Page 52 of Kidnapped By the Beast (Beasts of the Kindred #11)

LEXI

The neon sign for Bad Intentions buzzed in the night, one corner sputtering and going dark as Lexi parked in the lot behind it.

When she walked inside the club she smelled the familiar reek of cigarette smoke, spilled beer, and desperation.

A bass line pounded from the front room, thrumming through her chest as she shoved her way past laughing men and women reeking of sweat and cheap perfume to get to the back room.

But the further she went, the worse she felt. Her palms were slick with sweat. Every nerve screamed at her to stop, to turn around before it was too late. But Uncle Herbert was somewhere in here—she couldn’t go back without him.

Lifting her chin, Lexi marched straight to the back.

She went down the dark hallway marked “Staff Only,” and found herself in the small passage outside a room hazy with cigar smoke.

A single, sickly yellow bulb burned overhead, illuminating the green felt of the poker table.

Butcher sat in the center like a spider in his web, cigar clenched in his teeth, a grin spreading across his heavy face.

His cronies sat around him, slapping cards on the table, laughter booming as though the air wasn’t thick with menace.

Lexi kept to the shadows, watching warily.

So far none of them had seen her and she would like to keep it that way, if she could.

Her eyes scanned the room, trying to see through the smoke.

And there he was—Uncle Herbert! The old man was crumpled in the corner like a broken doll, his John Deere cap lying on the floor beside him, his face pale and damp with sweat.

Seeing him like that made Lexi’s heart stop. Oh God, was he even breathing? Was he dead?

“Uncle Herbert!” she gasped, rushing forward.

But two massive officers were suddenly in her way. One seized her right arm, shoving her hard enough to make her stumble.

“Hey! Let me go—he’s hurt!” She struggled, but his grip was like iron. Then the other officer grabbed her left arm. Her skin prickled where their hands dug into her flesh.

They dragged her toward the table.

“Hey, Boss—look what we caught,” one said. “Looked like she was trying to get to the old guy you had us work over.”

“Well, well,” Butcher drawled, smoke curling from his lips as he pushed back from the green felt of the poker table. “If it isn’t a pretty little lady. Who do you think you are, coming in here?”

Lexi lifted her chin, though her knees felt like water.

“I’m here to get my uncle Herbert. He came to pay a debt—which he obviously did.” She nodded at the neat stack of bills on the table. Butcher had clearly been using the money she’d earned with such difficulty to gamble with—the bastard! “So I’m here to take him home.”

Butcher tapped ash into a chipped glass tray.

“Hang on now, girly—you’re not taking him anywhere. Uncle Herbert there hasn’t paid his whole debt.”

“What are you talking about?” Lexi demanded. “He told me he owed you twenty thousand dollars, and that’s what he paid. I know because I gave him the money myself!”

Butcher’s eyes gleamed, hard and greedy.

“Oh, so you gave him the money. And where’d a sweet little thing like you get that kind of cash?”

Lexi’s stomach dropped, ice pooling inside her.

Stupid—so stupid, she scolded herself. You never should have let him know you’re the one who paid Uncle Herbert’s debt! Now he’s going to want more! Men like him always want more.

Still, she tried to keep her chin up and pretend she wasn’t frightened.

“It’s none of your business where I got the money,” she snapped, though her voice came out sounding high and frightened. “The main thing is, he paid you. Why did you hurt him? Why won’t you let him go?”

Butcher leaned back in his chair, smoke curling around his head like a filthy halo.

“Because I don’t feel like it, girly. And I don’t do anything I don’t feel like doing.

” His small, piggy eyes raked over her body.

“Say, I bet I know how you made all that money. You got yourself an OnlyFans account, didn’t you?

Chubby little thing like you—lotta men out there that like fat girls.

Especially ones with big ripe tits like yours.

” He leered at her, his gaze fastened on her breasts.

Lexi crossed her arms over her breasts self-consciously.

“I…that’s ridiculous. I’m a teacher. I would never…never do anything like that.”

“Yeah, you would. Sure you would,” Butcher drawled. “Ain’t no other way a teacher can earn twenty thousand so quick.”

Lexi’s skin crawled at the way he was looking at her. She wanted to scrub his gaze off her body—wanted to peel her skin off and hide somewhere he couldn’t see her. But it was too late now—the loan shark had her in his sights and he didn’t seem to care about anything else.

“You guys, get out of here,” he said, motioning to the other poker players. “Game’s canceled for tonight. I got better things to do.”

There were some groans and complaining, but all the men got up and left, which meant that Lexi was left alone with Butcher and his two officers.

Alone with him—she didn’t want to be alone with him! Anxiety crawled over her skin like a line of ants, itching and tickling her nerves, letting her know bad things were coming. She wished she could turn and run out of here, but the two goons were between her and the door.

Butcher rubbed the growing bulge in his crotch, grinning at her.

“All right, now that we’re alone we can deal.”

“Deal?” Lexi shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about how you can keep your uncle safe, girly.” He grinned at her. “Tell you what—you earn me another ten thousand and I won’t break his legs.”

“What are you talking about?” Lexi whispered. Whatever it was, it was bound to be bad—really bad.

Unfortunately, she was right.

“I’m talking about you doing a little camming for me.” Butcher jerked his head at a door to the right. “Got a little setup in the next room where some of my girls work sometimes. Let’s see what you can earn. Hell—I might even make you a regular.”

“I can’t do that!” Lexi protested. “Didn’t I tell you I’m a middle school teacher? If any of my student’s parents saw me—”

Butcher glared at her.

“I don’t give a fuck, girly. Get in there and do some fucking camming if you want to keep your precious uncle in the land of the living!”

Feeling she had no choice, Lexi walked reluctantly through the door…only to find the room inside was worse than she imagined.

Glaring lights lit a cheap boudoir set—a low bed with a garish red velvet spread, rumpled as though someone had been rolling around on it minutes before.

The air smelled of latex and stale sweat and fake vanilla perfume.

A webcam sat on a tripod, pointed straight at the bed, its little red light blinking like a watchful eye.

Sex toys were scattered across the comforter—a pink vibrator crusty with someone else’s juices, a pair of handcuffs dangling from the headboard and a paddle with the word Slut cut into the leather. All caught her eye. A bottle of cheap lube sat on the nightstand beside a crumpled, used tissue.

Lexi’s stomach heaved. She wrapped her arms around herself, desperate not to touch anything—she didn’t even want to breathe too deeply in here!

“Strip,” Butcher ordered, leaning against the doorframe with his cigar still wedged between his teeth. Smoke swirled around his thick neck as he grinned at her nastily. “Get started, girly—let’s see what we’re working with here.”

I can’t do this—I can’t!

Lexi shook head.

“No!”

Butcher raised an eyebrow.

“No? Is that your final answer? You better think hard, girly.”

He pulled a gun from under his jacket, the barrel gleaming under the bright lights. But he didn’t point it at her—he pointed it back toward the other room, where Uncle Herbert’s groans drifted faintly through the wall.

“Start stripping or I shoot out your uncle’s knees.”

Ice spread through Lexi’s veins. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think—her heart was hammering against her ribs like it was trying to break free and run away.

This can’t be happening. This isn’t real. It can’t be real.

But she wasn’t waking up. This was no dream—this was hard, cold reality and if she didn’t do what Butcher wanted, her uncle was going to die.

“Okay,” she said, her voice shaking. Her hands trembled as she tugged at the hem of her blouse. “Okay, I’ll do it. Just don’t touch me.”

Butcher smirked, his teeth yellow in the bright light.

“I’ll touch you if I feel like it, girly. Now hurry up. We got customers waiting to see those juicy tits of yours.”

Lexi’s fingers felt numb as she fumbled with the buttons of her blouse. Each one she slid open felt like another piece of herself slipping away.

Please, God, please don’t let him touch me. Please don’t let Uncle Herbert get killed because of me.

Her hands shook so badly she could barely work the slippery plastic buttons. Shame burned her cheeks, hot and humiliating, as the blouse parted and her bra came into view under the harsh glare of the lights.

Oh God, how was she ever going to get out of this?