A Chance in the Night Read Free

her clutch, which had fallen to the floor when he’d thrown her. She twisted and reached desperately for her clutch but a lightning-fast crack across her jaw caused stars to fly around her head and black dots to pulse before her eyes.
    “You’re a feisty one,” she heard him murmur, the appreciative tone sickening her. “Let’s see if you’re worth what I paid.”
    Blood filled her mouth from her busted lip but she opened her mouth and screamed for all she was worth. Someone, oh, God, please help her.

    C HRISTIAN HAD JUST STEPPED into the alley behind Martini to take his break when he stopped short at the muffled scream coming from the sleek Town Car that lurked in the shadows. The violent rock of the Town Car betrayed a tussle and by the sounds of it, a woman was involved. His brain directed him to return to the bar. It was best to remain uninvolved. The last thing he needed was to get tangled up in someone else’s business. But even as he turned, his hand reaching for the handle, his conscience balked. What if the woman was really getting brutalized? Could he live with himself if something bad happened to her? No. However, the logical side of his brain countered, what if it’s just some kinky couple who liked it rough and she’s in no real danger after all? Busting in on someone’s private time would only cause embarrassment all around.
    The logical argument pulled considerable weight but as another scream sounded from the interior only to be cut suspiciously short, he said, “Screw it,” to the logical side of his brain and bounded for the car. But even as he told himself he’d deal with the ramifications of his actions later, he was shocked when he jerked open the door and saw the woman from the bar, bleeding and struggling feebly against the hulking mass on top of her, choking the life out of her.





CHAPTER TWO
    “W HAT THE F—” T HE FAT MAN startled as Christian reached inside the car and dragged him out and off the woman who looked in bad shape. He landed a solid punch to the man’s flabby, jowled face, knocking him to the ground, howling. The driver erupted from the car and trained a gun on him, the subtle shake in his grip betraying the fact that he’d probably never fired the thing, but it didn’t make Christian feel any less freaked that he was staring down the business end of a 9mm.
    “Don’t do it, man,” he warned. “You’ve got a half-dead woman in your car right now and you don’t want to add more misery to your plate. I doubt your piece of shit employer is paying you well enough to cover up murder. Think about it. It ain’t worth it. I’m going to get the girl and we’re all going to walk away nice and easy.”
    The driver gave a short nod as the fat man lumbered to his feet, wiping at the blood flowing from his nose. “Take the bitch. I’m through with her,” he said, his voice nasal and wet sounding. His lip curled in disgust. “Tell Belleni I want my money back. His whore wasn’t worth the asking price,” he said, mistaking Christian for someone affiliated with the woman and her business. That alone made him want to further rearrange the asshole’s face but he settled for a hard-edged glare at the man as he edged past him to gingerly pull the woman from the vehicle, cradling her against his chest.
    With a curt nod to his driver, the fat man disappeared into the Town Car and slammed the door behind him as the car melted into the night.
    He glanced down at the woman in his arms. She was badly beaten. Blood dribbled from her nose and swollen lip, smearing the honey-hued locks he’d noticed at the bar. She was a far cry from the sophisticated trophy that’d been perched on the stool earlier. He couldn’t take her into the bar like this. She opened one eye and he could see the glaze of pain. “I need to take you to the hospital,” he told her. He wasn’t surprised by the weak shake of her head as she moaned.
    “No hospital, p-please,” she said, laboring for each