Trapped in the Don's contract

Annabelle's POV "I'm doing everything I can to put the money together." I whispered. "Please give me some more time." The lump in my throat threatened to choke me out and I swallowed trying to dislodge it "You have until the end of today to make some payments." The voice growled through the phone speaker and the call clicked and went dead immediately. I screamed in anger and threw the phone against the wall. Luckily, for me,.it landed on the bed with a soft this and I slumped to the ground and cried. My mother's debts were crippling and choking me and I had no choice but to pay them off. It was more frustrating because the debts had been incurred by my lat stepfather. I put my head in between my knees and began taking deep breaths in order to calm myself. I looked up with blurry eyes. The tears had blurred my vision. My mother's portrait hanging on the wall stared back at me and I looked up at her helpless. Memories of the day I buried her assaulted me with so much vigor. No one had come. Not her family whom.ive never met and not my step father's family who benefited from her hardwork while she was alive. They abandoned an eighteen-year-old to bury her mother all alone. I sighed and wiped my tears. I needed to get to my waitress job. The bills won't pay itself and neither will the debts. I grabbed my tote and stalked out of the house without saying anything to the father and daughter pair sitting in the living room. I took the bus and quickly got to the cafe. The morning rush was already over by the time I got here. "You're late." Adeline growled. She was the manager of the cafe. She knew of my ordeal and so she did her best to cut me some slack. "I'm sorry, traffic." I apologized. She eyed me like she didn't believe me and threw an apron at me so I could get to work. I quickly doled it on and staring carrying out coffee mugs and wiping down tables. The bell above the door chimed and I looked up to see one of our regular customers waltzing in. He was smiling, as charming as ever. Adeline gave me a knowing look and smiled mischievously. I rolled my eyes and threw down the rag so I could take his order. He sat down with that charming smile that never seemed to depart from his face. He was always nice to me. "What would you like?" I asked pulling out my notepad and a pen. "Come on now, Anabelle. A little pleasantry before business would be nice," He taunted. "Good morning, George. What would you like to have?" I asked smiling sarcastically. George chuckled and ordered his usual. Adeline snickered when I walked past her to get the order. She was convinced George was interested in me because he always made it a point to flirt with me whenever he came in and she was also convinced that he only came to have coffee at our cafe because of me. I returned to give him his muffin and coffee. "Sit with me, Anabelle." He said charmingly. "That's against my work policy." I replied in the same charming tone. "Then go out with me tonight." "I'm busy after work." I retorted. "You can't run away from me forever, Anabelle." "I can try." He shook his head in disappointment. "Let me have your number at least. Please." He pleaded making puppy eyes at me. I couldn't deny that he had the most beautiful pair of eyes I've ever seen and so I succumbed and punched my line into his phone. "You can't get rid of me now." He said proudly and saved the number. I rolled my eyes and returned to the counter. Adeline had a panicked expression on her face. I approached her cautiously, wondering what went wrong. "What is it?" I asked in concern. "The boss is here." She whispered. "What?" I asked in disbelief She nodded toward his office, which was at the far end of the café but had a direct view into the café. The door was wide open and our owner, Paul was sitting in his revolving chair staring straight at me. He just witnessed my encounter with George. My heart plummeted and I knew I was in trouble. Paul gestured for me to come to him. I breathed in heavily and rubbed my palms against my apron trying to wipe off the sweat that was beginning to gather there. I took short shuffling steps on the wooden floor which stretched before until I got to the office. Paul's sneering eyes raked over me. He hated me because I refused to give in to his advances. He was still glaring at me when I entered. "You've turned my cafe into a hunting ground for whoring?" He barked. I shook my head frantically. "Of course not. He's a regular and I just wanted to keep him placated so he could keep coming back." I cried in defense. He eyed me like I was stupid. "You're fired. Get out of my building." My heart sank instantly at those words. "No, please. You can't do that." I pleaded throwing myself at his feet. Paul didn't care. He kicked my ribs making me squirm in pain. "Leave. Or I'll ask the security to remove you." He ordered in disdain. I quickly realized that throwing myself at him was not going to solve anything so I got up and wiped off the tears streaming down my face. "You should write me a check to cover for the work I did this month." I said. Paul glared at me in disbelief. "You should be lucky I'm letting you leave here alive." He growled. "Get out!" I didn't wait to be told twice and I ran out. From the anger in his eyes, he would have struck me again. I ran to the closet and took my bag. Adeline looked at me with guilt and pity but there was nothing she could do. I said my goodbyes and went out back into the street and headed home. I should look for another job, but I didn't have it in right now. My spirits had been defeated entirely. I walked through the streets of the city until I got to our house. I sighed as I craned my neck to look up at the building knowing what awaited me within. Unpaid bills and debts. It seemed unfair that I had to leave this way. I got to my door and saw a quit notice that had been slapped against it. I totally forgot that I was still owing rent. "f**k!" I cried and ripped the paper off the door. I crumpled it and threw it on the floor watching my heart shatter with it. My hands trembled as I fished out the keys to my apartment. The only refuge I had and now it was about to be taken away from me. I finally opened the door and went in. Everywhere was dark. I flipped the switch and the bulbs came on. Strange men were sprawled across my living room floor as if waiting for me. They all had guns. I panicked and turned to run. Strong hands grabbed me immediately and pulled me back. "Sit, or I blow your brains off." He threatened.