“What do you want to settle everything? There must be a reason you brought me here.” Sally tried to maintain her composure.

He grinned and leaned back in the chair.

“I guess you can get smart. That’s good’ll make things so much easier.” He took off his hat and placed it on his knee.

“First thing that will happen is tomorrow you’ll sign over your company to me. I’ll make sure that your precious husband is there since he’s a co-owner.”

Sally’s expression hardened at the news.

“Never! It’s my father’s company.”

His eyes hardened as Antonio chuckled.

“Alright, I’ll explain everything so you can understand. I’ve got people keeping an eye on your records. You have so much debt now, the company will fail in a year. That would make me wait to get everything at the bankruptcy auction.” He leaned forward with a leering grin.

“You see, I don’t intend to wait. When I discovered that your company uses its own printing presses, an opportunity arose for my organization to use that fact.”

“I told you I won’t sign away the company.”

The man’s smile held no mercy.

“You forget no one knows that you’re here. That means you have no say in how I deal with you.” Antonio grabbed her shoulder, his fingers digging painfully into her.

“I’m afraid that you have only the options I give you. Here’s the first. I’ll have my boys coming in shifts to fuck you in one room upstairs.” He felt her body stiffen at the threat and he grinned while bringing out another thought.

“Oh, just for fun, I’ll have your husband tied to a chair to watch the entertainment while I keep a bottle of booze just out of his reach.”

“No, you can’t,” Sally tried to shake off her grip, but she couldn’t.

“That’s where you’re wrong. I can do anything I want to you and your stupid husband. This isn’t the first time that I’ve had a person try to resist my offer. But I never lose.” He let go of her shoulder, then patted her softly.

Fear filled Sally when she realized the extent Antonio wanted revenge against her. His humiliation at being slapped by her made him consider her downfall just as important as getting the money or control of her company.

“I sign away everything and you’ll forget the gambling debt,” she tried to maintain her composure. “We can walk away, and you won’t come after us.”

Antonio laughed and stood up. He went to the door and whispered to one of his henchmen standing outside. His thug returned after a moment with two glasses and a bottle of scotch. Antonio took them while the door closed behind him. Sitting the glasses on the desk, he filled them with the scotch. He gave Sally a glass before he sat next to her.

“Let’s be reasonable, Mrs. Vaugh. I pointed out earlier that your home and business just barely cover the debt.” He took a sip. “Now, there’s the matter of the future. Tomorrow, you and your husband sign everything over to me. Being the generous person that I am, I’ll let you rent the house since you’ll remain as the president of the company.”

Antonio looked her over.

“You’ll be nothing more than a token leader since I’ll tell you what to do. Your business will change. We’ll be moving into the nudie magazine market, which you’ll keep under wraps, of course. I can’t have the Feds come in, otherwise you to take the fall.”

He drank the whiskey as Sally’s world grew darker by the second.

“You’ve planned everything. I’m nothing more than your slave if I accept this.” Her whisper barely escaped as her hand holding the glass visibly shook.

“Hmmm...I hadn’t really thought about it like that, but it does fit the reality. I’m glad you understand. It’s your decision, of course, but I’m sure that you’ll enjoy my offer more than those girls working their debts off upstairs.”

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He got up from the couch and sat the empty glass on the desk, then turned back to her. Antonio licked his lips as he reached out and touched her cheek. She recoiled and turned her head.

“I guess we can finish the details tomorrow at Rosetta’s,” he laughed at her reaction. “But we should talk about your husband. He’s unnecessary for my plans, so I’ll need to decide what my boys do with him now.”

The man removed his jacket and started unbuttoning his shirt.

“Do you understand?”

Sally stared at him with a blank expression as she forced herself to nod. She understood she had no choice the moment she got into her car.

“As I told you before, I’m quite taken by your looks and body. It benefits you tonight, Mrs. Vaugh. Now, remove your clothes and you can help ensure the safety of your drunken husband.”

~~~

When Sally Vaugh drove to her home after leaving the whorehouse, she didn’t notice the quiet streets or the clock on the dashboard, showing it was past midnight. The turns she took to her home came automatically as she kept her emotions buried. Ideas she once carried about her future died over the last few hours. Any hope she held about her husband died as well. Sally knew the marriage was nothing more than a farce, since Joe showed no inclination to change. Worse, she let the gangster use her as his personal whore to save her husband.

Was Joe’s love worth it?

Her numb mind replayed the foolish reasons she told herself to stay married, leaving an empty burning hole in her stomach. Now, she couldn’t think about Joe without seeing Antonio’s face above her while he violated her body again and again.

Before Sally realized it, the car arrived in the driveway to her home. She looked at the house blankly, trying to find any emotions not already pushed into the deepest recesses of her mind. The woman slowly exited the car, not paying attention as the car door remained open as she went to the house.

Inside, Sally went to the phone and picked up the handset. She stood there, desperately wanting to talk to someone who could understand. Yet, no name came to her. She listened to the hum of the dial tone until it squawked. The woman finally noticed the handset in her hand and then returned it to the cradle.

He’s right, I’m alone!

~~~

Adele woke me as she slipped into the small bed with me. As we snuggled like a newly married couple, I reflected upon ideas that came to me overnight. I couldn’t get Sally’s problem out of my head. Despite my reluctance to become involved, I thought of a potential solution that would make things less dangerous for me and still get Antonio to let up on Sally. After all, greed is the number one motive of any hoodlum.

While I lay there, I felt a delicate hand rubbing along my groin as Adele whispered in my ear. Nodding in agreement, we got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. In the shower, Adele and I enjoyed a carnal rendezvous. Over the past few days, my lover became quite imaginative about fun things to do together. I’m sure it had something to do with her wanting to become a mother.

Ah, the good life!

After getting dressed, I went into our library office and glanced over the accounts. It’s a bit of an understatement to say she’s loaded. She’d be running around with billionaires on yachts and private jets in my time. Her wealth also provided me with a way out of the dilemma that Sally left me the day before.

Reminding myself it was only a loan, I pulled out a checkbook and wrote out a check, which I stuffed inside my coat pocket. I rejected the idea of calling from the apartment, since I didn’t want Adele to become involved with my idea for several reasons. Not the least of which, Adele might agree, but she’d worry endlessly.

After going through my little black book again, I decided that the real Lane Dagger would leave Sally Vaugh to the mercy of Freddie Antonio. While the book held just the barest information on Sally, the notes around Antonio showed me that Lane saw the gangster as a potential partner in the future. That merely confirmed my thoughts that Lane was a grade-A asshole.

The truth was, I felt an automatic reaction for me to go against anything that Lane wanted to accomplish. However, the push toward another solution needed to be smart and cautious. The funny thing was that my biggest worry stemmed from my promise not to get involved with Antonio.

Does married life make a guy think like that?

When I went into the dining room and ate breakfast with Adele, we talked about various things. I found myself interested in her background. Obviously, I can’t tell her I don’t know anything about her past, so I worked on ways to get her to open up about things. It’s interesting to me how people will discuss themselves when I just shut up and nod.

Surprisingly, I discovered my wife is older than me by four years and she finished college. She talked about her impressions of the city when she arrived after the honeymoon and her love of trains; I felt another tug of inspiration arrive. I suggested that we have another honeymoon somewhere far away. Adele’s eyes lit up at the idea and I told her I wanted her to do all the planning, giving her the excuse that I couldn’t do it well. When I left the apartment, my wife was already on the telephone with the travel agency.

The morning sun had me overheated by the time I reached my car after I left the apartment. As I got in the driver’s side, I still had a grin plastered on my face, thinking I might have discovered a way to get out of this screwy place. My assumption was based upon the idea that I was the only one in Stull Junction dealing with Miss Wonderful’s trickery. With a plan which gave me confidence, I set out to chat with Sally Vaugh.