Willow Smoke (89 page)

Reggie
laughed
at
her.
“No
need
to
be
afraid
of
me,
Daisy
girl.
You’ve
always
been
the
one
I’ve
wanted,
you
know
that.
I’ve
just
been
biding
my
time
with
your
sister
until
you
grew
up.”
He
paused
and
ran
a
leering
eye
over
her
body
again.
“I’d
say
you’ve
grown
up
real
fine,”
he drawled.
“To
bad
that
bastard,
Underwood, got
to
you
first,
but
that’s
life.
You
can’t
always
be
first.
At
least
you
should
be
well
broken
in
now.”

“Don’t
you
touch
me!”

“Or
what?”
Reggie
sneered.
“You
gonna
sic
that
crotchety
housekeeper
on
me?
Or
maybe
your
shining
knight
will
show
up.
Nope,
he
went
to
Winnetka
on
an
errand.
Maybe
he’s
got
another
pussy
stashed
up
there.”
Reggie
laughed.
“Wouldn’t surprise. But I didn’t risk
coming
here
to
talk
about
Underwood.
I
came
to talk about us. About our little
arrangement.”

Daisy
scowled
and
tried
to
breathe
normally.

“You
must
have
misheard
the
deal,
bitch.
I
only
got
one
check
from
you.
I
said
five
hundred
a
week.”

Daisy
gasped.
“A
week,”
she
squeaked.
“You
said
a
month.
I
can’t
come
up
with
five
hundred
a
week.”

Rocking
back
and
forth
on
the
balls
of
his
feet,
Reggie
glanced
about
the
foyer
and
ran
a
finger
along
its
rich
oak
trim.
“Oh,
I
think
you
can
come
up
with
that,
and
much more. I’m not
blind. You’ve got
yourself
a
real
gravy
train.
All
you
have
to
do
is
keep
Underwood
satisfied.”
Reggie
lurched
forward
and
grabbed
Daisy
by
the
arm.

“Ouch. That hurts.”

“Not
as
much
as
you’ll
hurt
if
you
don’t
come
through
with
the
bread.
I
think
you’ve
been
holding
out
on
me.
You’ve
got
more
than
enough
cash.
If
not,
I’m
sure
Underwood
will
do
most
anything
to
keep
you
in
his
bed.
And
he
probably
wouldn’t
miss
a
piece
of
silver
disappearing.
He’ll
give
you
any
jewelry
you
ask
for.”
Reggie
snickered
and
squeezed
harder.
“Maybe
I
ought
to
go
to
a
jewelry
store
with
you
and
pick
out
what
I
want.”

“No,”
Daisy
moaned,
trying
to
back
a
way.
“I’ll
come
up
with
the
money,
somehow.”

“You better, bitch.
Remember, you’re
simply
buying
insurance
protection.
It’s
a
cost of doing
business. It’s a cost of
being
part
of
my
family.
Nothing
too
bad
will
happen
to
your
precious
sister,
or
damn
horses,
or that prissy Underwood, or even
you,
dear
one,”
he
said,
moving
his
hand
to
cover
a
breast,
“as
long
as
you
take
care
of my needs.”

Daisy
grabbed
his
arm
with
her
free
hand.
She
yelped
and
fell
forward
as
he
twisted her breast in his fist.
Momentarily
blinded
by
the
pain,
Daisy
bit
her
lip
not
wanting
to
scream.
Thankfully,
Reggie
released
her
and
stepped
back.

“Remember
what
I
said,
bitch.
You
be
responsible
to
your
family
and
no
one
will
get hurt.” He snickered at her massaging
her breast. “And you if think that was
pain,
you
haven’t
experienced
pain
yet.
I’ll
expect
five
hundred
dollars
each
week.”
He
moved
to
leave
and
stopped.
“And
no
more
checks.
Cash
only.
You
give
it
to
me
or
Maxine.
Take
care
now,
Daisy
darling.
We don’t want Mr. Underwood to
discover
our
little
arrangement.”

When
she
heard
the
door
latch
closed,
Daisy
whirled
and
raced
up
the
stairs.
Back
under
the
shower,
she
thoroughly
scrubbed
every
spot
on
her
skin
that
Reggie
Lassiter
had
touched.
He
was
defilement
personified.

Daisy’s
tears
mingled
with
the
streams
of
water from the showerhead. Five
hundred
a
week.
Regardless
of
what
Reggie
thought,
she
didn’t
have
that
kind
of
money.
Unless
she
touched
her
college
fund.
Her
lungs
heaved
with
her
sobs.

Everything
had
been
going
so
right.
Five
hundred
a
month
wasn’t
right,
but
it
wasn’t
a
great
burden,
either.
Two
thousand
was
an
entirely
different
matter.

Could
she
talk
to
Maxine?
Would
she
be
able
to
make
Reggie
be
reasonable?
Hardly.

She
could
save
some
money
if
she
dropped
out
of
school.
She
did
have
some
jewelry
she
could
hock.
Reggie
was
right.
Nick
would
buy
her
most
anything
she
asked
for,
but
she
wouldn’t
do
that.

And
she
wasn’t
a
thief.
Damn
if
Reggie
Lassiter
would
turn
her
into
a
thief.
She’d
figure
out
a
way.
She
had
to.
Maybe
they’d
get
lucky
and
win
a
few
more
races.
The
extra
purse
money
helped.