Chapter 27

Mia

We were in front of a door in no time, and James rang the bell. In an instant, it was drawn open widely, and I was greeted by one of the most intimidating men I’d ever met. James was intimidating, too, on first meeting, but at the same time, I felt drawn to him like a moth to a flame. I felt a type of an attraction to him that was difficult to break or explain.

This man standing before us, on the other hand, was just plain intimidating. He was tall and muscularly toned, with sandy-brown hair and steel-gray eyes. His aquiline features were darkly handsome, and I was pretty sure every female found him attractive. I guessed I wasn’t one of those females as I stared up at him, wide-eyed, like a child who had just met her first Santa Claus.

He smiled at James, and they shook hands. Suddenly, he turned his attention to me. I felt a little uneasy as his eyes roved over me. I didn’t utter a word as I stared up at him. Slowly, a hint of a smile played across his lips, and then he laughed.

“Fuck me!” Then he leaned his face closer to mine and said, “Yep. They’re siblings all right.” Then he grinned. He had quite a handsome smile. One that’d make every female’s knees weak. “Too bad you’re taken, sweetheart.”

A growl came from deep within James’ throat. “Hands off, Matt!” he snapped coldly.

This person is Matt? I thought in a mixture of awe, fright, and confusion. The Matt who I’d heard over the phone, the one who’d been torturing my brother? I could certainly imagine that. He looked the kind who would enjoy the vocation. And my poor brother Andy. My body shook at the thought.

Matt moved back and chuckled. “I got it. I got it,” he said in response to James’ threat as he held the door to let us in. “I’m not in the least bit interested in women. Don’t you worry over it.”

James snorted as he walked in. I filed in behind him, my eyes on the broadness of his shoulders as we came through. The moment I took a step to the side to take in the view of the place, I saw Andy, and my heart skipped a beat.

“Andy!” I cried out in both happiness and relief. “Oh, Andy!” I ran past the two men and threw myself into my brother’s arms.

“Mia,” Andy said, hugging me tight. “Oh, Mia, you came.”

I nodded as tears brewed in my eyes. My whole body was shaking. He’s fine, I told myself. He’s fine.

I clung to him, not wanting to let him go as he kept whispering, “I’m sorry, Mia. I’m so sorry. I should have never come here in the first place. I was in over my head. I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head and chuckled sadly. “No, it’s fine. It’s too late now. As long as you’re fine. As long as I get to see you again.”

I raised my eyes then and stared at him long and hard. Andy was a head taller than me, but he still wasn’t that tall nor was he that muscular. I guessed it ran in the family, our average height and slim build.

As I gazed at him, it was almost like I was staring at my own reflection. Our features were very similar, being siblings and all. Though his were more defined and angular. Everyone stated he was a gorgeous young man, and I agreed with them. He was too handsome for his own good and looked the type that people liked to take advantage of. And not so oddly, I knew I was put in that same category. The easy-to-take-advantage-of part, not the gorgeous part.

A while later Andy and I sat in the corner of the room, talking privately with each other. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to know everything from the beginning. About how he’d come to owe James Maxwell two million dollars.

“Tell me everything, Andy,” I said. “I want to know.”

Andy thought about it for a bit. I saw the dilemma in his eyes, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with it. We were siblings, after all, and I’d been taking care of him since our parents had passed away, since I’d been twelve and he was a mere ten-year-old boy. He owed me that much.

“Andy?” I urged.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noted the other two men, James and Matt, were in the open-plan kitchen, sipping coffee and having their own chitchat.

At this point, my mind also wondered why there was only one massive king-size bed in the room. It was a studio-like room. The place was just one big, open space, with the kitchen, living area, and bedroom all rolled into one. Apart from the bathroom on the other side that separated from this compartment, that was it.

I couldn’t help but wonder where Andy slept. Surely this flashy hotel room belonged to Matt. Since James did say the man partially owned and fully operated this hotel, resort, and casino, this studio was probably one of his homes.

“I was stupid, Mia,” Andy began. “I thought I was doing great. I really wanted to make a better life for us, for you. When I made heaps of money, I’d buy a house and you could quit that pathetic job at the restaurant where no one values you or likes you.”

I felt tears sting my eyes. He’d always cared and worried about me, this brother of mine. Hadn’t he flung himself on top of me to protect me when Uncle Herbert was whipping me with a belt because I was clumsy and spilled tea on him? Hadn’t he subjected himself and surrendered to Uncle Herbert’s sexual assault so the disgusting man would keep his hands off me? Yes, this brother of mine really cared about me, and in his own way, he’d thought moving here to Las Vegas and starting a business would give us a better life. Only things didn’t turn out the way he’d expected.

I nodded. “I know.”

“So we had this plan, doing a business contract and all.” He continued. “They told me to borrow money from…” He turned his gaze to James then. “Mr. Maxwell owns lots of buildings and businesses, and he even funds start-up businesses as well. So I went to him and asked. I did a presentation. I mean, our business plan was solid, Mia. It was very solid. It was going to work out. I knew it in my gut. Even Mr. Maxwell said it was a good business plan.”

“But?” I couldn’t stop the tremor in my voice because I knew there was a but somewhere in the story. The but that destroyed everything. The but that turned everything upside down, including my life.

“But everything fell apart. The guys hadn’t planned on doing business with me from the beginning. They took the two million I borrowed and gambled it all. They lost everything.”

“Oh my God,” I uttered in disbelief.

“When Mr. Maxwell found out, he was livid. He wanted the money back, or else he’d… I didn’t even think… They said they had nothing to do with it…” He sighed, depressed. “Because it was only my name on the loan contract. I shouldn’t have believed them. I shouldn’t have allowed them to manage the funds. I shouldn’t have even let them have access to the account. But I trusted them, and…”

I saw fire within his dark-brown eyes, and my anger rose as well. I thought then that life was always so full of cheating, wasn’t it? Life was always so unfair. Like it was unfair that our parents’ lives were snatched away from us. That we had to live with an aunt who didn’t give a shit about us and an uncle who had abused us.

“I wanted them to pay, so I followed them around. I had no choice, Mia. I was so pissed with them, and I wasn’t just going to let it slide. It was two million. I’d do anything to get back that money. Even if the business didn’t work out, I’d at least get to pay back Mr. Maxwell. So that one night, I found them in this underground trading place.” He laughed sadly.

“Turns out, they were doing some sort of drug trading and shit. I don’t know what happened, but I witnessed a whole lot of shit, Mia. I don’t know—the drugs, the guns, and the killing.” He raked his hands through his hair in frustration. His body was shaking as he continued.

“They all died. Those four bastards. They died in the shooting. The Albanian and the Mexican killed them. Then there was this other group as well. The leader is called William or something. I saw everything, and now they want me, the Albanian, the Mexican… They want me dead, Mia. Me! They want me dead just because I saw them, just because I was an eyewitness.”