My mother, the selfish cow that she is, turned a blind eye.
My stepfather turned to me.
He was kind, and gentle, and made me feel like I mattered for the first time in my life. I was older when they came into our lives, maybe fourteen or fifteen, so I never saw him as a father, just as someone my mother married and someone who actually cared about how I felt.
It wasn’t until I was eighteen that things changed, that those feelings became something much more and stupid me was brainwashed by a man who I knew should know better, and we fell into a very inappropriate relationship that should have never happened. He fell in love with me, and I him. In my eyes, he was my hero. He mended the pieces of me that felt so broken, but, in all reality, he was only digging deeper wounds that couldn’t be healed.
He died when I was twenty, and I thought I’d never go on. I thought for sure my life would be over. The worst part was, I couldn’t tell a soul. Not even Eve. She thought that every tear I cried, was because he was the only person I had who was kind to me. She had no idea how much deeper it went.
Then I got the call that he left everything to me and was very specific about my mother and his son not getting a damned thing.
Then came the threats, the violence and the drama.
So, I ran.
I just got up and ran.
I have never touched that money, but it’s there, like a god damned monster looming over my head. Day in, day out.
They want it, and they’re not going to stop until they get it.
I know that but ignoring them feels like the only power I have right now.
I don’t have to give it to them, but the fear of what they’ll do if I don’t ... scares me.
“Hey,” Adan clicks his fingers, and I jerk, looking to him.
I didn’t realize I was zoning out so badly.
“What?” I mutter.
“What the fuck is goin’ on? You’re clearly thrown by whoever called you then.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “No, I was thinking about something else.”
“Bullshit.”
I stand and smile at him, right up in his face. “I’m none of your concern, Papi. Let’s just leave it be.”
His mouth twitches, but in a very angry way.
I turn and saunter off.
Fuck him.
I have other shit to deal with.
“WHERE EXACTLY ARE WE going?” I ask, staring at the long dirt road we’ve turned down that seems to be leading farther and farther away from civilization.
“None of your concern,” Adan says, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a gun.
Casually, as if it’s a cold drink.
He checks it over, and puts it back in.
“Why the hell have you got a gun?” I shriek, and he jerks, spinning around toward me.
“What do you mean why do I have a fucking gun? I always carry a gun.”
“You do?” I gasp. “Why?”
“In case I need it.”
“For what? Where exactly are we going?”
“I told you, it’s none of your concern.”
“It is if it’s dangerous,” I yell, eyes suddenly wide and frantic.
Where the hell are they making me drive him?
To some sort of drug trade off?
A shoot out?
A mass murder?
What?
“Wouldn’t take you somewhere that your life was at risk. These people work with us, and that’s all you need to know. I always take a gun because I’d be fuckin’ stupid not to. You won’t leave the car, anything at all happens, you drive away. You’re safe.”
I really want him to elaborate on the “anything else” part of that sentence.
“I’m not too sure about this.”
“It’s fine, now pay attention to the road and worry about driving.”
We arrive at a large, and I mean large, warehouse that is a good two and a half hours from home. It’s very secluded and isolated, surrounded by a fucking massive fence that has guards. Guards. There are shipping containers everywhere, I do not want to know what is in those. Do not. Nope. Not my business.
Everyone, so far, seems calm as Riggs and his crew ride in and park their bikes. I get a few glances as I follow them in the truck, and I wonder if they’re going to kick up a fuss about me being here? God. These men look dangerous—sure, they might be on the same side, but something about this whole setup ... The guards, the way it’s so hidden; this tells me whatever goes down out here is not legal and probably not safe.
This makes me even more anxious than going to the biker club.
At least they’re out in the open, even if they are doing illegal things behind closed doors.
This ... this is next level.
“Stay here,” Adan says. “Do not get out of the car. They won’t be happy if they think you’re anything other than a driver. You move out of the car, and we’ll end up with problems.”
“One thing,” I say. “If something goes wrong, like you hinted, I can’t just turn and drive away. You know, with those big electric gates and guards!”
I may or may not have shrieked a little at the end there.
“You’ll be fine, there is a gun in the glove box. Keep the doors locked.”
“Adan!” I shriek, as he climbs out and shuts the door.
He turns and mouths “lock it” before walking off.
I lock it, boy do I lock it.
I also double check the gun situation, just to be sure.
He’s right there is one in there.
I watch as they all go into the large warehouse with the guards following close behind them, leaving two on the gate still. Those two stare at me ... a lot. It’s freaking me out, actually. They just look at me, and then talk, and then look at me and talk again. I have no idea why. They’re probably going to come over here and order me out, they probably think I’m some sort of spy.
God.
This is awful.
I sink down into the seat and try to be as still as I can, I don’t want them to think I’m doing anything that I shouldn’t be.
One hour passes, and it’s the longest hour of my life but, finally, the club walks out of the warehouse, followed by three or four men that aren’t guards.
That’s when I see him.
It takes me a minute, mostly for my brain to comprehend what it’s seeing.
But I’d know that face, I’d know that face anywhere.
I’d know those large shoulders.
That gruff appearance.
The way he looks so terribly scary, but he’s not.
I make a gasping sound and shake my head, as if that’ll clear my vision and show me I’m wrong.
I’m opening the door before I can think, before I can do anything.
My body just moves.
I step out and start walking toward the group.
The guards yell out and everyone turns. Riggs shouts something. Adan shouts something.
I don’t stop.
My eyes are locked on the one man I’m waiting to look at me.
When he does, I stop in my tracks.
I’m right.
I know I’m right because his face changes.
His entire body stiffens.
His eyes scan me, over and over, as if trying to believe what he’s seeing.
I know he’s waiting for me to say the words, to prove what is happening.