Page 14 of Scarred Heir

“Why are you out of breath?”

“I ran up the back steps.” He checked the doorknob on the door he had just locked. “Has anyone come by?”

“No.” I stood and tilted his face so I could look at his bruises from Milo’s men.

“I’m fine.” He swatted my hand away. “You’re sure no one stopped by?”

“Does this have something to do with the rent?”

“What about it?”

When my phone buzzed with an alert, I pulled it from my pocket and rolled my eyes. How could I expect to evict Milo from my thoughts if I followed all of these accounts that made it their mission to track his every move? Tonight he was having dinner at some fancy Italian restaurant where all the high-profile mobsters ate. Franchi’s Bistro was theinplace, and Milo could often be seen there.

“Sable?” Chance raised his voice. “What about the rent?”

“Oh.” I shoved my phone back into my pocket. “I spoke to the landlord because I wanted to see if we could work something out, and he said the rent was paid.”

“By who?”

“I assumed you,” I said.

“Where would I get money for rent?” He peeked out the blinds. “If I had the money, the rent was the last thing that would get paid.”

“What does that mean?” An unsteady knot formed in my stomach. “What have you done now?”

“Nothing.”

“Chance.” I grabbed his arm and turned him to face me. “What’s going on?”

“I borrowed money from Romeo.” He gazed down at me, and his imposing height made me feel more like the younger sister, even though I was three years older than him. “I’m late paying it back.”

“Shit!” I slapped his arm. “What’s wrong with you?” Ipaced the small living space. “We narrowly escaped Milo, and now you borrowed money from Romeo Bello?”

“I borrowed the money from Romeo before the thing happened with Milo.”

“Why?” I shouted. “What was the money for?”

“To buy the drugs that I wanted to sell at the club.”

“There is something wrong with you! You borrowed money from one gangster to buy drugs so you could sell them in an even bigger gangster’s territory?”

“I thought I’d make a huge profit on the drugs. I didn’t think I’d have any trouble selling them on such a busy night.” He glanced out the window again. “Everyone was partying and having fun, but no one wanted to score.”

“They were Milo’s people.” I clasped my hands together to stop from fidgeting. “No one was going to buy from you.”

“I know that now.” He shrugged. “Anyway, Milo’s men confiscated the drugs, and now I owe Romeo a lot of money.”

“How much did you borrow?”

“It wasn’t that much.”

“Chance.” I pointed at him. “Don’t do that.”

“You can’t fix this one,” he said. “We have to run.”

“Run?” I threw my hands in the air. “Run where?”

“I don’t know.” He motioned toward the bedroom. “Pack light, and let’s get the hell out of here.”