Page 137 of Into the Woods

Eric’s gray eyes went wide as he looked at me. “I thought you said that you were friends with—”

General Woods’s laugh boomed through the space. “Jesus, you’re a pussy-whipped sack of shit, aren’t you? Do I need to repeat my question yet again? Or perhaps remind you just who is providing all this security? One snap of my fingers, and you’re just another bloodstain on the ground.”

Eric studied me for a beat and then shook his head.

My eyes slid shut, and I braced for what I sensed was coming next. I’d been betting the odds, pretending I was important to men like the general, to get on Eric’s good side.

Well, it had worked.

Eric had bought every lie I’d told. Enough so that he’d brought me straight into the lion’s den.

And now I was going to be devoured.

“Take her,” Eric said, his tone cool.

The general snapped his fingers, and the two men behind Eric grabbed me, one on each arm.

“Good choice,” the general told him. “Mind if we use your office?”

Before Eric could reply, General Woods turned on his heel and stalked toward the rear staircase. When I didn’t move, the guards dragged me. My heels slipped over the concrete, catching on the hem of my dress until I heard it tear.

“Wait—stop!” I tried to fight back, but the two men’s grips tightened even more.

The general turned, his arm flying as he backhanded me.

Stars exploded across my vision as my head snapped to the side. My face throbbed, tears instantly gathering. Holy shit, that hurt.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve cost me?” Woods hissed. “My son turned into a little bitch because of you. But not anymore. As long as I have you? He’ll do exactly what I want.” His thumb and index finger crudely grasped my chin. “Maybe I’ll even let him have a little fun with you when he behaves.”

“General—”

The second slap shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but shock still struck me like lightning.

“Shut up,” he seethed. “If I want you to open your mouth, I’ll have my cock ready to shove in it.”

Dazed, I let myself be pulled up the stairs to the office. My feet tripped on several rungs, but I never went down, thanks to the two assholes keeping me moving.

General Woods pushed open the door at the top. “Oh, honey. I’m home,” he called out loudly, the mocking edge to his tone sharper than a sword.

I was pushed into the space by the idiots, my ankle twisting as one heel slipped. This time, when I fell, no one bothered to catch me.

I landed in a graceless heap on cracked linoleum flooring, then braced myself on my hands and took a breath.

It couldn’t be much longer now. Court would be here any minute.

“What the hell are you doing?” a horrified but familiar voice asked.

I shook my dark hair back… and looked right up into the face of my father.

CHAPTER 42

BEX

My father wasn’t tall. He was average height and average build. He wore wire-rimmed glasses that he was constantly pushing up the bridge of his nose with one finger. His dark hair was thinning on top, and I knew he was self-conscious about it.

At least, he had been when I’d last seen him, several months ago.

“Becca?” Dad gaped at me from where he sat in front of a row of monitors and a keyboard. He twirled around in his chair and started to stand, but General Woods shoved him back down, hard enough that the chair would’ve toppled if the back hadn’t been against the desk.

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