Insurmountable (Serpentine #1) Read Free

for disorderly conduct and investigated for domestic violence. He should’ve never been let through the front door.”
    “And whose fault is that? Last I checked, you were head of security. That’s your damn job, but you sent him to me to clean up the mess—interrupting a perfectly good dinner with three of the new girls.”
    “Yeah, I order around a bunch of assholes who are more worried about which new girl they’re going to fuck first. Every time we bring in new girls we have trouble.”
    “Then, I suggest you crack down.”
    Miles groaned and stood. With one of them on either side of me, I felt like I was a baby lamb about to be ripped apart by two wolves. “How about I just replace them?”
    “New employees are more trouble than new girls. You know that. Fix the problem before I have to. Makeup will cover the bruises. If nothing is broken, she can return to work tonight. We’ll put her to work in the overlook where we can keep an eye on her.”
    Work . Overlook . I didn’t know what that meant, but I didn’t like the sound of it. The higher the man, the more sadistic he usually was. If the boss intended to keep his eye on me, that probably meant I was to be his for the night.
    I hoped they couldn’t see my hands quivering against my legs.
    Fear would only feed their demented desires.
    Miles stood, and Ross proceeded toward the door, leaving me on the floor in the center of the living room.
    “Little Dove,” Miles whispered kneeling next to me.
    Don’t talk . I’m not ready .
    The man had been right about me. I was useless.
    I didn’t even have enough in me to pretend anymore. The hope for escape had faded long ago.
    “Alley,” he squeezed my arm.
    “Yes, Sir.” Focus. Stay alive . The only thing that terrified me more than another endless day in this place—another endless month, year—was what they might do to me if I didn’t listen. Death . A million possibilities worse than death. They wouldn’t kill me unless it was their last resort.
    But I was perilously close to that.
    “I have a meeting in town. Will you be okay alone?”
    Alone ? I almost jerked my head up to see if I’d heard him right. “Here?”
    “Yes, I intended to leave you here so you can rest. Unless you’d like to return to the Commons.”
    “No, Sir. I’d very much like to stay here.” What will I owe him for this ?
    Brushing back my hair, he lifted me from the floor, carried me to the bedroom, and tucked me back in bed. This had to be a dream. An illusion of some kind. Maybe the concussion was worse than I thought.
    “Do you need anything,” he asked before leaving my side.
    I closed my eyes and shook my head. How could I ask for anything?
    * * *
    Alone in an apartment. I had the whole place to myself. It was too good to be true. Too torturous to be true. The quiet was even more unnerving than the constant state of chatter and movement in the Commons. I shoved the blankets off of me and stared down at the bruises covering my sides and arms. It seemed like there were more than I remembered.
    Miles hadn’t said anything about how long he’d be gone, but the light outside the windows was already beginning to dim. It was only a matter of time before someone came to get me. Before I went back to work.
    I slid my legs off the side of the bed, bracing myself against the mattress as I stood. My legs felt like stretched out springs, unable to hold their shape, and I put my hand against the wall to keep my balance as I left the bedroom and headed for the bathroom.
    I turned on the water in the over-sized whirlpool tub, letting it run hot and steamy. Such a luxurious apartment. I wished I could let my mind go, float away just long enough to believe that it was mine. To pretend. Pretend I was a normal girl again. To pretend I had a future.
    If someone walked in now, I could say I was getting ready. I could pretend to be the dedicated “worker.” I’d put on the facade perfectly until last night.
    What gave?
    I reached for