Page 5 of Brutal Collateral

“Assholes,” I yell at them.

“I hear you like yours fucked,” one of them taunts me over his shoulder.

“Funny, I heard that about yours,” I yell, dishing it right back.

Cherise hops up, and I take the set next to her. Her ankle is fucked, but she’s strong. She makes it over and across before me.

“Go,” I tell her. “Don’t wait for me.”

“Catch up, Castille!” Cherise bravely ignores her pain to keep running.

I tune out the next few challenge areas and steel my spine for theSlide For Life,a series of platforms with no ropes and no ladders. We have to grip the ends and hoist ourselves up. Thanks to rock-hard abs, I get to the top platform, but I slam right into a wall of male flesh, reeking of sweat.

“I’ve had enough of you,” Rand Miller seethes and grabs me by the throat.

Kicking wildly, I grind out, “Let me go, motherfucker. Iwillkill you.”

“Yeah, I hear killing is in your blood.”

My heart spikes. Does Miller know who I really am? I don’t care at this point. My fake ID has held up for two years.

“Playing dirty also runs in my veins, asshole.” I hook my foot around his shin the right way, and down he goes, flat on his back.

Only, he catches hold of my arm and pulls me down with him. Despite his back slamming into the wood, Miller rolls us and straddles me. I draw in a sharp breath, realizing the instructors, who are busy yelling at the others, can’t see up this high.

Miller can push me off and make it look like an accident.

I punch him in the balls and push him off me to catch the rope. It’s nearly in my grasp, but he grabs my ankle and yanks me until my face hits the wood.

Fuck.

We scuffle until he’s on top of me again, yanking my pants down. “I need to know how wet this pussy is. I can’t stop thinking about fucking you. Tonight, when I get you alone, I’m gonna plow you so hard, you’ll be ringing the bell to go the fuck home once and for all.”

Shit.

“Then I’ll break all ten of your fingers so you can’t file any more reports,” he says with one hand around my throat, the other down my pants. “My father is on the Armed Services Committee. You’renotgetting the Trident, bitch.”

I’m ready to scratch his eyes out, but I hear the unmistakable click of a gun.

“Get the fuck off her, Miller,” a deep voice says.

Miller lets go of my throat immediately, but his eyes go wide. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Private security.” He speaks with an Irish lilt I didn’t hear the first time he spoke.

Privatesecurity? I expected an instructor would have flown up here to see why two candidates climbed to the top and never came back down.

“Either you get off her and finish the course, or I drag you to the vice admiral with every bone in your face broken.”

Is he letting Miller finish the course?

Fucking assholes.

Miller curses and pushes off me, smacking me in the process.

The private security guy hits Miller in the back of the head with the barrel of his gun. “Touch her again and you go home in a box. Get the fuck out of my sight.”

Miller’s rage dials up, but hooting from theRope Swingreminds him he’s on the clock.

---