Read Player's Challenge for Free Online

arm. She’d languished on a six-month waiting list before she’d finally acquired it. Made of the finest calf-skin leather, the purse was absolutely gorgeous.
    Yeah, she was being too stupid to live, but she’d treated herself to the fifteen hundred pound designer handbag with her first paycheck from Top Flight. It had sentimental value. Plus, she’d paid too much of her hard-earned money to simply give it to this wanker without a fight.
    “How about I give you the money in my wallet,” she offered in compensation. She’d withdrawn two hundred pounds from the company account to cover dinner with Devin. Thinking of him, Gemma bit the inside of her cheek. Maybe she should’ve allowed him to drive her home after all.
    “The purse, bitch,” he snarled. A whiff of alcohol fumes singed her nose. What had this guy been drinking? Everclear?
    “You want the purse?” Gemma fingered her keys in her trapped hand, and the handle of the purse with the other. She lifted the purse, but at the last moment, she hauled back her arm and smashed him in the face.
    Taken by surprise, he stumbled backward, releasing her. Given an opening, Gemma slammed her hand on the gate latch locking it.
    Without wasting a moment, she charged up the brick walkway. “Come on, come on,” she breathed, her hand shaking violently as she jammed the door key into the lock. The door knob turning in her hand, she blinked back tears. Because of the blood pounding in her ears, she didn’t hear her assailant. Instead, she concentrated on getting her behind inside, her foot landing on the WELCOME door mat as he crashed into her, so hard they tumbled to the floor.
    “Bloody he—”
    The wind rushed out of Gemma’s lungs. Her head ricocheted on the scuffed hardwood floor, and she shuddered, feeling woozy. A second later something warm oozed down her temple onto her cheek.
    “You could have made this easy,” he growled. He straddled her thighs, his body weight pinning her to the floor. “You scream or move, and I’ll cut you.” The cold blade ran along her cheek, but Gemma was so out of it she just laid there, fighting to keep the sushi down and wondering why she had four hands.
    “I swear you have the sweetest ass.” Chuckling, he moved his hands over her skirt, slowly lifting it.
    Gemma moaned. I’m going to be sick.
    “Don’t be sore, love. I’m gonna take the purse and a little bit more. Let’s have a look.” He slid the knife against her hip beneath the material of her panties and cut along the seam.
    “Please…don’t do this,” Gemma mumbled.
    “But you gave me no other choice,” he said, squeezing her butt cheek and then slapping it. “It’s time we have some fun. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for black birds.”
    Dazed, Gemma tried to dredge up some strength, a will to fight, but she could barely keep her eyes open.
    “Hey, what’s going on here?”
    “Help…” Gemma heard herself say as if from a distance. Her whispered plea blending in with her neighbor’s Staffordshire bull terrier barking like crazy, the scuffling of feet, and the crash of her front door banging against the wall.
    One minute she was pinned to the floor, the next she felt almost weightless. Taking advantage of her freedom, Gemma struggled to sit up. Barely upright, she groaned when something heavy landed in her lap. Pepper, her neighbor’s dog. Needy, like most bitches tended to be, she proceeded to lick her makeup off.
    “Pep,” her neighbor, Timothy, admonished from the doorway. He bent down, a handkerchief in his hand. “You’ve got a nasty gash there.” He touched the cut above her eye and another wave of dizziness swept over her. Before she passed out, Gemma pulled her purse onto her lap.
    “I need to call 112,” she said, pulling her cell from her bag. Tears started to flow as she punched in the numbers. If it wasn’t for her neighbor, she would have been raped.
    “Hello,” a man answered on the other end.
    “I…uh…I have an