“The name’s Asher Cook, beautiful.”
I manage not to flinch at the word, but it’s a close thing. The word doesn’t sound like a compliment coming from that hard face. It sounds like a curse. No man has dared to look at me like he does or speak to me like he’s doing now.
“June Li,” I reply, with the emphasis on my last name.
I’m a daughter of distinguished heritage, a member of the powerful Li family—even if that’s really only my father and myself. Sometimes it’s lonely, especially when he has to work so much. But I have always consoled myself knowing we came from a long lineage, something to be proud of.
Asher snorts. “I know who you are. Everyone does. We see you floating around the ballrooms like you’re some kind of modern day princess, yeah? Entitled to everything.”
Outrage feels hot in my chest, but before I can respond, my father pulls my attention. “I need to speak with you. I need to speak with you privately—”
“I don’t think so,” Asher says. “So you can hide her away? No, she stays where I can see her.”
How dare he talk to me that way? How dare he talk to my father that way? Except he did, and for some reason, my father isn’t telling him to leave. Why would I need to be hidden away?
A dark, cold suspicion builds in my gut. “Papa, who is this?”
My father closes his eyes, pained. “A bad man. A thief.”
“Oh, that’s rich. Perhaps you’d like to tell your lovely, naïve little daughter who’s been paying for those fancy dresses that show off your pretty little—” He eyes my breasts.
My eyes widen, shocked that he’d be so brazen. The Li family would never accept this insult. Papa would throw this man out of the house. Papa would make sure no one would do business with him.
Except Papa doesn’t seem powerful now. He looks weak. The lines in his face are deeper than before. He looks old. “We’ve had some money trouble. After the shopping mall project tanked.” His voice breaks. “I don’t have a choice.”
My heart thuds painfully. I look over at the strange man, at the shadow of a beard over his jaw, at the unkempt hair, and the glint of challenge in his eyes. “Don’t have a choice about what?”
“Is that anticipation in your voice, Ms. Li?”
“No,” I spit out. “The only thing I anticipate is going to the gala.”
“Cancelled,” he says with fake sadness. “Not the entire event, mind. But your appearance is definitely cancelled. I’m afraid you have other engagements tonight.”
The heat in his eyes makes it clear what he’s talking about. As is the wink he gives me.
I whisper to my father, “Tell me he’s not serious.”
After a painful pause, my father speaks in Cantonese. “It was more than just the shopping mall deal. It was this house and the others. My entire empire was crumbling before my eyes. We needed to sell the construction firm, only no one has any money in this economy.”
“I do,” Asher says with deceptive mildness. As if it’s completely normal for someone with scruffy blonde hair to understand my native language. “And so you gave me a call, isn’t that right?”
“It was supposed to be business,” my father cried. “I wanted to make a business arrangement.”
“We did,” Asher says with a cold smile. “Like you said, no one wants to purchase a construction business in this economy—especially one in the red.”
“I’ll pay you back,” my father says, sounding more desperate than ever. “Every cent.”
“You already have. The ink has dried. I’ll be extracting every red cent from your pretty daughter. Tell me, is her pussy well broken in? Or will I be the first?”
My father’s face turns red with pain and rage. “Why, you dirty—”
“Ah ah.” Asher holds up his hand, the skin callused and rough. It’s the hand of a man who does physical labor every day. One strengthened not by the treadmill but by working with stone and metal. It’s enough to stop my father in his tracks. “Now, how did I know you would make things difficult? But Mr. Li, a businessman always pays his debts.”
I’m shaking, still trying to understand what’s happening. Or rather, I understand what’s happening all too well. I just never thought anything like this could happen. I never thought my father would be struggling for money. And I definitely never believed he could use me in this way.
“I’m sorry,” he tells me, his voice haggard.
Shock leaves me cold, and I shiver in the backless gown.
I want to run back up the stairs, to pretend I never heard anything, that I’m still eating my soup. I can’t believe this is happening but the painful clench of my heart is all too real.
Asher holds out his hand with a sarcastic, “My lady.”
