1. Her messed up life

BELLA

“He slapped my butt!” I yelled for the upteenth time since everybody was forgetting that fact and acting like I was the wrong one for slapping him, “he has no right to do that.”

“I know Bella but you work at a bar, these type of things happen with the job and you just have to be reasonable, besides he is a VIP client.” A colleague at work responded.

I was taken aback! What did they expect me to do? Stand there and let him touch me even after I had warned him twice to keep his hands to himself.

It was bad enough that this was the only job I could find and I had to work my ass off to make enough money to pay for the rent and at the same time settle some of dad’s debts. That was the only thing keeping us alive because the kind of people he got involved with were always the dangerous kind that did not understand the word, please.

I was standing beside the bar and waiting for my boss to step out of the VIP’s lounge. He had gone in there to pacify the customer I had slapped since he had reacted harshly and threatened to close the bar down.

I was nervous, so nervous that I could hear my own heart beating wildly against my chest. This was my only job and I couldn’t afford to screw things over. Maybe they were right, maybe I should have acted more professionally and ignored him, but I just couldn’t stand it anymore, I haven’t been sleeping well for the past few months, our rent was almost due and I just kind of snapped when he slapped my butt.

The moment my boss stepped out, I rushed over to him to apologize.

“I am so sorry sir, I promise, it will never happen again. I can assure you that I will…”

“Of course it won’t happen again Bella, it definitely won’t because you no longer work here.” The boss cut me off with a very harsh tone.

“Sir?”

“You’re fired and I do not want to ever see you anywhere near this place again. Get out.” He yelled and I just stood there, staring at him in shock.

He couldn’t fire me, he just couldn’t. My entire life would be ruined, everything was depending on this job. I crumbled to my knees right in front of him and held onto his legs.

“Please sir, I really need this job, please, I promise you, I’ll go in there and apologize. I will do anything you want me to do.” I groveled at his feet, pleading loudly as I fought back the tears that were threatening to start pouring down my face.

My heart was now racing beyond control, the fear of what would happen if the money that kept us alive stopped coming in. My palms suddenly became sweaty and my chest heaved heavily due to my sudden inability to breathe properly.

“You should have thought about that before you slapped a VIP customer Bella, he wants you out of here and that’s what is going to happen because I am not going to put my business at risk because of you.” He pushed me off him roughly and I slammed my head against the wall but the pain didn’t matter.

I jumped back up immediately and tried to rush after him but two huge men that I recognized as his bodyguards stepped out of nowhere and grabbed me. Without wasting time, I was thrown outside, right out the back door and a few seconds later, my bag was tossed out with me.

The tears just wouldn’t come and that was the painful part, I had held it back for so long and so hard over the past few years that I didn’t know how to break down and cry anymore. My chest hurt so badly and my throat burned as if there was an open wound at the back of it.

“What is wrong with you Bella George? Are you cursed?” I whispered to myself as I gripped my hair painfully.

What was I going to do? I had already received an eviction notice, if I failed to pay the rent soon we will get kicked out, that was what I had planned to do with this month’s payment but now, I’ve been kicked out and with how angry the boss was, I knew I wasn’t going to get a single penny from him.

One of the gangs Dad owed money came knocking last night, they spent most of the night outside the house to ensure none of us tried to escape and the fear of them breaking in and trying to rape me or kill Dad, kept me awake the entire night.

I still had my college tuition to raise if I ever want to go to college. I had to go to college, it was the only thing that would take me away from dad. It was my only escape plan that wouldn’t weigh heavily on my conscience. Going to college was the only way to escape Dad naturally, all he does is drink, gamble and accumulate more debts then pass out on the couch and head right back to it the very next day.

I was tired of that life, of my life!

Unexpectedly, the sky grew dark and it began to rain heavily. The rain poured down harshly on me as if it was against me too, just like everyone else. I grabbed my bag, and in a zombie like manner, I began to walk home in the rain without even stopping to take shelter.

By the time I arrived, I was drenched and exhausted.

All I wanted was to head up to my room and curl up somewhere to cry my eyes out, I knew I needed to cry to ease the ache in my chest and I was certain dad wouldn’t be home, he would most likely be at one of his gambling centers so I would have some hours to myself.

I inserted my key and was about to turn the lock when the door creaked open, my heart skipped a beat as my eyes shut up to look into the house.

They must have broken in, it had to be one of those gang members. Going in would be suicide, they could still be there and they could hurt me or worse still, kidnap me. Dad would never come to my rescue so I had to run.

I was just about to sneak back away from the door when a loud voice came from inside the room.

“You lied about your daughter, didn’t you?”

It sounded like a man and from how loud the voice was,

It was clear that whoever it was, was very angry.

“No! No I swear, I didn’t… she should be back soon, I can take you to where she works, she does some part time jobs and I know where that is.” Dad’s voice rang out next.

Hearing his voice, I leaned closer to peek into the room and was shocked to see dad on his knees in front of two men. His face was badly bruised and there was another man seated in front of him but I couldn’t exactly see his face.

I had never seen these men before so they must be a new set of people that he had gotten in trouble with or borrowed money from and couldn’t pay back, he was never able to pay back, he didn’t have a job so it was always up to me to pay back.

But they didn’t have to beat him up so badly, he was still an elderly man and from all the drinking he was doing, his body was beginning to get weak and frail.

Suddenly someone grabbed my arm and shoved me inside,

“I think I found her boss.” The man that had appeared out of nowhere behind me, said as he dragged me into the living room.

I pulled my arm away from his grip sharply and turned to glare at him,

“How dare you beat him up like that? How much does he owe you? Don’t you have any shame? Ganging up and hitting an old man like this…” I said to him with a frown on my face and he seemed surprised to hear me speak.

“Yes! This is her! She is a virgin! I promise you, she is, so just take her, please.” Dad cried out and I turned to him in confusion just in time to see the man seated in front of him stand up from his seat.

He was a bit tall so I had to strain my neck up a little bit to look at him. His face was unlike anything I had ever seen, his sharp green eyes pulled me in almost immediately and his chestnut brown hair was styled in a simple way yet it gave him a breathtaking look.

I had no idea I was gawking at him until he leaned closer and his strong, musky masculine scent took over my sense,

“She’ll do.” He said with a strong, thick accent and a gentle nod.

Before I could react to what he just said, something soft was pressed against my nose and an odd scent filled my head, almost immediately my eyelids felt so heavy and I barely had the chance to process anything before everything went dark.