Page 1 of Poisonous Kiss
PROLOGUE
Briar
I did everything heasked of me for the first eighteen years of my life. I did my schooling, got good grades, stayed out of the way, and was always to be seen and never heard. If I were to ever get in trouble, he would lock me in the closet. It was a tiny room underneath the staircase. If you were just to glance around the room, you wouldn’t ever know it was there. To find it, you had to move the big sitting chair and then move a painting to reveal the doorknob.
This room would be my home for minutes or even days. The length of time was never known beforehand. I would be in there without food, and always knew it was going to be longer if someone threw in a bottle of water. He didn’t want me to die, just to suffer.
I never learned my lesson though, only became sneakier. I got better at hiding the things I wasn’t supposed to do, which only pissed him off more.
The older I got, the more I was able to understand that the time I was locked away was valuable. The time that was spent locked away could be used to plot my escape from him. One time, when I was locked for a longer period, I was able to pull the nails from the boards to create a place to hide some things. The top of the nail embedded itself into the skin under my fingernail, but I continued until it was the perfect spot. I made sure to hide a diary with a pen, flashlight, snacks, water, a small blanket, and a pillow under the board. This diary held the secrets to me getting out of his grip. For two years, the plan continued to evolve and perfect itself. I would purposely get into trouble when an idea popped into my head that I needed to write down. Getting in trouble meant access to my spot, and the plan was ready to be put into action.
I need to get away from my father. I just had to find the right time to do it. Now is the time.
CHAPTER 1
Briar
His hand is wrappedaround my throat while he thrusts into me. One, two…and he’s done. Disappointment yet again.
“Did you finish?” he asks.
“Mmhmm,” I say quickly.
I wonder if men know that if they have to ask, the answer is always going to be no. Whatever, I’ll go home and grab my trusty vibrator,The Satisfyer Pro, to do the job for me like always.
I roll off the bed to gather my clothes and start pulling them on.
I really thought this man was going to do better. He was so hot in the club, eyeing me while I was on the dance floor. I let him bring me home, and then he put his hand around my throat and couldn’t last. I swear I haven’t been out of the club for more than thirty minutes at this point.
Yes, I was just using him, but so what? Can’t a girl get off while using the man she’s with?
“Where are you going?” he asks, pulling the condom off with a snap and throwing it on the side table. Fucking gross.
“Home?” I answer.
“You don’t want to rest?”
“Nope,” I reply with a pop. “Thanks for the fuck. I’m going to call an Uber.”
I walk out the door, step into the elevator, and immediately call Maxx. He picks up on the second ring.
“Did you get the fingerprints?”
“Duh. Who do you think I am? He choked me, so they should be there just like we talked about.”
“Okay, hurry down. We only have a few minutes to get them from your skin.”
The car is parked across the street, and I jog across to meet him.
Once inside, we pull down the street so there’s no possible way my “date” will know what we’re doing. We pull over and get to work. I throw my hair up in a high ponytail, careful not to touch my throat, and Maxx starts to open up his fingerprint kit. He pulls out the rounded squirrel hairbrush and the Swedish black fingerprint powder. He puts a little of the powder on a napkin that must have been in the glove compartment and dips the brush into it. Once the brush has been covered, he slowly starts dabbing around the right side of my throat. I hate having this stupid shit all over me since it’s such a bitch to get off. Itsmears all over the place in the cleanup process, but we need this thumbprint.
“Yes!” Maxx shouts. “We got it!”
I try not to get too excited as he uses lifting tape to slowly remove the fingerprint from my skin.
He holds the tape up to the light, and there it is. The key to my freedom. The only way I can get away from the third meanest man in town, who just happens to be my father.
My fatherwisheshe was the meanest, but instead, he just works for him. He has controlled my every move for the last twenty years, but you know what they say about strict parents. Strict parents create sneaky children, and that is just what I have become.
