Prologue
Beau
It’s been a little over a year since Jackson and I escaped from prison with homicide charges. When we lived back home in Florida, we were very well known members of The Vanguard Rebels motorcycle club. It always seemed like trouble found us, especially when it came to our rival club, The Night Riders.
One day Jackson and I decided to pay my little sister a visit to make sure she was doing okay after her divorce. That day changed our lives forever. The vice president of our rival club was in the process of tying my sister up for God knows what reason, but it was all we needed to make us see red. We ended up killing him and dumping his body outside of his clubhouse. That was the end of the line for us. There were a few eyewitnesses who put us at my sister’s house and the clubhouse with the body.
We got arrested the same day and within a few months, we were sentenced to life in prison for murder. While we were being transferred from the community correctional facility in our hometown to the maximum security prison in Railford, Florida, a couple of our friends, Nolan and Liam, ran the prison bus off the side of the road into a tree. Luckily for us, the driver of the bus died on impact, giving us all the time in the world to get free of our restraints and get the fuck out of there.
Jackson and I decided it wouldn’t be smart to go back home if we wanted to stay out of jail. They brought us the money we had stashed at the clubhouse and two fake IDs. That’s how we got our new names, Beau and Jackson. They took us to the nearest bus station and let us pick any location in the United States. It was time for a fresh start and boy, what a new start it has been.
At some point during the last year, we found ourselves in a run-down shack in the woods of Salem, Massachusetts. While we were out walking the town one day, the most beautiful girl we’d ever seen caught our eye. Aria Mitchell has been our obsession since the day we saw her sitting in the chair in her shop window. The only bad thing about that is that she's the type of girl you take home to mama. Not the type that will allow you and your best friend to share her and live the rest of her life on the run with us. We both agreed that it isn’t smart for us to let someone like her in. We could have to go on the run at any time. Hell, for all we know, we could end up back in prison.
The only thing that is keeping us from getting just one night with Aria to get her out of our system is her piece of trash boyfriend. Since we have been watching her, we have seen him do some pretty messed up shit, including fucking her ‘best friend’ Amelia, while she runs her bookstore every day to afford the bills for the house they now share.
Enough about him, the only reason we decided to do anything this Halloween is because we saw fliers in her store window for the biggest party in Salem. With any luck, she will be there tonight. This might be our chance to at least talk with her. Tonight is the one night a year that we can both cover our faces with paint and go out. We figured face paint would be easier than masks and we could choose anything we wanted. No one would give us a second glance. Jackson painted up as a ghost while I represent our club with a skull design. So that’s what we will do. She won’t even have to know the faces of the guys she is talking to. It’ll be safer for her and us. Maybe if we can get lucky enough, her boyfriend will be too busy to come and we might finally get more than just a chance to talk to her.
Chapter 1
Aria
“Surprise Jacob, I’m home.” I shut the front door and walk to our bedroom. “I closed the shop early tonight so that we could get ready for the party together.”
I hear a high pitched moan as my bed comes into view. My heart drops and it takes a second for my brain to catch up with my eyes. I throw my bag on the floor loud enough for them both to finally realize they have company. Amelia jumps off Jacob’s lap in a hurried mess and wraps the sheet around her body. Her big brown eyes look like they could pop out of her skull at any second.
My best friend and boyfriend are in my bed together…naked.
“It’s not what it looks like, Aria.” I hear Amelia whine as she jumps off the bed and runs to me. “I swear I would never hurt you like this. It was an accident. I came over to see if I could borrow some make-up from you for tonight and well, it kinda just happened. I swear it will never happen again. You can trust me! We have been friends forthirteen years.” She tries to wrap her arms around me and instinctively, I swing at her, connecting with her nose. She stumbles backwards and starts crying when she feels blood running down her lip.
“I want you both out of my house by morning.” I say strongly.
“Aria, baby, you can’t do that to me. You know I have nowhere to go,” Jacob argues.
I couldn’t care less about his excuses right now. I swallow the screams that are begging to be let out. I need to focus on grabbing a pair of overnight clothes and some clothes for work in the morning. I’m not going to let these two assholes ruin my favorite night of the year.
I walk over to my dresser and pull out a pair of shorts and a tank top. After the party, I will sleep in my store. It’s not like I’ve never done that before anyway. I grab my makeup bag and shove it into my backpack.
I turn to make my way out of the bedroom when Jacob rushes over to block the door. “Move!” My words come out harsh and firm. Just the way I needed that to go. I’m actually kind of proud of myself. I honestly thought that I would be more upset since I just found my boyfriend cheating on me with my best friend. I always imagined if this sort of thing happened to me I would fly off the deepend. You know, maybe more than one punch and possibly some screaming and crying.
“Baby, please just talk to me. There is no reason to ruin the night for us. Amelia can leave and we can still get ready for the party tonight together. That’s the whole reason you came home.” I can see his lips moving, but my mind has blocked out everything he is saying. I keep replaying everything I saw when I first walked in the door. Jacob lying on his back, buried balls deep inside of her, pounding away without a second thought. There is no way I’m going to this party with him tonight. No matter how much he begs.
“He’s lying. Since my ass is already grass, his should be also. We have been fucking every day for the last month since you let him move in here with you.” Amelia screams from behind me. The urge to punch her again floods my body.
“Jacob, I need you to move your lazy ass out of my way. I have done nothing but help you since you lost your job. You have been living here bill free while you were supposed to be looking for work.” I shake my head, upset at myself for even wasting my time on him. “Like I said before, you both need to get all of your shit and be out of my house by morning.” His arm shoots out and tries to grab my hand. Okay, so maybe I was wrong. There will,without a doubt, be more punching tonight. I don’t hesitate. I ball my hand up in a fist and punch him square in the nose.
“Like I said, move!” I scream, and he finally gives in, stepping into the living room. I make a path straight from my bedroom to the front door. I raise one hand, flipping him off over my shoulder all the way out onto the front porch. I make sure to slam the door dramatically behind me.
I get to the bottom of the stairs and make my way to my car. There are already several children and parents outside walking the streets for a fun night of trick or treating. I take a moment to look at everyone running around before I get into my car. To my left, there is a little girl in a princess costume and her brother is dressed up as Ghost Face from Scream. Directly in front of me is a cute set of twin girls who can’t be any older than eight. They are dressed as Anna and Elsa, from Frozen.
One of my favorite things about living in Salem is how festive everyone gets for Halloween each year. The whole town is decorated starting in September with pumpkins, ghosts, and beautiful lights. Then add the fall feeling you get with the leaves turning bright and vibrant colors like orange and red. It makes you never want to leave.
I still plan to make tonight one of the best Halloweens of my life even without my asshole of an ex boyfriend ormy backstabbing ex-best friend. I put the car in drive and pull out of my driveway, heading in the direction of The Black Cat Bookstore. Since we are closed for the rest of the day, I can use it as a studio to get ready. Thankfully, there is a small costume shop right across the street. After everything that just went down, there is absolutely no way I am going out dressed as little red riding hood. Especially when the big bad wolf will more than likely shove his cock back in Amelia the second I am out the door. Which gives me the perfect opportunity to buy a new outfit for tonight. Something sexy, something that will make every guy at this party want me and every girl want to be me.
I grab my phone that’s already connected to my car’s Bluetooth and select my Halloween playlist. I can’t help but shake my head and laugh at this entire situation. Not only did I lose my boyfriend but, also my best friend all in one day. They are trash and deserve each other. Happy fucking Halloween to me!
Chapter 2
Aria
