Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
And then came an even bigger monster. He had to be, to make Big D tremble. The gangster might have talked a good game, but Tam noticed his hand tremble when the man in a clearly expensive suit stepped into the office. She remembered Big D referring to him as the ‘Irish Demon’ and indeed he lived up to that name and then some.
Truth be told, despite his obvious good looks, there was something dangerous about the man. The way he’d strode into the office with a swagger of a man who no one fucked with. Tam reckoned he topped 6’1, not as large or tall as Big D or his goons, but the force of his presence was larger than life.
His broad-shouldered frame looked taut and if she ventured a guess, he was probably quite ripped beneath the expensive suit. When Tam had dared to catch a glimpse of his face, however, she gasped. Surely this man was no demon. Devil was more like it because it had to be a sin to be that good-looking. With ink black hair that was artfully swept off his face, dark brows that slashed over eyes so blue it was like looking in an ocean, and a jawline you could cut diamonds on, this man had the type of masculine beauty that inspired artists to paint and sculpt.
The only thing that saved his face from absolute perfection was a scar, about an inch long that ran from the corner of his mouth. But even that added to the character to his gorgeous countenance.
But what scared her the most about this man who was now essentially her captor, was the fact that this wasn’t their first meeting.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. She’d been kicked out of the women’s shelter for fighting even though technically it hadn’t been her fault. Sure, she’d attacked first but it was because her roommate had stolen her wallet that had fifty dollars inside of it, all the cash she had to her name, as well as her ID. She needed that ID to obtain work.
This was a special shelter where one could stay as long as they were in need but they either had to contribute what they could financially which was for a nominal rate of twenty-five dollars a month, or they had to volunteer a certain amount of hours. The reasoning behind that was that it gave the residents a certain amount of pride because they were earning their keep.
Tam had been at the shelter for the past year. Having earned her GED a few years previously, most of the money she managed to earn was for college at the community college. She had a goal to get out of this situation that she was in and eventually have a ‘normal’ life.
Rita was a pleasant middle-aged woman who’d lost everything after a divorce. According to the other woman, her husband had poisoned their children against Rita and had taken the house and custody of the children, leaving her nothing. Tam had heard so many sob stories over the years, most of them bullshit, but she’d felt sorry for this woman, which was a rare thing since she’d learned not to trust many people over the years. They’d become fast friends. Rita had encouraged her to better herself. But then Tam started noticing troubling signs.
She’d find empty alcohol bottles all over the room and once she’d even found a needle. It had become apparent why Rita had lost her family. She was an alcoholic and an addict. But just as Tam discovered the truth about Rita, her stuff came up missing. Since the shelter was full, it was impossible for Tam to find another room so she took to hiding her valuables. Apparently, she didn’t hide her things well enough because her wallet had come up missing and Rita could be the only culprit.
The other woman had denied it even when Tam had gone to the shelter’s director. But the final straw was when Rita had the audacity to say that Tam was the one stealing her things. Tam had stolen things in her time, mainly food to survive, but she’d considered Rita her friend and would have never done something so heinous. Seeing red, Tam attacked and ended up busting Rita’s lip and giving her a black eye before she was pulled off by two security guards.
She found herself on the streets once again. It sucked that she allowed herself to trust only to be stabbed in the back, yet again. And the kicker was, had Rita asked for the money, Tam would have gladly given it to her. Tam was young and able-bodied. She’d earn more. The biggest loss besides the friendship, however, was her ID. Without it, she couldn’t obtain employment anywhere, and she didn’t have the money to replace it.