For the Taking

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.