Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Ellie’s brows furrow. “Age is just a number.”
Oh, Lord…
“Unless it’s a number under eighteen. Then it’s statutory rape.”
Like the teenager she is, she rolls her eyes. “I’ll be fifteen soon. Eighteen is only three years away.”
I shake my head, making a mental note to have a chat with Lincoln. He’s a good guy, and I’d like to believe he wouldn’t cross that line, but I’ve come across enough sleazy men in my life—courtesy of our piece-of-shit mother—that I’ve stopped trusting in men altogether. So, while I’d like to believe that good, decent men do exist, when it comes to my little sister, I won’t be taking any chances.
My thoughts go back to the night I walked into the house after my shift at Oswald’s, the local twenty-four-hour diner I worked at throughout high school and my first year of college…
As I walk up to the front door of our apartment, I sigh in exhaustion. It’s almost three in the morning and my shift sucked. I pull my keys out of my purse, ready to unlock the door, when I notice it isn’t closed all the way.
A chill races up my spine. When I left at seven, Ellie was sitting at the desk in our room working on her homework. At nine, she texted me that she was going to bed. I hate leaving her alone, but since I’m in school full-time during the day, I have no choice but to work in the evenings. She’s eleven years old, so technically she’s okay to stay home by herself, but just because she can, doesn’t mean she should.
I swing the door open, not bothering to be stealth. If our mom came home and left it open, she’s probably passed out and won’t wake up anyway. And if something’s happened…
I swallow thickly, unable to finish my thought, and rush through the door and into the apartment. The sound of my sister screaming will forever haunt me.
I run down the hall and pull the man who’s on top of Ellie off of her. Grabbing the closest item to me—a ceramic lamp—I smash it across his face, and he flies backward with a groan.
I expect him to go down like I’ve seen in the movies, but instead, he barks, “You fucking bitch!” and comes after me.
I fight him off the best I can, but he’s stronger and bigger, so I don’t stand a chance. He climbs on top of me and slaps me across the face—and just like in the movies, stars fill my vision.
He rips my shirt off my body, and even though I’m helpless to stop him from raping me, I fight back with all my strength, refusing to be a victim.
I’m so focused on him, I don’t realize my sister has run out of the room and called the cops. I’m almost completely naked, my legs spread, when the man who’s about to enter me is suddenly ripped away.
“Police!” the man barks. “You’re under arrest.”
Had I been a few minutes later, my sister would’ve been raped by a drugged out, piece-of- shit scumbag our mom brought home who was expecting to get laid. After she passed out from the drugs she took, he decided to go in search of someone else to get him off.
He was arrested and charged, and I thought maybe it would be our mom’s wakeup call to get sober, since she was the reason both her daughters were almost raped. But instead, she simply disappeared for several months, showing up one day, high as a kite, as if nothing had happened.
After that night, I refused to leave my sister at home alone. So, I quit my job at the diner and got a job at Pussycats, where the manager agreed to let my sister hang out in the dressing room while I danced. It was all thanks to my high school best friend, Ingrid, who already worked at Pussycats and intervened on my behalf.
After Pussycats got shut down, several of the dancers went to Wanderlust in search of a job. Only a few got hired—me included—and thankfully, Lincoln agreed to let Ellie hang out in the back room while she ate and did her homework.
“Sienna, you’re up first tonight,” Marina says, bringing me back to the present.
Dressed in an emerald number and white thigh high stiletto boots, I saunter onto the stage, ready to begin my first performance of the night.
Everything is going fine, my moves are on point. Until I feel eyes on me. I make the mistake of looking out into the crowd. And that’s when I see him. The mystery man from last night. Watching my every move.
CHAPTER FIVE
MICAH
As Sienna dances once again on stage, teasing the men who are watching her, she looks as beautiful as she did last night. Her body grinds and sways in rhythm to the music, putting on a performance that will have the majority of the men in this club hard for her.