Page 3 of Serpentine

I scream, not giving a shit who I wake up as I use my purse to beat my car. The alarm sounds through the night.

“Awful night?” a voice asks. It’s deep and full of gravel.

God, what now?

I shut the alarm off with the fob, pulling myself together the best I can.

I close my eyes before turning. The embarrassment of what this person saw me doing claws at my chest. I know it’s likely a neighbor. Even though I won’t be back in this neighborhood soon, I don’t need the headlines, either.

“Yeah, you could say that.” I turn around and am thrown by what I see standing behind me.

A massive man, covered in tattoos, clad in jeans and a leather jacket, broods before me as he flexes his hands. It’s almost as if he’s trying to keep himself composed.

He doesn’t belong here, though. He looks like a massive variance to the surrounding suburban housing development.

Though lights are flicking on in houses around us, I can only stare at him.

“Well, it’s about to get worse,” he says, putting one hand into his pocket.

“I don’t think it can get any worse,” I mutter, more to myself than anything. “You a friend of Carter’s?” I only ask because he’d come from the side of the house as if he’d been in the backyard.

To look at him, though, I know there’s no way Carter would be caught with the man.

He’s so muscular I don’t know how he’d gotten all of it into the leather jacket. His dark hair is shaggy and wind-blown, his lips full and menacing as they chew on a toothpick. His cheeks are sharp, and his jaw likewise. He exudes a dangerous aura, and I wouldn’t be surprised if those hands he keeps flexing have blood tainting them.

“You like what you see, Bambi,” he growls, stepping toward me.

Wit finally kicks in as I walk back into my Lexus.

My brain is reeling as I try to think of what to do. There’s pepper spray in my bag, but he’d be on me long before I could open it.

“What do you want? Money?” I ask timidly, living up to the name he’d called me.

He snarls, lifting his lip over his perfect teeth in disgust. “Your daddy’s money ruined me. I think I’ve had enough of it for a fucking lifetime.”

His words make my stomach sink. My dad is a businessman, but I know he’s not clean. I’ve heard many rumors about things he’s supposedly covered up in this town, and I’ve been in the middle of the scrutiny when those rumors swirl, too.

“Well, you need to take that up with him. Not me.”

His tattooed hand lifts, and I steel as he runs a finger down my face.

Fear slams into my insides as I try to breathe through it. I try to look as if I’m not afraid. I know I’m failing.

“Why would I do that, Bambi? When you are one of his best assets? You’re the heir to his fucked-up fortune, are you not?”

Technically, Carter is the heir, but not until we’re married. My father wanted boys and had only gotten me, so he bargained me off for the son he always wanted.

“Y—Yes,” I stammer, opening my eyes. I feel the pressure change as he leans in.

His hair falls in his face, and it darkens the moment. “Then I think you’re just the chip I’ve been looking to use on the table.”

“Please, don’t hurt me,” I beg, my lip trembling.

His answering laugh is devoid of emotion. Devoid of even humanity. “Bambi, I’m going to do more than hurt you. I’m going to ruin you.”

A cloth comes over my mouth, a sickly-sweet scent of chemicals invading my senses. I try to fight against him, dropping my bag to the ground as I claw at his hand over my face. His other hand reaches up and holds the back of my head.

“Go to sleep, Bambi. When you wake up, we’ll have some fun, you and I.”

---