Prologue
SOFIA
Every muscle in my body ached. It was the kind of pain I’d never experienced before, because it came from exhausting, physical work that never seemed to end. From the moment my alarm went off each morning at the crack of dawn, I was up and moving. Whether it was waitressing at Aggie’s, Creswell Springs’ little mom-and-pop restaurant that, surprisingly, served some of the best food I’d ever eaten, working behind the counter at the only garage in the entire county, or handing out beers at Hannigans’, I was continuously busy.
There was barely time to eat in between my three jobs. Some days, I even had to help out at Barker & Reid, the construction company that was so busy they had projects scheduled up to two years in advance. Or at the Ink Shoppe, one of the two tattoo parlors in the small town. It just depended on where I was needed—and how pissed at me Raven Reid was when her feet hit the floor each morning.
This was my punishment.
One that I’d thought was unfair and definitely undeserved when it had been handed out by not only my parents, but Tetka and Raven Reid herself. The betrayal I’d felt when my mom and dad had said I had to come to this backwoods, incest-infested, hick town had been almost too much for me to deal with. If Tetka hadn’t given me the look, I probably would have had a complete meltdown and shown everyone at the wedding reception just how explosive a true tantrum could get.
But the look in my aunt’s eyes had dared me to defy her, and I was anything but stupid. Spoiled? Sure, I’d admit that. But stupid? Fuck no.
After the reception was over, I had to board one of the Vitucci private jets with the rest of the Hannigan-Reid clan, with nothing more than a small carry-on my parents had so graciously allowed me to take with me. I hadn’t even been able to pack it myself. Our housekeeper had been told what necessities I would need and nothing else.
When I’d gotten to Raven’s house and was shown to my room to unpack, I’d discovered that my necessities were just five pairs of jeans, an equal number of tops, and only one pair of shoes—my running shoes. Thankfully, I’d been given plenty of underwear and bras. I wasn’t sure what I would have done if I’d only been permitted a few pairs of panties and the same bra that I would have to wash every day. I didn’t even know how to use a washing machine, but Raven hadn’t wasted time informing me that no one else was going to be doing my laundry. I’d have to do it all myself.
Other than the few changes of clothes, I didn’t have anything else that was mine. No phone. No credit cards. Not even any cash. My parents had taken my purse before I could board the jet and informed me that Raven would supply me a place to eat and sleep, but everything else I would have to earn.
I’d never had a job before. If I was being honest, I hadn’t even considered what career I would pursue. What was the point when I was my father’s princess? I had a very cushy trust fund that would be mine the minute I turned twenty-five, and until then, he and my mother paid my credit card bills. How could they expect me to go from living a life of leisure to being some barmaid in redneck central?
Yet that was exactly what they wanted, and for the past week, that was all I’d done.
At this point, I was sure even my hair hurt, along with every other part of my body. When my alarm went off, I cursed the damn thing and slapped my hand down on top of the old-school digital alarm clock. Turning over, I pulled the covers up over my head and closed my eyes.
This place sucked even worse than I thought it would. All I did was work, work, and work some more. I had no time for fun. Most of the guys I’d seen so far were hot, but they were all in that stupid motorcycle club. An all-male club only brought one picture to my mind, and that was all of them sitting around sucking one another’s dicks. Which might have been a hot fantasy—if they weren’t such jerks to me.
Every person I’d met looked at me like they were better than me, glaring down their noses as if I was some foul-smelling pest. It was hilarious, because no one was better than me or my family. They were the peasants and should have been bowing at my feet. Serving me a slice of Aggie’s Death by Chocolate cake or champagne at Hannigans’. Instead, I was forced to bring them their food and drinks or schedule maintenance appointments for their shitty vehicles at the garage.
The door to my room slammed open, startling me. The next thing I knew, the blanket was jerked off me, and I was looking up at a pissed-off Raven Reid. Her blond hair fell over her shoulders, and her nostrils flared as she glared down at me. “Get your ass dressed and downstairs in five minutes. You’re going to be late for your shift at Aggie’s.”
“I’m taking the day off,” I informed her, rolling over in an attempt to find a more comfortable position. But that was pointless on the lumpy mattress.
“You are, huh?”
“Mm-hm.” I yawned. “I might take tomorrow off too.”
I felt the bed dipping beside me, and then suddenly, I was on my back, Raven practically straddling my body as she gripped my face in one hand so I couldn’t glance away. The look in her olive-green eyes reminded me of how Tetka’s baby blues could drill through to my soul, causing me to gulp.
“You are not here on vacation, princess,” she sneered. “You’re here to learn how to be a decent human being, something your parents forgot to teach you while they were spoiling your worthless ass. And lesson number one comes with the bonus of learning how to be a hard worker. Now, you have four minutes to get your lazy ass out of this bed and ready for your shift at Aggie’s. Or tonight, you won’t have this nice, cozy bed to sleep in. I’ll have my son take everything out of this room except for that alarm clock and a sleeping bag.”
She released my face and backed off the bed. “I only have the summer to teach you how the real world works, Sofia. Hopefully that’s enough time to teach you some respect and responsibility, but I’m hoping to instill some empathy in your cold little heart along the way. If that means I have to do it the hard way and make you earn the right to sleep on a mattress, then so be it.”
“I hate you!” I screamed at her, sitting up.
She merely grinned down at me. “I’m not too fond of you either, princess. Three minutes. Time’s ticking away.”
My screech as she walked out the door, leaving it open, could be heard throughout all of Creswell Springs.
Picking up the two plates loaded with eggs, bacon, and pancakes, I turned—only to run right into the idiot who was standing directly behind me. The food spilled all over my top before the plates crashed and shattered on the floor at my feet.
“You idiot!” I yelled, swiping my hand over my yolk-and-grease-covered breasts. “Do you watch where you’re going, or do you wander around aimlessly like the brainless twit you are? Should you even be allowed out around people unsupervised? Fuck, you’re so stupid this is the only job you can get in this stupid-ass town.”
The kitchen suddenly grew so silent I could hear the ticking of the old, round clock that hung on the wall a few feet away. That was my first clue I’d just fucked up. Then I lifted my gaze from my broken plates and ruined shirt to find Quinn Hannigan, my boss when I worked at Aggie’s, standing in front of me. The two sides of hot maple syrup had landed on her own shirt, and she just stood there, staring at me with a mixture of emotions on her face that made my stomach feel oddly twisty.