Free High Stakes (The Kingdom Book 2) by Nikki Groom Page B

a scene. He hauled me into his office and sat me in the hard plastic chair, in front of his fucking ridiculous executive desk. I mean he’s a restaurant manager, not a CEO, Asshole.”
    I raise my brows pointedly at her, knowing she’s veering off track in the conversation to avoid getting to the part that’s getting to her the most.
    “So, he just basically tore a strip off me. Which I suppose, I was half expecting. I know I shouldn’t have done it. I was expecting my knuckles to be wrapped. Then he said I had two choices. He’d pay me what I was owed and I could walk, or …” She swallows hard.
    “Or what?”
    “Or he’d let me keep my job if …” she looks up at me through helpless eyes. Tears still clinging to her lashes. “If I slept with him.”
    “He WHAT?” I yell. “Did he touch you?
    Lottie doesn’t answer straight away, so I push further, “Lottie. Did he touch you? Tell me what that fucker did? I swear, I’ll take a rusty fucking knife to his balls …”
    “He just …”
    “He what, Lottie?” I say impatiently. I can feel my temper rising and the tone of my voice matches it. I’ve not ever seen my best friend like this and I don’t like it one bit. I want my strong, determined Lottie back.
    “He cornered me. He tried to kiss me and when I refused he grabbed me.” Lottie starts to cry again and my blood boils at the situation she was in. I know the feeling of not being able to escape. I know it all too well, and I know that Lottie only experienced a fraction of it but it’s no less scary, and she should never have had to feel that kind of fear from a man.
    “Where did he grab you? Did he touch you?” I hear the frantic tone in my voice and realize it’s not helping Lottie calm down. So, I take a deep breath and take her hand to lead her into the bedroom. I sit us on the edge of the bed and turn my body toward her.
    “Lottie? Babe, you need to get it all out and tell me what happened.” I say softly, “I know it hurts right now, but we will sort it out and make it better for you. I promise.” I wait patiently for her answer and hold her hand tightly.
    She steadies her breathing and then starts to talk, “I tried to talk to him, but he wasn’t having any of it. When I tried to leave, he backed me into the corner and pinned me with his body. He started to get all feely, then he was rough. I didn’t know what to do, so I kneed him. I’ve never done that before and after seeing you do it in the club, it was the first thing that came to me.” She smiles a little half smile, and I smile back knowing I might have helped in some way.
    “I guess he thought I would just open my legs and beg for my job back. He called me all sorts of names. Nothing I haven’t been called before, but he said them with such venom. No one has ever treated me that way before … like I was … he made me feel like a whore.”
    “Oh, babe. You know karma will make his cock turn green and fall off, right?”
    She huffs out a small laugh, her lips twitching at the corners but it doesn’t last long. “I hope so.”
    I hear talking outside of the bedroom and then Denham appears in the doorway, his broad shoulders and wide chest filling the space. The anxiety I was feeling at Lottie’s predicament seems to diminish somewhat just by knowing he’s there, and I’m not really sure why, or how.
    “Alright?” he asks me directly with a deep frown.
    Lottie snaps her head up at the sound of his voice and immediately pulls herself together the best she can.  I know what she’s doing. She’s trying to put on a front. It was hard enough for her to let me see her feeling so down.
    “Hi, D man. Yes. Everything is fine. Just fine,” she says unconvincingly. She stands abruptly, runs a hand through her crazy hair and makes her way to the doorway. It’s only about five strides and when she reaches Denham, he doesn’t let her pass. It’s a questionable move. One that could go either way, especially the way