Chapter One
Chrystal
I clench my eyes closed, wanting to go back to the dreams because my reality at the moment is shitty.
Cool air seeps into the vehicle, bringing me further and further out of my sleep, and my back is absolutely killing me. I have been sleeping in my car for the past three months. I drove and drove until I ended up in the small town of Raleigh, Texas just a few weeks ago.
I sit up and rub my eyes, dragging the blanket up to my neck, trying to conserve what body heat I can. Fog is covering the windows, but I can see the sun barely peeking out over the mountains.
I need to settle down and find a place to stay for a while. I feel my baby kick inside me. I smile, running my hand over my stomach. I’m pregnant, five months to be exact. I found out when I was eight weeks along, and ever since I have been on the run.
I’m working in a garage at the moment, as a receptionist. I’ll stay here in my vehicle until I have a down payment for an apartment—I spent all my savings on gas and gas station food—then I’ll start to get settled.
I’m sleeping in the back of the garage; it’s chained, which makes me feel safer. I have keys to the building, so I can sneak inside and shower and use the kitchen. At least I can warm up in the shower if it gets really cold outside.
It’s honestly heaven compared to what I’ve been used to. Heck, I’ve slept on the floor in front of my desk. The one thing that does worry me is that they don’t know I’m sleeping back here. But I am safe; that’s what matters most to me at the moment.
I am twenty-two years old, and I’m in this situation because I left my husband.
I started dating him when I was just sixteen. My mom kind of set it up because we lived in a trailer in the middle of nowhere and this guy was rich. I was her ticket out.
I didn’t want that. I wanted to be independent and go to college. I wanted to make a life for myself. And, at twenty-eight years old, he was way too old for me. But I didn’t want to disappoint my family.
So I married him two weeks after I graduated from high school. All my friends were living their best life and partying, and I was buying decorations for my wedding.
This was essentially an arranged marriage. The day of the wedding, I walked down the aisle with tears in my eyes because I was so miserable, but I had to plaster on a fake smile. My mother cried in the front pew, in her new dress that my husband had bought for her. He gave her a credit card, and she’s now living in a new apartment with new clothes and a new life. All she had to do was give him me. My dad has tried to be happy for me, he’s tried to be there for me, but my mother is completely impossible.
I said my “I do,” and he took me to our new house, where I had sex for the first time. It was not horrible, but I didn’t enjoy one single second of it. The first few years of our marriage were bad, but it was nothing compared to the last year. That’s when his temper came out. It started when I accidentally spilled his plate of food in his lap as I brought it to the table. The next thing I knew, a fist was planted into my face.
In that single moment, my world changed. I went to my mom with the full intention of leaving him, because I couldn’t stay with a man who was abusive. That was not me.
My mother all but slammed the door in my face and told me that I needed to be better at serving my husband. It was my job to take care of him and I pretty much deserved what he had done to me.
I realized in that very moment I was so alone. I felt sad, but I was not defeated. I hatched a plan to get out, but I couldn’t just run with nothing. So I suffered. He beat me, hurt me, and broke me every single day. That one punch to my face changed my life.
So it took a whole year. I had to buy a vehicle that was not in his name, and I had to have money to live on for as long as possible. But then I found out I was pregnant, so I had the urge to leave that second. Hurting me was one thing, but allowing my unborn child to be hurt was unthinkable.
He left on a business trip for a week, and he never called when he was gone, so I took that as my time to go. I knew the second he was home he would call me, so I threw out my phone immediately. I had no one that wanted to talk to me anyway.
I open my car door and sneak inside the garage so I can shower and get ready for the day. The second I step inside, the heat hits me and it takes everything I have not to moan. You never fully realize how much the small things mean until you don't have them anymore. Just to be able to wake up in a warm place would be amazing. I know I’ll never take anything for granted again.
I hurry to shower and get dressed before all the guys show up. I was kind of worried because this business belongs to the Devil Souls MC, but my coworkers are all really nice. I put on a pot of coffee for the guys and settle back in my seat, rubbing my belly and smiling. “I can’t wait to meet you.”
I will not fail her. I will not fail her like my parents did me. I will protect her from anything that would dare to harm her.
“Good morning, darlin’.”
I jump in my seat, not having expected that beautiful voice. I look up at the hottest man I have ever laid eyes on in my life. I swallow hard, my mouth dry. I haven’t seen him before. I eye his cut and see the tag on the front. He’s the president of the Devil Souls MC.
I heard that he was coming in today, but I never expected him to look like that. I wipe my hand on the front of my jeans and start to stand up, but he shakes his head. “I brought you breakfast.” He sets a bag on the counter in front of me and pulls up a seat on the other side of my desk so he’s facing me.
He hands me a small take-out plate and then sets one in front of himself. What is going on?
Kyle
I can see the shock on her face as I put the food in front of her. She doesn’t know that we know she’s staying in the garage, but we knew from the cameras the second she pulled her vehicle around to the back the first day she got off work.
I’ve been out of town for a month, working on businesses we have in surrounding counties.
I decided today to get on her fucking good side by bringing food, so I can move her out of the car into an apartment or something, but I never expected her to be absolutely fucking drop-dead gorgeous. I almost ate my tongue at the sight of her holding her stomach with an angelic smile on her face. Her eyes are the bluest I have ever seen in my life, and her blond hair has a slight wave to it, begging for me to dig my hands in.
She tilts her head, studying me as I’m studying her; then she slowly opens the breakfast I brought from the diner. “Thank you for breakfast.” I want to close my eyes like a fucking pussy, because her voice is heaven. The dark always craves the light, and right now it’s wanting her. I smirk. “You’re welcome, darlin’.”
She blushes and pours syrup on her pancake, trying to play it off, but I noticed it and I want to see that again and again. As we eat, she sneaks in glances at me before she looks down again, blushing, and that shit is adorable.
“So are you single?” I have to ask, because I need to know what fucker I have to kill for letting her sleep in her vehicle.
She sits back in her seat, smirking at me this time. “Why is my boss asking? I didn’t know relationship statuses were needed for the job.”
Well, she has fucking got me there.