Page 3 of Waging War
Her wavy brown hair fans across her shoulder as her bare chest smashes against the side of my rib cage, warming me everywhere we touch. There’s a sense of obligation to protect her, especially given the risks of having a beautiful woman around here, but this particular comfort in our friendship ends in this bed. She deserves a man who’ll let her spend the night and give her all those precious lover’s promises.
And that man isn’t me.
I’m the guy who washes blood off his forearms and knuckles two hours before crawling into bed with a warm body for a quick, satisfying fuck.
I should revel being in this position. I’m paid well, I don’t answer to the law, and I’m free to come and go as long as I follow Diablo’s orders.
Except I’m trapped, and being trapped drags up old memories I seem to never be able to escape.
Memories of when Jack and I were kids, imprisoned in a house that no sane person would ever consider ahome. A place where our parents were as unstable as the company they kept, and drugs flowed as freely as Rhyomine flows through Mackville now.
I slap a tight lid over my past and sit up.
The sheets pool around my waist before my feet touch the floor. “Don’t you ever wonder if you’ve got a family somewhere out there?” I ask, genuinely curious.
Whereas I’ve been mapping out my escape plan from this shithole for months, Samantha almost seems content to stay exactly where she is.
Avoiding my gaze, she doodles on the paper-thin sheets with her pointer finger. “What’s there to wonder, Ben? No one even knows I’m missing.” I’m not fond of her hopeless undertone. “I have nowhere to go, no known family to speak of. For better or worse, this is the life I’ve been given, and I’m not about to bite the hand that feeds me.”
I glare over my shoulder. “And you’re just going to accept that? You’ve let Bruce and these guys treat you like a fucking doormat for long enough. You’re better than that, Sam.”
It’s not hard to miss her slinking between rooms in the wee morning hours, catering to some of these men in more ways than one, but I’m powerless to stop it. And what’s worse, I’m no better than they are.
Samantha casts her deep brown eyes downward.
I twist so I’m fully facing her, fighting the urge to yank her chin up so she’ll look at me. “Why does Diablo keep you here? It doesn’t make sense. If he wanted a woman to warm his men’s beds, he could easily find that somewhere else.”
“Contrary to what you’re implying, I don’t exist purely for their pleasure.” Her cheeks burn with embarrassment. “I don’t know why Bruce insists I stay close, but he’s the closest thing to a father-figure I’ve got. I just do as I’m asked.”
“Not exactly father of the year,” I say before giving her my back.
I don’t care what she says. There’s no way she would choose this over freedom.
I’ll get us out of this pit in hell if it’s the last thing I do.
The promise is one more addition to my endless list of broken vows. This time, though, I mean it with every fiber of my being.
Searching for my phone, I shuffle around the two loaded pistols and the handful of illegal blades I haphazardly tossed onto the nightstand.
“To be fair, he’s never been outwardly cruel to me.”
Is she seriously still defending him? I open my mouth to offer her some form of comfort, but a buzzing noise rattles the table, cutting me off.
“Christ, does it never end?” I grumble.
Samantha rolls out of bed to stand. I glance at her naked hips swaying smoothly as she crosses the room to gather her clothes. Part of me wishes I felt something for her, but I know better, don’t I?
There’s only one woman who has that sort of bewitching power, and she’s far away from the musty old hotel we’re occupying.
I press the green circle bouncing under Jackie’s name. “This better be good,mayor.”
Damn, it feels good to be a dick to him. I’m bitter as hell and way past the point of niceties.
“Benjamin.” His smooth drawl travels across our connection.
I grind my teeth. Jackie thinks he’s untouchable, but he’s the reason we’re hiding in this rundown building on the outskirts of town. We had no choice but to move camp after his mansion was ransacked and partially destroyed.
The Wolves have been hunting, and they’re ravished.
