Chapter 20 #2
He’d only dated her to have a place to go during the day.
He’d been living in his vehicle at the time, and hanging out in her air-conditioned apartment, eating her food, was preferable to sitting in his hot, cramped car.
Before she’d decided she didn’t want him hanging around all day, it was an ideal situation for sure.
She’d left him alone to do whatever while she typed shit up in her office.
He hadn’t even had to worry about fucking her; Riley was frigid and uninterested.
He’d made a half-hearted attempt once, but hadn’t even been able to get it up.
Luckily, she was content with kisses after that. He felt absolutely nothing when he kissed her, and had no problem making Riley believe their lack of a sex life was because of her.
But really, she just wasn’t the kind of person he was attracted to; she was too old. And the wrong gender.
Miles used to worry about his sexual preferences, but over the years, he’d come to terms with them.
Humans were all made differently, and besides, he didn’t take any of the boys he dated by force.
No, he wooed them. Just like he would a woman, if he was into that sort of thing.
He deserved love, just like everyone else.
The boy who’d be getting off the bus in an hour or so was younger than anyone he’d dated, but Miles would keep him around for a while.
He’d take him away, groom him to be the kind of boyfriend he wanted most. In a year or so, he’d be ready for a sexual relationship.
Maybe they’d live happily ever after…and Miles wouldn’t have to constantly watch over his shoulder for the authorities.
Satisfied with his plan, ignoring the fact that it was morally and legally wrong, Miles pushed the crowbar from his trunk up the arm of his long-sleeve shirt. It was awkward, but the last thing he wanted was one of Riley’s fucking neighbors getting suspicious again.
But he needn’t have worried. When he went into the apartment building, he didn’t run into anyone.
Miles was aware of the cameras in the entryway and did his best to look nonchalant as he strode inside.
Since it was the middle of the day, most of the residents were at work.
It would make what he was about to do much easier.
He walked up to Riley’s floor and glared at her neighbor’s door as he went by.
He hated that asshole. The Army guy thought his shit didn’t stink.
Miles still remembered how he’d stood in his doorway with his arms crossed as Riley threw him out.
He was sure he could kick the guy’s ass—but he’d settle for taking his kid.
He’d finally put two and two together. The day he’d tried to get his shit back, she’d been in his apartment.
Had probably been dating the guy behind his back the entire time.
He knew the boy wasn’t Riley’s, so that meant he had to be the neighbor’s brat.
The guy probably had a dozen kids out of wedlock with different women.
Why chicks wanted soldier dick so bad was beyond him.
Concentrating on the job at hand, Miles slid the crowbar out of his sleeve and jammed one end where the lock met the wall in Riley’s door. It didn’t take much to break the deadbolt, the damn thing was cheap as hell and only extended an inch into the doorjamb.
“Should’ve done this way before now,” Miles muttered as he entered Riley’s apartment. He shut the door behind him. It wouldn’t latch, but he didn’t want to leave it standing open as he grabbed his disk.
He went straight to Riley’s DVD collection, his heart stuttering in his chest when he saw about half the boxes were missing.
But he sighed in relief when he saw the movie he was looking for.
Spice World. When he’d asked why the hell Riley had the movie, she’d laughed and said it was on sale and she’d bought it on a whim.
She’d also admitted that she’d only gotten halfway through it before she’d called it quits.
When he’d asked why she still had it in her collection, she’d shrugged and said she might try to watch it again someday.
He’d felt pretty safe hiding his own disk behind the DVD, and sure enough, he’d been right. Miles released a long breath when he opened the case and saw the CD that had caused him so many problems was still safely nestled inside.
He stood and turned—only to stop in his tracks.
Riley was standing in the hallway, staring at him in shock.
“Hi, Riley,” Miles said jovially, adrenaline and excitement filling him.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Get out!”
“I came for my game,” he told her. “And if you’d have let me come and get it before, you could’ve gone on with your pathetic little life and wouldn’t have seen me again. But you pissed me off, called the cops on me.”
“I didn’t call the cops,” she protested.
Miles narrowed his eyes, and he dropped the light tone. “You almost got me arrested. And you’re gonna pay for that, bitch.”
Riley couldn’t believe Miles was standing in her living room.
She had no idea how he’d gotten in, but every muscle in her body tensed the second she saw him.
She’d finished up with her work and was hungry because she’d skipped lunch.
Looking at the clock, she’d been relieved that she had just enough time to make herself a sandwich before going downstairs to get the kids, then getting them ready for their outing that evening.
But when she’d gotten to her living room, she’d seen Miles squatting by her DVD rack. Her first inclination was to tell him she didn’t have his stupid game, but he stood with one of her movies in hand and turned before she could say anything.
When he lowered his voice to a menacing drawl and told her that she was going to pay for getting him arrested, her muscles finally obeyed the message her brain had been screaming…run!
She turned and sprinted for her bedroom, but Miles lunged after her, grabbing her arm before she could get there.
Fighting with everything she had, Riley kicked, hit, and scratched her ex as he forced her back into the living room.
He threw her to the floor and climbed on top of her, straddling her stomach and holding her down with his weight.
She opened her mouth to scream, but he covered it with one of his hands.
He pressed down so hard on her skin, she could feel her teeth biting into her inner lips.
Panting, Miles hovered over her. His brown, stringy hair brushed against her cheek, making her shiver.
He smelled as if he hadn’t showered in a week or more and his clothes were dirty.
She’d never been scared of Miles when they’d been seeing each other, but this seemed like a completely different man.
“You’re dumb as a box of rocks,” he sneered. “Why would I be so desperate to get a fucking game back? That’s just stupid! It’s not a game. It’s a disk. With a video on it that I couldn’t risk falling into the wrong hands. And I knew if you ever saw it, you’d turn me in without a second thought.”
Riley’s mind raced. A video? Of what?
The questions in her head must’ve been expressed in her eyes. “You ever wonder why I didn’t push you for sex? Why I couldn’t get it up that one time?” he asked.
Riley shook her head as best she could from under his hand. She was scared of what he’d do if she continued to fight him, but just as scared to do nothing.
“Because tits don’t do it for me. Or body hair. Or curves.”
Riley’s eyes widened. Was he saying…
“I see it’s finally dawning on you. I wouldn’t have been able to get an erection no matter what you did.
I used you, bitch. For your food. Your roof.
Your TV. And those few times you let me stay the night on your fucking couch?
I masturbated to my video, watching better times with a partner more to my taste. ”
Riley wanted to throw up. She couldn’t believe she’d dated this man. This…sicko. She tried to tell him to take his fucking video and get the hell out, but all that she managed was a mumble behind his hand.
“I’ve been watching the complex, trying to figure out the best time to come take back what’s mine…and I saw you with those kids,” Miles said. “If I’m not mistaken, they should be coming home before too long. I’m between partners right now—and that boy is beautiful.”
Riley did fight now. She shook her head frantically and did her best to thrash and squirm, trying to get out from under Miles.
He removed his hand from her mouth and wrapped it around her throat instead. His other hand came up to join it, and he began to squeeze. Hard.
She desperately gasped for breath but couldn’t get any air into her lungs. He was strangling her.
“Here’s the thing. I can’t have you going to the cops, and I know that’s exactly what you’d do the second I let you up.
You’d turn me in, and I’d have to deal with that bullshit.
I haven’t been caught yet, and I won’t ever be.
That’s why I had to get my disk back. I’m not going to jail.
I know what happens to men like me there. So, there’s only one thing I can do.”
Riley fought harder than she’d ever fought in her life. Miles was going to kill her. Leave her dead body right there on the floor and go get Logan, and possibly Bree too. They hadn’t ever seen Miles, wouldn’t know he was a bad man.
She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live. Wanted to have a wonderful life with Porter. Wanted to have his babies. The family she’d always dreamed about.
But Miles wasn’t letting go.
Riley continued to thrash. She reached up and scratched his face, but all that did was piss him off. His hands tightened. His face got red as he leaned all his body weight down on hers. “Die, bitch! Just fucking die already!”
Those were the last words she heard before her world went dark and she fell unconscious.