“Give it to me, Dean.”
I tried to get it from his hands, and his palm landed on my upper chest, right below my throat, and he pushed me.
The drive sent me backward.
One step, two.
But I landed wrong on my foot, stumbling on my flip-flop.
And—oh God—I fell.
“Ah!” My ass hit the carpet first, and I got up as quickly as I could, but he already had my money in his hands. “Give it to me!”
The three hundred I’d earned tonight. The two fifty I’d earned last night.
I hadn’t had time to go to the bank and deposit the cash.
I never thought he would get my purse.
Or did I?
“What do we have here?” He fanned the bills, giving me a half-toothed smile.
“What you have ismymoney.”
His laugh was more like a cackle. “Your money? But I thought you didn’t have any?” He slipped the cash into his pocket. “It’s my money now.”
“Dean—”
He bowed up. “I know you’re not making that kinda dough at the assisted living facility. You have another job. You’ve been fucking lying to me.”
“No.”
“Then you’re sucking dick for cash.” His eyes narrowed, and he finally wiped his lips. “Is that what you’re doing with your mouth these days? Is that how you’re gaining weight? From all the cum you’ve been swallowing? Turning into the little slut I always knew you were.” A look came across his face. One I didn’t recognize. “You want your money back?” He pumped his hips forward. “Then come suck this dick for it.”
My stomach churned. If I opened my mouth too wide, the halibut and steak and ramen were going to come pouring out.
I needed to get to my room and close the door and put all my weight against it.
“You’re an asshole.” I crouched down to grab my things off the floor—my keys, phone, lip gloss, gum, and all the other unorganized collectibles that had found their way into my bag. I had my keys in my hand. But when I reached for my phone, something sharp thrust into my stomach, and I went flying back. “Ahhh! Shit!”
I grabbed my abdomen, rocking forward from the floor, the pain searing through me.
I couldn’t breathe.
The wind was gone from my lungs.
For a moment—and I didn’t know how brief it was—I saw blackness.
When my eyelids flicked open again, Dean’s boot-covered foot was lowering to the ground.
He’d kicked me.
The bastard had fucking kicked me.
My key ring was hooked around my finger, the metal stabbing my palm as I tried to push myself onto my knees.
“Stay down there, you slut. You don’t need to go anywhere.” He was fumbling with his belt buckle, the metal piece unwilling to come out of the hole.
