Chapter 1
Dani
The sun was beginning to set, and it was almost time to go. I was sitting on the small alcove seat by the window, just thinking and listening to Diego talking on his cell in the background. Setting up the last-minute details for the job tonight. My job.
I shivered anxiously, rubbing my clammy palms up and down my arms.
Sometimes I liked to sit and think about what could have been, if my parents never died in that car crash some fifteen years ago. I wondered if my life would have ever turned out this way; if I would have even ended up with Diego at all. I’d seen enough of the world not to believe in true love and happiness and roses, but sometimes I wished I could have just a little slice of heaven of my own.
Diego was a good guy, most of the time. He’d never hit me, at least. Only yelled at me occasionally when I did something to deserve it. He took care of me, unlike all of my foster families. I hated to even think about them.
Orphaned at the age of five, I’d been forced into the foster system because there was absolutely no one I could count on. No close relatives wanted to take me, no distant aunts and uncles, not even my grandparents. No one wanted me. I’d accepted that a long time ago.
My life was a blur of one foster home after another. I bounced from house to house. They called me problematic. Not all of my foster families were bad though. Some of them were high on a daily basis. Those were my favorite because they didn’t give a damn what I did, just as long as they got their next hit. I’d been expelled from a list of schools in the local area, but when I finally graduated, I didn’t have to worry about it anymore. I was happy when that part of my life was over, when I was free from the daily grind of classes, lectures, and homework. But then, I got transferred again. Another foster family. Again.
My last family had been the vilest of them all. That had been the last straw for me. I was seventeen when it happened, when my foster dad had tried to force himself on me in the middle of the night when my foster mom was on a trip for work. I’d kicked him hard in the balls and fucking ran right out the front door. I still remember the look of shock and pain on his stupid wrinkly face. I’d never looked back. Ever.
I’d taken all the money I’d saved and hoped on a bus straight to L.A.
I don’t even know if the asshole had even reported me missing. The California foster system certainly didn’t care. A few months away from my eighteenth birthday, they had probably just pushed my file to the side, more interested in the younger children rather than a problematic teenager, almost legal adult. Fuck it all. I was done with it.
I was so used to being overlooked.
That was until Jamie found me. Jamie Diego. He always liked to be called Diego, felt it was manlier than Jamie. He’d been kind to me. I hardly knew what kindness even was before I’d found him. Everyone had always looked down at me with disdain, but not him. He was different. I loved him. At least I thought I did. We’d never said it to each other, but that didn’t matter. In my heart, I felt it.
We’d been together for a good amount of time now, just about two years. My twentieth birthday had just passed, and he’d thrown me the biggest party, complete with booze, cocaine, and his friends. He’d even bought me something sexy to wear and for the first time in my life, I enjoyed all the eyes on me.
But things had been weird since he joined the Bloods. He was twenty-two and was trying to establish himself in the gang, to rise up in the ranks in order to gain riches and power. Right now, he was only considered an associate, not a full member yet. He wanted to become a soldier, a full Bloods member that had earned the respect of the rest of the gang. He wanted the money, the drugs, and the jewelry. To be recognized as someone who mattered.
Recently, he wanted my help and I had been happy to do it. I didn’t mind. He’d taken care of me for so long. Bought me food, cared for me, protected me, given me a roof over my head. He kept me safe. Well, mostly safe anyway. Since he started running with the Bloods, I’d seen my fair share of drug deals, sex, but Diego had made sure it didn’t touch me. Mostly.
The last few nights, he’d made me dance at amateur night at the local strip club where the Bloods hung out, showing me off to all his friends. It had made me feel good to help him, even though I was a little uncomfortable doing it, but I did it anyway because he wanted me to. One of his friends, Julio, a full-fledged member had even given me a line of some of his best stock, a single line of cocaine that had turned my world upside down. I don’t remember much of what happened the rest of that night, but Diego had said that it made me find my rhythm. He’d told me that he was proud of me. Inside, that had made me the happiest woman in the world.
Since then, Diego had started wanting more. Sometimes I carried a gun from one place to another. One time I drove some drugs from L.A. to San Diego. Another time, I’d stolen something for him, just so he could sell it on the black market and make some quick cash.
I knew he wanted to impress the Bloods, and if he became a soldier, he’d have access to more cash. A better life for us.
Tonight, for the first time, Diego had set me up to sell myself. To sell my body to another man so we could make some extra money. I was nervous, but a part of me was also excited. It was wrong, but I’d never been afraid of breaking the law before. I’d done drugs. I hadn’t been a virgin for a long time. I’d stolen before and never gotten caught. I was good at being bad and both Diego and I knew that.
Sex for money. A new wrong for me.
But I loved Diego. He’d been the only man in my life that cared, so I wanted to do this for him. We’d make money together. I’d help him. I wanted to; at least I kept telling myself that.
“Ready to go, babe? Want to grab dinner first? You should probably eat something,” Diego yelled out.
I looked back at him, taking in his slender form, tan skin, and dark hair, and smiled. Taking a deep breath, I nodded.
“I’d love some French fries. Maybe a milkshake too,” I replied, pushing off the seat by the window. He held out his hand and I took it. He grinned at me. There was that look again. He was proud of me.
He tugged me forward into his arms and pulled me into a kiss. I surrendered to him as his lips claimed mine, soft and sweet, if a bit greedy. He squeezed my ass and I giggled.
Then, he urged me to follow him and I went happily. My stomach growled, looking forward to dinner and what was looking to be the start of a good night. We drove to pick up some fast food, sitting down in the restaurant together when we got there.
“You know what you need to do tonight, right?” Diego asked, after swallowing a bite of his burger. I gazed back at him and nodded, plastering a smile on my face.
“Yeah. Dance. Make the guys happy. Bring back the money,” I replied, chomping on fries, one after another.
“You got it, babe. You do this right, I see you making good money someday. The Bloods will love it. I’ll make more cash, you’ll make more cash. We’ll be in good, you and me. I’m going to take care of you, babe,” he continued, and I shivered nervously.
“I can do this,” I said out loud, more to myself than to Diego.
“That’s right, Dani. Bring in the big bucks for us,” he replied. He squeezed my hand with his and I cocked my head to the side, grinning back at him.
Inside, my stomach was churning. I’d had sex before, so I wasn’t naïve, but I was still nervous. Then, a little glimmer of adrenaline started kicking in and I held onto it with an iron fist. I was going to have sex tonight, but with a perfect stranger. I took a deep breath. Just a way to make money, I told myself. A way for me and Diego to get ahead. That’s all it was. It meant nothing. When I was done, I’d come back to our bed and he’d watch over me.
He was depending on me. I had to perform.
Shortly after, we finished dinner and left the restaurant. When we hopped into the car, he handed me a small baggie with a single pill.
“Take this like fifteen minutes before these guys arrive. It’ll make you feel good, but make sure to drink some water. Kay?” he said.
“These guys? Meaning more than one?” I squeaked.
“Yeah. They agreed to pay good money for you, so you gotta make them happy. They even rented out the VIP room in the club, so just you and them tonight. There’s a pole in there and everything,” he responded.
Fuck. I was going to have sex with more than one man tonight.
“How many?” I asked.
“Three.”
