Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
QUID PRO QUO EXCERPT
ROXIE'S BACKLIST
ABOUT ROXIE
Seduced by the Loan Shark
Copyright © 2012 by Roxie Rivera
This book is a work of fiction. The names,
characters, places, and incidents are
products of the writer's imagination or
have been used fictitiously and are not to
be construed as real. Any resemblance to
persons, living or dead, actual events,
locales or organizations is entirely
coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book
may
be
reproduced,
scanned,
or
distributed in any manner whatsoever
without written permission from the author
except in the case of brief quotation
embodied in critical articles and reviews.
CHAPTER ONE
"Mr. Hagen will see you now."
My stomach churned as the words I'd
been dreading were spoken by the hulking
goon looming in the open doorway. I
reluctantly slid off the leather stool and
crossed the mostly empty bar. I didn't miss
the curious looks from the handful of
patrons bellied up to the bar this early in
the afternoon.
I swallowed hard as I neared the goon.
He glanced down at me and offered a
pitying smile. I figured that didn't bode
well for me. With a jerk of his head, he
indicated that I should head through the
door at the end of the long, narrow and
dimly-lit hallway. I forced my feet to
move, the thin soles of my red ballet flats
silent on the tiled floor. In my head, a
dreadful tune played. No doubt I would
soon regret sticking my neck out for my
loser brother.
But he was family and he hadn't always
been this pathetic or irresponsible. He'd
been a great brother to me once. I had to
try to help him out of this jam.
I nervously smoothed the front of my
skirt and stepped into the office. I shut the
door behind me with shaking hands. My
eyes adjusted to the soft, natural lighting
streaming through a small, frosted
window. Unlike the smoky bar, the office
had a clean, fresh scent. It looked
immaculately neat and tidy.
The man behind the desk was no
different. He exuded control. Perfectly
pressed charcoal grey suit, snappy white
shirt, clean-shaven face—he looked more
like a banker than the mobbed-up loan
shark I knew him to be.
Hagen rose from his seat and shocked
me with his height. I'd heard that he was a
big guy but he made the super-sized goon
out front look like a toddler. Hagen
gestured to the chair in front of his desk.
"Have a seat."
His gentle voice caught me off-guard.
Instead of falling under the spell of his
gentlemanly display of manners, I recalled
just how ruthless this man could be. I'd
learned enough over the last week of
helping my brother dodge the heat on his
ass to know exactly what Hagen was
capable of doing with those big hands.
I settled into the chair, my butt right on
the edge of the hard seat and my back
ramrod straight. Hagen sank into his and
looked me over. "So you're Ronnie's
sister?"
I didn't miss the disbelief in his voice.
"Yes. I'm Cassie."
"Cassie." He repeated my name.
"You're the little sister studying to be a
rocket scientist, right?"
"Sort of," I replied while wondering
how the hell he knew anything about me.
He frowned. "You're not in college? Or
you're not a rocket scientist wannabe?"
"I'm studying astrophysics. It's not
exactly the same thing as a rocket
scientist.
They're
usually
aerospace
engineers."
Hagen's lips twitched with amusement.
"I see."
"I doubt it."
The briefest flash of annoyance crossed
his face at my sarcastic come-back. "Why
are you here?"
"You know why."
"Because your weasely bastard of a
brother owes me thirty large?"
I gasped. "Th-thirty? But I thought—"
He laughed, the sound harsh and cruel.
"Let me guess. He lied about how much he
owes, right?"
I reluctantly confirmed his guess. "He
said five."
"That was the initial loan but then he
rolled it into another one and another one.
He's been light for the last six
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
QUID PRO QUO EXCERPT
ROXIE'S BACKLIST
ABOUT ROXIE
Seduced by the Loan Shark
Copyright © 2012 by Roxie Rivera
This book is a work of fiction. The names,
characters, places, and incidents are
products of the writer's imagination or
have been used fictitiously and are not to
be construed as real. Any resemblance to
persons, living or dead, actual events,
locales or organizations is entirely
coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book
may
be
reproduced,
scanned,
or
distributed in any manner whatsoever
without written permission from the author
except in the case of brief quotation
embodied in critical articles and reviews.
CHAPTER ONE
"Mr. Hagen will see you now."
My stomach churned as the words I'd
been dreading were spoken by the hulking
goon looming in the open doorway. I
reluctantly slid off the leather stool and
crossed the mostly empty bar. I didn't miss
the curious looks from the handful of
patrons bellied up to the bar this early in
the afternoon.
I swallowed hard as I neared the goon.
He glanced down at me and offered a
pitying smile. I figured that didn't bode
well for me. With a jerk of his head, he
indicated that I should head through the
door at the end of the long, narrow and
dimly-lit hallway. I forced my feet to
move, the thin soles of my red ballet flats
silent on the tiled floor. In my head, a
dreadful tune played. No doubt I would
soon regret sticking my neck out for my
loser brother.
But he was family and he hadn't always
been this pathetic or irresponsible. He'd
been a great brother to me once. I had to
try to help him out of this jam.
I nervously smoothed the front of my
skirt and stepped into the office. I shut the
door behind me with shaking hands. My
eyes adjusted to the soft, natural lighting
streaming through a small, frosted
window. Unlike the smoky bar, the office
had a clean, fresh scent. It looked
immaculately neat and tidy.
The man behind the desk was no
different. He exuded control. Perfectly
pressed charcoal grey suit, snappy white
shirt, clean-shaven face—he looked more
like a banker than the mobbed-up loan
shark I knew him to be.
Hagen rose from his seat and shocked
me with his height. I'd heard that he was a
big guy but he made the super-sized goon
out front look like a toddler. Hagen
gestured to the chair in front of his desk.
"Have a seat."
His gentle voice caught me off-guard.
Instead of falling under the spell of his
gentlemanly display of manners, I recalled
just how ruthless this man could be. I'd
learned enough over the last week of
helping my brother dodge the heat on his
ass to know exactly what Hagen was
capable of doing with those big hands.
I settled into the chair, my butt right on
the edge of the hard seat and my back
ramrod straight. Hagen sank into his and
looked me over. "So you're Ronnie's
sister?"
I didn't miss the disbelief in his voice.
"Yes. I'm Cassie."
"Cassie." He repeated my name.
"You're the little sister studying to be a
rocket scientist, right?"
"Sort of," I replied while wondering
how the hell he knew anything about me.
He frowned. "You're not in college? Or
you're not a rocket scientist wannabe?"
"I'm studying astrophysics. It's not
exactly the same thing as a rocket
scientist.
They're
usually
aerospace
engineers."
Hagen's lips twitched with amusement.
"I see."
"I doubt it."
The briefest flash of annoyance crossed
his face at my sarcastic come-back. "Why
are you here?"
"You know why."
"Because your weasely bastard of a
brother owes me thirty large?"
I gasped. "Th-thirty? But I thought—"
He laughed, the sound harsh and cruel.
"Let me guess. He lied about how much he
owes, right?"
I reluctantly confirmed his guess. "He
said five."
"That was the initial loan but then he
rolled it into another one and another one.
He's been light for the last six
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