Ace in the Hole Read online

  “I think that’s going to need stitches. I can wrap it for you but my guess is that you don’t have any surgical grade sterile instruments laying around for stitching.”

  “Uh…. Yah… I mean no. I don’t. How would you know that?” Andre stared, shell shocked, at Rachel, who seemed perfectly unfazed by all that blood. It was starting to drip onto the counter and from there onto the floor. The sight of it made even Andre a little sick. He didn’t know a single other woman who would be so calm under pressure.

  “Do you have a first aid kit? Or some decent bandages?”

  Andre thought hard. He did have a box of bandages under the sink in his bathroom. He instructed Rachel on where to find it. She was gone for only a few moments. “These aren’t really going to help at all. I would rate these more in the papercut category. Do you have any packing tape or electrical tape?”

  “Yah. In that drawer over there.” Andre’s gaze settled on the kitchen junk drawer.

  “I need a clean tea towel as well.”

  “Over there.” Andre pointed with his free hand to a cabinet above the sink.

  Rachel’s movements were quick and adept. She brought over paper towel as well. She wiped the blood away from the wound then wrapped the tea towel around it and taped it firmly with the packing tape. “You’re going to want to try and keep that elevated if you can.”

  “How am I supposed to drive and keep it up right?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sure you’ll manage. Don’t worry you won’t bleed to death.”

  “Would you… uh… drive me to the ER? You can just leave me there if you want.”

  “What? Drive your truck? I haven’t ever even owned a car before.”

  “But you do know how to drive?”

  “Yes,” Rachel admitted reluctantly.

  “I do have cars if you prefer but they’re all stick. The truck is the only automatic.”

  “Why don’t you just take a cab? It sure looks like you could foot the bill for one.” Rachel smiled to soften her words. Andre wondered how she could be so calm after just having bandaged his gruesome looking finger. The thing looked about half sliced off to his eye.

  “I want you to drive me there. That’s an order,” Andre mumbled, feeling funny saying the words.

  Rachel was silent for a moment then finally nodded. “I’ll have to turn off the oven. The salmon is going to be ruined.”

  “Fuck the salmon. I want to have all five fingers after tonight.”

  “You technically don’t have five fingers… at least not on each hand.”

  Andre rolled his eyes. “Turn that damn stove off and let’s go.”

  “Alright. But you might be sorry. I can’t promise that your truck isn’t going to look worse for wear at the end of this.”

  “The damn truck is the least of my worries right now. At least I have insurance on that.”

  “It’s only a small cut Andre. I can guarantee you aren’t going to lose your finger,” Rachel said patiently, as though she were explaining the simplest of things to a small child.

  “How would you know? I might have sliced clean through the tendons. Maybe it won’t even work properly.”

  “I know. Believe me you didn’t. You won’t require surgery. Just stitches. So relax.”

  Andre shook his head. “How do you know that? I mean… really know it?”

  “I’m a nurse. At least, I just graduated so I’ve done my fair share of treating patients already.”

  Andre was stunned. He felt as though she’d driven his truck right over him. Rachel was a nurse? He never would have imagined in a thousand years that she was old enough to have even graduated from University. She was clearly competent and seemed calm under pressure. Andre had pegged her for an innocent, naive even, without much worldly experience. He thought perhaps that was true but it didn’t apply to injuries and wounds. Clearly Rachel was going to make a great nurse. The rest had yet to be seen.

  Out in the garage Rachel climbed into the driver’s seat. She shot Andre a look that was full of trepidation. He thought it was funny how she was clearly afraid of driving a truck but could stare down a bloody, gruesome wound without batting an eye.

  “Just press the garage door opener.” Andre waited and watched as she did. “Then start the truck and put it in reverse. Just back up slowly. The garage is huge. You won’t hit anything.”

  “I’m not worried about the garage. I’m not so sure about everyone else on the street.”

  “Okay well… just take it slow.”

  Half an hour later Andre regretted his impulsively given orders. He should never have let her drive. At least she followed his instruction well. Rachel did indeed take everything slow. Far too slow. “Can you hurry it up? I don’t want to bleed to death?”

  Rachel looked over, her face pale. She was white knuckling the steering wheel. “I’m just trying not to kill us,” she snapped.

  Andre shut his mouth. He let her continue on at whatever speed she chose. She was right; he shouldn’t have forced her to do this. She was clearly out of her element and totally afraid.

  It was a minor miracle when Rachel pulled the truck into a parking space and did a very neat, tidy park in between two tiny yellow lines. Andre wasn’t even sure he could have done such a good job. He said nothing, just got out. She was quick to follow.

  “How did you know where the hospital was?”

  “I’ve been here before.”

  “But you didn’t use Navigation or GPS from the house.”

  “No. I remembered the way we came.”

  “Did you do your practicum here or whatever it’s called?”

  “No. I went to college in Houston.”

  “Why did you come back to San Diego?”

  Rachel shrugged as though Andre were asking her something very personal. They reached the emergency room door. Rachel’s hand hesitated on the handle. Andre was about to say something biting about the fact that if he died from loss of blood then the contract would be void but he snapped his mouth shut when he realized Rachel was blinking back tears.

  “Hey…” Andre pulled her aside, off down the sidewalk to a bench. It was a nice evening, the late June sun hinting at even warmer summer days to come. Rachel sat, the tears starting to stream own her cheeks. She wiped at them, smearing the little makeup she was wearing. “Hey… are you okay?” Andre felt ridiculous. Here they were, her crying on a bench outside the ER, him bleeding through the towel.

  Rachel shook her head. She swiped at her tears again. Mascara came away on her hand and circled her eyes. Even when her makeup was a mess she was so beautiful she took Andre’s breath away. He didn’t like that-his complete lack of control over himself when he was next to her. Hell, whenever he thought of her. He had almost cut off his finger just because she was standing so close to him in the kitchen.

  Before Andre realized what he was doing he reached out and pulled Rachel into his side. He offered her his good hand, tucking her neatly into his chest so she could hide her face from the people waking up and down the sidewalk.

  The intimacy of the gesture didn’t strike Andre until he realized her cheek was pressed right over his heartbeat. She was so small that it made Andre feel protective holding her. If he was honest with himself, it made him feel a hell of a lot more than that. He had never before held a woman with the intent of comforting her. Andre didn’t do intimacy. He did pleasure. He was damn good at that. He could bring any woman to a screaming climax in no time flat but when it came to spending the night… Andre didn’t do that. He didn’t do snuggling and holding and affection.

  Andre stared at the top of Rachel’s head, her blonde hair glistening in the evening sunshine. The gold rays of the sun were caught and held there in those blond tresses. Andre’s heart stopped beating.

  Andre didn’t like to think he was damaged. It was that his money tainted most people. Andre had tried to have normal relationships. He’d trusted people and they had been after only one thing and that was what he could give them
. Most women couldn’t give a damn about who Andre really was. His name was well known and unfortunately it took only a couple minutes for most people to figure out that he wasn’t a person but a dollar sign.

  Andre didn’t like the way his heart started pounding under Rachel’s cheek. He hated the fact that he forgot all about his aching finger and focused solely on Rachel. Something was really wrong. She was still sniffling and her shoulders shook with gentle sobs,

  “What happened here Rachel?” Andre asked gently. He stroked her hair back from her forehead, his insides clenching painfully as he did so.

  Rachel finally pulled away after a few more moments. She shook her head, balling her hands into fists which she pushed into her eyes. She wiped her face and rubbed her hands on her worn jeans. Jeans that hugged her in all the right places, that worn in, loved look only adding to the allure.

  Sniffing once, Rachel blushed. Her face was now dry and she was obviously self-conscious of the way she looked. “I’m so mortified,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. Let’s go inside.”

  Rachel stood up but Andre remained sitting. “Not until you tell me what’s wrong. I swear I won’t make you drive home if it upset you that much.” He was joking, of course. Andre knew it wasn’t the driving that had anything to do with Rachel’s sudden tears. She had been scared driving but she hadn’t broken down until they’d reached the hospital. No… it was something here. Something about this building.

  “Does our contract mean that I have to tell you every personal detail of my life?” Rachel snapped. “Let’s just go.”

  “No.” Andre said firmly, shaking his head. He could be a stubborn son of a bitch and Rachel’s hesitance to tell him what was bothering her only made Andre dig his heels in harder. “I mean no the contact doesn’t mean that. But I’m… uh…” What indeed? Worried?

  There was no way he cared. At least Andre tried to tell himself that but suddenly he realized that’s what was bothering him. He truly wanted to know what had upset Rachel. He wanted to know more than that. He wanted to make it better. He had known Rachel for only a couple hours but already he knew that he didn’t like to see her cry.

  “My dad is a gambleholic because he hasn’t ever come to terms with the fact that my mother died. He sent me away because he couldn’t bear to look at me because I remind him of her. I know that’s the reason. He loves me but I feel like I haven’t even seen him in ten years. It was like when my mother died I actually lost both my parents.” Rachel stood woodenly by the bench, her arms hugging her chest, as though she could ward off the sadness and grief with such a gesture.

  “Your mom… died here?” Andre stammered. He suddenly felt like a huge asshole. God, he was insensitive making her tell him that.

  “Yah,” Rachel whispered. “Come on. Let’s go inside. Your hand is bleeding onto the bench.”

  Andre shook himself, noticing that what Rachel said was true. “Okay,” he whispered. He felt very uncomfortable, suddenly wishing that he hadn’t forced Rachel to do any of this. If only he had known. “You can wait in the truck if you want.”

  “No. I’m alright. It’s okay. I’m sorry I cried. I just haven’t been here since it happened. But it’s just a building, after all. Come on.” Rachel stalked away. She reached the door a good couple paces ahead of Andre and held the door open.

  He walked quickly, wondering at the strange new pain that had taken hold in some deep part of his chest. It was the kind of pain that medical help could do absolutely nothing for.

  Chapter 7

  “Don’t you like Vietnamese?” Andre looked up from his heaping plate, eyebrow raised expectantly. Rachel continued to pick at her food. She hadn’t even tried one mouthful.

  She glanced over at Andre’s freshly bandaged hand. He’d taken the seat right across the table from her. She had been lost in her thoughts since the hospital. She’d barely paid attention to the place Andre stopped at to pick up takeout. She felt completely numb sitting at his dining room table. Spring rolls and wontons, however good Andre might think them, were the last thing on her mind.

  “Yes,” Rachel muttered. “I suppose that I do. Sorry I’m just tired.”

  “Is that really the problem?”

  “Yes.” Picking at her food, Rachel put some noodles and a piece of broccoli in her mouth, just so Andre would stop staring at her. She hoped that would distract him but it didn’t. He continued to study her intently, his gaze boring a hole right into her.

  “I can show you your room then,” Andre finally said. He set down his fork and crossed his arms. “Although I must say this has been a disappointing first night for my money. I thought I was going to get a gourmet meal cooked for me and instead I got a trip to the ER and takeout.”

  Rachel forced a smile. She knew that Andre was being very magnanimous. She had signed a contract giving herself over to him and so far she had held up her end of the bargain very poorly.

  “My room?” Rachel stammered, finally catching on to what Andre had just said.

  “That’s right. Your room.”

  “You mean… I’m not going to be sleeping with you?”

  Andre rolled his eyes. “I know you might think it but I’m not a monster.”

  “But I thought… the contract…” Rachel was confused.

  “First of all,” Andre said, uncrossing his arms and placing both hands on the wood tabletop. “I was never going to break your father’s legs okay? So you can stop thinking that right now. I went there to scare him into signing his house over to me. It wasn’t worth much but I was willing to collect what little I could back of the debt he owed me. You were a very unexpected bonus.”

  “You’re telling me this now?” Rachel ground out between gritted teeth. Her temper flared up. She felt tricked.

  “Well your father gets to keep his home and doesn’t have to pay back the huge debt he owes me so I would say it’s still a good deal for you. I just want it to be clear that I’ve never broken anyone’s bones before. I’m not a thug. I’m a business man. And tonight you will sleep alone but after that… I can’t make any guarantees. What I can promise is when you do sleep with me you are going to enjoy it. Thoroughly.”

  Andre’s self-confidant grin turned Rachel’s stomach into a roiling mass of nerves. She wasn’t sure what she felt. She tried to tell herself it was fear and dread but strangely enough the feeling was more like-anticipation.

  Rachel lowered her eyes back to the food she didn’t want to eat. She scraped back the heavy wooden chair a few moments later, standing. “I am tired. If you could show me my room I would appreciate it.”

  Andre nodded. “As you wish then. Although now I am very annoyed that not only was I deprived of a good meal, I’m going to have to warm up this take out.”

  “Oh… uh… finish eating then. I can find my own way if you tell me where to go.”

  “Up the stairs, first door on the right. There’s no lock on the door but rest assured I won’t come up and ravish you in our sleep. At least not this night.”

  Rachel blushed furiously. She stormed from the dining room, wishing that the cut on Andre’s hand would suddenly get sepsis and he would drop dead. The man was completely arrogant and insufferable!

  The evening had started out innocent enough but then Andre had to go and make her feel ridiculous for signing that damn agreement! She wished she would have known her father was never in any real danger. She never would have done it! Her dad could lose his house for all she cared. He deserved it for the trouble he’d got himself into. And now her! Because of him this man was going to ravish her body. He was going to use her, take out his desires and whims on her and she would be forced to submit!

  Rachel grabbed her bags up from where she had left them by the garage door and scrambled up the stairs. She found the room and slammed the door behind her. She glanced around the huge room looking for a chair to prop under the door handle but there was nothing. Only a massive king size bed with a cream coloured upholstered headboard, a little bench at the en
d of the bed and a dresser with a large mirror. The floors were carpeted with soft ivory carpet; the bedspread was an off white with a couple white throw cushions nestled in neatly. There was a painting above the bed, just some abstract art that looked more modern than the art on the main floor.

  Was this really Andre’s guest bedroom? The thing was huge! As Rachel walked further into the room saw a door. She tried it, thinking it would be a small closet and was surprised to find an ensuite bathroom complete with a huge tub, shower, sink and toilet. Rachel’s eyes came to rest on a set of doors and she realized the closet was on the other side of the room. She opened it, gaping in awe at the massive amount of space. The thing looked like another small room!

  The whole room must have been a thousand square feet or more, probably larger than her father’s house.

  Rachel desperately wanted a bath but she decided instead just to get into her nightgown and crawl into bed. She was completely exhausted from the day’s events and Andre’s revelation at the dinner table weighed heavily on her mind. She felt that this entire endeavour, rather than being selflessly done to save her father was now futile and pointless.

  Thirteen more days. That’s what she owed Andre.

  As Rachel slipped between the tightly folded sheets, easing her head back on the plush feather pillows, Rachel vowed that she wouldn’t go down without a fight. Things might have been different if she now didn’t feel like she’d been duped into that contract. If Andre expected her to submit to this feebly he was in for a surprise.

  Chapter 8

  “Good morning sunshine!”

  Rachel groaned, trying to get away from the horrible, deep voice shattering her dreams. She cracked an eye and winced at the bright sunlight streaming through the bedroom window. Where the hell was she?

  Then it all came crashing back to her. Her father. Andre. That contract. She was in Andre’s house. And she had slept like a baby. Probably the best sleep of her life.

  Furious with herself, Rachel threw back the covers and slid from the bed. She knew she probably looked like a dishevelled mess, which was likely for the better. If Andre thought she was going to fancy herself up for him he had another thing coming.