Read Cursing Athena (Order Of Seven) for Free Online Page A

armor she’d donned before starting her shift had cracked and fallen away, leaving the thin, plastic serving tray she carried her only line of defense. Maybe she could smack James upside the head with it and knock some sense into the inebriated man.
    “Yeah, who am I kidding?” she mumbled. Prolonging the inevitable would only serve to make things worse, so she wove her way through the thick crowd toward James. Mason’s words echoed inside her head as if they were on a loud speaker. What did you ever see in him anyway?
    A wave of nausea coursed through Danika as she spied her unruly ex. Mason was right to question her. What had she seen in him? Despite James’ rugged good looks and sturdy build, there was nothing about him that she found remotely attractive. Well, at least, not anymore. When she’d met him just over a year ago he’d been sweet, endearing and had charmed the pants right off of her—literally, with his muscular physique and smooth talking personality. And the sex…good Lord, the sex had been on fire. Well, at least in the beginning, anyway.
    Young, infatuated and stupid, she’d flown to Vegas and married him after a whirlwind month of dating. It had been the biggest mistake of her life. The beatings began shortly after the honeymoon, a sinister, more possessive side emerging and magnifying shortly after he lost his job.
    Danika shook her head, desperately trying to clear the horrifying memories that threatened to pull her under. She was out. She’d fought her way out from beneath James’ thumb and was on her own now—safe and in control of her own life. In a few short months, once she rid herself of the man’s residual debt, she’d be free of him forever. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to stay strong as she approached.
    “What are you doing here, James? You know you’re not allowed within fifty feet of me. You’re violating the restraining order.”
    James sneered and slammed his beer bottle onto the bar. “Fuck the restraining order! This right here,” his words slurred as he circled a finger in the air, “is the hottest club in town. The hell if I’m staying away just because your sorry ass works here.” His gaze traveled south, and he craned his head in an effort to scope out her backside. He shook his head and groaned. “Hot damn! And what a nice ass it is,” he stammered before bringing up a particularly juicy belch.
    Danika cringed. The man was an absolute pig. She eyed the score of empty beer bottles and shot glasses on the bar in front of him and frowned. Mason had witnessed James’ douchebaggery firsthand two weeks prior when he’d picked a fight with another patron, and she knew with utmost certainty he would have cut James off before he made a drunken spectacle of himself. Which meant, Topher, the club’s new bartender was to blame for her ex’s intoxicated state. She planned on having a few not so nice words with him before the night was over.
    How James had made it past the doorman, she didn’t know. After his fight a few weeks back, Tony had banned him from the club. He had to have bribed his way in with money. Money he supposedly didn’t have. Jerk!
    Tanked and completely oblivious to the fact she’d been ignoring his boozed up speech, James continued on with his praise of her backside. “I don’t care if you’re a bitch. I just want to grab a handful of that ass and squeeze.” He lurched forward and grabbed her by the waist, one hand palming her ass as he pulled her against him with the other. “Shit, baby…I don’t care what’s happened between us. I miss this ,” he said, squeezing her rump.
    “Enough!” Danika said, as she tore herself from his grasp.
    A drunken James was like a bomb ready to go off, and anyone standing in his wake was sure to suffer—namely her. She needed to get him out of there before he made a bigger scene, before he got her canned.
    With desperation fueling her actions, she went against her better judgment, grasped