"Switch on the light, Lowe," he ordered the man that had brought me in.

"Jezz!" I couldn't believe what I saw. Littered everywhere were bloodstains and chopped body parts of humans.

"Shut up!" He ordered me.

"Please, don't kill me. I am just a young girl struggling to live her dream." I was scared to hell.

"This is exactly what happens to those who don't play my games. Now, where is my money!?," he yelled at me.

"Sir, please, $10,000 is all I have. Please don't kill me."

"Do you really love your mother?," he asked me.

"With everything I have."

"I will offer you another chance to save her and save yourself."

"Thank you, sir." Though I didn't know what this 'another chance' was, I was relieved, as long as it was not going to cost me or Catherine her life.

"You're sexy and, with your body, you could get me my money in few years," he said, looking at me lustfully.

"I don't get you. What do you mean exactly?." I didn't seem to understand what he meant.

"I have a buyer ready to pay over the odds for you. That's the only way I can get my money since you can't offer it yourself. I guess you understand now."

"Jezz! I can't do that! What are you saying!" "Not that you have a choice."

I don't know what he said to the man that brought me inside, but, with just a glance, he carried me off to the other room.

"I don't agree! You can't force me to sell my body! You're breaking the law!" I yelled at him as he forcefully carried me off.

"Please leave her alone. It's me you want, not her," my mother pleaded.

"Take her away!" He ordered him, unperturbed.

"Pl..ease..," she cried.

"You'll see her again when you pay me what you owe me."

"I will pay," someone said.

Time seemed to stand still.

Standing before us was the cutest man I had ever seen. Tall, with a broad shoulder, wearing a T- shirt that revealed his masculine built, he seemed to have been created differently from every other man alive. This seemed like a movie from Disneyland, but it wasn't. This god in mortal clothing had just showed up to be my savior.

"Who are you?," the Casino leader asked, surprised.

"Who I am is not necessary. How much does she owe you?"

"Hahahahaha. You can't pay." He mocked him.

"Name your price." He was so calm and spoke in that way.

"$550,000."

"That's not true! I only owe you $500,000," my mother protested, as if she had a penny.

"Don't worry, I'll pay." In a flash, someone brought a briefcase to him. "Here," he said, handing it over to the casino leader.

"How much?," he asked, surprised. "$600,000. Take all."

"Wait! I have to confirm." After counting, he looked at him with so much shock. "Complete," he said.

"Now, let them go."

"Thank you, sir. You're our savior," my mother said, kneeling before him. I didn't even know what to say. I had so many questions to ask. Who was this stranger that gave away a fortune for us?.

"Please who are you?," I asked.

"We can't talk here," he answered. He was so calm.

He offered us a ride. After dropping Catherine off, he insisted I go on a dinner date with him. Though I didn't know him, I couldn't say no. He had just saved our ass.

"Why did you help us?," I asked him when we had settled down at the glamorous El Pacho restaurant.

"Let's say I was meant to."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"How did you know we were there and in trouble?"

"Maybe I was meant to be there."

"I don't even know what to say, but thank you."

"I'm Phil," he said, offering me his hand for a handshake.

"I'm Jessica," I said, obliging his offer.

"Once again, thank you for the help. I'll surely pay you back." I wasn't sure how I was going to raise that money, but I didn't have a choice. I couldn't just assume he had given away that fortune on a platter.

"I may not know how much it is, but at your current salary level, I am sure you would have to work for more than a decade without eating or drinking to be able to pay the money, that's without even adding the interest," he chuckled.

I knew what he said was true, but I didn't like his tone. He sounded so blunt. Well, a debtor has no right to question his creditor's choice of words, I thought. That was a line from Mitchell, my high school friend.

"What do you want?," I asked. I just felt there was something up his sleeves.

"Be my lover," he just said.

"That's a ridiculous thing to say! How can you just meet me today and talk about relationship! Is that how you are?." I was furious, but I tried to be calm.

"Am I still a stranger?"

"Absolutely!"

"This stranger paid your debt and saved you from death, remember," he reminded me.

"I have a boyfriend, and we are both in love with each other."

"Really?," he smiled.

"Yes!," I sounded very emphatic, determined to put him off.

"Well, that doesn't change anything," he said, smiling.

"Maybe you didn't hear what I said."

"I heard you," he cut in. "Let me ask you, and I would love an honest reply. Are you engaged to him?."

"Why are you asking?."

"Just answer the question, please."

"No, he hasn't," I reluctantly said.

"You see, it means that I have as much chance as he does. Okay, he may be first on the queue, but it doesn't mean he will remain there. Time will tell who deserves a permanent place in your heart," he smiled.

"You know what," I said, getting up on my feet, "I shouldn't be here with you. Thank you for the help, but I've got to go now."

"Woah woah woah, not so fast, please," he said, remonstrating with his hands, as he sounded desperate. "Please, sit," he continued.

"I must leave now, Mr," I said again. I had forgotten his name, and I wasn't even keen on knowing.

"Phil it is," he reminded me, managing a grim smile. "Okay, I'm sorry about the things I said. Maybe I shouldn't have said them."

"Maybe?," I asked him, not impressed.

"Fine, I shouldn't have said it. I would love to know about you; I'd love to know what someone like you was doing in that dangerous ghetto. Why did you owe that much debt? What business did you have with Dwayne, the butcher?."

That was too many questions for just one person. How did he expect me to provide him answers to all at a go?

"I don't gamble," I began on the defensive. "It wasn't I who owed him; it was my mother. She always gets herself stuck in some trouble, and leaves me to clean her mess. I only went there to save her, but I had no idea she owed him that much." I paused, as I waited for his reaction.

"That must really be tough on you," he said. That was the first sensitive statement he had made all night. "I'm really sorry that you've had to go through that. What about your father?."

"I don't wanna talk about him," I said.

"Why not?."

"Not today, please." I looked at my wristwatch. It was already getting late, and I hate to be out late, except, of course, it was for work. Besides, my boyfriend, Bridge, was coming over that night to be with me. I didn't want to keep him waiting. "I must leave now," I said to Phil. "Thank you for paying our debt. I owe you."

"Yeah, you do," he smiled at me. I managed to smile in return, just to make him think he made sense. "There's something I must tell you," he continued, looking very subdued.

"Can it wait for later, please. I don't wanna keep him waiting any longer," I said to him. Even though I really wanted to hear what he had to say, I couldn't keep Bridge waiting any longer. He had just sent me a text to say that he was already close to my house, and he had no idea I wasn't at home.

"Your boyfriend, I suppose," he chuckled. "Here's my card. Call me when you're ready," he said, handing me the card.

"Sure," I said and hurried out. He watched on until I was out of sight.

I could finally breathe!

……………………………………………………