“Watch your mouth, young lady,” Samuel snapped, his eyes narrowed on her. “You were short on collections this week, and Dwayne informed me that Gary Halliston didn’t deliver as he’d said he would. What do you have to say about that?”
“Halliston did deliver,” she challenged firmly, glaring at Dwayne, whoever the hell he was.
“No, he didn’t,” Dwayne announced. “I went to collect from him myself, this morning.”
“That’s bullshit,” Ashlynn shot back, getting to her feet. “And who the fuck are you, anyway?”
Her father was instantly up in her face, his hands gripping her wrists painfully. “He works for me. That’s all you need to know. And since he’s doin’ a better job than you, I asked him to help out.”
“With what?” Ashlynn didn’t like the sound of this. Her father was a cruel bastard, so there was no telling what deranged plan he’d come up with.
“I think it’s time you learn the punishment for lying to me, young lady.”
“I didn’t lie,” she argued, yanking out of his grip.
“Are you sayin’ Dwayne’s lyin’ to me?” Samuel swung his head toward Dwayne, but Ashlynn noticed they traded a look, one that had a chill racing down her spine. Not a good one, either.
“I’ve hired Dwayne to keep an eye on you.”
“Does Max know?” she countered, wishing like hell her brother was there.
“You forget who runs this family,” Samuel snarled. “Now take your punishment like a good girl, and we’ll talk later.”
Ashlynn’s eyes widened when her father backed toward the door. “Where are you goin’?”
“I’ll be back when he’s done. Since he’s the one cleanin’ up your messes, he gets the honor.”
When he’s done? What the fuck did that mean?
Before she could get the question out, her father slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him and leaving her alone in Max’s office with the big, burly guy who was once again leering at her from across the room.
When he began to pursue her, Ashlynn put the sofa between them.
“Make this easy on yourself, bitch.”
Ashlynn frowned. “Bitch? Did you seriously just call me that?”
“That’s what you are, ain’t it?”
Confusion racked her. Ashlynn had never heard of this guy before, had no idea why her father felt it necessary to hire anyone to keep an eye on her. She’d been working for him for less than a month, ever since her nineteenth birthday, and had been issued very few jobs, other than collecting money. Which she’d done exactly as she’d been instructed.
When Dwayne lunged for her, Ashlynn backed up a few feet. “What the fuck are you doing?”
He didn’t answer; instead, he scaled the sofa—pretty damn agile for a man his size—and slammed her into the bookshelf. The wind was knocked out of her, but she managed to slip out from between him and the shelf, scrambling across the room and putting Max’s desk between them.
She recalled the incident with her uncle. Four years had passed since Patrick had attempted to rape her in her own bedroom, and from that day, Ashlynn had vowed she would never allow a man to get the upper hand on her again. And she wasn’t going to start today.
“I think you’d be smart to leave before my brother gets back.”
“He’s not comin’ back. Your father sent him on a wild goose chase. He’ll be gone for hours.”
Great. That wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear, but Ashlynn wasn’t going to let her fear show.
As he maneuvered closer, they circled the desk once, until Ashlynn was behind Max’s chair. She knew he had a gun in the top drawer, and if she could just get to it…
“Your father took the gun,” Dwayne said with a disgusting chuckle. “Said you’d be a gutsy one.”
He might’ve taken that one, but Ashlynn knew of others. Her brother was well-armed, and he’d always instructed her to be as well. Though she didn’t have a gun on her, she did have a knife. But that would mean she’d have to get close to the big bastard, and she had no intention of doing that.
Not if she could help it.
“Sit down!” he yelled. “I’m done playin’ games with you. Your father instructed me to punish you as I saw fit. Said I needed to ensure you learned your lesson.”
Lovely.
Ashlynn might’ve been at Samuel’s mercy when she was a kid, might’ve not had control over the things he’d forced on her or the people he’d tried to give her to, but she’d always managed to come out on top. She was beginning to think this was a game to Samuel. A sick, twisted game that he enjoyed playing with his older daughter. Ever since Max had killed Patrick for attempting to rape her, Samuel had put her in the same situation at least a half dozen times. But since the incident with Patrick, he’d always ensured Max wasn’t around to take care of her.
So Ashlynn had learned to take care of herself. Whether or not that was his plan—teaching her to defend herself—or if he truly was a sadistic fuck who wanted to have a man brutalize her, she couldn’t say. Not that it mattered. Today wasn’t going to be Dwayne’s lucky day.
Unfortunately, she found herself out in the open once again, and before she could make a move, Dwayne launched himself at her, knocking her backward onto the sofa while his giant ass came tumbling down on top of her. She raised her knee, attempting to hit him in the nuts, but he shifted at the last possible second.
He frowned down at her while his hand quickly slid up her skirt. She writhed to get away from him, but he wasn’t after what she thought he was.
No, what he was after was worse.
Even though she was thrashing and hitting him, he still managed to free her knife from the sheath on her leg. As he held it above her, Ashlynn noticed the wild look in his eyes.
“Your ol’ man didn’t know what he was askin’ for,” Dwayne snarled. “He thought I’d be content with pussy. Little does he know.”
Fuck.
Ashlynn put her hands on his chest and shoved, but he was far too heavy for her to even make him budge. When the blade of her knife came down and caressed her neck, she quit moving.
“You better kill me,” Ashlynn bit out. “’Cause if you don’t, I’m gonna kill you.”
“Try me, bitch.” He sounded as though he was enjoying himself, and that only fueled her anger.
Remembering what Max had told her the last time she’d been there when she’d asked where he kept his guns—always where you’d least expect it—Ashlynn slid her hand down into the cushion, feeling around. She prayed like hell this was one of those least expected places, because if not, she was likely going to have a really shitty day.