I hesitate, the knife heavy in my hand. The weight of what I’m doing hits me with a flood of regret.
The hesitation costs me.
Graham turns, smashing me against the brick building, my breath leaving me in a stuttering exhale. The knife clatters on the cobblestones as I lose my grip, and before I can figure out what’s happening, I’m pinned against the wall, a hand on my throat.
Smooth going, Maggie.
‘Who the fuck are you?’ Graham demands, his eyes narrowing as he scans my face.
‘No one,’ I whisper, his fingers digging into my throat and cutting off my air.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity fuck.Utterly useless alarm bells bounce around in my head like pong, all rage and no reason.
‘A no one doesn’t spring on a man in an alley and try to slit his throat. I’ve a mind to teach you a lesson. Maybe being sold to someone who will treat you like a bad dog will have you learning your place.’
I kick against him, my need to escape filling my limbs with renewed strength. With all that I know about his business, his words are more than just a threat.
I should have stabbed him while I had the chance.
‘Please,’ I gasp. ‘Let me go.’
The kicks I lay into his shins don’t elicit a reaction. It’s like he can’t even feel them. He sneers at me before thrusting a hand up my top, his icy fingers groping my waist.
‘Need to get a taste of the goods. Know what price you’re worth.’
His smoke-tainted breath makes my stomach knot; it’s a sickly smell, making me want to barf. Maybe barfing was a grade-A plan. No one wants to screw a vomiting woman, right? Knowing my luck, he’ll be the sort of sicko who gets a lob on for the vom.
I try to heave, willing something to come up, sounding like a dying goose. Graham’s eyes widen, his hand loosening a touch at the spectacle I’m making of myself.
Taking my chance at his open confusion, I thrust my knee upward, aiming to get him right in the bollocks. His thighs pinch together, stopping me from meeting my goal.
The laugh that tumbles from his mouth has my fear piquing, the sound laced with dark promise.
Crap on a cracker. Of course,I’dbe the one to die on my first genuine attempt at fulfilling a contract.Maggie the loser.Soft as shit. Kill count forever to remain at zero.
RIP me. Rest in patheticdom.
His hand presses higher, skimming the front of my bra and causing my body to seize. I’d rather be dead than let this smarmy scumbag profit a single penny off my misfortune. If escape is impossible, pushing him to eliminate me is the next best scenario. Death over trafficking any day.
Graham’s mouth turns up in a sinister smile. His rancid breath quickens as my struggling excites him. An unmistakable bulge grinds at my thigh. I see my knife on the ground, clenching my fist at its closeness. I should have severed his bloody dick while I had the chance.
The whole killing thing would be so much easier if I were half as hot as my sister. Men practically bend over and offer their necks to her blade to gain an ounce of her attention. Despite my best attempts, I lack such an effect.
It must be so much easier to lure them to their deaths like a siren calling ships to splinter themselves upon rocks than to have to come at them like a rabid little raccoon.
‘Fuck you,’ I snarl, sinking my teeth into his cheek, biting down despite the way it makes my stomach lurch. Coppery blood fills my mouth, and I heave at the slick, metallic liquid coating my tongue.
Gross. So gross.
‘You bitch!’ he yells, slamming me hard against the wall, a loud crack echoing through my skull as it meets the stone. My vision dances as my teeth grind against each other, no skin between them. He pulls back andslaps me hard, my mouth opening as a chunk of his warm flesh tumbles out. ‘Think that you’re going to get out of this, do you? I’m going to fuck you ‘til you bleed, then sell you as damaged goods. If anyone even wants you. Not nearly the quality I usually trade.’
Static noise fills my ears as a sob chokes me, pain resonating from the wall slam. His fingers tighten around my throat, a crunching sound coming from the points where he applies pressure. How long does it take to suffocate to death? Six minutes? Assuming he doesn’t crush my windpipe first.
Oh god. I’m going to die.
Like, really, actuallydie.
My mind races, hunting for a way out of my situation.
