Ace in the Hole Read online

  Ace in the Hole

  An Older Man, Younger Woman Romance

  By

  Summer Wynter

  Copyright © 2017 by Summer Wynter

  Cover by: Amourisa Designs

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  I’m just your normal, everyday woman who can’t get enough out of life. When it comes to writing, I enjoy stories about couples who just can’t say no, even when life says that they should.

  Come get passionate with me and see where my dirty little mind can take you.

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/summerwynter2017/

  Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/cpQOpn

  She’d led a sheltered life up until that point.

  Fresh out of college, the last thing Rachel McMaster expected for her return home celebration was to find her father down on his knees, begging a loan shark not to collect on his massive gambling debts. In one desperate act, Rachel sacrifices herself to save her father. She agrees to a bargain, two weeks of her freedom owed to the dark, handsome loan shark in exchange for payment of her father’s debt. She never thought that she would be risking her heart in the bargain.

  He thought he would be the one giving orders.

  When Andre “Ace” DiAntonio came to collect on a debt he never factored Rachel into the bargain. As soon as he saw her he knew that he had to have her. Jaded by past relationships, Andre vows to keep himself at a distance. For him the contract means pleasure only, an incredibly sexy woman and steamy nights. Andre thinks he’s going to be the one giving orders but he soon finds himself butting heads and falling for the spirited beauty.

  Will the ultimate gamble pay off?

  What started out as a contract soon changes into so much more. Neither Andre nor Rachel would have banked on the charged attraction and the incredible passion that flares between them. Can Andre and Rachel keep each other at a distance or will the desires betray them?

  Chapter 1

  The darkened office with the huge, intimidating mahogany desk and brown upholstered wing back chair weren’t so different from the other offices in the building. It wasn’t the low lighting or the strange draft that struck fear into the heart of Simon McMaster. It was the hulking brute standing just behind the desk that made Simon break out in a cold sweat. The man was bald, his shaved head tattooed with two entwining snakes. He was dressed in all black, a deep scar cutting across one cheek, a permanent scowl on his face and had dark, bead eyes that greedily appraised Simon.

  Most fearsome of all was the man who was not yet in the office. Tony DiAntonio.

  “I’m going to get you to pay up McMaster, if it’s the last thing that I do.” The large man, nicknamed Torpedo after the massive beefy arms with the ham sized fists that liked to launch themselves into people’s faces, ground out.

  Simon McMaster squirmed. He was waiting for the loan shark, Tony DiAntonio, to make an appearance. Simon already owed the man much more than he was willing to think about but if he could just get enough money to play in the tournament tonight he was sure he could pay it all back. Buy in was ten thousand and first place was a million. That would leave Simon with enough money to pay back his three hundred thousand dollar debt with a sizeable portion to share. He was going to get lucky tonight, he could feel it.

  Tony DiAntonio took that moment to slide his way into the room. His sixty year old face was lined, his lips puckered into a constant frown, either from the bad business he loved to indulge in or from the constant cigar smoking of the large Cubans he favored. Long, black hair was greased back from a receding hairline. DiAntonio wasn’t a large man. He barely topped 5’6” but his lean frame held something sinister. Or perhaps that was just the threat of what would happen to anyone who didn’t pay back his money.

  A bead of sweat rolled down Simon’s back. He towered over DiAntonio, especially when he sat behind his desk in that darkened, dank room yet he felt like he was the smaller man, even when he was standing. The truth was Simon’s weakness wasn’t borrowing the money from DiAntonio.

  It was not knowing when to stop.

  He had been ahead, at one time. But he always had that itch, the itch to win, the lure of the big tournaments, in which a man could bet money, his car, his house, and lose everything.

  The kind of gambling Simon enjoyed wasn’t regulated. It was the lure of the illegal activity, the huge prizes, the thrill of the fight that that drew him. He had tried to stay away. God knew he tried. His daughter, his sweet, beautiful daughter, had never found out and he prayed she never would. That was why he was here. He knew he could win the tournament tonight. It was one of the largest ones hosted and even the fifth and sixth place prizes, the last places, would offer enough to pay DiAntonio’s money back.

  He just needed enough money for the buy in.

  “Why are you here Simon? To pay me back what you owe me I hope. For your sake.” DiAntonio’s lip curled up in a smug smile and Simon shuddered.

  “I uh… yes… I want to… to do that… I just need… a little more.”

  The smile left DiAntonio’s face in an instant. His beady, black eyes swept over to the bodyguard, Torpedo, who took a threatening step forward. “You have some nerve, McMaster, to come in here and demand more money with the outrageous amount you already owe me. I checked into your house and it doesn’t even cover the debt. Not even close. I would suggest, McMaster, that you give me one good reason here and now not to tell Torpedo here to break your damn legs and arms… and whatever else he feels like doing. I can’t control collateral damage after all.” DiAntonio shrugged as though he were discussing the weather and Torpedo leaned in closer, his ham sized fists shaking at his side.

  Simon wondered what on earth had spawned such a man. Surely he couldn’t have been born as the result of any normal union. “Please sir,” Simon forced his composure back though he felt like he was about to wet himself. His body shook with fear and anxiety, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead to land stingingly in his eyes. “If you could just lend me another ten thousand, the entry for the tournament tonight, I know that I’ll be able to pay you back.”

  DiAntonio steepled his fingers together on the surface of the massive wood desk. His chair was one of those upholstered monstrosities that totally dwarfed any man who sat in it. Finally he sighed, his beady eyes sweeping up and down Simon. Simon knew he was a dead man if he didn’t place in the tournament tonight.

  “Alright,” DiAntonio said smoothly, his voice like a black ink stain. “I’ll lend you the ten thousand. But if you don’t have my money by Friday night at eight I’ll have more than just Torpedo coming for you.” Simon’s eyes widened and DiAntonio laughed cruelly. “That’s right. I have men far worse than Torpedo here on my payroll.”

  “Yes Sir,” Simon stammered. He hated that he had been reduced to a blubbering baby in the space of five minutes. He needed the money and he needed it fast. He glanced down at his watch, noting that it was an hour to the start time of the tournament. He had hoped to have the money by now and be on his way. This was truly his last shot. If he lost tonight, he was going to have to collect his daughter Rachel and get the hell out of town. Vanish, start a new life. Which would of course, ruin hers.

  Squeezing his eyes shut, Simon waited, swaying back and forth on the spot while
DiAntonio left the office and returned a short few moments later with a stack of cash. He slammed it down on the desktop.

  “Friday at eight Simon. Or you know what happens.” DiAntonio drew a finger across his neck and Simon shivered violently.

  Palming the brick of cash, Simon nodded before leaving the office. He marvelled that the place was located in an actual office building. One of the ritzy kinds. DiAntonio was a horrible loan shark. Every single person knew he was the worst of the worst, the one only the most desperate went to for cash. DiAntonio’s cruelty preceded him. Simon should never have borrowed a single dollar from the man. He wouldn’t have had he not been so desperate.

  As Simon hurried to his car and roared off to a much seedier part of town, an underground world that came alive at night. A world that had the capability of sucking a man’s soul in or turning him into a millionaire overnight. Simon glanced at the clock and pressed down on the gas pedal, the car responding instantly. It was an old beast, something that didn’t take any money to keep up and that repairs were easy enough to do himself.

  He was going to make it big tonight. He had a feeling. The problem was, Simon always had a feeling and it very rarely worked out.

  Chapter 2

  Rachel frowned, noting the shiny black truck in the driveway of her house. The small blue and white bungalow was in a transition are of San Diego. It was an unassuming house with a run-down garage off to the side, a crumbling concrete driveway and a yard that needed attention.

  That truck most certainly wasn’t her father’s. Could that be why he hadn’t picked her up from the bus station like he was supposed to? Because he had a guest? She had tried calling him four times but his phone just rang and rang. She thought he had forgotten she was coming but now it appeared that he was busy.

  Whipping out her credit card, Rachel swiped it through the machine on the back of the passenger seat. She cursed herself for not taking out cash, noting that the fee for paying with plastic was an extra three dollars. She left a tip because she knew it wasn’t the cabby’s fault.

  The cab driver, a middle aged man with kind eyes, helped her with her duffel bag and backpack. She shouldered the latter and started wheeling her bag down the long driveway.

  For some strange reason a sense of foreboding came over her. She dropped her duffel on the doorstep and pushed the front door. The minute she did she was assaulted by the sounds of harsh yelling coming from somewhere in the house. She froze. The yelling stopped and she heard her father pleading, begging, sobbing.

  Dropping her backpack, Rachel ran into the living room, following the sounds of confrontation.

  She found her father on his knees, begging and pleading incoherently. A huge man dressed all in black loomed threateningly over her father. The man was probably in his forties. His entire form looked like it had been carved out of a rock face. He had a strong brow, a square, iron jaw, straight nose and defined cheek bones. His black hair had been shaved on the sides but was long in the middle and slicked back. His blue eyes blazed with anger. He was well over six feet and towered above Rachel’s cringing father. The man’s massive chest and shoulders heaved up and down with the effort of his angry words.

  Rachel walked right into the room, barely pausing to assess the danger. She glared at the man before going to stand beside her father. “What the hell is going on here?” Rachel demanded to know as she set her hand on her dad’s shoulder. She couldn’t believe how much he was trembling.

  The man looked at Rachel in surprise. As though he couldn’t believe such an impertinent, bold question came from a woman who was blonde, had a pixie like face, barely topped 5’5” and weighed a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet.

  “Rachel… oh god…” her father stammered. He made an effort to wipe away his tears and eventually got to his feet.

  “What are you doing in my house?” Rachel asked again, eying the stranger coldly.

  The man took a step back and a slow smile spread across his face. Rachel couldn’t believe his nerve. She thought the situation was anything but funny. “You obviously don’t know,” the man finally said. His voice was, strangely enough, not unpleasant. It was like smooth silk, rich and deeply… sexy.

  Rachel shivered. Men made her nervous. She had been kept away from them at boarding school and was too busy with her nursing studies at college to bother with parties and guys. As a result she had little experience reading men and this man made her more nervous than most.

  “Don’t know what?” Rachel faced her dad now, who had sunk down onto one of the faded, old couches in the living room.

  “Your father here,” the man said, stepping forward. “Owes me uncle three hundred and twenty thousand dollars. He was given a deadline and he hasn’t paid so I’m here to collect the debt.”

  Rachel felt her face pale. All the blood rushed from her body and she thought for a second that she was going to faint. She forced herself to take a deep, shaky breath. She stared at her father as though she had never seen him before. What did she really know about this man who had sired her? Nothing, obviously. Her mother had died when she was twelve and Rachel was promptly packed up and shipped off to boarding school. She really hadn’t been in this house for an extended period of time for ten years.

  “Dad?” Rachel’s voice trembled and she felt tears threatening at the back of her throat. She coughed once to clear it. “Is that true?”

  Simon McMaster hung his head, unable to even meet his daughter’s eye. Rachel felt a rush of terror and grief sweep over her. She looked at the man who stood poised and still threatening, a mere ten feet from her. This man was here to hurt her father and there was nothing she could do to stop him.

  When Rachel met the man’s blue gaze she was shocked to see he was now studying her intently. There was a gleam in his eye that was almost predatory. Something about that look froze Rachel’s blood and gave her hope at the same time.

  “Please… there must be something that I can do… to stop this from happening…” Rachel stammered. Her legs finally gave out and she fell to her knees. She was ashamed of her fear and weakness but she stared up at the man all the same. Suddenly she had an idea. An idea that was crazy but just might work. “Take me instead,” Rachel whispered. “Please. I’ll do anything you want me to do for as long as you want… until the debt is paid. But please, leave my father alone.”

  The man closed his eyes, his massive shoulders heaving in a sigh. He stared at her father and then his eyes came back to rest on her again. His lips curled up in a faint smile that was almost more frightening than his scowl.

  “What is your name? You barely look old enough to be finished high school and here you are, pleading for the life of your father like a fierce warrior in the heat of battle. I must say, I’m impressed.”

  “Rachel…” Rachel stammered after a pause. “And I’m old enough to do whatever I please.”

  The man seemed to like that. He crossed his arms over his huge, barrel chest and a genuine smile turned his perfectly shaped lips upwards. For the first time, Rachel noticed that the man could be handsome if he wasn’t so threatening. She hated that her thoughts traveled in that direction. But how could they not? She had just offered herself to him to save her father.

  “Would it please you to stay with me for two weeks? To submit to anything and everything that I want, in order to save your father?”

  “Why would that please me?” Rachel snapped. “And how would that save my father?” Rachel hated that she couldn’t quite find the strength to get up off her knees. Beside Rachel, her father gasped.

  “Rachel no! Not this! Not with this man!” Her dad started to choke and blubber again.

  Seeing her father’s weakness gave Rachel the strength she needed to get up off her knees. She stood shakily and sat beside her dad on the couch. She clutched at his hand, her own shaking as badly as his was. “It’s okay dad,” she managed to say. “I want to do this. If it will stop him from doing… whatever he was going to do… hurting you, then it�
�s worth it.”

  “He’s a monster Rachel!”

  Rachel said nothing more, just turned her eyes towards the stranger. He just stood there, looking so composed, a vulture waiting to gather up his prey. Either Rachel or her father. He had come for her dad but he was going to get something much sweeter. She saw the gleam in his eye and knew that it had already been decided.

  “Yes. I’ll go with you. But I want a contract drawn up agreeing to the terms.”

  The man actually laughed, a deep, rich laugh that shook his whole body. “Oh my, a warrior indeed. You’re in no place to be dictating terms little lady.”

  “Not dictating terms,” Rachel corrected. “I just want to be sure that the debt will indeed be paid after my time with you. I don’t want to be fooled into doing something and not having you hold up your end of the bargain. I don’t even know you after all and you’re here to do something awful to my father. It doesn’t make me believe in your or trust you. And three hundred and twenty thousand is a lot of money. I also want to make sure you won’t… harm me.”

  “Ha! You’re right. What a shrewd bargainer you are Rachel McMaster. If your father had half the sense you have in your little finger he wouldn’t have wound up in this position.” The man considered her for another moment longer. “If I leave and draw up the contract I want your word that you will still both be here. I will bring a deposit to show that I can indeed pay the debt. I promise I will return you unharmed.”

  “Alright,” Rachel whispered after a long moment. She glanced at her dad to see his face had gone completely ashen. In that moment she felt like the parent, the caregiver, the one who was wise. She felt like she was a hundred years old. “Where would we go after all?”

  The man shrugged. “I’ll be gone for an hour. No longer than that. Be ready to leave when I return.”

  He walked out, leaving a stunned silence in his wake. Rachel glanced at her father, her eyes wide. What had she just promised? A wave of fear washed over her, almost doubling her over. Simon McMaster blinked and then slowly closed his eyes, resting his head on the back of the sagging couch. Now that danger had been averted, all of the fear and anxiety left him drained and weak. Rachel took a deep breath. She knew her fate had been sealed.