Page 5 of Savage Giant

Not for the first time, I cursed my father for foolishly borrowing money from the mob boss. Though in my heart, I understood why Dad had done it. He’d been desperate to keep our restaurant afloat as well as a roof over our heads.

I found myself blinking back more tears as I recalled our days working together. Closing the restaurant late at night, music blaring on the speakers as we cleaned and readied the place for the next day. He would clear the dining room and mop the floors as I washed the dishes, but it never felt like work because we would sing along with the music and laugh whenever one of us got the lyrics wrong.

I wiped away a lone tear and entered the kitchen. The cook sneered at me and turned his back—no idea why, but he didn’t like me. Whatever. I had other things to worry about. But, thankfully, Salax’s dinner tray was waiting on the counter as it always was at this hour. I grabbed a salt shaker from a nearby shelf, placed it on the tray, and took off without saying a word to the grumpy ass cook.

My stomach grumbled at the delicious aromas coming from the kitchen, but I ignored my hunger and made haste for the mob boss’s office. The sooner he ate, the sooner he would go to bed. And then I could grab one of the employee meals and return to my room for the night.

As I walked back to Salax’s office, I tried to cheer myself up. Tried to see the positives in my situation.

I had a roof over my head, received three square meals a day, and had clothes on my back. I also had my own bedroom.

And while Salax frequently touched me, he’d never so much as tried to kiss me, let alone proposition me. He did, however, have plenty of female visitors every week, and when one arrived, he would order me to wait in the hallway until he was finished. Sometimes I thought he liked making me listen.

A scream echoed through the building, and the back of my neck prickled. I wasn’t sure which room the scream had come from, but it sounded close. When I reached the hallway where Salax’s office was located, I paused, and my hands started trembling.

The guards were gone, and the light from the mob boss’s office beamed into the hallway, the door wide open. Another scream echoed through the building, but I no longer had to guess which room it was coming from.

I swallowed hard and continued down the corridor. I knew from experience that Salax always took his meals on time, even when he was in the middle of an interrogation.

Who was the poor soul this time?

Pleas for mercy. A smack, followed by a thud. More screams.

I shuddered as I finally worked up the courage to enter the room. Keeping my eyes downcast, I edged toward Salax’s desk and placed his meal in front of him, then uncovered the tray. From my peripheral vision I detected three others in the room—the guards and the poor soul they were torturing.

I dared a quick glance at the floor and saw a large man curled into a ball, blood trickling from his broken nose. Just as quickly, I looked away and resumed my usual position at Salax’s side. Much to my dismay, he resumed caressing my arm, his gaze on the slumped form on the floor.

“Tell me, Mayor Hendrick,whysoldiers seized yesterday’s shipment of Vaxxlian blasters. Was it your call? Or someone else’s? The new commander, perhaps? Or the detective who’s been snooping around the port?”

My stomach dropped, and it was all I could do to keep from flinching when one of the guards kicked the mayor in the side. Holy freaking shit. My mind reeled. The recently elected mayor. I’d witnessed Salax doing business with numerous city officials, but never the mayor.

A blast sounded outside, and the building shook. I gasped and placed a hand on the desk for balance. Panic gripped me and I wanted nothing more than to flee Salax’s office and seek refuge in my room. Better yet, I wanted to escape this building anddrive as far as my solar truck would take me. Somewhere Salax and his goons would never come looking.

“Ah, those must be your friends outside,” the mob boss said with a laugh. He dropped his hand from my arm and tucked into his meal with gusto, acting as though the firefight outside wasn’t a big deal. Blasts and gunshots kept coming, and though I didn’t think the building had been breached yet, I felt like a standing target.

My hands trembled at my sides. I couldn’t help but worry about what would happen if the authorities broke into the warehouse. If they made it inside, what would happen to me? Would I die in the crossfire? If I survived, would Mayor Hendrick’s people let me go or arrest me?

Dammit. By all appearances, I was employed by Salax. That sort of made me complicit in his crimes, even though I was only here to pay off my father’s debts. My unease deepened as I watched the mob boss shovel forkfuls of food into his mouth while his goons continued questioning the tightlipped mayor.

“It’s a pity you don’t have a wife and children, Mayor Hendrick,” Salax said after swallowing the last bite. “The former mayor was much easier to control. All I had to do was look in his family’s direction and he would comply with my wishes immediately. You don’t even have parents alive or any siblings I might threaten. Such a pity.”

The sickness in my stomach deepened along with my fear. And I knew, suddenly I knew without a doubt, that I couldn’t withstand four more years with Salax.

I had to escape.

The next time he sent me on an errand, the next time I had permission to leave the building, I would just keep driving. Assuming I survived the night, that was.

I tried to banish the threats he’d issued to force me into five full years of servitude.I always collect debts that are owedto me, Cari. Always. If I let someone off without paying, then those who still owe me money might think I’ve gone soft. Your father owed me fifty thousand galactic credits. That’s not a small sum. Agree to work for me for five years, girl, or you’ll leave this room in a body bag.

The mayor rolled over and opened his eyes, and when he looked up, he was staring directly at me. I shivered at the cold, calculating look in his gaze. He appeared as though he were memorizing my face.

Then all hell broke loose.

A massive blast caused the building to quake so hard I fell to the floor. Small pieces of debris pelted my body, and smoke billowed in the air. Above the ringing in my ears, I heard shouts and more gunfire.

Crawling on my hands and knees, I peered through the haze. One of the guards had a large chunk of ceiling lying on him, while the other guard was dragging the mayor from the room. Salax was limping after them, apparently content to leave me behind.

No, that’s cool. Just leave me here to die.

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