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“Twenty-four aze away from the paper

“There will be no negotiations,” he repeated “Twelve ht to demand the full pay to be nice, Sabela, no ht think”

Sabela stood stock straight, and for ato hit hiht She didn’t even turn as she threw the piece of paper into the fire He watched it crackle and burn as the flames devoured it

She looked up at him then and raised her pert nose in the air He saw the flash of determination in her eyes

He wasn’t sure what she was going to do He hn

From head to toe she was beautiful Blanca had been beautiful too, yet where Blanca had been soft and subservient, Sabela had a backbone that bent but wouldn’t break

“Fine I’ll stay” It was a bitter pill for her to s, he heard it in her voice

Colin tried to process what it was he felt Victory? Reluctant relief? Sorrow?

Did he really regret that he was putting her in such a difficult position? No He didn’t

“We’ll try skiing again toet the impression that she’d won any leeway froo rest up? I’ and all I’ll see you at dinner I’d like you to get to know etting to know you”

Sabela studied hi hard, and he didn’t like it one bit

Finally, she spoke “Here’s the thing, Colin I guess I don’t haveI do have, is questions What I’ht now is, why me? You could hire anyone to accoirlfriend So why me?”

Luckily, Colin had anticipated her asking this question eventually “Why not you? You owed ations”

“Easy, have him a stiff nod and headed toward the door

She stopped in the doorway and turned back to him “But it see aid that wasn’t really aid at all Is this how you get your kicks? Black poor women? What does that make you, Colin? What kind of man does that?”

He had no answer for her

She turned on her heel and walked aithout another word

Adrenaline pu in his veins, Colin lass of whiskey He sipped long and let the liquid burn its way down his throat He wasn’t a big drinker, but now he found hihts

She’d asked, what kind of man was he?

In his heart, he knew the answer The vengeful kind, that’s what sort of et what he wanted no matter the cost

A hurt man A man who has shut himself off from his better nature

There it was again, hisunwanted opinions from a part of him that should shut the hell up

Without a second sip, he set his whiskey down Clouds were starting to ed quickly and often unpredictably in the mountains He’d check the weather report, and see if toht have to be taken off the schedule

Part of hi Sabela to sub more convinced that it would only hurt his position But he had to s just because she didn’t like them

He refused to feel sorry for her The Vaughn family didn’t deserve his pity

He’d be as hard with her as he needed to be until he got what he wanted

Chapter Fifteen

THE NUMBER WRITTEN ON THE note had shriveled when the fire ate at it, but Sabela could still see it large as ever in her its

How could one person accrue a debt like that? She hadn’t realized how bad thosethem after a while; it was better not to know for sure because knoas too terrifying

Over two hundred thousand dollars Sabela’s chest tightened and she fought back tears It was hopeless She wanted so desperately to go home and have all of this be over, but that wasn’t possible, not if she ever wanted to be out of debt again

If she went home and couldn’t pay, then what? Would Colin sue her? She reet blood from a stone That was her, the bloodless stone

Of course, the courts could garnish her wages, what little there were of theovernet him on disability, but hadn’t had any luck yet because they couldn’t afford a lawyer to speed up the process

Colin couldn’t go after Trevor for anything, could he? The medical bills had been his, after all, not Sabela’s But he hadn’t signed those contracts Sabela had