Fantasies Incorporated: A Gambling Debt
By: Bridy McAvoy
All rights reserved
Copyright © Sept. 2008, Bridy McAvoy
Cover Art Copyright © Aug 2009, Brightling Spur
Bluewood Publishing Ltd
Christchurch, 8042, New Zealand
www.bluewoodpublishing.com
Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.
No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Bluewood Publishing Ltd
Special Note: This book contains UK Spellings.
Smashword Edition – License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase another copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book, and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your own use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
Dedication
To everyone who helped me write this. Especially my husband who encouraged me to explore my fantasies in print.
A Gambling Debt
Amy hummed to herself as she applied the finishing touches to her hair and makeup. Finally satisfied, she turned back to the bed and picked up the satin slip she intended to wear and then decided it was too staid. She felt a little naughty but why not? She threw the slip back into the drawer and got out the cream camisole top and matching French knickers, dropped her more conservative white bra and panties to the floor, slipped the sexier set on with a delicious wiggle. Finally she slipped on the conservative grey silk skirt and jacket and double checked her image in the mirror.
This afternoon was important and she wanted to look her best, smart, businesslike but also sexy without being blatant. Finally her husband had agreed to let her run her own little boutique in town and today was the day they were going to present the business plan to the bank. As she strung the natural, not cultured pearls, he had given her this morning as an anniversary gift; she couldn’t help smiling at her reflection.
Damn, girl you sure look good for thirty!
She heard the car pull up and a moment later her husband opened the front door. Checking her image in the mirror for a final time, she left the bedroom and descended the stairs to see her husband looking up at her with a rather glum look on his face. As she came further into the room she saw three very large men standing there; men she didn’t know. One of them began to speak to her.
“Mrs. Adams; please sit down over here.”
He indicated the lounge chair nearest the window. She bridled.
“This is my house and you will not tell me what to do in it. Please leave now or I’m calling the police.”
“Just do as he asks, please Amy.”
The tone of voice her husband used astonished her. Phil was a very tough cookie in the business world and nobody intimidated him. Ever; but he sounded beaten down.
“I meant no offence Mrs. Adams. But if you would please take a seat and your husband too, I am sure you will understand when we explain this.”
Numbly she watched her husband obey and she moved across the room and took the chair furthest away from the three men. In passing, she realised they were each at least six foot three and very powerfully built. It was easy to see that they could intimidate a lot of people and she felt quite intimidated by them.
The one who had been doing the talking up till now continued;
“You see Mrs. Adams your husband hasn’t been entirely straight with you, have you Phil?”
Phil Adams shook his head and couldn’t look his wife in the eye.
“Four months ago his business hit a little bit of a cash flow blip – didn’t it?”
Phil nodded.
“Nothing serious, you see, but a blip. Now because you wanted to start this business venture of your own, he didn’t want to jeopardise his reputation with the bank, right so far?”
Again Phil nodded; he still wouldn’t meet Amy’s eyes.
“So he needed to find fifty thou in a hurry just to tide him over for a few weeks until the money came back in. Now this is where my employer comes in. You see Mr. Green lends money to people in this situation no questions asked and he was very happy to help your husband wasn’t he?”
Phil looked at the floor and nodded yet again.
“Well; five weeks later, the money came rolling back in and Phil paid off Mr. Green the capital and all was well in the world except for the interest payment. You see Mr. Green makes risky investments and therefore charges his clients a high rate of interest you see so your husband still owed him ten thou.”
“That’s extortion!” Amy was incensed at what she was hearing but could see from Phil’s reaction that this was the truth.
“Mr. Green doesn’t like that word; Mrs. Adams. He gets quite annoyed with people who refer to him that way and after all he provides a service that people like your husband need from time to time. It’s a business arrangement and like any service provider he expects to pick up a fee for providing it.”
Amy subsided back into the chair.
“Now unfortunately your husband decided to get cute with Mr. Green. He offered to play him a hand of cards, double or nothing. Mr. Green thought this was funny and laughed quite a lot. However your husband was quite serious about it so Mr. Green agreed to play your husband here, best of three hands at poker, double or nothing.”
Amy was now staring furiously at her husband who continued to stare at the ground in shame.
“Unfortunately for your husband although he won the first hand, he lost the other two so he owed Mr. Green twenty thou. He only had the ten thou on him and pleaded with Mr. Green to give him some time to come up with the rest. Now Mr. Green is a gentleman, after all it had been a gentleman’s bet, so he agreed to let your husband have a month at a very generous twenty percent interest a week to come up with the mullah.”
Amy’s temper was really up and she was going red in the face.
“Now the four weeks is up and Mr. Green wants his twenty thousand, seven hundred and thirty six dollars and your husband won’t pay up. As you may guess Mr. Green isn’t happy with your husband.”
“And nor am I!”
The three men chuckled at her reaction.
“I’m quite sure you’re not Mrs. Adams but you see we are going to collect on that debt right now. Either your husband comes up with the cash right now or we are going to take him out into the backyard and use those” he nodded at the three large metal baseball bats in the corner that didn’t belong there, “on his arms and legs so that he’ll regret reneging on a business deal and he’ll have months in traction listening to you telling him what a stupid little boy he is.”
He paused for effect and then went on.
“We know you haven’t got that amount of money lying around the house, and we know you don’t have that much in your checking account so we spoke to Mr. Green a few minutes ago and he said use the bats. Now as we don’t want you dialling nine-one-one until we’ve left I’m afraid you’ll have to watch us finish off this whole distasteful business.”
He nodded to the other two men who seized Phil’s arms and dragged him into a standing position.
“No, please no. Look can’t you tell him you did it and I’ll make it worth your while.”
Phil Adams’ voice had a piteous wheedling quality to it that turned Amy’s stomach.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Adams but Mr. Green runs his business on trust and he has to trust us to deliver on his promises.”
They began to drag him towards their private back yard whilst the first man picked up the baseball bats and gestured for Amy to join them. Amy rose to her feet, they were all big powerful men and her mind was racing as she tried to think of a way out of this predicament.
Phil’s mind was speeding too as they dragged him into the dining room on the way to the patio doors out to the yard. He spotted the poker chips set on the top of the sideboard and a plan crystallised straight away.
“Wait. Look can’t we do something else.”
The three men stopped and the leader moved round in front of Phil. One of the others let go of him and moved closer to Amy so that she didn’t try anything.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well . . . How about if we play cards? If I win you forget about it but if I lose you still get to beat seven kinds of shit out of me.”
The man chuckled and looked around the room.
“You mean three against one and you’ll take those odds?”
Phil nodded enthusiastically. “It’s better than the odds you were giving me a minute ago isn’t it.”