Chapter One
WhothefuckdidI marry?That’s the question I’ve been asking myself since my husband came home spouting crazy shit about how he’s going to take down Big Daddy and the Kings of Anarchy MC.
“I’ll make that bastard watch as I fuck his bitch.Then I’ll put a bullet between his eyes.”
He’s talking about Gwynee, his ex-girlfriend and my somewhat friend.She dated Thad before I got together with him.And now she’s with a man named Big Daddy who happens to be president of the local motorcycle club who owns everything and nearly everyone in our town of Anarchy, California.
Everyone knows nobody fucks with the Kings, and you damn sure don’t touch their property.He’s lost the plot.
Is Thad doing this because he wants Gwynee back or is there something deeper going on?I’ve never seen this side of him before.Sure, he’s made some snarky comments here and there about the club and my friendship with Gwynee, but never on this level.
“That stupid fuck thinks he calls all the shots, but things are going to change.I’ll be on top.Gwynee will see that she chose wrong.That she fucked up by crawling into that biker trash’s bed.If she’s stayed with me, I’d made her see that I was the better choice.”
My blood runs cold.He wants Gwynee back.He doesn’t love me.It hits me square in the gut like a deadly punch from his fist.My husband is still hung up on his ex.Why did he marry me if he was still pinning for her?
He takes another drink from his bottle of liquor and my heart is lodged in my throat, along with my voice.I can’t be mad at Gwynee.It’s not her fault that this man I thought loved me is a literal piece of shit.I can’t believe I’ve been so blind.This whole time.Was it any of it real?
Was I so desperate to be loved that I accepted attention from the first man to tell me those three words I’d longed for?I shake my head at him.At myself.
This was never love.
Our marriage is a lie.
I fell so in love with the idea of being in love that I was blind to who he truly is.Blind to his true feelings.
“You’ll see.Hector promised the drug trade would return to my family.The Kings stole our territory.Stole my legacy.Anarchy will be ours and the Kings will be forgotten.”
I reach for my phone while Thad mutters to himself about how great he is and how he’s going to make Big Daddy pay for stealing Gwynee out from under him, too.I need to warn Gwynee.I at least owe her that much.She’s been nothing but kind to me.
“You stupid fucking cunt.”Thad’s fist connects with the apple of my cheek.The force rattles my teeth and shoots a sharp pain racing up the side of my face that radiates into my eyeball as I drop to my knees, tears blurring my vision as I brace my palms on the floor.My phone lands on the other end of the room, out of my reach.“Who do you think you are?Going behind my back to rat me out to that biker whore.I told you to stay away from Gwynee.”
“I’m sorry.”I dare to glance up at the drunken, hateful bastard as he towers over me with his penetrative gaze boiling with a rage that could kill.The charming, good looks he once held are as cold and dead to me as a corpse.All I see as I meet his deadly expression is someone I fear and hate.Someone I desperately wish to escape.
“Not yet.But you will be.”He undoes his pants, whipping his dick out.He gets off on my pain.My fear.It’s sick and twisted.How can he claim to love me while treating me this way?
I think he’s going to rape my mouth, but he’s trying to piss on me like a dog marking his territory.I skitter backwards in an awkward crab walk, barely escaping his golden shower.
This is it.My husband, the man who vowed to cherish and protect me, is going to kill me.
He stumbles toward me, tripping over the coffee table.This may be my only chance.I seize the opportunity and make a run for it.I throw open the front door and run like my life depends on it because it does.My bare feet hit the pavement, and I don’t look back as Thad shouts my name and calls me a cunt.
“Get back here, Jessika.I’m not through with you, stupid cunt.”
Loose pebbles dig into the bottoms of my feet, breaking the skin, but it’s pain I’ll have to bear.My lungs burn and my calves ache, but I don’t stop until I’m sure Thad isn’t coming after me.The streets and houses blur together as I run further and further and further away.
I push my body to the limits, having no idea where I am or where I’m going.
All I know is I can’t let Thad catch up to me.If he does, he may kill me.
I don’t know how long I’ve been running, but exhaustion slams into me like a brick wall.Planting my hands on the tops of my thighs, I lean forward, struggling to catch my breath.I’m on the verge of dropping where I stand.
A car slows as it approaches me, and I fear it’s Thad coming for me.I don’t know if I’ll have the energy to fight him if he attacks.“Jess?Girl, what are you doing running down the road in the dark?”I’ve never been more grateful to see Cecilia, my hair girl, in all my life.
She gets a better look at me under the interior lights as I collapse in her passenger seat.“What the hell happened to you?”
“Thad.”
“I’m taking you to the hospital.”
