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Kelsie blew out a long, stale breath.
“All right, may I see the new phone?”
She blinked. “Hmm?”
“The phone?” Aubrey held out her hand, palm up.
“Oh, sorry. I drifted.” She handed over the device.
“No worries.”
Fifteen minutes later, Kelsie walked outside with a working phone chock full of all her old apps, contacts, and data but with a brand-spanking new phone number. It felt nice to be connected to the world again, but the big win today was surviving a trip to a store where multiple men had come and gone without losing her shit.
Her smile felt well-earned. As did the exhaustion now demanding she sit and take a breather. Most people didn’t understand how physically taxing it was to battle a mental enemy. Panic attacks sucked every ounce of energy she had. Even when she emerged victorious over her inner demons as she had today, she felt like she could sleep for a week.
After ten minutes of recovering and deep breathing in the driver’s seat of Brooke’s SUV, she had mustered enough energy to check her email on the new phone.
There, at the top of a very long list of unread emails, sat the job proposal from Brooke. She might as well give the contract a read, even though she had no intention of turning down the job. Brooke could have offered her gum and nachos as payment, and she’d happily accept the offer. A job working with all women in the one place she felt completely safe. In what universe would she say no to that?
Smiling, Kelsie went to open it when she caught the subject of the next email.
Family first, last, and above all.
Her blood ran cold. How many times had she heard that mantra through her childhood years? Countless. The phrase was uttered at every family gathering and before ending any phone call. Hell, her father even had the words tattooed above his heart.
And in their eyes, she’d forsaken her family. They’d let her get away with it—mostly—for years, but now it seemed they wanted her back. With a trembling finger, she touched the screen of her phone, opening the email. Brooke’s generous offer fell away from her radar as her terrifying family came into full focus.
My only daughter,
Kelsie rolled her eyes at the dramatic greeting she’d come to expect from her manipulative father.
It is time to come home. We have been patient with your need to spread your wings, but the time has come to end your foolishness and return to us. You are no longer a child and must not forsake your familial duties. In one month, I’ll be holding a press conference to declare my bid for governorship. Before then, we need to announce your engagement to Andrew Tinsley. It is imperative you cooperate.
If you do not return home on your own, we will be forced to take action to bring you home. Make no mistake, we know exactly where you are. Biker gangs do not scare us.
Her heart sank.
There it all went, gone in a puff of smoke, seconds after she’d finally felt her life was progressing positively. When her brother called her roughly ten days ago, he’d laid out the family’s plan for her to marry Andrew Tinsley. Andrew was the son of Cameron Tinsley, the current Speaker of the House. He was also the definition of a toxic male. Tabloids loved him because they didn’t have to make up sensational stories to feed their hungry readers.
And her father wanted to serve her up to him on a silver platter. She was there to improve his public image. In return, Tinsley would endorse her father in his run for Governor of Alabama.
All she’d ever been to her family was a pawn. Even now, after being burned so many times, she hoped they’d forget she existed. It would never happen. She needed to internalize that fact to prevent this crushing feeling of disappointment and despair from occurring repeatedly.
The woman who could barely stand to be in the same room with a man was supposed to marry one with a horrendous history when it came to women.
She slumped forward, letting her head thump the steering wheel.
So close, she’d been so close to a different life. Or so she’d thought. In reality, she’d been a fool to let herself be seduced by dreams she’d never achieve. Her family, her blood, would always be a part of her, and she’d never escape them.
It was that thought that had driven her to harm herself after her brother’s phone call. She’d been beyond distraught. Thinking of being forced to marry someone sent her right back two months to the hell she’d survived. It triggered a flashback so vivid and real she had reached for a knife and cut her wrist before she’d known what happened.
The memory of it made her sick.
So now what?
With a heavy sigh and an equally heavy heart, Kelsie lifted her head off the steering wheel. The first order of business was to return Brooke’s car. She might come from a family without morals, but she’d rather gouge out her eyes than give Brooke the impression she was taking advantage of her generosity.
As she depressed the brake and pushed the ignition button, her gaze drifted left. The door to a small sandwich shop opened, and a sharply dressed man strolled out carrying a brown paper bag. He wore a perfectly tailored suit that fit him like a glove. Despite a light breeze, his chestnut hair had enough spray to keep it in place. Three thick gold rings glinted in the sun on the fingers holding the bag.
