For the Taking

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2019 Sam Crescent

  ISBN: 978-0-3695-0069-4

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  FOR THE TAKING

  Sam Crescent

  Copyright © 2019

  Prologue

  “Do not do this! I beg of you. Please, don’t.” Riley Lord wasn’t used to begging anyone. As he looked at the ground where his pregnant wife lay, he had never felt so fucking broken. He didn’t even know how this had come to be. What had gone wrong in his life? He was nearly thirty years old and had been a loyal puppet to David Peace since he was sixteen. He’d been nothing but a punk-ass kid in the street, intent on making a name for himself. He’d joined David’s crew, trained, and was now considered one of the most feared hitmen David had.

  Now, he stared at the woman he had promised to love and protect, and he couldn’t do it. They had him chained to a wall with four men, guns poised, ready to take him out.

  “You know I have to. You know I can’t have any weakness,” David said.

  “Then take it out on me,” Riley screamed at the man he would have taken a bullet for.

  “She talked, Riley. You should be thanking me.”

  “She didn’t know what she was doing. They didn’t tell her who they were. She thought they were guards.”

  “Then this will teach you to think about the kind of woman you fuck, Riley. One day, you will thank me for this. You shouldn’t have a stupid cunt at your side, ready to talk to any willing cock. This is on you. All on you. The reason I am having to kill her is because you didn’t train her right.”

  “She’s pregnant,” Riley said. “Please, don’t do this. Please.” He loved Bethany so much. She was his entire life. Nothing he did had ever pushed her away. When he was covered in blood, she welcomed him with open arms, and he treated her like a queen. They had found each other in all the chaos and pain.

  “I’m sorry,” Bethany said, sniffling.

  David walked up to Bethany and tutted. “For what it is worth, I am sorry for what I’m about to do.”

  He held the gun out, and Riley screamed. He fought against the chains that bound him, but nothing would budge. His wife was shot in the head.

  Killed instantly.

  His baby wouldn’t even have a chance.

  He screamed and fought.

  “I suggest you kill him,” David said, removing the silencer from his gun. “And do it quick. I don’t have any more time to waste on this trash.”

  Riley looked at the man he had killed for. So many people he’d hurt, all in the name of keeping David Peace on time. He was the ultimate crime lord. His was the name was to be feared, and Riley had helped to put him on top.

  Staring into David’s eyes, he smiled. “As God is my witness, I promise you, you will rue the day you did that!”

  “You’re not going to live to see another day, Riley. You think this doesn’t hurt me too? You were the best man I ever had working for me. I find this a real … irritation. I deserved better from the likes of you. Next time, I won’t make that mistake again.”

  David tutted but didn’t linger.

  Riley watched him go as only one man stayed behind. A man he’d trained, and he saw the man was torn.

  “It’s okay, John.”

  “I don’t want to do this.”

  “You heard the man.”

  John raised his gun but rather than shoot Riley in the head, he put a bullet in his left leg. “I am sorry.”

  Seconds passed, and Riley heard the door close.

  John should have killed him.

  He was known for getting out of tight situations, and being chained to a wall, bleeding to death, was a piece of fucking cake to him.

  All chains had a weakness, and he’d felt the cement in the old warehouse give. He tugged on the chains, and within minutes, the chains broke free.

  He dove toward his wife, the love of his life and held her lifeless body in his arms.

  “I will kill him, baby. I promise. This is not your fault. I will make sure he suffers before I finally kill him.” He kissed her cheek and held her close.

  As much as it grieved him, he couldn’t stay here. He had to leave, and to do that he had to wipe away all traces of his presence.

  This wasn’t the first time he had to disappear, and it wouldn’t be the last. Even broken, hurt, shot, in pain, Riley had always been able to survive, and now, he had a mission—take out David Peace, one man at a time.

  Chapter One

  Ten years later

  Meghan Short screamed as the man broke her arm. The pain was intense, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt her arm was broken. Why did they have to go for her arms? Why not her feet? Or her face?

  Tears fell down her face, and she wished she could hurt the man in front of her. She would leave to see the shock and fear on their face as she burned them all alive and tore them to pieces.

  Instead, she got to enjoy them laughing at her expense and for them to see her crying. This wasn’t good.

  Turning down a space in David Peace’s bed had been a really bad idea. Who the fuck did he think he was? He came into the artisan grocery store, thinking he was a gift to all women, and that anyone would be crazy not to fall for him.

  He’d thought she would jump up and down for joy that he’d spotted her and wanted her, rather than all the other women who were throwing themselves at him.

  Please.

  She knew who David was and what he was capable of. No way would she ever lower her standards and fuck him.

  The man was a monster.

  She didn’t want to even be in the same room as David Peace. If she had known the store was having a bad run with funds, she’d have found a new job. Instead, the stupid owners had taken out a loan from him, and now because she had caught his eye, she was set to die.

  So unfair.

  “You know, it’s a shame we couldn’t fuck her first, but David wants her broken before he comes and has his way with her,” one of the guys said.

  How very … nice.

  Ugh.

  They were supposed to torture her for David to come and rape her. Charming.

  She would roll her eyes, but one of them was swollen shut. A punch to the face hurt so bad.

  This was the first time she had ever been beaten up in all of her thirty years of living. So far, not so bad.

  Who was she kidding? She was in agony.

  When David had found out she was thirty years old, he’d been even more angry. Not only had she turned him down, but she was also older than the women he liked to take to his bed. Fucking pervert.

  Someone had to hurt him. Maybe even kill him.

  If someone gave her a gun, she’d gladly do it. She’d hold it against his forehead and deal with him the only way a guy like him should be dealt with.

  “I know what he sees in her. Look at those tits. Anyone would be lucky to suck on those precious beauties.” He did some kind of sucking motion with his lips, which only served to make her feel sick and dirty.

  She had large tits, a big ass, wide hips, and a round stomach. She was as curvy as they came, and she didn’t care.

  No matter what boyfriend told her to lose weight, she showed them
the door. Growing up, moving from home to home, she had learned to stand up for herself, and to be happy with who she was. No one was going to give her happiness if it came at the cost of her body. Yep, a couple of foster fathers and mothers had wanted to give her a little loving but only if they got to touch her.

  She didn’t give them the time of day.

  Instead, she had moved like always.

  Changing location was second nature to her.

  At eighteen, she got a job, left the system, and hadn’t relied on anyone since. There was only one person she could count on, and that was herself.

  There had been a couple of boyfriends along the way, but none of them stuck around, not for long. One of them had thought using his fists would keep her in line. It was the only time in her life someone had hit her. He’d slapped her around the face, hard, and she had used her skillet and bashed him over the head as well.

  He’d wanted to press charges, but the cops had advised him against it with the bruise on her face.

  Nothing like this though. Her face felt like it was six sizes too big for her. She probably looked like a monster.

  When David had offered her a spot in his bed, she should have run. Instead, she’d gone back to the grocery store to take her pay with the intention of skipping town. David was bad news, and when you upset the bringer of bad news, it always ended badly.

  She should have forgotten the paycheck and run.

  That was her mistake.

  On the way to the store, she was pounced on, pulled into a car, and brought to this piece of shit warehouse.

  “Did you hear that?” one of the guys said.

  She had no idea who they were or their names. They all looked the same to her. All dressed in the same kind of suit, and it really annoyed her for some reason.

  Actually, the whole being tied to a chair, beaten, and hurt thing annoyed her.

  Calm down.

  You will get out of this.

  Yeah, sure, that’s easy to say. You’ve never been in a situation like this.

  “What was that?” another asked.

  What was going on?

  “We’ve got a breach!”

  A breach.

  She couldn’t really see.

  Nothing was making sense.

  Gunshots fired out, and she couldn’t even duck or throw herself to the floor to protect herself.

  Shit! Fuck!

  She tried to pull on the rope, but the pain only increased. Her arm that he’d broken was killing her. Spots appeared in front of her good eye.

  “No. Please. No. I’ll do anything you want. Please.”

  She jumped as the gunshot sounded right in front of her.

  Someone else was in the warehouse, and it was so quiet.

  She tensed up as she heard footsteps and became aware of someone standing in front of her.

  “I can’t see,” she said. “I normally can, but they wanted to take out an eye, and well, I think I’m going into shock.”

  “Who are you?”

  The person’s voice sounded rough, as if he wasn’t used to using it.

  “Erm, I … a woman.”

  “I can see that you’re a woman. You do know they have slashed off the shirt you’re wearing? I can see your tits.”

  “I know they like to use knives. I’m no one.”

  “You must be someone if you’ve got Peace’s men hurting you,” he said.

  He stepped closer to her.

  “I turned him down.” Right now, what would it matter her telling this stranger the reason she was tied to a chair and probably looking a little worse for wear? He was either going to kill her or let her loose.

  “Turned who down?”

  “David Peace. It would appear he doesn’t like being told no. I told him no.”

  “You seriously expect me to believe that?”

  “You can believe what you want. Do you really think I would be here otherwise? I know what kind of man he is, and I like to keep on breathing. I bet he doesn’t allow women to live long past their use by date, if you know what I mean.” This guy had a gun, and she couldn’t stop her smart mouth from working.

  What was wrong with her? Did she have a freaking death wish?

  There was no way she should be talking like this in front of a complete stranger, and not one with a gun.

  The man didn’t move. He kept on staring at her.

  At least, she believed he was staring at her.

  Nothing made any sense to her right now.

  Gritting her teeth, she felt a wave of emotions crushing down on her, and she couldn’t think of what to do.

  “Please,” she said. She hated to beg so damn much. So far for not sleeping with David Peace, she’d had to beg a couple of times.

  If there was ever a chance to kill that son of a bitch, she was going to take it, consequences be damned.

  Gritting her teeth, she tried not to cry, but it was pretty much hopeless. Her tears were already falling. She didn’t know if anything was coming out of the bad eye, but what did it matter? She was hurting all over and just wanted to get out.

  “This isn’t some kind of trick. You’ve stopped them from killing me. Please, let me go.”

  “Why should I believe you?” he asked.

  “What? Because I’m a woman I can’t resist any man? Is that what you’re going to go with?” She didn’t know why she was giving this man attitude, but the last twenty-four hours were finally catching up with her. “Not every woman is going to fall for the first cock that looks her way, and I want nothing to do with a guy who’d even think of doing this to a woman just because she said no.”

  “I get it, and you know what, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt.” Before she knew what was happening, something hard pierced her flesh.

  “You drugged me.”

  “I don’t like overly emotional women, and from the state of your face, you’re going to be in a lot of pain by the time the adrenaline wears off, and I don’t want to deal with it.”

  She didn’t have much time to argue.

  The drugs took immediate effect.

  ****

  “I did not see this coming,” Stephen said, as he looked over the woman on the table.

  “What?”

  “You bringing anyone in but yourself. Do I even want to know?”

  “All I need you to do is fix her up and leave me to deal with the rest.” Riley rubbed at his eyes. He shouldn’t have brought this woman here. The bag that was in the warehouse identified her as Meghan Short. The picture on her driver’s license didn’t look like the badly beaten woman, but he’d seen a lot of messed-up faces during his time of working for David. This woman, if she was telling the truth, had really gotten on David’s bad side.

  Anyone against that piece of shit, Riley couldn’t exactly walk away from.

  After holding his dead wife in his arms before incinerating the building, he had vowed to make David pay.

  For ten years he’d been getting stronger, learning everything he needed to know, training, preparing to take out his enemy.

  Ten years was a long time, but for a year of that, he had no choice but to go into rehabilitation because of the damage done to his leg from the single bullet. What he hadn’t realized was his good friend John had shattered his femur bone from the impact of the bullet. He doubted even John knew what he’d done. After all, he’d trained that bastard.

  “She took a hard beating.”

  “Welcome to the consequences of not doing business with David Peace.”

  “She turned him down?”

  “That’s what she told me before I knocked her out.”

  “You did this?”

  “No. I didn’t hit her. I drugged her. Gave her something to keep her quiet and hopefully asleep. I don’t deal with mindless chatter.”

  Stephen was the only person he trusted.

  He was a doctor and had fixed him up many times over the last ten years, and what’s more, his enemy didn’t have a fucking clue a
bout it, and Riley intended to keep it that way.

  “Do you need me to examine you?” Stephen asked.

  “I got out unscathed this time.”

  He was able to kill ten of Peace’s men. Not one of them had seen him coming, but then, since he’d begun to take down Peace’s operation, it now brought a grand total of fifty kills to his mission, and he wasn’t worried for any one of them.

  He was going to hurt them all.

  “Fix her. She needs it more than me.” Staring at the table, he wondered what he should do with her. He hadn’t exactly thought this through when he drugged her. Leaving her there had been an option, but not one he wanted to take.

  “Can I say, this is not like you,” Stephen said.

  “None of this is like me. Would you have been able to leave her?” he asked.

  “I’m not the one with this crazy death wish. Have you ever considered not going through with it?” Stephen asked, setting up his equipment to make sure she was okay.

  “No.”

  “You could die.”

  “I don’t have anything to live for, Stephen. My wife, she made a simple mistake, and I took care of it, and yet, he saw fit to make me watch him kill her. There is no way I would ever let that go.”

  “There are more things to life, Riley, than revenge.”

  “Right now, that’s all I want. I want to stare him in the eye as I hurt him. As I peel the flesh from his body and laugh as I do. Nothing will be more satisfying than hearing the screams of the man who took everything from me. I vowed I would kill him, that I would have my revenge for him taking the one good thing from my world. I will have it, and if I die in the process, I will take that fucker with me, and laugh as I do.”

  Chapter Two

  The moment Meghan woke up, the first thing she recognized was the pain. She was all too familiar with it. The next, she couldn’t see out of one eye. She lifted her hand, and with her good eye, she could see the cast on her arm.