Page 2 of Malice and Surrender
I didn’t want to say why I was here. The fact that it wasn’t true wouldn’t matter. The moment I opened my mouth and the words rape tumbled out, it was game over. There was a code in prison. If you hurt women, you were an automatic target to be someone’s bitch until the day you got out. But it was worse for those who hurt kids. Most didn’t last a full day, and the ones who did wish they hadn’t.
Red would have me bent over the counter so fast it would make my head spin. That may happen anyway, but I wasn’t giving anyone here an open-season ticket.
“Armed robbery,” I muttered, unable to think of anything better.
“Oh yeah? Robbery of what?”
Lifting my shoulders, I let them drop. “Whatever I could get my hands on. Why do you want to know? Are you looking to acquire something when I get out?”
“Oh, I plan on acquiring something all right.”
He smirked, and I could feel my blood pressure rising. I was used to this feeling, this anticipation of bad shit about to happen. I had it so many times in foster care that I lost count. Until I got to the Collins family. Their place hadn’t been a walk in the park either, but at least I didn’t worry every time I laid my head down that someone would try to beat me, or worse. I was also a fuck load tougher. So if he wanted me, he was forcing it, and I would fight with my last breath before I submitted.
“I have it on good authority that you’re a sick fuck and liked to diddle your sister,” Red said, and then laughed. The sound echoed off the walls of the large space.
I didn’t need any reminders of what had landed me in this fucking place. Raine was my foster sister, we were best friends until she didn’t come home one night, and the police dragged me from my bed. They told me I was being arrested for rape and drove me to the precinct, where I spent so many hours in the interrogation room that I didn’t even know what day of the week it was.
They never got me to break and implicate myself in something I didn’t do, but it didn’t matter. Stupid fucking public defender was a useless dick, and I ended up with a shit plea deal. So here I was with a ten-year sentence hanging over my head. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t end up like my old man, but I guess some shit was simply unavoidable.
“Not sure where you heard that from, but it was a fucking lie. I wouldn’t do that shit,” I snarled. My muscles tensed, and my hands curled into fists as the goons stepped closer. I glared at them, sizing them up. This wasn’t the first time I’d been outnumbered.
Red slid off the counter and took a step in my direction. “What a shame. I was hoping you were a freak. It would make what I plan to do to you so much more entertaining.” Red got up in my personal space. “Wouldn’t that have been ironic? You in here for diddling your sister, and then you get your ass tapped. It would’ve been a sweet circle of events.”
“Apparently, our ideas of entertaining differ,” I drawled.
Red smiled, but it did nothing to ease the hard lines on his face. “You have a smart mouth. I wonder how smart it will be when I have my cock shoved so far down your throat that you choke to death on it.”
I inched closer and squared off with Red. There was no way I was backing down. “If you put your cock anywhere near my mouth, I’ll fucking bite it off.” I snapped my teeth together, the sound loud in the otherwise quiet bathroom.
Red looked behind me, and I knew the goons had moved closer. “You believe this kid?” The guys chuckled. “I kinda like you, but you’re not getting out of this. Hold him down,” Red ordered. “I’m going to be the first to teach your ass a lesson.”
Not giving them a chance to grab me, I spun. My elbow sailed backward into Red’s face with a hard crack.
“Ah fuck! You broke my nose.” The sound was music to my ears.
I barely felt the impact and used the same arm to land a hard right hook along the jaw of the goon closest to me. Like a comic strip, blood and a tooth flew from his mouth.
Fighting was second nature to me. I’d been fighting for everything from the day I was born. I fought to breathe through the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. Fought to keep my mother alive when gang members—pissed off at my father—decided to teach him a lesson by killing her. I fought for my next meal when my father forgot I existed. Fought to not be a punching bag for fucktards in the foster homes I bounced around in. Fighting to stay alive in this rat hole called life was all I knew.
The guy I hit stumbled back from the blow and left a shot open for me to get my foot up and into the second guy’s gut. He stepped back and doubled over, grabbing his stomach. That blow should’ve laid him out flat. Damn, I wish I had my shitkickers on instead of these stupid white running shoes.
The third goon pushed his buddy out of the way and growled like a wild animal as he swung at me. This guy was the largest of the three and had more muscle in one arm than I had on my entire body. But that also made him slow. Ducking under his large fist, we danced around until I landed a solid strike to his kidneys. The goon winced and closed his eyes for just a moment; but that was all I needed. I stepped back and brought my foot up, landing a sidekick to his jugular. He clutched at his throat, eyes bulging as he tried to get air. I watched him for one satisfactory moment as he dropped to his knees.
I’d maneuvered enough to dash out the door, and I might’ve had a shot if fucking Big Dog hadn’t stuck around. I hadn’t seen him still hanging out in the entryway. I saw the man a second before I was slammed into like a battering ram. We crashed to the floor and skidded backward in a heap. All the air was driven out of my lungs, but I didn’t care. Gasping for breath, I fought for my life.
Big Dog held the front of my jumper in one hand, and I raised my arms up just in time for his fist to crack down hard. The side of my face, shoulder, and arms all fell victim to his blows, despite the guard I held firmly in place. I tried to drive my knee or fist into any part of Big Dog’s body that would force him to let go, but the guy was like the Pillsbury Doughboy, with just a bit more muscle. It felt like my fist was sinking in and being pushed back out.
Another massive fist cracked me across the face, and little stars exploded behind my eyes as the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
“Get him up,” Red ordered, and I was hauled to my feet. “Put him on the counter, face down. I’m going to enjoy this.” Red grabbed my jaw before the guys could drag me across the floor, and his meaty fingers dug in painfully. “I was going to break you in slowly because I was feeling generous, but…” I grunted as his fist slammed into my stomach and once more drove the air from my lungs.
“Now I’m going to teach you what it means to be in my waters. Your tight little asshole will be ripped apart by the time we all get our fill. It’ll be a winking mess for longer. And if I have to teach you another lesson in manners, I’ll cut your balls off.” A shank pressed against my jugular, and I was tempted to jab myself into the sharp blade so this didn’t happen. With my shit ass luck, they would sodomize my corpse, and I would have to hover over my body and watch. “I own your ass now, pup.”
I tensed as he stepped back and cocked his fist. This time I was at least expecting it and flexed my muscles against the blows. Coughing and unable to breathe, I fought the two men as they dragged me across the floor, my sneakers squeaking like they were revolting as well.
“Fuck,” I yelled as they forced me face-first onto the counter. It was cold and damp from what I could only hope was water. I kicked my legs out at anything I could and didn’t care how ridiculous I looked doing it.
“Hold him still, for fuck’s sake,” Red barked.
