Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“Uhm, pot roast and vegetables. And I baked some bread.” I tried to make my voice sound upbeat and light because I was determined to do what millions of women before me had done without even knowing the role I’d fallen into.
It was a one-off, I told myself.
He’d only done it because he was so angry over being cheated.
Ten thousand dollars was a lot of money, which was why it happened.
He was drunk. Sober Colm would never hit me.
I made up every fucking excuse in the book for the backhand that stole my sense of security. But it instilled in me a deep sense of fear that I hadn’t known existed until Colm died.
After dinner that night, Colm came up behind me while I loaded the dishwasher and kissed my neck. The feel of his lips on my skin didn’t cause the same rush of emotions it once had. It didn’t send the fires of lust surging through my veins. Instead, I flinched.
“Oh babe, don’t be afraid of me. I’m sorry, Sadie, I didn’t mean it.”
“I know,” I told him softly, happy to hear that my justifications for his behavior were spot on.
“It won’t happen again, I promise.”
It did happen again. The next night when he lost another ten thousand dollars.
And the night after that, because his mashed potatoes were cold.
Then there was a three-day break, and I again convinced myself it was because he’d had another run of bad luck. The problem was Colm had nothing but bad luck with days of not-so-shitty luck, and sooner or later, another bad streak popped up and his fists went flying.
A week later, he asked me to fuck Marsden in payment for another debt.
I refused, shocked at his request. “You can let that high school prick fuck you for free, but you can’t do this to help your husband out of a tight spot?”
For standing up to him, he left me black and blue everywhere but my face.
From that moment on, I learned to never refuse.
I used my body to pay off his debt, foolishly believing it would be the first and last time.
That night I made plenty of mistakes that I would live to regret, time and time again, until I’d had enough and learned my fucking lesson.
And those brutal lessons were the reason I was the badass woman I was today.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sadie
By the time Sunday evening rolled around, I felt much better. Like my old self. Maybe even better than my old self because my family sat around the table with me, reaching for dishes and platters of food while we discussed business. Family business.
Sunday dinner was as much an institution for the Ashby family as church was for other people. Regular people.
We gathered around the big formal dining room table to talk about…hell, everything. From business details to personal dramas, this was the one time each week we were all together. As a family. We laughed and smiled, argued, and cursed each other out when necessary. We planned and plotted, but mostly we ate.
“Jasper, you need to find a way to get Madison to convince Jameson that working for us is in his best interests. Sweeten the deal however you need to. If we can get him on board before the feds wrap up this investigation, it’s worth whatever price we have to pay.”
The kid came from a family of bikers, and he was playing the role of Boy Scout to a tee, making me wait for an answer.
“I’m working on it,” Jas responded around a mouthful of roasted chicken.
“Work faster.” We didn’t have time to wait. It was only out of respect to Jameson’s brother Charlie, the new President of the Reckless Bastards, and my old relationship with the former president, Cross, that I hadn’t pushed. But I would if needed.
“Kat, Terry, it’s time for you to really dig into the wedding planning or this thing won’t happen until the middle of next year.”
Kat laughed. “Who knew you were so looking forward to my wedding?” She cocked one dark brow in the air and shook her head before she turned her attention back to the food on her plate.
“I can’t wait to see you married off. You and Terry wasted enough time. Besides all that, Ava Rose could use some cousins.”
“Cousins? We’re not even married yet, Ma. Calm down on the baby talk.” Kat shook her head and gave an exaggerated shudder before she turned to Cal. “No offense. Ava is beautiful and wonderful, but I’m not there yet.”
Cal shrugged, ambivalent about the conversations around him. He seemed adrift without Madison around, bringing Thomas’ words back to mind. “Where is Madison?”
“Having dinner with her sister,” Cal grunted, never taking his gaze off my sweet grandbaby.
That made sense. The whole reason Madison stuck around was to search for her sister. “It would’ve been nice of her to give you some advance notice that she wouldn’t be looking after Ava Rose anymore.”