Her Knightmare Read online

  “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So, cheeseburger, right?”

  Chains watched as she quickly wrote down the order. He wasn’t about to dispute her.

  “What’s your last name?” he asked.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m a curious customer.”

  She took a deep breath, and shrugged. “Dean. Lori Dean.” She walked away, and he watched her go before grabbing his cell phone.

  Turning it back on, he put a call in to Maurice. He didn’t like that she didn’t put up enough of a fight. Didn’t she have a clue what a guy could do with her name, and only her name?

  “What do you want?” Maurice asked.

  “Is that any way to greet me?”

  “Boss doesn’t have any jobs right now, and it seems his employees like to use my services for their personal benefit.”

  “You make a lot of money from it,” Chains said, reminding him of the extortionate fee he charged. He knew for a fact Maurice didn’t charge Boss half as much.

  “A guy’s got to make a living somehow.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I want you to find out everything you can about a Lori Dean. Looks young, twentyish.” He told him the name of the diner where she worked.

  “Fine.”

  Maurice hung up without even saying goodbye. Pocketing his cell phone, Chains watched Lori as she moved from table to table. Her wide hips had a natural sway, mesmerizing him.

  She came back with a large pot of coffee. “Coffee?” she asked.

  “Who gave you the shiner?”

  Lori poured him some coffee and tutted. “You know that’s rude to ask a lady.”

  “Yeah, well I think it’s rude for a guy to hit a woman.” He saw her tense up, and he hated that he made her nervous. It wasn’t his intention.

  She kept a good distance from him. Clearly, her instincts were entirely correct. He wasn’t a good guy, had never been a good guy, and never would be a good guy.

  “I ordered you the cheeseburger with ordinary fries. I hope that’s okay.” She handed him back his coffee.

  “You don’t have to be nervous.”

  “It’s not exactly normal for a guy to be so interested in my bruise.”

  “Very true, but I’m not a normal guy. I never promised I was.” He offered her a smile, hoping he looked harmless. Hard to do when he’d killed people without blinking.

  “Right. Enjoy your coffee.”

  He watched her every move, and he admired her nice, round ass as she walked away. Ten minutes later she came back with his plate of food, and she left him to eat.

  Maurice got back to him, along with a bill twice as much as he was expecting. Chains paid him by instant transfer, and opened up the file on his cell phone.

  It always amazed him what Maurice could do with a name and a couple of clues. There wasn’t anything anyone could hide from the hacker.

  Lori Dean, twenty-five years old, came from a big family, and by big, he was talking one of ten siblings.

  She was poor, dirt poor, and Maurice had also included a warning. The neighborhood where she lived had a known pimp who liked to beat the shit out of the women.

  Just seeing that warning made Chains angry.

  He knew how she’d gotten the bruise, and it had just sealed Lori’s fate.

  ****

  Lori stared at her reflection, and slowly ran her finger underneath her eye, wincing as she did. It hurt being hit, and, checking to make sure the door was locked, she slowly opened her very tight uniform. She’d asked several times for a larger size, but her boss wouldn’t budge. He told her men liked to see tits on display.

  If she could get a job elsewhere she’d have been gone already, but in this day and age, she couldn’t be picky about where she worked. At least she didn’t have to screw anyone.

  Bruises covered her ribcage, and it hurt for her to take a deep breath. Her ribs weren’t broken, but she was in so much pain.

  This was what happened when you told Carlton Riggs “no”. She wasn’t an idiot. Carlton Riggs was a pimp, drug dealer, small arms dealer, asshole, bastard, and just everything that was bad in the world.

  A couple of the girls she’d gone to school with had thought they’d been the ones to catch his eye, only to find themselves pregnant, and at his mercy. He didn’t treat the mothers of his children any differently. To get any kind of money from him, they had to do it on their backs, serving anyone who’d have them, screwing travelers in the backs of cars, or serving men he wanted to entertain.

  She’d seen the two girls she’d gone to school with the other day, and instead of looking like healthy twenty-five-year-olds, they looked twenty years older, and were miserable.

  Carlton was also the reason for her bruised face and ribs.

  Her parents loved fucking like rabbits, and because of that, they had a family of twelve. She had some older brothers, but none of them cared about feeding the younger kids that were still in school. She did. At the grocery store, she’d bumped into Carlton, where he’d promised her easy cash.

  Once again, she’d turned him down. She didn’t want to be a whore. Her body was her own, and it still filled her with pride that she was a virgin, even at twenty-five. Being around sex all of her life, she’d not been in any hurry to lose her V-card, and was happy with it.

  She was going to hurt for another few days, so she buttoned up her uniform, tied back her brown hair, and left the bathroom.

  Entering the kitchen, she saw George, the owner and cook, staring out at the seating area.

  “That guy in the suit. Makes sure he gets everything he wants. Show him a smile, and he’ll tip you good. Didn’t he want the chicken?”

  He didn’t see her wince. George never cooked chicken for long enough, and whenever she could, she always advised their customers not to order it. She was surprised the health department hadn’t closed them down.

  She’d warned him about it, and he told her to shut her trap, that she didn’t have the first clue what she was talking about.

  Seeing as she needed the job, she did shut her mouth, and just kept on doing what she did best, serving customers, and faking a smile and happiness.

  “He didn’t want the chicken.”

  “Do you think he’ll want the pie?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. He’s still eating, so I’ll wait to go and check.”

  She took the refilled pot of coffee, and as she went to pass George, he grabbed her arm, stalling her.

  “I don’t want to scare away the customers. Your face isn’t going to bring trouble here, is it?”

  “No. It won’t.”

  “I mean it, Lori. I’m not interested in getting into trouble.”

  “You won’t. I promise.” She stared at his hand on her, and he released her.

  She didn’t see Carlton coming here. If she did, she’d no longer work here anyway, as she wanted to be far away from where she grew up. Lori had only been in the old neighborhood grocery store to get food for her younger siblings. They were always on her mind, even though the youngest was now a teenager.

  Carlton tended to stay around the streets that he controlled rather than venture out. She worried about her younger sisters, always warning them to steer clear of Carlton and his gang.

  Leaving the kitchen, she made her way to one table where a little girl asked her for a chocolate milkshake. She put the coffee pot down, made the milkshake, and smiled at the young girl, remembering being that girl.

  Whenever she was out with her brothers and sisters she’d always tried to get them treats if she could afford it. Most of her wages had gone to her parents back then, not that they seemed to remember her. She’d put the money in the pot in the kitchen, where they always stored their money. Half the time she was sure her parents forgot she even existed between all of their kids. It was lonely.

  Lori continued her rounds. She held the coffee up. “Would you like some more coffee?”

  “Yes.” The man in the suit put his cup in fron
t of him, and she poured him some coffee.

  “Why is your cook constantly staring at me? Did he spit in my food?”

  She smiled. “No. He didn’t spit in your food. He wants to know if you’d like a piece of pie, and he wants me to smile a lot at you for an extra tip.”

  Even though he had a shaved head, she found him to be incredibly handsome. A cross between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel, but his own unique look. The suit couldn’t hide the muscles it covered. His arms were huge. She was sure they were as big as her thighs, and being the fat girl, she had large, chunky thighs.

  “Is his pie worth it?”

  “I’d go for his cherry pie. It’s really nice with vanilla ice cream.”

  Her stomach chose that moment to growl, and heat filled her cheeks. She hadn’t eaten that day, and she was now suffering for it.

  “Take a fry,” he said.

  “No, that’s your food.”

  “Lori, do me a favor and eat the fry. I’ll have the pie with the ice cream, but I won’t if you don’t eat.”

  She rolled her eyes, and took a fry. Biting down, she appreciated the sweet gesture even though the fry was completely cold.

  “And another one.”

  “Don’t you want to eat?” she asked.

  “I’ve been told I’m getting pie.”

  She chuckled, and took another fry. After standing with him for a few minutes, she held her hands up. “I’ve got to go and give coffee to others. I hope you enjoy your meal.”

  “I’m enjoying the company more.”

  Was he flirting with her?

  She didn’t know, as she was a plain girl and rarely did anyone flirt with her. She was the kind of woman that everyone overlooked, bland and not important.

  “You can come and sit with me if there’s a lull.”

  This new customer kept trying to tempt her to spend some time with him, and each time, she refused. George would skin her alive if she sat down on the job.

  She looked behind her as he watched her, and she liked his gaze on her body. In a weird kind of way, she felt him actually look at her, seeing her for who she was. The attention was nice for a change.

  No one really took a good, long look or cared enough to see her.

  Lori didn’t know his name, and once he left, she knew she’d never see him again.

  Serving the rest of the customers, she actually felt like smiling even with her bruised eye.

  She couldn’t recall the last time she’d been happy.

  It wouldn’t last, but for now, she’d keep those depressing thoughts aside.

  George already had the pie and ice cream ready, and she served the man. She didn’t know the man’s name, but being near him made her feel happy, safe, and at times a little scared. There was something about the way he looked at her. The intense look that made her think of a wolf with a sheep in his sights.

  Those nerves kept her at a distance.

  Of course, he didn’t stay forever, and she found herself glancing toward where he’d been sitting, wondering who he was, his name, everything. The empty booth brought out one of those fleeting moments of regret that she squashed just as quickly as it came.

  The rest of her shift went by without any hiccups. No one else flirted with her or wanted to know her better. She went through the motions until it was time to clock off.

  She grabbed her bags, and was about to leave the diner, not paying attention to anything, until George called her back.

  “I don’t suppose you’d throw this outside in the dumpster?” He held up a large black garbage bag.

  George would never be a gentleman, but not wanting to piss off her boss, she took the bag and lugged it into the darkened alley.

  She hated the back alley, especially at night. It reminded her of every horror movie she’d ever watched. As she threw the bag in to the trash, she gasped as someone wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing a cloth against her nose.

  Panic washed over her, and she fought, screaming. With every passing second, her body grew lax, and then little by little, her eyes closed as sleep claimed her.

  End of sample chapter

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