“Sure. You have Fury’s number.”
He got to the hallway door when one of the guys stopped him.
“Hey, dude, weren’t you afraid of walking into a place with over twenty gang members by yourself?”
Ax laughed. “Fuck, no. I didn’t even think about it because I know I could take you all on.”
One of the guys snorted. “By yourself?”
“Fuck, yeah. There’s no question. Maybe if you bulked up with muscle a bit, I might have gotten winded.”
Several of them laughed as he walked out.
Chapter Two
Another blow from Teddy’s shoe hit Ella’s stomach. She could barely breathe as she tried to protect as much of her body as she could.
“You fucking whore. If you do what I tell you and not fuck with my boys, you’ll be fine. You’re making me train you like this.”
“Teddy, stop.”
“I’ll maybe let you live. It depends on the money you make out on the streets tonight.”
Another kick hit her hip.
“Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten, the boys will have a go at you when you get back.”
Ella wanted to scream at him that she’d never whore for him. But she was already close to just giving up and dying, what did it matter? She didn’t think this was the way her life would turn out. She’d worked two jobs to save enough money for her first year of college. She wanted to make something of herself. No one thought she could because of her childhood, and that was bullshit. She wanted to prove everyone wrong. She’d even been able to go to a few classes already.
Everything was going in the right direction until Teddy showed up in her life. She’d fallen for him so quickly. He was so handsome and charming, it was hard not to. He also showered her with gifts and compliments. She’d never felt that way before in her life.
Two months into the relationship, his mood changed. It was a slow progression, and she always made excuses for him, until she got a call from her bank about being overdrawn. It wasn’t possible. She was extremely careful with her money. When you didn’t have any growing up, a person tended to cherish it when they became adults and made their own. When she got to the bank to find out the problem, they said her husband had come in and closed the account. She sat there in a stunned daze for a long time.
“But I’m not married. You just gave my money to someone because he said he was my husband?”
“He had your license and information, and you signed the form stating you had married him.”
“What is his name?”
“Teddy Sutton.”
Ella’s stomach dropped. “He’s just my boyfriend of two months. Shouldn’t I have come in with him so you could verify it in person? Did you even check the signatures I have on file?”
“Well, no. I’m sorry. The person who took care of him will either be fired or undergo training again. We’ll do everything we can to fix the problem.”
“You better believe it. I had over $12,000 in my account. I worked three years for it, and because someone at this bank made amistake, it’s gone!” She tried to keep her voice down because she didn’t want anyone’s attention, but it was getting harder by the second.
“No, the bank has insurance for this. You’ll get all your money back.”
“When?” Ella asked.
“Within two weeks. We have to file a report,” the woman said.
“I want him arrested.”
“You need to go to the police about that. Have them send a copy here, and maybe it will speed up the process. How about we open another account that the money will go into? We’ll call you as soon as it does.”
“Make it a temporary account because I’m changing banks once you get my money back.”