Bound to the devil

Chapter two

ISABELLA POV

Eventually I push myself up. My knees are scraped and bleeding, My hands are raw and my face swollen from crying.

I drag myself back to my car on legs that don't feel like mine.

I sit there for a moment going through my phone researching how to get money quickly… Then I find a thread in a forum I didn't know existed. People talking about how to get money quickly.

One of the posts says he lends money to the needy but the price is high and it was not just money.

I don't care about the price I have to pay, I care that my mom gets the treatment she needs and gets well soon.

I find his address and drive to the Navigli district, I park on a narrow street where the streetlights don't reach and walk down the alley that smells of rain, garbage and something else that makes my stomach turn.

I reach his door…house number 65 and stand there for a long time. I am really doing this… I turn to leave but I think about my mother and how the last time I saw her,her hands felt very thin in mine.

My heart keeps pounding so hard I can hear it in my ear.

I turn back and knock on the door before I talk myself out.

I hear a rustling sound,then the door opens.

The man who opens the door is small and neat with wire-rimmed glasses and a sweater vest.

The eyes of a man who has seen too many desperate people to care about any of them.

"Signorina Bianchi," he says, stepping aside. "Come in."

His office is cluttered with files with a single lamp casting yellow light over stacks of paperwork.

The walls are bare and for some reason the windows are covered.

It smells like dust,old coffee and something stale that makes my skin crawl.

I sit across from him.

"I need forty thousand euros," I say. "For my mother's surgery."

He pulls out a calculator, his fingers tapping against the keys with a soft click, click, click.

"What collateral do you have?"

“Nothing.” My voice barely a whisper and I feel tears prickle my eyes."But I'll pay it back. I'll do whatever it takes. Please just give me a chance to save her.”

He taps numbers into the calculator, studies the screen, then looks at me over his glasses.

"I can offer you fifteen thousand. No more."

My heart sinks.”that's barely half of it…it's not enough. I need forty please. Isn't there another way? I'll do whatever you want, just give me more.”

He sets down the calculator and removes his glasses, folding them carefully and placing them on the desk.

"The rules are the rules, signorina," he says. "Fifteen thousand. Take it or leave it. If you had collateral I might have offered you more.Don't you have anything?"

My mother would be mad at me when she finds out but I rather she's alive and mad than dead.

“I…I have an apartment. It's not in my name though but I can get you the documents. Would that be enough.” I look up at him hopeful.

He shakes his head. “ I would have given you the forty or more if the apartment was in your name but since it's not I can't take it…I could be charged for theft.”

I collect myself together “Thank you. I would take the fifteen thousand… What are my rates?”

“Go for now, take care of your mother and later I will find a good use for you, “ he says.

I take the envelope he slides across the desk. As I am about to put it in my coat he stops me.

“Count it.you want to be sure it's the full amount.”

“Oh thank you.” I take out the wad of cash and begin counting it. Fifteen thousand euros cash I've forgotten when I last held this much money.

I stand up to leave as I'm about to step out. He takes my hand and shoves something into it.

Outside the rain had started. I run to my car with the envelope pressed against my chest, clutching whatever it was that he gave me.

Inside the car I open my hand… neat notes of what could be two thousand euros…I rush to back the door and begin knocking but no matter how much I knock he wouldn't open up.

“Thank you”I yelled and head back to my car.

I start the engine and head to the one person who will most likely take care of my mom.