High Stakes (The Kingdom Book 2)
High Stakes - The Kingdom 2
By Nikki Groom
Copyright@2014 Nikki Groom
Cover design by Hang Le / byhangle.com
Editing by Mandy Smith / rawbooksonline.com
Proof reading by Claire Haiek / Freelance
Formatting by Kassi Bland Cooper / Kassi’s Kandids Formatting
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission.
The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorised, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.
All rights reserved.
For my sister and best friend, Lindsay.
Luf you xx
STUPID GIRL.
I should have stayed away.
Now the last eighteen months have all been for nothing. I have achieved absolutely zero by being away, other than a bigger mistrust, and a deeper cavern in my heart made by the fact that I actually had hope, and now it’s gone.
He stands behind me, his index finger gently brushing my tousled hair from my bare back. The act makes me shiver. Not a shiver of pleasure like Denham gives me; no, a shiver of repulsion. A shiver that actually works its way down through my stomach and back up my spine. I think I’m going to throw up. I clamp my mouth shut tight and will the fear to go away.
I will be strong. He will not break me again.
But I know the power he has over me. The power to turn me to dust.
“Did you really think I was going to let you go?” he says, his voice resonating a dangerous undertone. “Did you?” He moves closer still, but doesn’t touch me. “My stupid, beautiful girl …”
His nose touches my shoulder and he draws it upwards along my neck, inhaling as he goes. It makes me want to retch. I feel my stomach turning.
Overcome.
Scared.
“I can smell another man’s scent, Arianna.” He pauses and I hold my breath, bracing myself for what might come next. “Sex … It reeks.”
It might have been eighteen months since I saw him in the flesh, but I can remember the expressions his face holds, and I can picture his curled lip and the wild look in his eyes. He grabs the hair on the back of my head roughly and I cry out. Every follicle screams as I feel his grip tighten.
“How did you ever think I wouldn't find you? How did you ever think you would be free?” He almost sings the words, a torturous lullaby, barely a whisper, but loud enough to ring around my head. “Money talks, Arianna. And in your case, the talk was cheap.”
The ringing in my head gets louder. Echoes further. My eyes lose focus. The pain pulling at my head takes over. “Please,” I manage to whimper. I hate how desperate I sound, but I don’t know another way out.
“My. Stupid. Beautiful. Girl.” Every word is punctuated with an exhale of stale breath across my skin.
He wraps an arm around my neck from behind and applies just enough pressure that my intake of breath is affected. I can feel myself react and start to panic, but my body stays paralyzed. I search my mind for ways to get out of this, ways to make it stop, when sharp pain hits the top of my leg, followed by a burning sensation. The mixture of his tightening grip and the realization that he just pushed a needle into me sends me into a spin.
Oh god, not a needle.
I’m terrified of needles.
I’m terrified of what’s in this needle.
Is he going to kill me? I pull every ounce of strength that I can from my body and claw at his hand with my nails. He drops his grip, letting me go with a snigger and I run. I run as fast and as far away from him as I can. I make it to the bedroom when the edges of my vision blur and start to tunnel. The adrenaline pushes the substance he has injected me with through my body at top speed. It acts fast and my legs lose strength and buckle underneath me.
The ground seems to rise up toward me, and my head hits the ground with such force that it steals my vision and the world turns black. The last of my senses to leave me is my hearing. Everything echoes like I have my head underwater. I hear him approach, heavy footsteps stopping next to me. An evil laugh comes from deep within him, and I try to fight my body. I try to muster up any last piece of consciousness that I can, but it’s futile.
“Still trying to run, Arianna. You’ll never learn.”
My body is jerked to the side and my last conscious breath leaves my body forcefully as his boot hits my ribs. My muscles contort. Old injuries protest. I’m aware that it’s happening, but I don’t feel a thing.
No vision.
No feeling in my body, just sound eventually fading …
“You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.”
His voice is controlled. Calculated. His words fade with every second that passes.
“You’ll come back to me. I own you. You’ll see.”
Freedom.
“Stupid.”
Escape.
“Beautiful.”
Nothingness.
“Girl …”
I DON’T NEED THIS
shit today.
Every day this week there’s been a problem.
Problems with the staff. Problems with the casino. And now, for the third time this week, problems with the CCTV system. You would think for the amount of money I pay Dom and his team, it should be running glitch free, but no.
And, to top it all off, I have to leave my girl to deal with all this shit.
My girl. The girl who left me at the elevator, with just a sheet wrapped around that soft, sexy body. The one who left me with a kiss loaded with promise, and a raging hard-on.
So, I could really do without being here, sorting out crap that I pay people damn good money to do.
“Jack!” I bellow from my office, not knowing if he’s within earshot, but so fucking what if he isn’t. I’ll just shout louder, “Jack!”
