Page 12 of Blood and Thorns

Instead, I drew out their punishments, making each second before death agonising. Letting them wallow in theirguilt just a little bit longer until I finally grew bored or lost my temper. Whichever came first.

This was the first time I’d thought about accepting.

His daughter’s fearful pulse thrumming against my fingers while animosity burned in those pretty brown eyes had been… interesting. She was so loyal to her father, all while he was willing to give her over like some common whore.

In the grand scheme of things, 100k was nothing to me. I made more than that as a fighter, but this wasn’t about the money. It was about someone stealing from me. I was known for being brutal well before I even stepped inside a ring.

Which was why I planned to keep Morris a little longer, pacing in his concrete cell, devoid of a window and only his own mind and a few spiders to keep him company. I wanted him to break, so I could then parade him around as a warning to others not to fuck with what was mine.

Chapter 7

Arabella

I couldn’t seem to shake my nervous energy as I sat in my boss’s office.

Chase was clearly picking up on it, because his surprise at seeing my face on my day off was quickly replaced with disappointment.

“Money’s missing from the float. You wanna tell me about that?”

I swallowed, my hands restless in my lap. “I’m sorry–”

“Fucking hell, doll. I didn’t actually think you had anything to do with it.” He slouched back, his chair letting out a wheeze as if straining beneath his weight. “So, you’re stealing from me now?”

“I have some of the money.” Reaching into the back of my jeans, I pulled out around £230. It wasn’t all of it, but it was everything I’d managed to scrape together from what I’d found in Dad’s garage. “I’m so sorry, I was cornered and didn’t know what else to do. I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

Chase’s hand snapped out faster than I expected, making me flinch. “You know I have to let you go, right? You can’t go around stealing from me.”

Myeyes widened. “No, please, I really love this job.” And I needed it more than ever. “I was just desperate.”

Chase scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. “What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?”

“I need to borrow 100k.”

Chase blinked at me for a moment, then burst into a loud bark of a laugh. “Wait, you’re serious?” he asked once he’d sobered. “You’re fucking crazy if you think I’ll lend you anything. Not even if you bent over this desk for me.”

Heat prickled my cheeks, and I curled my fingers into my thighs. If I wasn’t wearing jeans, I was pretty sure my nails would’ve sliced through the skin of my legs. “Do you know anyone who would lend me it?” I asked, deciding to ignore his previous comment.

He eyed me for a moment. “That’s a lot of money. You in some kind of trouble?”

“My father is.”

Chase shook his head. “Who the fuck does he owe that much to?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Shaking his head, he stood, towering over me. “Doll, take my advice. I don’t want to turn on the news and see your pretty face as just another statistic. Your dad’s business is his own, and you should run while you still can.”

I was quiet as I left, that ice in my gut having melted until I felt numb everywhere. I was grateful Suzy was too busy to notice me, because I really didn’t feel like arguing who would give the best orgasm from theLord of the Ringsfranchise when I felt like my entire life had been turned upside down.

Rachael spotted me from behind the bar, her smile gentle when I gave her a small wave and quickly hurried to the staff room. It was small, consisting of just a sink, a tinytable with two chairs, and space to store our stuff while on shift.

Going over to the cubby hole, I grabbed everything that was mine, which was only a hairbrush and my notebook.

“There you are,” Suzy exclaimed, sweeping in with the energy of a golden retriever. “Rachael said you were here. So, that pretty boy who was here the other night is waiting for you at the…” Her eyes dipped to the book in my bag. “Wait, are you leaving?”

I tugged the bag tighter against me. “Yeah, I… I was offered another job,” I lied. “Better pay. Shorter hours. Even covers my dental, and… stuff.”

Suzy’s bottom lip trembled, and she blinked a few times.