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Chapter 4

                 

Stellan groans, running his hand over his face. "You're incorrigible."

"I'm trying to be a friend," I utter, touching his arm lightly. I begin to hear loud noises and realize it's the paparazzi. "Shit, w-will you come to my car?"

He nods after a moment with a sigh, probably knowing I'm not going to let him go. I begin to walk hastily; glad Eric is already out of the car because the cameras and lights are getting closer.

Eric opens the back door, his gaze hard on Stellan as he climbs in behind me. I take a deep breath as I see the people come right up to the car. Stellan stares down at his lap as Eric climbs in the front seat.

"Where we going?"

"Just drive, please Eric and raise the partition."

I wait until the black window covers the port way to the front of the car before I turn to look at him. I find him watching me curiously, hands on his thighs.

As I've gotten to know him, he's grown more attractive to me. Behind all the rugged clothes and poorly kept hair is a beautiful man. I can see it, clear as day. It makes me even more curious to know his past.

"I've never told anyone-"

"You can trust me."

He glances over at me, a watchful look on his face. I wait silently as we merge into traffic, patient.

"I was studying to be a Financial Analyst. I was in my second year when- when my parents died in a car accident. Uh, they had a lot of debt, my father was a gambler. I had to quit school and try to find a job to support myself in New York and also pay those debts off. I was working as a server in a catering business when I was approached by a woman."

I nod, licking my lips in concentration.

"She offered money- to- sleep with me. A lot of it."

I almost choke on my own tongue. Oh my God. I try to control my reaction to his words. I must do a terrible job because he laughs, nodding.

"I know. You weren't expecting it."

"No, I wasn't... You were a-?"

"Male escort. At first it was just sporadically but word got out and soon, I quit my job to make time for these women. I was well off- I managed to pay off my father's debt, move into a loft..."

"What happened?"

He takes a deep breath. "I met a woman and she became- rather clingy, obsessive almost. She offered me- hundreds of thousands simply to stop seeing other women and- and be exclusively with her- behind her husbands back. What I didn't know was he was an extremely important, extremely rich man. And after he found out about us- found out that she was paying me with his money, he lost it."

"Lost it?"

"He had me jumped leaving a restaurant. He made it his mission to destroy me in anyway possible, starting with my career. I can't get a job anywhere, Iris."

"Oh my God."

"I'm telling you this because you asked. I didn't enjoy what I did with those women but I was good at it. You may not understand why I did-"

His story resonates with me, stirring up memories I had forgotten.

"We do anything to survive, Stellan. You don't have to explain yourself to me."

"Now you know why I live on the street. Now you know why I can't accept your offer."

"I'm so sorry, Stellan. About your parents... about everything."