Page 15 of Into the Blue (Shades of Vengeance #1)

Despite the fact that summer is over, it’s blistering hot outside.

I worry for my frozen meals in the short walk from the grocery store to my car.

I’m not parked that far, but I feel a thin layer of sweat down my back and under my hair.

My shirt sticks to me and I walk a little faster toward my trunk.

Taking my keys out of my purse, my sweaty hands drop them and I curse.

This is not helping me get into my car any faster.

When I stand, there’s a shadow over me and I turn, my back pressed to the car door. “Can I help you?” I spit in frustration of being taken off guard.

The man in front of me is not smiling but sneering at me.

Unease trickles down my already sweaty back and I start thinking of ways to get away from this creeper.

It’s not uncommon for me to have an unsavory interaction with men, given my job.

But in Clayton Terrace, it seems to be happening far too much for my liking.

I think back to Blue and last night, how he was the one to ensure that Jimmy would never make me feel the way I did ever again. Right before he fucked me into oblivion. I’m still a little sore from his size and the rough way he pounded my pussy like it infuriated him.

If I was missing out on a WAP this good, I’d be mad, too.

My thoughts turn salacious only for a moment when a whole different set of thoughts take hold.

Guilt freezes me since I’m keeping what would be the most important information to share with him at this point in my back pocket.

But a woman is nothing without her secrets.

Especially in the life I want to lead.

The people I want to lead.

There’s too much time where I’m there frozen and two more men box me into the space where I stand. Their size makes it near impossible for me to see around them with any success.

The one on my left with a fade that has two large scars at his temple speaks first, breaking the sound of my heartbeat in my ears. “Terrell wants to see you.” Oh no. These are the men from the LaFayette place that were hanging around Junior.

“For what?” I screech. The sound is full of nerves and probably the appropriate amount of anxiety.

“Didn’t say. Come along and don’t put up a fight.”

Like hell.

I’d fight tooth and nail to not go anywhere with scary thing 1 and scary thing 2. If I leave with them, nothing will end well for me.

My eyes dart to the left quickly, but not quick enough. Scary thing 1 puts a hand on my door handle, keeping me from setting the alarm off and drawing attention to us. The one who spoke first grabs me and I struggle for only a moment before I feel a prick in my neck and a hand over my mouth.

I thrash and try to yell.

My head goes all lightheaded with the lack of oxygen I’m getting right now.

I’m gonna pass out.

Darkness is coming for me and fast.

I’m—

The first thing I check is my clothes. It’s an effort because one of my hands is tied to a pipe that’s above my head.

It’s already fallen asleep, completely useless, but the other works just fine.

My clothes are all still there. Nothing feels sore in my body like I’ve been sexually assaulted, but my head is killing me.

Unfortunately, I have had these protocols drilled into me from a young age just given my background. It’s second nature to tick these off the list.

“Bout damn time. I was sick of waiting for your ass.”

I blink and try to move my head around. Try to find the body that belongs to the voice.

Fuck.

No.

NO.

no.

Terrell stands there in the light, only marginally more put together than the last time I saw him. It’s dim and I don’t know where I’m at. I look for clues, but it’s useless since I can barely see anything.

“What do you want?” I croak out. My head is throbbing as I sit up.

His voice grates on my nerves as he rebuts, “Nah. Don’t work like that. You’ve been runnin’ your mouth too much already. I’ll do the talkin’ now.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about’.” I cough. My throat is dry and it feels like I’ve been sucking on cotton balls. “Can I get some water?”

“Sure,” he says, nodding to scary thing 2.

It happens too quickly for me to realize what’s happening.

Water splashes me in the face and it’s ice cold.

I squeal and try to protect myself from the liquid, but I can’t do anything with my hand still attached to the wall.

One hand manages to rise, but the other jerks.

Immediately, a twinge of pain fires in my shoulder.

It hurts like hell with pins and needles running up and down the limb.

“What the fuck?” I yell. “What the fuck was that?”

Another dousing of water and I’m shivering. Junior is a giant sack of shit! It’s already cold in here but with the water soaking my clothes, it’s quickly lowering my body temperature.

“You done?” He asks with no expression other than irritation. What does he have to be irritated about? I’m the one who got taken against my will by the very man I’m trying to destroy. Now, I’m freezing cold and wet .

Let’s also go back to how my arm is completely dead hanging from the wall!

I remain silent since I don’t want to be doused with water again. I don’t know what plan he has for me and it’s best that I allow him to at least tell me what is in store for me so that I can come up with some kind of plan to get away from him as soon as possible.

“Good. You shut your ass up.” He paces to the side, making me track him through the dark space.

“Imagine my surprise to find out the woman who went to visit my Pa the other day is none other than the Diamond everybody has been talkin’ ‘bout at Off Topz.” His arms fly up beside him, spread wide with incredulity.

“And she’s my sister! What do you know?”

“Half,” I retort. The pressure increases behind my eye as the headache from whatever they gave me is leaving my system as quietly as a marching band. “So what?”

His head bobs and it’s an impatient gesture. “I send Jimmy to go check things out and now…?” He looks around the room dramatically. “No Jimmy.”

He takes several steps toward me to close the distance between us. At least he bothered to take a shower today. The last time I saw him, he reeked of alcohol and cough syrup. He’s much more lucid today and I wonder if that bodes well for me.

With the look in his eye, I’m going to guess that it is worse for me. Much worse.

“Jimmy was a pig,” I respond trying hard not to shiver.

It’s more than a little difficult. I’m achy from the shock and generally uncomfortable as I count more and more men in the room.

Every single one of them leers at me and they come closer to where Junior is pacing.

Not looking at me in a way that I would want at the club, but like I’m their next meal and they don’t plan on leaving any meat on the bone.

“My sister, whorin’ herself out for a Dupont? You’re no sister of mine.” He tilts my chin up with a finger, demanding, “What have you been tellin’ Blue, huh?”

“I didn’t say nothin’.” I try to turn my head and rid myself of his touch, but it only pisses him off .

The blow catches me off guard.

I reel backward, my shoulder on fire as I twist around from the force of his slap across my face. I taste blood in my mouth and spit it back at Junior.

It hits his shirt and he grabs my hair. “You don’t know what you got yourself into.

I have no use for any bitch who sluts herself out for the Duponts anyway.

” He pulls the shirt over his head, exposing his bird chest. I cringe when it hits me in the face.

“Let’s see how much he likes you when you get this makeover. ”

Makeover?

A blow to my ribs comes first. I had been too busy watching Junior to notice that the men in the room had surrounded me. I don’t catch who delivers the first hit before another comes to my back.

I cry out, unable to protect myself when I take a fist to the face that stings instantly. I feel the skin separating over my cheek, blood running down my face at the impact.

Dangling helplessly, I take more hits and time seems to slow as I fight with my consciousness.

How did I end up like this? An actual punching bag and for what?

Eventually I blackout though I know I’m still being attacked. Turbulent and tumultuous darkness blessedly consumes me again.

I wake again, this time in the trunk of a car. It moves and jostles me. I try to scream, but there’s tape over my mouth and around my hands.

Frantically, I look for any way to free myself. One of my eyes is completely swollen shut and the other is bloodshot and sore. It hurts just looking in the dark space that’s only illuminated by a safety light.

Music plays loudly around me, I can barely breathe in the tight space. Weed smoke seeps from between the backseat and into the trunk. It’s getting thicker and thicker as we drive along .

I don’t know what to do. I can’t reach for an escape latch. It’s dark as hell back here.

My body is one giant bruise. Pain assaults every part of me like sizzling fire. It’s a miracle I’m not dying from internal bleeding. I don’t even know for sure that I’m not.

I hurt.

Am I going to die?

The car stops moving and the music playing from inside does too.

Should I be relieved or more nervous that we’ve reached our destination—whatever that is?

Not an ounce of daylight remains. It’s so dark that I don’t know where I am when the trunk opens.

It’s scary thing 1 here to take me somewhere. I’m like a rag doll losing her stuffing as he drags me from under my armpits. My right shoulder is blazing the hottest with pain but only muffled sounds come from where my mouth is taped.

There is only one security light above a metal door that I can make out through my good eye. This building is massive and I can’t see where it ends or begins in the relative darkness.

Another unknown location. I must still be in Louisiana at least. Other than that I don’t know where I am.

“In case it wasn’t clear—you’re not welcome with the Fayes. We see you around,” he sneers, “and no one else ever will again.”

With a boot surging quickly toward my face, I lose consciousness again.