Chapter 1
Rachel
I could almost feel the blood drain out of my body as Dante’s words replayed in my head.
I want my son.
I want my son.
I want my son.
I could hear Dante still speaking through the phone, but his words would not register. The voice in my head was drowning him out, screaming at me to run, to get as far away from here as possible and never look back.
If I was stupid enough to let him catch me, he would never let me go again.
This couldn’t be happening. Not after eighteen months of no contact. Not after all the work I had done to put my life back together after he broke me and rejected me.
I had been so careful. I didn’t use my credit cards—hell, I didn’t use my savings at all. The “Rachel Brooks” account was sitting as dead as my name. I used “Lisa” now, and even then, I used cash where possible. I had no social media presence, barely any friends, and my work was in a busy office, hiding behind thesafety of a phone in a call centre! I didn’t even use the name Lisa when I was on the phones. I gave a different name every time. My boss, John, had thought it was funny.
He had no reason to suspect the soft-spoken girl was hiding a dark and sinister secret.
Regardless of my motives or what I was hiding, I truly believed I had done everything right! Obviously, Dante had Hacksaw on his side, but this was so fucking unfair.
I was finally putting the pieces of my life back together, and here he was, ready to shatter them all over again.
We need to talk. I want my son.
He would kill me for this. Dante wouldn’t shatter my life. He would snuff it out completely.
As far as Dante was concerned, Axel was a King. Which meant he was destined for the biker life. He would be indoctrinated into the club before he even said his first word! He’d be sent to the youth division, and before I knew it, he’d be wearing a leather jacket and calling one of his school friends his old lady.
You need to calm the fuck down!
It was easier said than done when my throat was constricting, and flashes of my life with Dante were playing in my mind—especially that last night on the boat. The night when it had all gone to shit.
The night when he had cruelly violated me in front of his friends, and then thrown me out without a backward glance.
He hadn’t even let me say a proper goodbye to Bee. He certainly wouldn’t allow me to say goodbye to Axel.
I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t lose another child. It would hurt far more than anything Dante could say or do to me.
Muffled laughter came from the phone, and it sent jolts of fear dancing through my veins. Before I knew what washappening, my fingers moved of their own volition, ending the call before he could say anything else.
I already felt better, no longer hearing his voice. But now was not the time to bury my head in the sand. Out of sight, but certainly not out of mind. He was out there, and he was preparing his next move. I had to be one step ahead.
“Lisa?” my nanny, Karen, stared at me, her face white as a sheet. “Lisa! What’s happened? Who was that?” her voice was sharper this time, and yet I still didn’t respond.
I hadn’t been the best at responding to that name under ordinary circumstances. This was definitely not an ordinary circumstance.
The phone fell from my icy fingers, making me jump as it landed on the floor with a crash that seemed far too loud for the small object.
And that’s when my eyes fell on the card.
Happy 1stbirthday, son.
Daddy will see you real soon.
I couldn’t let that happen.
