“Oh, but you are. Welcome to day one of living in your own personal fucking nightmare, Lilith Cortland.” His smirk widened, and I wanted to slap him across the fucking face. “After your shift, you will go home to what I’m assuming is a sad little apartment, and you will wait for your next shift or for me to text you, whichever comes first.”
“You’re a sadistic fuck, you know that? You can’t tell me what to do when we’re not at work; that’s not part of the deal.”
He just laughed, his eyes shining. “This isn’t adeal, Lilith. This is blackmail, and unfortunately, the victim doesn’t typically get a say in the terms. You’ll do what I tell you, or there will be consequences.”
He leaned forward and tapped me on the nose, giving me a smug smile.
“Enjoy my shift. Try not to kill anyone tonight.” With a final condescending chuckle, he turned on his heel and left.
Alexa, play‘COFFIN,’by Jessie Reyez (Feat. Eminem)
“You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”
—AL CAPONE
It was a Sunday, and typically, the opener was also the closer on Sundays. I had to rush home to get my uniform, and I barely made it back for Reaver’s start time. The night was relatively steady, and I made good money, so there was at least a silver lining to whatever the fuck had just happened.
I was still reeling from the events of that morning. My life had never exactly been gold-touched, but these last few days were certainly a new low. I couldn’t believe the chokehold Reaver had somehow managed to trap me in. Between him and the fucking demon that had just upped his torture to new levels of disturbing, I was feeling even more helpless and alone than usual. I contemplated telling Raf that Reaver had… choked me? What evenwasthat? It was worse than choking. He had cut off my air supply and pinned me to the booth like some sort of deranged serial killer.
The only thing stopping me from telling was Reaver’s looming threat. I didn’t want him to show Rafael the headlines. I was so scared and so vulnerable. It would be too easy for the careful house of cards I had built to come tumbling around me.The review was only a couple weeks away. It was probably better to just submit and do whatever Reaver wanted until he got sick of torturing me, and everything could go back to normal.
Keep telling yourself that, Lil.My mean little voice said as I wiped down the bar.
“Hey, Lil!” I glanced up to see Sara, one of the servers in her civvies, taking a seat at my wood.
“Hey Sara, all done? How did you do tonight?” I asked, and she grinned at me.
“Pretty good for a Sunday, made like three hundred bucks.”
“That’s awesome!”
“Yeah, probably going to spend some of it here, though. If you don’t mind, I’ll have a pinot grigio. I’m avoiding my asshole ex. He’s supposed to be picking up some stuff from the apartment tonight, so I’m camping out here for a bit.”
“Sure,” I said, getting a clean glass and pouring her some wine.
“What are you doing working tonight? I thought you were off?” she asked, and I scowled.
“Iwas.I took this shift for Reaver.”
Sara’s eyes lit up. “Oh, the new bartender? He’shot.”
I snorted as I started my stock list. “He’s a douchebag.”
“Really? He’s been really nice to me…” she said thoughtfully, and I rolled my eyes. Of course he was. Reaver seemed to smile and be kind to everyone else. It was just me he hated. I left it alone and started my closing duties while Sara sipped her wine happily and cruised her phone.
“Last call, I’m going to cash out,” I told her once the bar was empty, and she nodded, smiling. She left me a ridiculously generous tip. “I’m just going to finish this, then head out,” she informed me, and I grinned at her, tilting my head in agreement.
I took the till downstairs and did my cash out with Raf before grabbing my things and heading out the back. It was dark out, but the city was bright and loud. I was just locking up behind me when I heard what sounded like a couple arguing. The voices were coming from around the corner in the parking lot. I couldn’t see who it was, but they were yelling.
“You think you can just do whatever you want, you fuckingslut!?”
“John, just go. It’s over!” My frown deepened when I realized that it was Sara.
“It’s over when I say it’s over, you fucking whore!” There was acrackand a scream, and my eyes widened. Had he justhither?
Before I knew it, I was running. I turned the corner and found Sara pressed up against the wall by the throat. The man holding her was twice her size, and she was clawing at his wrist, tears streaming down her face.
Oh, fuck no!
