Page 6 of Devil’s Promise

The car turns into an alley, the place in front a bar or a club with a sign that has dancing girls outlined in neon. Strip club?

What am I doing here?

For a brief second, I wonder if he’s going to make me strip, but I don’t see how that would help his campaign.

And if there is one thing I know, whatever he has in store for me, it will be to his advantage.

The car pulls around into a back parking lot, a single, beat up, windowless door at the back of the club is the only thing besides brick walls.

I’m trapped.

My father gets out and comes around to open my door. I step out, knowing that fighting is useless.

But I stop before my father can even close the car door. To my left is the chalk outline of a body. I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand to hide the sound.

My father gives me a cold smile. “A murder happened in his alley just a few days ago.” He grabs my arm, pulling me out of the way. “Vigo Sinclair. Used to own this place.” He leans right into my face. “You had better behave if you don’t want your outline next to this one.”

Like I said, death isn’t much of a threat. There are times that I wish it would come for me.

He pulls me toward the single door, his grip so tight that I think he’s leaving marks.

I try to keep up, but the three-inch stilettos I’m wearing to make my legs look longer make it difficult to keep pace, and I stumble but catch myself.

My father just yanks harder.

The door swings open, a man appearing in late afternoon light. I halt to a stop when I see him and then start to fall, not able to stop it this time when my father keeps pulling.

He lets me crash to the pavement, the gravel digging into my hands and knees. I’m shaking now, as I tilt my head up to look at the man towering over me.

“Don’t you look like a fucking cupcake?” he says in this cold voice that starts a violent shiver running through me.

He is hands down the most frightening person I’ve ever seen. Well over six feet, he’s all muscle and covered in tattoos, even his face. But it’s his eyes that really get me. They are an unnatural amber color that make him look like the devil incarnate. I dip my head again, letting it sink toward the pavement.

“Get up,” my father spits through gritted teeth. “And for fuck’s sake, wipe yourself off and look presentable.”

I try to push myself up, but my muscles have turned to jelly.

My father grabs me by the hair and pulls, the pain that shoots through my scalp enough to make my eyes water, but I don’t cry out.

He leans down. “Did you think I was going to let you get away with this little stunt you’ve been pulling?”

I reach back, grabbing his hand to try to minimize the pain, but it only makes my knees dig deeper into the gravel.

The other man watches, a cold smile curling his lips. He reaches out, and, though I try to shrink away, he grabs me under the armpits and hauls me to my feet. “Come on, cupcake, it’s time to meet the family.”

Family? What is he talking about? When he gets me to my feet, he wraps an arm around my waist and then lifts me off the ground, carrying me inside the building like I’m some kind of mannequin.

Looking at him is just scaring me more, so I scan the hall in front of us, my eyes adjusting to the dim light.

That’s when another figure enters the hall. A woman, in nothing but a G-string, her breasts on clear display, prances toward us.

I’d say she ought to be embarrassed, but they are completely fake.

My hand comes to the man’s chest, his muscles granite under my hand as I try to push. “Forget it,” he rumbles and squeezes my middle, forcing all the air from my lungs. “You’re not going anywhere or doing anything that my brother doesn’t want.”

I look up at him again, my lips forming an O as I try to piece together what is happening. Behind me my father gives a cackling laugh, before his gaze fixes on the nearly naked woman. “What’s her name?”

“That’s Chastity,” the man answers. “She’s yours for the next hour…after we settle our business.”