Page 52 of Swallow Your Fear
I pressed my lips firm together as his grip tightened. Tears pooled in my eyes, but still, I wouldn’t look.
“Don’t make me ask, Brynne. I don’t use manners.”
Manners or not, he wouldn’t get what he wanted.
If he was using me for bait, chances were, Booker would leave me here to die. He had his deed—he had no reason to come save me.
Our deal…it was done. And even though he’d said he was still there, a part of me still believed he was only using me for the time being. We had our moments, but was it enough to risk his life for me? His inconvenient house guest was gone, and it was just one more thing taken off his plate.
I didn’t see it as the boss pulled his hand back, but I felt the sting when his palm made contact with my cheek. My head jerked to the side as I squeezed my eyes shut, but he forced it back in his direction.
“Open those eyes, bitch. Let me see your fear.”
But I didn’t. I swallowed that shit down like a fucking pill and acted on impulse.
My legs weren’t bound, so I used the opportunity to catch him off guard by swinging a kick directly at his knee. I opened my eyes in time to see it buckle, but he regained his balance quicker than I thought he would, and I had nowhere to go. Finally, I looked at him, and my blood froze.
“Doug?” My voice was merely a shriek full of breath and disbelief.
An unsettling chuckle rasped from him. “Just one of the names I use.” He pinned his glare on me, amusement shining in his eyes. “Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?”
Without thinking, I kicked forward again, and hestumbled back a step before charging me with a curse. His hand whipped out, wrapping around my neck, and then he was sliding me up the cold metal wall behind me. My hair caught on little crevices, tearing from my scalp, but it was nothing compared to the pressure he put on my throat. It wasn’t anything like Booker ever did to me; this was with the intent to kill me, not pleasure me.
My feet scrambled for purchase as he held me by my neck with both hands now, crushing my windpipe. My mind swirled with panic and the truth behind the fact that Doug wasn’t who I thought he was—an innocent patron that frequented Marv’s Diner.
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you what happens when you don’t listen?” His voice was so calm despite the pain he inflicted, so different from the man I knew before.
My mouth opened and closed as I tried to gasp for air, but nothing came.
“No?”
He waited as if I could answer.
Fucking prick.
“Then I have no choice but to show you what happens when you don’t obey. Just like I showed that asshole I sent on a job what happens when he puts his hands on me in a display of theatrics.”
I wasn’t expecting it when he dropped me, and my body slammed to the hard floor. My shoulder screamed along with my lungs as I sucked in the oxygen I was starved of. But all too quickly, it was forced out of me when a boot hit me right in the stomach.
Not a single noise escaped me as I tried so hard to suck in air. I needed to breathe or I wouldn’t fucking survive.
Breathe.
Breathe!
But my lungs were empty, and my stomach was heaving, and I was fucking dying.
I’m not dying.
I’m just scared.
That’s it. It’s the fear.
“Swallow your fear, Darlin’. Don’t let it control you. Bend that fear to your advantage and use it as fuel.”
Booker’s voice filled my mind at the same time oxygen flowed into my lungs, his words fueling me to get it together. I wouldn’t make it out of here if I let myself be weak.
The man crouched down in front of me, quietly watching as I gulped down air. His hands dangled in between his legs, his elbows propped on his thighs.
