Above the Law

Chapter One

Darkness does not unexpectedly consume you. It's not something you stumble upon, it's something lurking deep inside you, waiting to be released.

The smelly man, whom Eden Summers was currently giving a private dance to, dug his fingers into her hips roughly and pulled her down onto his lap, she gritted her teeth and knocked his hands away. "No touching," she warned, her hair falling in a dark curtain around her face.

"That's not what daddy says though, is it?" the man breathed as he pulled her back down into his erection and ground himself against her ass.

The sick feeling was back—had it ever really left?—and she threw her elbows back, both connecting with the man's chest. He let out a loud yelp and reached out, catching her around the waist as she stood. "I'm not done with you yet," he purred, lips grazing the shell of her ear. Her heart caught in her throat. Eden pried his arm from around her waist and stood fast, scowling bitterly as she walked out the foul VIP room and into the smoky, loud bar. She had taken only three steps in her high heels when she came face to face with that man she was forced to call her father.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" he snarled, grabbing her upper arm and stopping her from taking another step.

"I have an exam I need to study for—"

Her attempt at escape was short lived, however, by a harsh laugh.

"What? Still dreamin' of college?" he mocked, fingers still digging into her arm. "They don't accept brainless whores like you there."

She clenched her jaw and yanked her arm free from his firm grasp. He'd give her enough bruises to last a lifetime.

"If you go," her father said with a smirk, "you know who'll replace you."

Eden's stomach fell, hopelessness and guilt now pouring in. She stared at her father's sneering face and shook her head in revulsion. "She just a kid, you sick bastard. Your kid!"

His lips curled. "She's almost the same age you were when you started working for me. Except she's got a nicer rack and that fresh meat smell. The men would just ruin her."

The bile crept up her throat and the tears stung behind her eyes. She balled her fists, her long nails digging into her palms to keep the tears at bay. "You're disgusting. She's your daughter!" An edge of pleading filled her voice and she hated it. She hated showing him how vulnerable she could be.

"Blood doesn't mean shit to me," he laughed, his eyes raking up and down her body as if to prove his sick claim. "Either you get your fat-ass back in there and give that gentleman what he paid for, or I'll go home and get your little sister so she can do it."

Eden, her stomach twisting at the thought of her sister's fate rather than her own, screwed up her face, blinked back the tears, and swallowed what little pride she had left, because her little sister would not become the next Eden Summers. She would not let Lily become some cheap whore their father used to pay rent and aid his drinking fund.

Eden walked out the back door and down the dark alley, a sour taste in her mouth and a bitterness in her heart. She wanted him dead. She'd always wanted him dead. She'd told her mother that once when she was five and earned a slapped her across the face. But that only made Eden hate them both. She didn't cry at her mother's funeral, and she wouldn't cry at her fathers.

"Hey, baby, why don't you give me another dance?" a man called out.

She flinched, her steps faltering slightly. She looked up. Three men were leaning against the alley wall, two of whom she'd served in the VIP room that night. She took a deep breath as she passed them, her head hanging low.