Click here to catch up on Wicked Chances by going to the first part.
I hope to finish this one by the end of NaNoWriMo! Wish me luck and a lot of blessings!
Synopsis:
A woman with her children on the run from her past swears never to be another man’s whore. Now her baby’s father turns up dead and not only is his loan shark after her, but the police are after her as well.
Yet, when the malevolent, real estate accountant, Sterling Newman, finds out she is the key to completing his dream property, he blackmails her into marriage or turn her over to police.
Forced to marry in order to save her life and the life of her children, she vows to hate him forever. Yet, somehow he finds a way to make her body betray her heart.
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Wicked Chances (c) 2012 Sylvia Hubbard
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That’s pretty much all I’ll say about her, but she’s interesting as hell.
Chapter 5
“Isn’t this where I’m to drop you off?” the driver asked when she didn’t just jump out like last time.
Closing the box, she jumped out of her car and waited for the cab to take off before she ran all the way home.
Once home, she locked all her doors and rushed in the bedroom where her children slept. Kissing their foreheads after checking them over, she pulled the covers tighter over their bodies before sitting on the floor next to the bed and lighting a candle.
Opening the box again, Blair wanted to see if she was dreaming again at the stack of cash and jewelry in the box.
Taking out each bill and counting slowly it took a while for her to realize she had never counted this far in numbers out loud.
When she picked up the final bill from the gold box, she could not believe the amount the man had given her.
Thirty thousand dollars?! Had it been a mistake? she wondered.
She should try to find him and give the box back?
Confused, she reached in the box to pull out eight gold chains of varying lengths, one silver chain, a thick platinum chain, three gold rings with real diamonds encrusted, a pink slip for a car with the previous owner’s name signed on it, a transfer deed of property, five cashiers’ checks made out for two thousand dollars and finally a gold tooth, which she used a piece of tissue to pick it out of the box and wrap it up.
Why the hell a gold tooth was in the box was beyond her and she couldn’t be sure the deed to the house and the cashier’s checks were even valuable.
Putting everything back in the box, including the twelve hundred dollars she had earned, Blair put the gold box in the floorboards.
Getting into the bathroom, the cold didn’t bother her as much as her thoughts did. Pulling off her clothes, she could immediately remember the smell of him, his breath on her neck and the touch of his body against hers.
Now that she was able to really think about everything, after they had culminated together, she could remember how the whiskers on his cheek brushed her nape, while his hands squeezed her hands. It had been an indiscrete affectation.
Pushing out the thought that it had meant something, she finished disrobing and turned on the freezing water. Getting the smell off of him as soon as possible would help her forget she had ever met him.
After taking a shower, she crawled in bed with her children and fell promptly asleep.
Money helped her with most of her problems, but she knew her real troubles would never be solved until she could get away completely where Ray Senior could never find her.
***
Loud knocking at her door aroused her out of the bed early the next morning. Blair had only slept for six good hours and the determined knocking brought out a sense of danger in her.
“Should we hide?” Ray Junior asked very concerned, taking his sister’s hand.
Blair felt ashamed her son was just as on edge as she was. He didn’t deserve to lose his childhood over mistakes she had made in the past.
“Just stay back here,” she ordered getting her coat on. “You remember the knock?”
Ray and Lannie nodded.
“Just listen out,” she warned, leaving out of the room.
It was freezing in the house, but Blair wasn’t worried about the cold. She was worried about who was at the door. Keeping the kids inside, she was able to not alert the neighbors about her having kids so no one would call “the police.” She was sure it wouldn’t be child services, because they would’ve asked the neighbors if there were kids living there.
Looking through the peephole, she saw a dark figure. It was about seven in the morning and the sun had not fully crested the horizon yet.
The figure had on a dark hoodie over their head and Blair would swear it was a teenager trying to hide their face.
“Who is it?” Blair demanded in her angriest voice.
“It’s Zilla.”
Blair was in turmoil because the voice was familiar to whom she had been speaking to on the phone with, yet the small size of the person on the other side o the door almost indicated this “Zilla” was no more than a child.
“How do you know where I lived?” she asked suspiciously.
The person on the other side huffed in exasperation and then said, “I followed you when the cab dropped you off yesterday. You ran down here like fire was on your ass when you jumped out of the cab.” There was a hard knock on the door. “Open the damn door, B.”
That was enough to get Blair to crack the door. With the sun behind the person on the porch, Blair still couldn’t determine what gender was this “Zilla.”
“Let me in the fucking door,” the person growled.
Blair stepped back so the door could open enough for someone to walk in. With the lights off and the windows covered there was very little light in the sparse one bedroom apartment’s small front room.
“How’d you know which apartment I was in?” Blair asked suspiciously.
“It’s a three family flat. I knew the uppers were empty by the way their windows aren’t covered. Why is it so damn cold-“ The abrupt stop made Blair very self conscious. They were looking around as if something was very wrong.
“Who are you?” Blair demanded still undetermined if there was a boy or girl.
“People call me Shadow most times.”
“I didn’t want to know the meaning of your name.”
Chuckling, Shadow said, “Not many people know what Zilla means. I’m impressed.”
“Who are you? Why does Jona know someone like you?”
“I help people. Mostly women.” Shadow was slowly circling the room looking closely at everything. “I lived on the streets and now I help others who do the same.” Stopping and picking up a small toy, Shadow asked, “You have kids?”
“What makes you think it’s plural?”
“You have birthing hips.”
Blair crossed her arms over her chest still not being able to determine anything about this person. Only thing she was sure about was that Shadow was lean and very observant – too observant.
“I’m a girl,” Shadow said quietly as if reading Blair’s mind. “I just turned sixteen but I’ve been a runaway since I was nine and a half.”
“You seem like you know so much,” Blair noted.
“I do,” Shadow said as if it were a blessing and curse. “I know what it is to hide, B. I’ve been in hiding and I’ve been hiding others for years – hiding like you’re hiding.. from really dangerous people.”
“How-“ Blair stopped herself because she was tired of asking how Shadow knew so much. “I have to stay off the grid if you must know.”
“How much off the grid and be honest with me,” Shadow insisted.
Blair hesitated before answering. Trusting anyone with her secrets had been so difficult, yet Shadow had this aura about her that she wanted to help without using Blair.
“My ex used to use me. Lend me out to his friends for a price or barter; First for bills and rent, then for drugs .”
“That’s why you have a strong indifference to sexual touch,” Shadow noted impressed. “I watched you the first night. I was even amazed at your control.” She came up to Blair.
There was not enough light to determine distinguishing features about Shadow – A black female about Blair’s height and lean.
“Where is he? The ex?” Shadow asked.
“We left him in Chicago high as a kite. I went and bought the blow myself to make sure he wouldn’t wake up for days. I found out the day before he racked up a large debt, which was bought out by someone else, who was real dangerous, and they were going to come and collect any way they could. I decided I was not going to let him use me or my kids anymore and ran.”
“Who bought the debt?”
Blair shrugged indeterminably. “Someone named King something. I didn’t get a full name, but word on the street said he would even use my kids to get the money he was owed.”
“King Heart,” Shadow asked with fear in her voice.
“Yes, I think but I just knew to get off the grid or risk something far worse then what Ray Senior had done to me.”
“I can help you get new identities,” Shadow said confidently. “But it’s going to take money.”
“How much?” Blair asked suspiciously yet confidently knowing what she had in the gold box and willing to pay almost anything to help her children.
“I’ll give you a deal – five hundred per person. I can do a full workup to pass on a county level in a day or so. If you want federal level it’s going to take a little bit more time.”
“That’s fine. You do them yourself?”
Shadow nodded proudly. “I have skills. It’s how I stayed off the streets. A guy took me in who was really good at making IDs; Showed me how to do everything before he died about three years ago. Even with all the Homeland security laws my shits still pretty good.”
“Now I’m impressed.” Getting her son back in school was a dream for her with Shadow’s help could actually come to fruition. “But really, Shadow? You could make me those kinds of documents.”
“But you’ve got to answer me a question because for the life of me I’m actually perplexed as to why it occurred.”
“What?” Blair asked.
“Sterling Newman gave you his entire winnings according to Big Reg. Why?” Shadow asked confounded.
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Sylvia, I am really beginning to like this Mr. S. Newman. Maybe, he can be our next Mr. Grey. This is really getting good, please keep it coming. Waiting with anticipation, Margaret
i’m hoping he’s not as demented as Mr. Grey was. LOL.
Just finished reading The Other Side Of Love, and of course I was sad that it ended with chapter 22. Since I didn’t sign up with you site until late, I am trying to play catch-up and keep up with the current stories. I know it is late, but I just had to pop over and read the new chapter. All I can say is KUDDO’S to you. I am happy to see that this one is another one that mentions or ties into the Hearts. Keep going Ms. Hubbard, and of course I have went back and purchased all your books.
Your loyal fan,
Stephanie
thank you for your support to my literary endeavors, Stephanie! thank you so very much.
OSOL should be out by next year!
My previous inquiries of Shadow being Tanae from silent lynx is wrong because she is way too young, but I still believe she is Lethal’s daughter which explains her skills. What baffels me is how she’s been on the streets from so young with a father as over protective as Lethal? I Recall in Hope is Love Jonathan said she was living right under her father’s nose in plain sight. I hate when children have to live through hardship. All these adults around minors & its cool? Especially in an atmosphere of sexual exploitation. I love ya Sylvia, just had to voice that.