“I don’t have the slightest idea what I just did,” I admit.
Phantom lets out a deep sigh. “A baby, a woman… Fuckin’ nuts, brother.”
When he says that, the implications of what I did hit me. Phantom flares his nostrils and rubs his eyes hard, shoving his thumbs under his sunglasses. We stay there for a minute as the reality sort of sinks in. We’re about to put up a baby and a woman at the compound. I know nothing about her, other than what I can see.
And now, she’s completely my problem.
What I’m thinking must be written all over my face because Phantom waves a hand at me and sighs. “It’s fucking done, so we deal with it. I’ll put in a call to Poppy. Let her know we’re going to have guests.”
Poppy is Phantom’s old lady. Between them, they have three kids and another on the way. Poppy’ll know what to do once Claire gets to the compound. But me…I don’t know the first thing about taking care of someone, let alone providing for a baby.
The enormity of it hits me, and I look over to Viper’s truck. I see the top of Claire’s hair, the rat’s nest of a bun on her head the only thing that’s visible. She must be slouched down out of sight, holding her baby.
The image of her hiding back there, barefoot, vulnerable, and most definitely hurt, sets my brain back to balance. No matter what I’m worried about, her fears have got to be through the roof. She just got passed off from the Hellfires to the Heat.
Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire.She has no way of knowing she’s safe now. That her nightmare is over—if she wants it to be.
Maybe we’ll get her out of here and she’ll run off, and I can rest easy knowing that I did what I could when I had the chance. Who the hell knows…
For a guy who hates surprises, this day has been full of them. And I have a feeling this is only the beginning.
2
CLAIRE
I usedto be good at things. I used to have a job, a home. Friends and a social life. I used to have beautiful clothes and cared how I looked when I left the house.
But now, sitting in the back seat of this truck, my sweaty thighs stuck to the leather, behind a man who looks as mean as a young Mad Dog—whose name I don’t know, who is taking me and my daughter God only knows where… I can’t believe there was ever a time I was anything other than what I am now.
Broke.
Broken.
Bought.
How did I get to this place in my life? I mean, I know the story. I know the guy I fell for, the way he changed, the ways I failed to see so many signs before it was too late.
But now? I’m literally powerless.
I have a driver’s license in my back pocket and mybaby in my arms. That’s it. I have the signs all over my face and body, showing what it cost for us just to make it out alive.
I guess that has to mean something.
We’re alive. We’re together.
What happens next… We’ll have to just take it as it comes, no matter how scary.
No matter how much worse it gets. But it can’t get worse… Can it?
Famous last words that I vow to never, ever say again.
Aurora is sound asleep. The guy driving the pickup sounds impatient, and I can’t imagine the world of hurt we’d be in if she were fussing.
“There’s a blanket back there,” he barks. “I’ll turn up the AC. Cover that babyand stay low. I’m going to drive nice and easy.” He says baby like it puts a sour taste in his mouth, but that doesn’t surprise me. The guys of the Hellfires club weren’t exactly fans of my daughter either.
I close my eyes and rest my head against the back of the seat, trying to disappear into the chilled leather.
I must have fallen asleep in the first cool air I’ve felt all day, my baby tucked against me, because the next thing I know, the truck is slowing to a stop. The guy behind the wheel turns in his seat. “Stay here. Someone’ll come for you.”
