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Chapter 1
Emmie
His rough, heavy hand connected with my face before I had time to react. My cheek stung as the force from the unforgiving blow knocked me to the ground, paralyzing me with fear and holding me hostage to this monster.
“I warned you there would be consequences.” My aggressive attacker came at me. “I told you to have the cash today.”
“Please.” I scurried toward the dumpster behind the convenience store like a mouse about to be caught by a determined cat. “I thought my paycheck would be more. I thought I’d have something to give you.”
“That is not my problem.” The large, muscular man grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet, pushing me against the rancid-smelling dumpster.“You owe my boss a lot of money.”
“My father owes your boss a lot of money.” I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for another smack to the face.
“My boss doesn’t care who owes the debt.” He pinned me against the trash container. “He only cares how he’ll get paid. Trust me, if you can’t come up with the money, he will make you pay in other ways.” He licked his lips. “I’d much rather him make you do the other things.”
When he touched my hair, the bile rose in my throat. The darkness that I constantly battled with had resurfaced. No matter where I went, or how hard I tried to escape, it always found me.
“Don’t.” I pushed his hand away, glancing at the large snake tattoo on his arm. “I don’t have the money today.”
“That’s unfortunate.” The cool autumn breeze blew the scent of stale tobacco in my direction. “For you.”
“But I will.” My heart raced as I tried to lie my way out of this situation. “I’ll get it.”
“Both of us know you’re lying, but I’ll play your game since you’re almost out of time.” His unwanted proximity made my skin crawl. “I’m going to ask my boss to give you to me first when he makes you pay off that debt. I want you fresh when I fuck you.”
The thought of him having me in that way made me sick.
“You don’t like that, princess?” He tugged on the end of my hair. “I’m going to love every second of it. You will too.”
“Can’t you just go after my father?”
I hadn’t seen my dad in about six months. He left Boston one day and never looked back. When this brutal barbarian showed up last week looking to collect on the debt, I figured out why my father ran, but I didn’t understand why these people would come after me.
“Don’t you think we’ve searched for him?” He glared at me with his brown, dreary eyes. “My boss has been more than patient. Making you pay for what your father owes will set an example with other scum just like him. If you ask me, we’ve given you enough time.”
“You’ve given me a week to pay off two-hundred thousand dollars.”
“Like I said, we know you can’t pay it, but you will be useful in so many other ways.”
“If you know I can’t pay it, why are you giving me a chance?”
“My boss likes to be fair.” He shrugged. “Me, not so much.”
As he turned to walk away, I released a shaky breath, too scared to move. Once that vile man was out of sight, I scooped my worn, Nike backpack from the ground.
If I didn’t already hate my deadbeat father, I would now. Screw him for leaving me in this mess. What kind of people had he borrowed money from that they would come after me?
The back door swung open and the owner, Mr. Tanner, walked out carrying a bag of trash.
“Hello.” I pushed the hair from my face and ignored the angry sting plaguing my cheek. “I was just coming in to start my shift.”
He stared at my face before looking around, probably trying to find who I had been out here with.Trust me, you don’t want to know.
“That won’t be necessary.” He opened the dumpster, then tossed the black bag into it.
“What do you mean?” An anxious knot formed in my stomach.
“I’m sorry.” He faced me. “Business has been so slow. I’m going to have to let you go.”
