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T he office building she had to clean on Friday night was a disaster. It looked like someone had come in to rob it or something. The manager called their contact at the company and was assured that no one had broken into the building. They’d had a party and left a mess, not picking up anything. There was trash strewn everywhere.

She hated messy people who couldn’t bother to pick up after themselves. Sure, their job was to clean, but they weren’t supposed to have to pick up after spoiled brats who couldn’t manage to toss stuff into the trash.

They worked late, and exhaustion was sucking her under when she climbed the steps to her apartment. She was almost at the top before she looked up and saw Dave standing with a smirk on his face.

“Out late working?”

She paused, her brain not moving fast to keep up with why Dave was at her door and what his words meant. “What?”

His laughter made her want to run. She put her hand on the railing, trying to steady herself. She had nothing to protect herself. The mace was in her car. She hadn’t thought she’d run into trouble getting into her apartment.

“I remembered where I saw you. You know, I could cut you a discount on rent.”

His words sent ice through her veins. He’d watched the porn she’d been in and recognized her. Anger at her family rose, and she wanted to punish them and this jerk. But she was on the steps, a precarious position at best. He was bigger, and she had nothing to fight with.

She straightened her spine, anger and hate interwoven with her muscles, making them clench. “No, thank you.”

His laughter grew, and he moved fast, pinning her against the railing. “I could just force you. No one would believe you, you little whore.”

He leaned in and sniffed her neck, sending shivers down her spine. She couldn’t let him rape her. She paused but wasn’t frozen in place. She’d dealt with enough assholes to know what would come next. If she waited just a second, he’d think he had the upper hand.

When he finally started touching her breasts, she moved fast, lifting her knee and slamming it as hard as she could into his body. She was sore from being on her knees scrubbing stains off the carpets at work, and pain exploded down her leg, but she couldn’t stop there.

Maybe her aim hadn’t been great, but Dave recovered fast and grabbed her. She went down hard on her elbows, sending pain from her shoulders up her neck and down her back.

“You bitch!” he roared.

Talia kicked out, hitting Dave squarely in the nose. She was making him mad but wasn’t doing much to save herself. He yanked at her ankle, pulling her down a step.

Her head bounced on the stairs, and she screamed as shock filled her. She needed to fight harder to get away, but his hand on her ankle was like a vice grip. She wouldn’t escape.

Panic ramped up. Her hands were shaking so hard she knew she wouldn’t be able to fight. This was a losing battle. She was done for. No way she would survive his anger. Men like him were punishing. It wasn’t enough to have sex. He would have to break her.

Her heart was pumping hard, and her breathing became erratic. Her vision blurred, and she couldn’t get it together. She thought she might pass out. Going dark would be terrible. He would really take advantage of her if she dipped under. She had to stay alert and fight.

Dave yanked at her pants, pulling them down around her thighs. She kicked at him again and tried to scream, but she couldn’t catch her breath enough to yell.

Then the most wonderful thing happened. She saw the flash of red and blue lights followed by someone running up the stairs. Dave was yanked off her. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, trying to protect herself and become as small as possible.

“Miss, are you okay?”

A shiver rocked through her, and she mumbled something but was having trouble speaking. Another police car stopped, and two women got out. More tears came.

“Miss, can we call someone?”

She glanced up, seeing the officer standing above her. She whimpered and pulled away. The two women officers were there, and one sat on the step below her.

“Do you have your phone?”

The officer’s soft question drew her in. She nodded and reached into her pocket, glad it hadn’t been damaged during the fight.

“Do you have someone you want to call? Family?”

She shook her head and then thought about Zip. She opened her phone and hit his name, initiating the call. She didn’t move the phone to her ear, so the officer took it when Zip answered.

“Hello. This is Officer Gorman. I’m with—what’s your name, honey?”

Talia stared at the officer, trying to form words. “T-T-Talia.”

“I’m with Talia. I think she needs to go to the hospital. Yes, sir, she’s not unconscious, but she’s not talking. The ambulance just showed up. You should meet her at the hospital.”

Talia closed her eyes, a shudder ripping through her. Somehow, she was in the ambulance. She guessed Zip would meet her, or maybe he would realize she wasn’t worth the trouble. This was just a small dose of what would happen, and it would happen again and again, just like it had happened before. Then he would run, and it would ruin any chance they had.