Swindled

It started as a forbidden thought, I wasn't supposed to crave my best friend’s dad but instead I spent countless nights shamelessly imagining him stripping me bare, sinking his cock into me and devouring every inch of me.

** ** ** **

A few days ago.

I was doomed. Shock sliced through my veins as I read the letter that turned my worst fear into reality. Damon's ugly handwriting was scrawled across the white paper I was holding, each word was filled with unimaginable cruelty.

"By the time you read this, I'll be gone. Don't bother looking for me or the money. Consider it payment for wasting my time all these years. Oh Eliana, you always were too easy to fool. Don’t bother crying over me. You were useful while it lasted. But you were never the kind of woman men keep.”

My hands shook so bad causing the paper to fall out of them. I could hear him mocking me just from the letter. The back of my throat burned with hot tears as I stumbled to my laptop, desperate to prove that it wasn't true, but when I logged into my bank account, what I saw mocked and shocked me. 

Zero. It was empty. Every single cent that I had worked for years to gather, all gone. I switched to my credit card, all maxed out. Every one of them.

My knees buckled, and I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the screen of the laptop until it blurred with the tears in my eyes. I suddenly couldn't breathe in the big room. Damon had drained me of every cent I had without remorse. And the worst part was, just like a fool, I hadn't seen it coming. 

A hard knock at the door snapped me out of my thoughts. My landlord's heavy voice followed, "Miss Ashcroft, your rent is overdue and if I don't have my money before the end of Friday, you are out. Do you hear me!?" 

I swallowed hard and then managed to whisper, "Yes.” Satisfied by my response, I heard him stomp away but deep down, I felt so humiliated. I felt like I had been reduced to nothing, in just one day because I loved someone I shouldn't have. 

My phone rang on the nightstand as I rushed over to it, thinking it was Damon, maybe he wanted to apologize. He must have a logical explanation for all of this. "Damon, what's going on?" I said as soon as I picked up the call. 

"Is this Miss Ashcroft?" This wasn't Damon's voice. 

"Yes, who is this?" 

"This is Trust bank and we are calling to ask about your overdue payment..." As soon as I heard this, I hung up. The phone immediately began to ring again and I knew it was just another debt collector—Damon's debt collectors and with that call, it meant that he had put me in as his guarantor.

This was getting worse than I thought—than I ever anticipated.

My lips quivered as I held the edge of the table for support. My worst nightmare was coming to reality. Growing up, I had watched my mother get reduced under these same circumstances—unpaid bills, letters with red stamps holding threats from different agencies, and how our neighbors whispered whenever we walked by. 

My father has left us in debts and ruins before taking his life. And I had sworn that it would never be me. I would never live like my mother did, so I worked myself hard, day and night just to keep my promise but yet here I was, years after, forced into the same circumstances. 

The tears rolled down my cheeks and I suddenly couldn't breathe in my apartment anymore. My eyes flicked to the clock at the sound it was making causing them to widen. 

My God, I was late for the interview.

I couldn't miss this interview, not when it was my only chance out of this misery I had been put in. So I got up from the floor, squeezed and shoved Damon's letter into the trash before stepping into the bathroom. I splashed water on my swollen face and pulled on the neatest blouse and skirt I owned. 

I stared at myself in the mirror, my brown hair pulled into a messy bun, my eyes blood shot from crying. I was a mess, but I didn't have time to fix it. I grabbed my folder of documents and rushed out. 

.......

The corporation towered over the city in nothing less than ten stories, all made of glass and steel. Just standing in the lobby of the building made me feel smaller, like I didn't belong. Men and women in different expensive suits moved around the lobby while I clutched my folder like my life depended on it. 

"Good morning," I said when I got to the reception. 

"Interview, tenth floor," The receptionist said, barely glancing at me. 

I nodded and left. By the time I reached the boardroom on the tenth floor, my palms were sweating and my heart was racing. I pushed the door open, trying to steady my breathing when I looked up to be faced with pairs of serious eyes sitting at a long table. 

My throat went dry as I swallowed before moving fast to take a seat when my heels snagged on the carpet, the folder slipped from my arms, papers exploded across the floor. 

Heat flooded to my cheeks. "I'm so sorry," I whispered, dropping to my knees to gather them quickly trying to ignore the murmurs filling the room. 

Just then, the door behind me opened and the murmurs stopped. 

'Eliana, get a hold of yourself before you embarrass yourself any more than you have done today.' 

I bit the inside of my mouth and tried picking up the papers faster when I noticed a pair of black shiny loafers in front of me before strong masculine hands brushed against mine as we both reached for the same sheet. The contact sent an electric current through me and I pulled back before looking up.

Electricity shot up my arm. The brush of his fingers against mine lit a fuse under my skin, heat coiling low in my stomach. My thighs pressed together instinctively, betraying me before I could even breathe. My breath caught as I slowly lifted my gaze. 

I gasped in shock as I stared at the man in front of me and realization sank in. He was larger than I remembered, from his broad shoulders in his tailored suit, his dark hair and the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen. I swallowed as I felt my nipples harden inside my blouse. 

Theodore Blackwell. Serena’s father.

And the look in his eyes…I swallowed hard, sucking in a slow breath.

My chest rose and fell too fast. My nipples tightened beneath my blouse as his gaze dipped briefly, catching the gape of fabric that revealed the swell of my breasts. Heat scorched my skin.The way his gaze lingered on my chest made my nipples tighten, aching against the thin fabric of my blouse. 

I scrambled up, shoving papers into the folder with trembling hands.

“Miss Ashcroft. I didn't expect to see you here.”The way his voice wrapped around my name sent a tremor straight down my spine, sparking between my legs. God, what was wrong with me? Why did the sound of his voice make me wet?”

It was as if we were the only ones in the board room as my chest rose and fell. His eyes dropped briefly and I realized that the neckline of my blouse had gaped slightly, causing the top of my breasts to be in his view. My face burned hotter and I scrambled to my feet, shoving the papers back into the folder with shaky hands. 

"Miss Ashcroft," he said at last before scanning through my body. "I didn't expect to see you here." 

"Neither did...I sir,' I stammered as I forced myself to meet his gaze. 

He studied me for one long heavy moment before he spoke again. "We'll see if you can handle working here, Miss Ashcroft," 

My throat tightened, my body humming with awareness as he moved to his seat at the head of the table.

Handle the job? Maybe.

Handle him? God help me, I wasn’t sure I could.