Early Sins (Dangerous Games Book 0)

by Jennifer Bene

  “Wonderful.” Callahan snapped the folder shut, covering Luke’s face and information, but she’d already memorized everything she needed to verify it. “Then let’s talk about transitioning you into the organization, and discuss our rules.”

  What’s next for Camille?

  Keep reading for an exciting sneak peek of ‘Lethal Sin’!

  One year after the deal

  Click, click, thump.

  Click. Thump.

  The sound of someone racking the slide of a gun filled the space as they finished reassembling the weapon, and then there was only silence.

  Camille shifted against the zip-ties holding her to the chair, and it was awkward because her back was bowed so painfully that she couldn’t even relax. They had also tethered her ankles to the outsides of the chair in an attempt to scare her, but, honestly, none of that bothered her. What was frustrating was that they had kept the damn cloth over her head, and it was hot, and stifling, and she just wanted some fresh air on her face – or as fresh as she was going to get in this warehouse near the dirty waterfront. Even through the fabric the stench of dead fish and filthy water was apparent.

  “Alright, last chance. Tell us where he is.”

  Right. Him.

  Camille laughed softly under the cloth, but it was cut short when the asshole that had been playing with his gun landed a punch to her ribs. The pain stole the air from her on a curse, and she brought it back in through clenched teeth, tightening her hands into fists.

  That had hurt.

  “I told you that was your last chance.” The hard press of the gun shoved her head to the left as he dug the muzzle into the side of her scalp. He was probably trying to set it against her temple like in the movies, but he was off by about three inches.

  “Then shoot me,” she muttered. His hand shook, she could feel the pressure of the metal against her skull wavering, and then he groaned and pulled the weapon away. As cool as she was trying to play it, her heart rate had tripled in the silence, and now it was practically tripping over itself as she heard him pace away from her across the concrete.

  Okay, Camille, maybe it wasn’t necessary to call his bluff that harshly. Rein in the bitch a bit.

  “Hey, boss. Yeah.” The man was speaking into his phone, and although his voice was faint she could still make out his words in the dead silence of the huge warehouse. “No, she hasn’t.”

  Camille smiled under the hood, taking advantage of his absence to stretch as much as she could, rolling her shoulders while she listened to the idiot try and explain to his boss how she hadn’t told him a thing. She should have known he was too low on the totem pole to actually do more than rough her up a bit.

  He had still got the drop on her though. Fucker.

  If she hadn’t been so stupid she wouldn’t be in this mess anyway. She’d let her guard down, tipsy from a few too many martinis at dinner, so she’d been looking for the business card she’d snagged with the hotel’s address instead of keeping her hand on the gun in her purse. The first electric snap of the stun gun against her side had brought her to her knees, the second had sent her flat, and she’d been barely conscious when he’d hit her a third time. Now she was tied to a chair listening to Mr. Lucky Shot get yelled at. At least that was entertaining.

  “I did – Boss, I did! No, she –” He let out a shout of frustration. “I’ll get her to tell me. No, I can do it. I don’t need -”

  The sudden silence and a low growl told her the call had ended. He stomped around for a few minutes, cursing and mumbling as he threw a henchman temper tantrum. Camille straightened up in the chair again as she heard him stomping towards her. The heavy sound of the hammer being cocked on the gun made her brain stand to attention.

  “Tell me where he is, bitch! TELL ME!” He roared at her, and she tensed because if he was shaking as badly as he sounded like he was, he might pull the trigger by accident – and she definitely did not want to get shot. Again. Once was enough in her lifetime.

  But it’s not like telling him would save her life, he’d probably still shoot her, and if he didn’t? The man they were looking for definitely would.

  Only he would make her beg for death first.

  Camille kept her jaw shut tight, digging her nails into her palms as the man’s harsh breaths filled the space around her. He could at least take the fucking hood off. All his loud breathing was just reminding her of how little air she had under the dark cloth.

  “You don’t have a lot more time. You can either tell us where he is now, or you’ll tell us later, but I promise – you’ll tell us one way or another.” The guy switched tactics, leaning in close until she felt the weight of his gun hand pressing on her thigh, the outline of the weapon digging into her skin through her tights. His other hand trailed up the form-fitting top she wore until he cupped her breast and squeezed.

  She’d been waiting for this tactic. If hitting her and threatening her life didn’t work, threatening her sexually was always next. This definitely wasn’t new in the circles she ran in. They just always made the same mistake – they assumed she was weak.

  His voice was a notch lower as he leaned close to her face, “Sure you don’t want to tell me?”

  Camille grinned and spoke softly, “No.” Then she brought her head forward hard and based on the crunch and the sudden scream, she was pretty sure she’d just broken his nose.

  “FUCK!” He roared, and she braced herself just before he backhanded her hard. The pain was a sudden burst in her cheek and her ears rang with the force of it, but she made herself sit back up.

  If only she could see the shocked expression on his face, the bloody nose. That would be a nice interlude to their interrogation. He’d had her in the chair for over an hour conscious, probably much longer than that before she woke up, and no matter how many threats, promises, or hits – she still hadn’t answered him.

  She was a professional, after all. No matter who she worked for.

  The gun was suddenly under her chin, forcing her head back as he dug the metal into the soft tissue. It would have been a lot scarier if she weren’t completely sure that he wasn’t allowed to shoot her. Under the current circumstances, she just laughed. “What’s wrong? Does your nose hurt?”

  “Fuck you!” He pressed the gun a little harder into her skin until she had to swallow. “Why are you even protecting him? My boss will pay you ten times whatever he’s offering you, just tell us where the fuck he is! He’s not worth your fucking life!”

  True.

  He wasn’t worth protecting, but despite all her rules… some people were worth protecting, and there wasn’t a day that had come and gone in the last year that she didn’t wish she could be as completely heartless as she pretended to be.

  Soft underbellies only got you gutted. It was better to have no weaknesses at all.

  “Dammit!” Mr. Not-So-Lucky tore the gun away from her and she dropped her head forward, rolling her neck to ease the strain he’d caused. He was cursing for a minute, mumbling to himself, and she sighed.

  “Listen, while you’re freaking out, could you just take this hood off? It’s fucking hot under here, and you can just as easily threaten me without it.”

  “Go to hell. You’re going to regret this shit. Boss called in one of his main guys to come get you and he doesn’t fuck around.”

  “So you’ve just been playing with me? Here I thought you were doing your best to be scary.”

  “SHUT UP!” He shouted at her, and then she heard him yank a metal chair over the concrete, the screech making her ears ache.

  “I thought you wanted me to talk?” Camille taunted him, no longer even remotely afraid of this lackey henchman who had just had the good fortune to catch her on an off night. Normally he would have ended up on the ground with a bullet in his head, and she’d be luxuriating in some suite downtown while the NYPD pretended to look for clues as to why another lowlife was dead in a gutter.

  “Say something else and I’ll shove something in yo
ur mouth to keep you quiet.”

  “Whatever.” Camille rolled her eyes behind the hood, tilting her head down to try and let a little fresh air in under the fabric, and then she heard him shuffling cards. The quick sound of them slapping against each other came again and again, and then she listened as he began laying them out on the table in quick succession.

  The fucker was going to play solitaire?

  Asshole.

  She forced a deep breath and tried to adjust in the chair to ease the growing ache in her wrists and shoulders. For a moment she wished she’d worn something other than the heavy boots that came up to her knees, because they were making her too warm. They had worked for the outfit in the early Fall weather in New York, and she liked the flat bottoms because it meant if she needed to run she still could. Idiots that showed up to a fight in heels usually broke an ankle, or got shot.

  Normally, Camille would say she was not an idiot, but her current situation argued it.

  It wasn’t the first time she’d been tied up and threatened, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. She just had to wait until they made a mistake, let her up for some reason, and then she could go for Mr. Not-So-Lucky’s gun, or her own. The little Sig Sauer P238 in her purse didn’t look like much, but it would still put a bullet, or four, through the person she aimed it at. Time passed slowly as she listened to the snap of the cards as henchman guy laid them out while she fantasized about all the ways she could kill him. It had become background noise when the loud banging of a fist against a metal door broke her out of her thoughts.

  Henchman’s chair screeched against the floor as he pushed it back, and then his heavy footsteps marched across the concrete. When the door opened she could hear hushed male voices and so she straightened her back again. No benefit to looking weak in front of henchman number two.

  Their feet stopped just in front of her, and the hood was suddenly ripped over her head. Her vision blurred in the industrial lighting, but Camille took the opportunity to steal a few deep breaths as the cooler air rushed over her damp, hot skin.

  “This is the one giving you all the trouble?” A deep voice rumbled in front of her and she shook out her white blonde hair as she raised her eyes to them. Mr. Not-So-Lucky had a crimson swipe under his nose to clearly mark him. He was a big guy, broad chested with arms that screamed steroid use, and a close-cropped haircut that made his ugly mug stand out. Unfortunately, the guy to the left was taller, bigger, and his hard body under that designer suit looked like one earned from a lifetime of brutal work. Even worse, he had a playboy face. Handsome, Latin, with dark hair cut into that messy but put-together look she saw on rich boys all the time. That meant Mr. Not-So-Lucky hadn’t lied to her, this guy was high up on the food chain for their boss. Well compensated for the work he did, just like she was, and that meant he probably played on her level. Fuck.

  Her evaluation had taken no more than a few seconds, but she knew one thing for sure – she couldn’t show fear to either of them. With a grin she leaned back as best she could with her arms still bound to the chair. “Have I really been that much trouble? I thought I’d been a stellar guest.”

  “Shut up, bitch.” Mr. Not-So-Lucky glared at her, but the other man just chuckled. “Someone needs to teach you a fucking lesson.”

  Mr. Not-So-Lucky reared his hand back to slap her, but henchman number two caught his arm in the air, never pulling his dark eyes from her. “Your assistance is no longer needed. Leave.”

  The lackey’s shoulders slumped. “But I can help you out. Work her over with you, so -”

  “No. Leave.” Tall, dark, and handsome turned his eyes to Mr. Not-So-Lucky and the man raised his hands up, moving towards the table.

  “Fine, but tell the boss I was willing to help. He only called you in because -”

  “I’m sure you’ll get an A for effort, dickbag.” Camille smiled as Mr. Not-So-Lucky flipped her off before he bent to gather his playing cards and shove his gun in the back of his pants.

  He stood up to leave and pointed at her as he walked backwards towards the door. “Your smart mouth won’t last long with Mateo. Trust that.”

  The idiot left, slamming the metal door behind him and she turned her eyes up to the very tall man standing in front of her. She tilted her head, and let her lips curve up in a slow smile. “Mateo, huh?”

  “Knowing my name isn’t going to help you, doll face.”

  Want more of Camille and the Dangerous Games series? Keep reading as sparks and bullets fly between Mateo and Camille in ‘Lethal Sin’, available on Amazon!

  Or, check out the End Notes on the next page for a surprise…

  END NOTES

  Well, hello, lovelies! I hope you loved ‘Early Sin’, the prequel to my new Dangerous Games series. Before you go, it would mean the world to me that if you liked this book that you take a few minutes to write a review and capture how you’re feeling right now so other readers can find my work! Reviews are truly one of the most effective ways to help authors out, and I would be very grateful.

  Here’s the surprise, everyone who signs up on my mailing list gets a copy of ‘Lethal Sin’ so you can continue the story right now for FREE! In addition, you’ll always know about upcoming releases, special sales, and sneak peeks just for being on my mailing list, and I only send out one message a month – so go on and sign up here or on my website!

  Again, thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this one I hope you’ll check out one of my other books as well. They’re all listed on the next pages!

  Books by Jennifer Bene

  Dark / BDSM Erotica:

  Security Binds Her (Thalia Book 1)

  Striking a Balance (Thalia Book 2)

  Salvaged by Love (Thalia Book 3)

  Of Fog and Fire (Part I & II)

  Taken by the Enemy (Blushing Books)

  Early Sins (Dangerous Games #0.5)

  Lethal Sin (Dangerous Games #1)

  Dark / Paranormal Romance:

  Fae (Daughters of Eltera Book 1)

  Tara (Daughters of Eltera Book 2)

  BDSM Novellas:

  The Invitation

  The Rite

  Christmas at Purgatory (Thalia Extra #1)

  Reunited

  Anthology Appearances:

  The More The Merrier (Ménage / BDSM Erotica)

  The Darker Side of Love (Dark / BDSM Erotica)

  Twist (BDSM Erotica)

  The More the Merrier 2 (Ménage / BDSM Erotica)

  MÉNAGErie (Ménage Boxed Set)

  Dark Fantasies (Dark Erotica) (Coming October 2016)

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jennifer Bene is a best-selling author of erotic fiction who loves wine, hiking, whiskey, and keyboards - not necessarily in that order. She's been writing for years, but it's always been the dark stuff that makes her tingly, so her books are full of aggressive alpha males and Doms, feisty women who may or may not have a submissive streak, and intense, psychological storylines. Whether it's showing up in erotica, paranormal romance, ménage, or anything else she decides to venture into, it's always a little dark. But, don't worry, she also insists on having a nice little happily-ever-after! After all, without the dark, we'd never notice the light, now would we?

  When she’s not attached to a keyboard, she likes to read, binge on Netflix, get outside, participate in her local BDSM community, and enjoy life with friends/family! She lives in Texas, and no, she doesn’t own a horse or wear a cowboy hat, you’d have better luck finding her on the dance floor downtown. Seriously.

  Jennifer would love to hear from you! She does her best to keep readers up to date via social media, and tries to always respond when readers are nice enough to message her, so go ahead!

  To learn more about Jennifer Bene:

  Check out her website - http://jenniferbene.com/

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