Chapter THREE

DESTINY

The day started out shitty.

I’d had a message from my brother back in Jersey and my mother’s health was rapidly deteriorating. I was filled with the usual guilt and angst as I sent him my last two hundred bucks.

Money didn’t make up for twelve years of absence, and I only hoped he understood how I felt. My family life had pretty much ended when I was eighteen. But that didn’t mean I’d stopped caring.

Two hundred dollars didn’t make up for anything, but it was all I could afford. Rent was due. My roommate skipped out. And if I didn’t give in to my manager, I was likely going to get fired.

The weight of the guilt I carried was enough to bring me to my knees. Add to it the pressure of trying to maintain my job and keep the wolves at bay, and it was a perfect recipe for disaster.

Mr. Royce’s beady eyes pinned me in place, and I did my best to hide the revulsion I felt. He was a slimy creep who used his position to force women into bed.

Testing the goods.