I wasn’t normally the type to try and drown my sorrows, but these were special circumstances.

The dive bar was loud and crowded. I had pulled into the parking lot of the small, backwoods building a half hour ago assuming that I could have a few quiet minutes to myself, but I was totally wrong. Apparently every redneck in the area wanted to get hammered at this bar and yell loudly about what gun they were currently trying to buy.

I sipped my gin and tonic and sighed to myself. I came to Knoxville months ago with the best of intentions, but, like everything else in my life so far, nothing seemed to work out right for me.

I had finally decided to pack it up and run. I was going back home, back across the state to my family’s farm. Maybe I’d be coming home in disgrace, but at least I’d be home.

I hated Knoxville. I hated everything it represented, from the center of town where I worked in a diner all day and all night to the tiny, run-down apartment where I spent whatever time I had to myself sleeping. I hated the people and, most of all, I hated my own stupid mistakes.

But it was going to be okay. I was going to run and let things shake out on their own. I had tried to fix things, tried my hardest, but it was way too late.

I glanced up from my drink for a moment, and that was the first time I spotted him.

He was sitting across the bar from me, nursing a whisky. I hadn’t seen him come in, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Handsome face, a hint of stubble on his perfect jaw, and these deep blue eyes that made me want to cross my legs. His arms were strong and defined, and I could only imagine what the rest of him looked like.

He didn’t seem like he belonged. Where everyone else was a hick or an asshole, he seemed quiet, subdued. His black button-down shirt was understated and practically boring compared to the camouflage and the flannel on everyone else.

I watched as he slowly caught my eye and a grin spread across his face. I would come to know that grin so damn well, and part of me would hate it. But in that moment, I felt a pulse of desire rush through me.

He didn’t look away. Most men did when you caught their eye, but not him. He just smirked at me and slowly nodded, catching me completely off guard.

Who did this guy think he was? I’d never seen a man with so much confidence before. I quickly looked away, not sure what to do.

That was when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t move, Hartley.”

Shit. I recognized that voice.

“What are you doing here, Guff?” I turned and saw him looming behind me, smiling his yellow-toothed grin.

“Came looking for you,” he said. “I heard you were leaving town.”

I frowned. I didn’t know how he could have known that, considering I hadn’t told anyone. Frankly, I didn’t really have any friends in Knoxville, which was a big reason why I was trying to get away. I missed my hometown in Dade County, yearned to see my family’s farm again.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, trying to play it off.

“Good,” Guff grunted. “Because you still owe my boss a lot of money.” I felt his hand squeeze hard on my shoulder.

“Get off me,” I said. Guff and the two goons standing with him only laughed.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “In fact, I think you’re going to come with me.”

“Why the hell would I do that?”

“Because you’re a fucking liar, Hartley. You think we didn’t see that bag in the back of your car?”

My heart started hammering in my chest, and I knew I was in a really bad situation. These men may have been greasy-looking rednecks, but they were dangerous, very dangerous.

I owed money to the Dixie Mafia, and they were coming to collect. At least, my family owed them money. Back when the housing market collapsed and the economy went to hell, my father took a loan from the Dixie Mafia out of desperation. Now, years later, they wanted that money back.

I’d come to Knoxville to try to work something out with them. I worked my ass off day and night, giving them every cent I made, but it wasn’t even close to enough. I tried everything I could think of, but they weren’t interested.

There was nothing I could do. I was going to run back home in shame and pray that my father could figure something out. It killed me to imagine the mafia getting a hold of our farm or, even worse, the bank bulldozing the whole thing.

Looking up at Guff’s dark eyes, at his long stringy hair and the sick smile on his face, I knew coming to Knoxville had been a serious mistake. I was so stupid and naïve to think that I could really fix any of this. My family thought I was just out here staying with a friend. They had no clue what I was up to.

“Come on,” Guff said, yanking my arm. I stumbled to my feet. “Let’s go for a fucking walk.”

“Get off me,” I said, terrified. I looked around but nobody seemed to care. Most of the men simply looked away, too ashamed to even make eye contact with me.

Guff and his boys, they were known here. Everyone knew the Dixie Mafia in Knoxville. They practically ran the town, and if you wanted to survive you had to make good with them. Nobody crossed the mafia and survived, not for long at least.

As I was learning. They dragged me across the room and out into the parking lot, pushing me toward my car.

I stumbled and tripped over a rock, tumbling down to the ground. The men laughed as Guff roughly pulled me to my feet.

“Open the car,” he ordered. I listened and unlocked the driver’s side door.

One of the goons tore open the door and grabbed my bag. He ripped through it, throwing the contents around. He looked at Guff and shook his head.

“Where’s our money, Hartley?” he asked. “Where’s our fucking money?”

“You know I don’t have it,” I said. “I gave you everything I could.”

“That’s not how this works,” Guff said, and shoved me against the car. “Your people took lots of money from us, and you showed up asking how you could pay us back. We gave you some options, but you didn’t like ’em. Now you want to leave?”

I clenched my jaw and looked away. Their idea of paying them back involved me whoring myself out to their customers. They wanted me to sell myself into sex slavery in exchange for my family’s debt, and I just couldn’t do it. I’d tried to think of something else, tried to make enough money to show that I meant to make good, but they weren’t reasonable men.

“I had no choice,” I said. “You really expected me to do that?”

“Hell yeah, girl,” he said. “I expect you to suck every fucking cock in this state if you want to get out of debt.”

“Screw you, Guff,” I said, surprising myself. I didn’t know where I was finding this anger, but it was there, deep inside me.

The men all laughed. “All right then, Hartley,” he said. “You can screw me, all right.” He reared his hand back and then punched me in the face.

I would have fallen if I weren’t held up by the car. Pain flashed through my face, blinding me, shocking me with its intensity.

“I’ll let you screw me right here,” Guff said, cackling like a madman. “Boys, go make sure nobody bothers us.”

Guff grabbed me and spun me around. I had the sense to try to fight him off, but he was too strong.

“Go ahead,” he whispered in my ear. “Struggle.”

I couldn’t believe this. I couldn’t believe this was going to happen, in the middle of the day, in the parking lot. I was so close to getting out, so close to running.

I should never have come to Knoxville.