He made his decisions willingly. He pays the consequences.”

If my words meant anything to her, if they made any difference to her whatsoever, she didn’t let it show. She didn’t take her eyes off me, and when she spoke again, the fear in her voice was tempered with something else—a determination that wasn’t there before, that hadn’t ever been there as long as I’d known her.

“If I come with you,” she began, nodding in my direction and speaking slowly and deliberately, “you’ll give him more time to pay? As much time as he needs?”

Calvin shook his head again. “Kimbella—”

“Wait, Daddy,” she ground out slowly, her eyes still laser-focused on me. “Let him answer.”

“Yes,” I nodded. “I can agree to that.”

“And you promise you won’t hurt him as long as I stay with you?”

“Yes…”

“You promise?” The desperation in her voice was back, but I could tell it was only on behalf of her father. Her mind seemed to be made up about everything else. She was just ironing out the details.

“I promise. I’ll give him more time.” I addressed Calvin directly. “If she comes with me, you can take as much time as you need. You bring me the money when you’re ready, and Bella comes home. That’s our new agreement. Take it or leave it.”

“We take it,” she said, slowly walking forward to stand by my side.

“Now, wait just a second,” Calvin started to protest a little, but the fight was gone from his voice. I could see it in his eyes that he knew it was the only way.

Bella knew it, too. “Daddy, please… just say yes. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

She was standing so close to me that I could feel the heat radiating from her body, and it struck me again just how determined she was, how headstrong and fiery. Her dad was a fuck-up, and I hated that she was going to pay for his mistakes, but there was no denying that my body was completely on board with the idea of having Bella under my roof, within sight anytime I wanted.

I didn’t fool myself enough to think that she’d be completely under my control, though. She’d made it clear by her actions today that she knew what she was doing and was in charge of her own life, her own destiny.

This would just be another challenge for her, but if she thought she was going to call all the shots once we were alone together, she was in for a surprise.

I lowered my gun and raised an eyebrow questioningly, expectantly. “Well, Calvin? What’s it gonna be? Your daughter seems to have it all figured out. Do you agree?”

He hesitated, and for a moment I wondered if he’d offer up another half-hearted protest. He didn’t wanna die, though, and his will to live apparently outweighed any sense of moral outrage he felt about my agreement with his daughter.

“Okay,” he said. “If I have your word that you won’t hurt her, I’ll agree.”

Even though he was in no position to demand anything from me, I could easily and gladly give my word on that condition.

“I won’t hurt her,” I said, meaning it. “I won’t do anything to her that she doesn’t want me to do.”

They both gave me a startled look. I don’t think either of them expected me to go that far with my promise, but it had still been an easy promise to make. I had no intention of hurting her, and absolutely no intention of forcing myself on her.

No, neither of those things would happen. But I knew for sure I’d still end up getting what I wanted, getting her naked and on her knees in front of me.

The difference?

She was going to beg for it.

“Well?” I asked, ready to be done and out of there. “What’s it gonna be?”

Calvin took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Fine. I’ll accept your offer.”

Bella also let out a long, slow breath at the news, and I could feel a little bit of the tension leave the room as I crossed the short distance to shake hands on the deal we’d just made.

With that handshake, it was official. Bella would be my guest until Calvin could come up with the money. And until then, I had no further business with him.

I turned to her and nodded in the direction of the stairs. “Go get your clothes together and come right back down here. You’ve got ten minutes.”

She hurried to do what I’d demanded and Calvin stood aside to let her pass. None of us exchanged another word, not even another look. And anyway, there really wasn’t anything left to say.

The deal had been made.

For her sake, I truly hoped Calvin came through on his end and didn’t keep me waiting too much longer.

At the same time, a part of me wanted him to take all the time in the world.

Either way, Bella was mine for now.