Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 22109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
My mouth drops. “So you kicked her out?”
She shrugs her shoulders as if she didn’t have a choice. “He pays the bills around here. I didn’t have a say in it.”
I have to bite my tongue to stop from saying something. What kind of mom and dad would do this to their daughter? She’s twenty-three years old, and they kicked her out of the house because she’s pregnant.
I start to walk off the porch. “Second Street... Apartment 110?”
She nods her head and sticks her cigarette back in her mouth. I jog back down the driveway in a rush. Now I can’t shake this feeling... Instead of wondering if something is wrong, I know it is. The fact that I haven’t been able to reach Ellie and now this has me driving above the speed limit to get across town. As I get closer to the turnoff, I slow down. The houses I’m passing are worn down and when I turn onto Second Street, I shake my head. Hell, no. I pull onto the side of the road and look around. There’s what I’m sure is a drug deal going down right in front of me. My gun is clipped to my belt, but I pat it anyway.
I exit out of the car and look across the street at the apartment building. Locking the door on the rental car, I ignore all the curious glances but stay on high alert. I know I’m outnumbered, but there’s nothing that will stop me from getting to Ellie now.
Chapter 4
Ellie
I pray for the nausea to go away as I lay my head back on the couch. If anyone had told me this is how my life would end up, I would have laughed at them. I’ve always been able to pull myself out of a rut. Bad things happen, I know that. But I’ve never dwelled on it or let it take over my life. No, I’m the type of person that has my shit together. It just seems lately that’s becoming impossible.
Everything was going great. I was dating a sexy, sweet man in the military. He wasn’t around a lot, but I was attending college and working too, so it was fine. I was still living at home, but I was saving up to move out once I graduated and got a job as a teacher next year. Everything seemed like it was coming together. And then all hell broke loose.
The knock on the door has me sitting up. I don’t live in the best neighborhood, and I go on high alert any time someone comes to my door. I sit up, waiting for the dizziness to pass and gulp air, praying that I don’t throw up again. When my head clears, the knock comes again.
I stand up and make my way over to the door, grabbing the baseball bat leaning next to it. I look through the peephole and freeze. Please God tell me no.
I blink rapidly and then open my eyes again, and sure enough, it’s him. Grayson Hayes, member of the Guardians MC, best friend to my deceased baby daddy... and my husband.
I debate on not answering it, but Gray hollers through the door, “Open up, Ellie. I know you’re in there.”
I let out a deep breath. I should have known he’d heard me in here; these walls are paper thin. I unlatch the three deadbolts and open the door just enough for me to slide out to the front porch. Well, stoop. I don’t think the little three by three square feet could be called a porch. “Gray, hey, what are you doing here? I didn’t know you were coming to town.”
He grimaces and points at the apartment building behind me. “What the fuck, Ellie? What are you doing here?”
I shrug. “It’s a long story.”
He takes a step toward me, and now we’re almost chest to chest on the little platform. I have to lean my head all the way back to look up into his face. His face is filled with worry, and it’s not the first time that I wished I’d met Gray before I met Dawson. Gray is nothing like his best friend. I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but it’s obvious to everyone that Dawson was a player and man, did he play me. I’m probably not the best judge of character, but Gray doesn’t seem anything like that. “It’s fine. I have nowhere to be and all the time in the world. You going to let me in?”
I point my thumb behind me and try to stall. “In here?”
I wait for him to laugh or at least smirk, but he doesn’t. It looks like he’s all out of patience, and I know he’s not going to just leave here without me telling him something. He looks around, and I don’t even follow his gaze because I know what he’s seeing. I’m sure the men that live across the street are doing a drug deal. If we stay out here a few more minutes, he’ll probably see a prostitute flagging down a car. Yeah, I guess it would be better to talk inside. I put one hand on the door behind me. “It’s... I mean...” I blow out a breath. “Just don’t judge me, Gray. I’m doing the best I can.”