** A/N: I changed Mary's name to Ruth for obvious reasons.**

“L-Liam?” I stuttered, staying near my door. I didn't think I could get out of there quickly because I bet that those other guys were outside of my door waiting for me. I just stayed there, stuck between a hard place and a harder place. 

“That’ll be Mr. Payne to you.” Liam spoke, standing up from the couch ad rebutting his jacket. He flattened the fabric and then looked straight at me. “Do you do this often?” He asked. I didn’t quite get what he was talking about so I stayed silent. “I asked you a question. You’re best option is to answer me.”

“I-I don’t know what your-“ I was cut off by a hard, back handed slap to my face. I hissed in pain and brought my hand to my face to sooth the new cut from his large ring. My eyes stung with tears and my legs trembled. 

“Let me rephrase, Niall.” Liam pinned me to the wall, hips digging into my own. “Do you go and f.uck someone else as soon as I am done with you? You’re a whore, time is money, but my money is worth more than your life. Do you get that, Niall?” His face was so close to mine that I could hear his teeth grind and feel his hot breath on my cheek. I yelped out when his hand roughly shoved down my pants and he grabbed my d.ick and squeezed. “This.” He squeezed a little harder. “This is what I pay for. When you go and f.uck someone else in the same day, you’re disrespecting me. And I don’t like to be disrespected. I own half of this town and the people in it. Do not think you are any different.”

He released me from his grasp and I let out my breath that I had been holding. Liam backed off and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands off. The same radio sounded off again. “Mr. Payne, we have a woman coming to the door at the moment. Should we stop her?” Oh no. The only woman who would be coming to my door would be Ruth, Harry’s wife. 

Liam pulled a small two way radio out of his pocket and spoke into it. “Go ahead, let her.” He smiled. A knock soon came to my door and Liam looked at me expectantly. I shakily opened the door and Ruth stood there, pregnant belly pushed outward. 

“Oh, Niall. You look absolutely terrible.” She frowned at my appearance. “I was coming up here to invite you to dinner tomorrow. Maybe I can fix you up a little bit too. I have an emergency kit.” She smiled and peered over my shoulder to see Liam standing in the back. “Oh? Niall, I didn’t know you knew Liam.” I moved out of the way as Ruth came into my place and smiled at Liam, walking up to him like she had known him her whole life. 

Liam’s hard expression softened as he hugged Ruth close. He then got on his knees before her and placed his hands on her belly. “You’re looking healthy, Ruth. I’m happy.” He pressed his ear to her and smiled. “I see my nephew is healthy too.” He stood up and my entire body froze. Nephew? That meant that…

“Liam is your brother?” I asked Ruth. She turned to me and smiled, nodding. Liam’s expression hardened again. “Oh, I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, he’s helped out so much with the hospital bills. He really is such a generous person.” She smiled and gave her brother another hug. “Did you want to stop by and have dinner with us as well tomorrow?” She asked him. 

“Sorry, I have matters to attend to. Maybe next time.” He thankfully declined. I couldn’t imagine a family dinner with Liam there. He patted her back and walked towards the door. “I’ll have to excuse myself now. Work calls.” He gave Ruth this bright smile, opening the door. 

“Don’t kill yourself with work, Liam. Remember to leave some time for relaxation and

 enjoyment.” She reminded him. 

He only nodded, looking straight at me. “Oh, I do. Don’t worry.” He then left, shutting the door behind me. I was left with my mouth slightly agape and my body completely in shock of what I had just witnessed. 

Mary looked at me with a smile. “So how about that dinner tomorrow, Niall?”

“That sounds good. I’ll bring something with me.” I wasn’t the best at cooking, but I could throw together a vegetable dish or something. After all, I had all that food and no one to eat it. Ruth nodded and carried her pregnant belly out of my apartment. I closed the door quietly behind her and then peered out of my window. There were still a few guys standing in the parking lot, but when they saw Ruth leave, they got into their cars and left. 

I still couldn’t believe that Liam had a normal life inside that rough exterior. And Ruth was his sister of all people. My landlord was married to the sister of one of my top paying clients. A client that was rough around the edges no less. I paced around my apartment for a while thinking of what to do next. I thought about using what money I had to get a bus ticket and get the hell out of here, but Louis would be pissed and he would find some way to find me. Hell, Liam already knew that I lived in this apartment complex. He would find me in no time and I didn’t think that I would survive it that time.

I finally stopped paying around my apartment when I made my way to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. The cut that Liam gave me from his ring was high on my cheek bone and stung when I touched it. I washed my face carefully and applied some antiseptic cream to the cut.  I hissed when the cut still burned after I cleaned it out. 

I was concerned about the upcoming week where I had no plans and no ways of keeping myself busy. I was normally so busy that I didn't have to plan things to do. For one I needed to meet up with Louis and give him the money that I owed him. I had dinner with the Styles’ the next day and I needed to give Harry money for the next month that I wouldn’t be around. I started to calculate the numbers in my head and groaned. 

I had about nine hundred dollars on me, plus the money they I got from Liam earlier that day. It was a lot less than I expected and Louis was probably expecting more from me. So that meant that I only had what I saved up to pay Harry. And that was around seven hundred that I owed him. The price to live in the apartment complex was expensive, especially since I was only sixteen. So at the end of it all, I would only have around two hundred dollars to myself and no sign of the money from Zayn for the month. 

I couldn’t even imagine seeing thirty thousand dollars. I wondered what was my share. Louis took half of what I made on the regular, but thirty thousand dollars was a lot and I could already sense the greed in Louis when he was talking about it earlier. I needed that money to get out of here. 

Speaking of Louis, my phone started to buzz and his name lit up on my screen. He had said he would leave me be for the rest of the week since I was all beat up and exhausted, but that was obviously not the situation. 

“Hello?” I answered in a tired tone. I wandered into my bedroom and stripped from my clothes, leaving myself in a pair of briefs. Bruises were all over my body and there were red welts on my sides. I saw down slowly and hissed at the pain in my backside. 

“Hey~”  Louis chimed. “How’s my best worker doing?” He definitely sounded drunk and by the noise in the backroom on his side of the line, he was at some club. 

“I’m tired, Lou. What do you need?” I knew being short with him wouldn’t get me anywhere, so I apologized and asked again. “What can I do for you, Louis?”

“That’s better, Niall. I’m not enjoying this attitude you have lately.”  I apologized again, but he just started to talk over me again. “I’ve got good news! That Malik guy. He’s paying up and giving a little extra for some more time with you.” Louis was laughing at something someone in the background said. He then brought his attention back to me. “So pack up. You’re leaving tomorrow.” Louis didn’t even give me time to adjust before he spoke again. “Hey, listen. I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early.”

Tomorrow.  I’ll be on my month long job with Zayn Malik tomorrow. 

Well there go my dinner plans. 

A/N: Ha, early update! Next one on Thursday! enjoy!

Much Love

Jachxx