Hero Book 3 - The Battle: Military Romance Read Online Free

can take it.”
    I shook my head. What the hell were they talking about?
    “You don't agree?” The electronic voice raised an octave, but still wasn't identifiable.
    The next hit was a dull blow against the side of my head.
    Little pinpricks of light danced behind the black blindfold, but I refused to make a sound. I concentrated on the awkward blow. Anyone who'd ever fought with siblings, even just messing around, knew how to punch, but my captor had given me a knock on the side of the head with the butt of their hand. It was more like a child imitating a karate chop than a kidnapper quelling their victim. This person had clearly never hit anyone before, not for real.
    “You know what I think? I think you deserve this. For getting in the way of people's happiness, for pushing people aside like they were nothing.”
    The strange attacks came in a flurry now. Sharp, awkward blows to my shoulders and head. Kicks to my shins.
    Then the chair tipped and I was on my side. Pain went through me, my elbow throbbing like crazy.
    A hard kick into my ribs made me gasp while another finally drove a sound out of me despite my efforts. Then, I was pulled upright, the chair set back on its legs.
    “Don't you have anything to say for yourself?” the voice asked, clearly out of breath.
    “What do you want?” I asked, panting, barely able to breathe myself.
    “Don't you get it? I want you to hurt, I want you to feel like garbage, like the trash you really are. No one's looking for you, not your bodyguard or that boy toy that ran off to Kansas. You're the one who's been tossed aside and I want you to feel it.”
    Another slap made my ear ring, but I was too busy to wince. My captor was circling around again and I waited until they were behind me. I pushed off with all my strength, throwing myself and the chair backwards. I tucked my chin to my chest to protect the back of my head, but my captor was closer than I realized, and the metal chair cracked into their leg.
    The electronic voice howled, a hair-raising combination of static and sharp-pitched notes. There was a struggle, but they got out from under me and I heard the muffled static sounds as they headed to the door.
    “Give her some bruises. Knock her around, make her feel it,” the electronic voice said, the anger making its way through the device's distortion.
    The door slammed and I heard that strange girly laugh again.
    “Your boss is a psycho,” I said. Every breath hurt and I wondered if my ribs were cracked. “Don't you think he'll turn on you?”
    “Who cares?” The beefy man pulled me and the metal chair upright with one dizzying move. He checked to see if the blindfold was still in place. “He's an interesting person to work for. Like I said, you can't match the fringe benefits.”
    He. At least I had a gender to go with my mysterious captor.
    The beefy man hit me with an open, loose hand, but the effect was as jarring as hitting a brick wall going thirty miles an hour. I whimpered. It hurt worse than anything the other man had done.
    I let myself cry out as blows continued to rain down, let go of everything except my brother and Haze. Ian had been through much worse. He'd been attacked, shot, and lived through an explosion that could easily have ended his life. Haze had withstood even more. Special Forces training, multiple deployments that he'd never spoken of, months in hostile territory, and, most importantly, charging in to save my brother's life.
    No matter what happened, I would survive. I would get back to them. I clung to that, repeated it, and let it sustain me until my chair fell over and blackness took over my world.
     

Chapter 4
    Haze
    The bouncers stood in front of the nightclub manager's cramped office. Arms crossed, feet hip-width apart, and eyes fixed above my head. Only one of them was actually taller than me, but all three men were clearly used to their presence being intimidating enough to discourage most curious or inebriated patrons.
    They