Free JINXED: (Karma Series, Book Two) by Donna Augustine

Fate and I were to each other, but somehow I knew he wouldn't hurt me. And because of him, neither would his guys.
    Maybe, like so many things in life, it's a matter of perspective. I'd recently gained some, by the name of Malokin. Him, I was worried about, and I had a really bad feeling he wasn't going away.
    These guys might be bad news, but they weren't on the same scale. They'd threaten and scream but wouldn't actually do anything to me.
    Malokin was different. If Paddy was nervous about him, he was bad. He wouldn't scream or threaten; he'd just kill me.
    But threat or not, I really couldn’t afford to piss more people off. Perhaps I should try and pretend I was scared, to plump up their egos.
    “Did you hear me?” Cutty screamed.
    Oh no. I’d been so focused on my concern over Malokin I’d already blown the whole fear charade. I'd been drifting off as Cutty had been mid-scream. Now they certainly weren’t going to want to be friends with me.
    “No, I'm sorry. I didn't.” It was a tad ridiculous to admit I’d been distracted when he'd been bellowing an inch from my face.
    “Give me the duct tape,” Cutty yelled to one of the other guys.
    “Are you going to tape me to the chair?” I asked, still not overly concerned.
    “Yes. You going to listen now?” he asked mistaking the reason for my squirming.
    “Actually, I need to use the rest room first, if this is going to be a while.” That Maker’s Mark was flying through my system at an alarming rate.
    “Tape her up,” Cutty said.
    “But she's got to pee?” Bic said. “If she pees in the chair, I'm not cleaning it.”
    “If she pees in the chair, she sits in it,” Cutty replied.
    “Do you know what that'll smell like? She smells pretty now. I don't want her to be smelly,” Bic said.
    “I don't want to be smelly either,” I added to the argument.
    “Give me the goddamn tape!” Cutty ripped the roll from Bic’s hand.
    A noise drew our attention to the door where Lars stepped into the room. His hair was flowing free around his shoulders as he came to stop a few feet from me
    “You’re late,” Cutty said.
    Lars didn’t argue, but instead motioned for Cutty to go over to the side with him and then walked away.
    “Don't. Move,” Cutty said before following Lars.
    “Okie dokie, smokie.” I crossed my legs, trying to buy my bladder another few minutes and dug the nail file out of my purse. I'd chipped a nail earlier today and it was driving me absolutely crazy.
    Cutty threw me his best evil eye and then walked over to Lars. They must have underestimated my senses, me being a transfer and all, since I could hear everything they said.
    “I'm not sure that’s a good idea,” Lars said.
    “Why? We can't kill her or beat her, but he said nothing about scaring her. The tape is all we’ve got left.”
    I glanced up quick enough to see Lars make a face.
    “He never said anything about scaring, and this needs to be done. She's either with us or against us,” Cutty continued.
    “He's going to care,” Lars shot back. “Just don’t do the tape thing, and maybe we should let her use the bathroom, too.”
    “Why are you acting like such a wuss? It’s not like she’s his. They aren't together.”
    “Not technically, no. But if you saw the way he looks at her...” Lars eyes widened a bit. “I’ve been with them. There’s something there.”
    The way he looked at me? I'd never noticed Fate looking at me weird. Intense maybe but that was just how Fate was normally. What was Lars talking about? He was making it sound like I was dating the guy!
    “If he wanted her, he’d be with her. He’s not,” Cutty replied.
    “I’m not sure what they are.”
    Cutty took a moment to ponder it over before he replied. “He slept with her?” Cutty’s tone had quickly switched gears from arguing to gossipy.
    “I’ve got reason to believe so. Plus, I’ve heard some things.” Lars was nodding like, can you believe they’re doing it?
    Keeping my face as