Without this job I can’t live.
She kept saying the same thing over and over again. With everything that happened in her life in the last few months she’d dropped out of college. Her heart wasn’t in the studying at all. After she’d quit college, she tossed all of her books in the trash. There was no need for her to try to improve her life. Fort Wills wasn’t raving on the job front. The town was controlled by bikers, and that alone made finding work hard. For her it was difficult as Kate, her sister, had portrayed an image that many others believed Sophia to share.
Plenty of women she’d grown up with wanted to be an old lady or a sweet-butt. She didn’t want any of it. When Kate, her deceased sister, brought a Skull home, Sophia had been shocked. Edward, or Nash as he was better known, was nothing like the bikers she’d imagined in her mind. He’d been sweet, thoughtful, and the complete opposite of the biker image he portrayed. Whenever they’d been together, he’d been so nice, not once commenting on her plus size figure. In fact, she’d started to wonder what he ever saw in her sister.
“Get your head out of your ass, Sophia. Those boxes won’t make themselves,” her boss, Willy, said.
Ignoring his comments, she sped up her work.
Need the job. Need the job. Need the job.
It didn’t matter how many times she said the words, what she did was boring.
Her boss got right in close behind her. She didn’t make a sound and kept working as if he wasn’t there. “You need to keep that speed at all times if you want to keep this job.”
He threatened the end of her job every day. At first she’d been afraid in case he did take away her work, which was why she put up with his crap. She’d called him out on sexual harassment, and he’d thrown Kate in her face. Who would believe her when everyone knew how Kate was? She didn’t know why some people judged her on Kate’s actions, but it was a small town, and she knew what that meant. Her life had really gone to shit since her sister’s death and her kicking Nash out of her life.
Fight it.
Sophia didn’t fight. She dealt with the problem at hand and ignored everything else she could. There was no one else to fight for her. She was all alone in the world.
Taking each unmade box, she made them up and sent them back down the line without question. Glancing up she saw several of the other workers smirking at her. Willy put his hand on her hip, and she tensed up. There was a vibe she got from Willy that made her uneasy. He wasn’t a good man. She saw the evil lurking in his eyes, which was so dramatic that it caused her to freak out inside.
“You know, if you were a bit more open to me I could make your workplace a hell of a lot better for you.” He whispered the words against her ear.
She gasped, grabbing his hand before he could let it wander. “I’m fine where I am, thank you.”
Stepping out of his space, she tried to make the boxes up from an odd angle. Willy kept glaring at her. She knew he’d find a way to make her pay. Today was not going to be that day. He stormed off without saying a word.
Licking her lips she continued working only stopping for lunch when needed. She didn’t make friends with anyone at work. She hadn’t been at the boxing factory long, and a lot of them didn’t like her. Kate had a reputation that spread far wider than Sophia anticipated.
Get over it. Your sister does not control everything.
In her mind’s eye, Kate did.
When work was finished she went to the room where her coat and bag were stored. On the way out another man, Gill she thought his name was, stepped in front of her. He reminded her a lot of Willy. The danger he posed terrified her. Chancing a look around the room she noted that no one was around to witness their interaction.
The past couple of weeks she’d been stopped by many people intent on talking with her or to say something horrid about her sister.
“What do you want?” she asked, getting angrier by the second at being forced into a corner.
“What’s the rush, babe?” A couple of his friends had stayed behind to smirk.
“Got work to do.” Hitching her bag on her shoulder she made to go to the door. Gill stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“I didn’t say you could go.”
Her heart started to pound. The grip on her arm was too tight. Biting her lip she stared up at another man wanting something she wasn’t prepared to give. His gaze wandered down the length of her body.
Seriously? Her body was huge. She enjoyed cooking and eating, and her shape proved that. Kate liked to remind her every day how men hated women with curves.
“Kate was a game girl. She loved to party, and I’m thinking you’re the same.”
Rolling her arms, Sophia shook her head. “You’re wrong. I’m nothing like my sister.” She tugged her arm out of his hold, glaring at him.
“You’re not being very nice.”
“I’m not a nice girl,” she said, glaring at him.
“I don’t like your attitude.” The man before her was stronger than she was. She cried out as he slammed her against the lockers pushing his body against her. “I think it’s time you showed me the same attention Kate liked.”
His breath was rancid. She cried out as his hand covered her mouth, muffling the noise. No one could hear her, and his other hand was caressing down her body.
As suddenly as he’d trapped her, she was free. What was it about these men? They had come to Fort Wills over a month ago. She saw only them at the factory but never around the town. Did any of The Skulls know them? Sophia cursed her lack of knowledge. She didn’t even know what was going on in her own town.
“I believe the lady said no.”
There was her answer. The Skulls didn’t know them. Sophia looked up hoping to see Edward. His brother, Nigel, was stood in his place. The cut of his leather jacket was showing off The Skulls’ emblem clearly. She took a deep breath loving the fact she could relax. The Skulls always made her feel safe.
Then why did you send Edward away?
“We’re not looking for trouble,” Gill said.
“Good, get out.” Nigel let him go, shoving Gill out the door.
“Thank you,” she said, gaining Nigel’s attention.
He turned to her scowling. “Has Nash been to see you?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve not seen him in a long time.”
Lash took a step closer to her. The man before her was not the man Edward described as his brother. Lash was entirely Skull. His real name left her mind as she stared up at him.