To Sir by Rachell Nichole Read Free Book Online Page B

hell, Chase, this is hard for me. Roger and I… We were supposed to be helping Mom and Dad with the medical bills, but I…” She paused, her voice hitching. “I got laid off. And we’re barely going to be able to survive as it is. There’s no way we can—”
    “How much do you need?”
    “They only owe about two thousand out of pocket now. And they can cover some of it, but not all, and they’re talking about three months in a long-term care facility doing rehab. I have no idea how much that’s going to cost. Four or five thousand. Maybe more.”
    Christ. No way could Mom and Pop afford that. “Look into it and get me some solid figures this weekend, okay?”
    “Yeah, of course. Listen, I wouldn’t ask, except…”
    “Except I’m the only other kid who’s got any financial stability. Yeah, I know.” He hadn’t told them he was having troubles with the club. Senator Johnson and Judge Wilcox were local power players, not people who would make national news with their nonsense, thank God. So his East Coast-based family had been spared the drama of the past months. And now that was going to come back to bite him in the ass. He wouldn’t tell his big sister that he couldn’t help. It would crush her. Making this phone call had to have cost a lot of her pride, and he wasn’t going to add to her worries with his troubles. He could take care of himself. And everyone else. Like he always had.
    “I’ve got it covered, sis. Get me those figures, and I’ll see what I can do, all right?”
    She huffed out a breath. “Yeah, sweets. Thanks. I’ll talk to you soon. Love you.”
    “You too. Bye,” he said and dropped the receiver back in its cradle.
    If his parents needed the money, he would find a way to get it to them. No matter what. All he had to do now was save his failing club, raise a bunch of money to pay off what they owed on the bank loan, and make sure the senator’s rezoning bills failed. And scrape together another five or six grand to help out his parents. Sure, no problem.
    Chase hung his head and gripped the edge of his desk hard. He had some money saved, but it was supposed to go toward business finances, though it would barely put a dent in the ten thousand bucks they owed the bank. Now he’d have to tell Dusty they wouldn’t even have that much to try to keep the wolves at bay. But there was no way in hell he was going to watch his parents suffer under the weight of those kinds of medical expenses. He couldn’t.
    After a soft knock, his office door opened, and he lifted his gaze to see Dusty holding a hysterical woman in his arms.
    I’m sorry , Dusty mouthed to him over the blonde’s head.
    “Oh, Chase,” she cried and flung herself at him.
    “Whoa, Suzanna?” Chase automatically wound his arms around his former sub. When had she moved back into town?
    Son of a bitch. How much was one man supposed to take? He couldn’t fucking catch a break today. He pushed his selfish thoughts aside and focused on the shaking woman crawling onto his lap.
    She nodded against his shoulder. “You can’t let them close this club. You can’t !”
    “I couldn’t talk any sense into her. She was frantic,” Dusty said.
    “I see that,” Chase said wryly and waved Dusty away. She was his emotional mess to deal with, and since D had been dealing with every knock at the door and most phone calls for the past three weeks, Chase figured he owed the man. Big-time.
    As soon as the door clicked shut, Chase rubbed Suzanna’s back. “Okay, honey, relax. We’re doing everything we can to get back up and running. You have to calm down for me. Now, all right?” He tried to make his voice more confident than he was feeling.
    She looked up at him with those blue eyes and sighed. “You won’t let it happen? I j-just came back. I knew I could. That I would be welcome here, regardless of what went on between us before. But now…” Her voice broke with a sob. After a hiccup, she continued, “When I heard about