I knew what I was doing, agreeing to film those videos weekly. I knew one day someone I cared about might come across them. But Dax gave me no choice. The interest on my loan got bigger by the day, and I was drowning in debt to him. He made it all sound so simple, just a few videos then my debt would be paid off, but that’s the thing with scum like Dax. He was full of shit. And just a few turned into hundreds, with my debts no closer to being paid off. That’s the way they kept their lucrative business going. Most bikers trade in arms or drugs, but the Southern Breakers sell sex, or the illusion of it. The only way out was death or running, if you got away with it.
I promised myself I wouldn’t do this anymore. I was in control. I had other ways of dealing with the pain inside. Ways Talon gave me, but he’s not here, not an option anymore. I’m on my own, and the cold steel is a warm comfort.
I’m never going to recover from this. Not now that the boys know. Not if I stick around.
I press the razor to my skin, breathing a sigh of relief as red rises to the surface and my control slips firmly back into place.
I need to get to my storage locker at the bus station. Grab my shit and get the hell out of this town before my past finally breaks me for good. Because I know with everything in my soul, these boys still mean too much to me.
Chapter 14
Kasen
“She’s going to take a shower then go to bed.” River comes back into the kitchen, opens a fridge, and takes out three beers, pushing them across the counter toward us like he’s at The Beach Bar. “She hates herself for whatever is on that phone.” His face says it all; he’s concerned about her.
“I’m not surprised,” I mutter, taking the bottle and having a swig. It’s not enough to chase away the darkness consuming me. Nothing is. Except her. When she’s around, things are different, I’m different. She gives me something to fight for. River catches my line of sight, and I don’t appreciate the disappointment in his eyes as he watches me like a puppy who’s just been told he’s not getting dinner. What I did today was for her. To keep her safely here with us.
Bodhi leans into the counter, his assessing gaze raking over River, and I wonder what he’s thinking. How did he have our girl so comfortable with him that she was half naked, or is he wondering how to break the news to the kid. The shit we saw today will get to River, he’s sensitive like that. “You made progress tonight. From the position we found the two of you in, I would say she’s opening up to you.”
“Was making progress, until you two ruined it. Your lecture couldn’t have waited till the morning?” River snips back. “If you really want her to hang around, you have a funny way of showing it.”
Oh yeah, River is pissed with us for cock blocking him. He has no idea. “It’s in all of our best interest she stays, but we can’t have her keeping dangerous shit from us and just think she’s going to get away with it.” I shove the phone in River’s direction. He needs the same slap back to reality we both got. It’s no surprise she didn’t want us to know about her side hustle.
River presses play on one of the videos and watches until it ends, his brow rising higher as it plays out. When it’s done, he looks up to us clearly shocked, maybe even pained. I knew this would hit him where it hurts. He still sees her as the harmless girl who left this place. That sexy little video of her in lacy lingerie paints a different picture. “Fuck, I didn’t think she would have this in her. She used to be so… innocent. But this is… hot.” He moves to press play on the second one, and I snatch the phone back from him and hand it to Bodhi to keep safe.
“Might be hot, but she was doing that to pay her bills,” I grumble before chugging the remainder of my beer.
“You’re going to send them to us, right?” River asks Bodhi. Just like him to be mortified over it but still want a copy for his own personal use.
“There are hundreds just like it. She was being exploited by the Southern Breakers, using this shit to pay her debt to them. Apparently, she was way behind in her rent. That’s why they came after her when she took off. My guess is she couldn’t catch up no matter how hard she worked for them and couldn’t see a way out. They had her trapped in this life. When they came after her, I don’t think they were going to kill her like I originally thought; they wanted their top moneymaker back.” Fresh anger vibrates through me at the thought. It doesn’tmatter what lengths we will go to destroy them now, it will never be enough to make them pay for what they did to her.
River’s face says it all. “Disturbing.” He walks over to the window, looking out over the pool. “What are we going to do about it?”
“Make sure there is no trace of this shit left on the internet for a start. All it takes is for this kind of content to get into the wrong hands and her face and body are everywhere,” Bodhi snips. “I’ve already hacked into the OnlyFans server and deleted her account. I’ll spend some time over the next few days issuing takedown requests and get our digital cleanup service to track down and delete anything else.”
“What about them, K? The cunts who did this to her?” River has started pacing the kitchen, an erratic energy running through him that mirrors my own.
Bodhi’s smirk is cruel and calculated. This is the shit he lives for. “I’ve set up some targets in the system already. They are about to be in a world of pain.”
I throw back my second drink and stare at the kitchen bench, an uncomfortable sickness slithering under my skin because I know it doesn’t matter how hard Bodhi tries to erase what she’s done, it will be impossible. Years from now, someone could still stumble upon one of the files and use the images against her, especially now she’s with us. In so many ways I can protect her, but with a shit ton of money comes threats, people who want to use this kind of content against us, to try and get a little money of their own.
The thing I’m stuck on the most is why did she come to Deadwater Bay when she was running from them? This would be the first place I would look for her if I had done my due diligence and knew anything about my employee at all. But she was determined to come back here. Even after I found her, she still ran back to the house. There had to be something important she was after. I should have had Bodhi installa security system on that place years ago just in case, but I think deep down, I really didn’t think she would come home. “She’s still keeping shit from us. She went back to her family home for a reason after she snuck out of here, and I want to know what it is.”
Bodhi passes me on his way to the fridge, and he looks me over in that calculating way he does so well. He pulls a fresh beer from the fridge then leans into the door. “I have an idea. We set her free and see what she does.”
My glare turns icy. Like fuck we do.
He pats me on the back. “With safety precautions, of course, brother. Make it look like she’s free to go and do whatever it is she came to town to do. She keeps saying she has shit to do and she didn’t come back here for us. Let her lead us straight to wherever it is she’s up to.”
“She’s looking for answers, maybe who killed her mum that night. I didn’t get much else out of her today, but she did say that much,” River says.
“Too busy with your head buried in her pussy,” I mutter.
River gives me a guilty look, but he doesn’t need to, we all know what this is. If he made inroads with her, it is good for all of us. Doesn’t mean I’m not slightly bitter that she still won’t even talk to me, but she’s happy for him to eat her sweet cunt. “Most of the night she was working for me. Behind the bar serving customers, she looked happier than she has since she got back. I think she is so used to being busy, she feels trapped in this place, K. Maybe Bodhi’s right, we could set her free to see what she does with a little space. I’d happily give her a job, she’s an asset to my team.”
Bodhi’s eyebrow pops up as he thinks on it. “That way we can keep her close but still give her some freedom. I like it.”
“She’s not going anywhere,” I bark. Neither of them are listening to me tonight. My hands shake, my body so full of useless energy. I need to punch something or destroy something. Make this feeling go away.
