Very Bad Things

By Sam Crescent and Jenika Snow

Ryker Black accepts who and what he is. Working as a hired hit man, he kills for a price without remorse. When he's called to do a job, a young woman becomes a witness to the killing. He should have taken her out, too, but he can’t. He wants her...so he keeps her.

Fiona Sterling has lived a sad life since her entire family died in a plane crash. The one person that she considered a friend is now dead. Everything changes when she's taken away by a man that makes no mystery to the fact he wants her.

With death and danger following them, Fiona and Ryker find solace and pleasure in each other’s arms. But can two damaged people become whole again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight Publishing
• Release date: Nov 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781772331035

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Published by Evernight Publishing ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2014 Sam Crescent & Jenika Snonw

ISBN: 978-1-77233-103-5

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Karyn White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

VERY BAD THINGS

Sam Crescent & Jenika Snow

Copyright © 2014

Chapter One

It was never supposed to be so hard to live life. Fiona Sterling climbed the stairs of her rundown apartment wishing for time to fly by so that she could start to look forward to the summer. Hugging her thick jacket around her, she tried not to think of the layers of snow she’d just walked through. If the snow was outside, her apartment was going to be like an ice block. Heating her small place was harder than she had imagined. Her landlord was a tight ass who refused to spend any more money than was necessary.

Climbing the stairs she tried to do anything to keep the heat locked inside. Stopping by her door, she dug out her keys feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her life had become nothing but mundane. There was a time when she had been surrounded by love, laughter, even joy. Now, she was surrounded by the cold, despair, and the occasional look of pity.

One year ago her entire family had been on a plane heading for the Alps. Her mother, father, two brothers, and a sister were going to watch their parents retake their vows. She had had to stay to finish off her exams at college before she could head out. After booking a ticket for the following day, Fiona wished her family well and promised to see them soon.

She never saw them again. The plane hit unexpected bad weather and was brought down by one of the worst storms in history. No more family, no more happiness, and her life had become dead on the inside and outside. Quitting college, she never went for her final year, and the debts from the funeral ate up whatever inheritance she had. Living life from one day to the next had become her future.

Pushing hair off her face, she grabbed her keys, and opened the door to her place. The apartment was simple. She had a living space, bathroom, one bedroom, and a small kitchen area.

Most days she could get from one end of her apartment to the other in ten steps. Men could probably do it in five, but she was a woman.

Shaking her head, she closed the door, putting on the six locks she’d purchased the moment she rented the place. Buying a place of her own was out of the question. She was lucky she could afford to rent.

Fiona kept her coat on as she walked to her small fridge, pulling out a can of soda and taking a seat on the single chair in the room. She didn’t own a television or a computer. A couple of books and a library card were all she needed to keep her occupied when she wasn’t working.

She didn’t even open her can of soda before the moans and banging could be heard on either side of her. The feminine groans and masculine growls made her roll her eyes. There was no way sex was always that good. The couple of men she’d been with had been all about the grunting and groaning but failed at everything else. The first time she’d had sex, she accepted the fact it was going to suck. It always did for a woman. The second, third, fourth, and fifth time, it should have been better. Sex for her, it sucked. Was it her or the men she was with? She didn’t know.

Staring down at her soda, she chuckled. She was sitting in her freezing cold apartment with her coat still on and yet she was going to drink a cold soda. Her drink wasn’t going to help to keep her warmed up. Standing up, she placed the can in the fridge and filled the small kettle she owned. Putting a large spoonful of cheap coffee inside, she grabbed the sugar canister only to discover it was empty.

Pressing her head to the cupboard, she moaned.

Come on, life, give me a break.

Rubbing at her eyes, listening to the couples on either side of her having mind-blowing sex, she wanted to cry. Instead, she opened her door and closed it softly behind her. Walking across the hall, she knocked on Jake’s door. The guy who lived opposite her she was sure was a drug dealer. He was covered in ink, pale, and she saw the track marks that covered his arms. All of that aside, he never had a problem letting her have sugar, coffee, or even some bread if she needed it.

Jake opened seconds later. He looked sick, pale, and he was sweating.

Are you okay? she asked, taking a step back.

Sure, sugar. What can I do for you? He looked down the hall then at her before looking the other way.

Is this a bad time? I can come another time. She held her jar in her hand, feeling like she interrupted something even scarier.

No, it’s fine. He ran a shaking hand down his face. I’m just losing my mind.

Blood trailed down his arms from the needle marks. He must have been shaking when he injected.

No, really, it’s fine, Fiona said. She went to take a step back, but he grabbed her arm. He was surprisingly strong for an addict. In the last couple of weeks she’d noticed he looked thinner, more out of it, than ever before.

Come on, Fiona. I can help you out. What do you need?

Before she knew what was happening, she was dragged into his apartment with the door closed, locked even.

Erm, I was wondering if I could borrow some sugar. She held up her empty jar, giving it a shake.

Sure. I’ve got some here somewhere. He released her arm, and she watched him walking away.

She didn’t look around his apartment. He rarely let her inside, and she wasn’t interested in seeing what was on display.

When are you going to go back to college and finish that final year? he asked.

Fiona heard him rummaging around in stuff. She never came into his apartment, but Jake had visited her place. He was the first person she’d told about her parents and what happened to her family. Without knowing him long, she’d pretty much told him her life story. She should have learned to keep her mouth shut. Jake thought she needed to stop living in the past and start living in the now.

He kept telling her to go back to school and finish her studies so she could start her career. The stigma with drugs always made her think people who took them had a death wish and only wanted to bring others down around them. Jake knocked down all of her stereotypes.

I can’t.

"Sure. You’re just looking for