AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shackled. He didn’t know how close to the truth he came. I wasn’t free and never would be, but that wasn’t anything I could admit. There were reasons I had to maintain silence.
My chin lifted, and I shrugged. “You’re wrong. I’m just a private person, Daniel. That’s all.”
He tilted his head to the side, regarding me with that fierce, too-sharp gaze that didn’t miss anything around him. “Maybe.” His palm pressed flat against the wall by my head. “Or maybe you’re really hiding something, just like I said.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do.”
Silence stretched between us as the chasm grew wider, opening a gap I’d never cross, even for a good man like Daniel. “I’ve got kitchen duty with Snooki,” I finally announced. “I’ll check on Zara in an hour.”
He backed away, blinking as if he had just noticed how close he’d gotten. A frown marred his handsome, rugged features. “Thanks. I’ve got shit to do and probably won’t be back until later tonight.”
“No, problem. I’ve got Zara.”
Before he could say anything else, I slipped around him, nearly running toward the door. I didn’t take a full breath until I entered the hall, trying hard not to think about the past and all the horrors it conjured.
THE WAXING CRESCENTmoon hung high in the Nevada sky, dimmed in comparison to the twinkling, dazzling stars sprinkled around in all directions, eager sycophants to the goddess of night. The warm breeze had cooled slightly after sunset and ruffled the fabric of my shirt. Against my skin, the soft material felt more like a lover’s caress than a garment as I sighed softly, ignoring the pang of loneliness that pulsed in my chest.
My thoughts turned to Daniel, remembering the melancholy that clung to his body like a second skin. He wore his grief as an added layer of clothing, carrying that mantle every minute of the day, using it as a crutch to dissolve further into anger and spurring his need for vengeance. Was it madness that ruled his thoughts and focused his decisions? Or was it the remnants of a broken heart?
I couldn’t say for sure, but I sympathized far more than he knew.
All my life, I’d lived behind walls carefully constructed to protect myself from a world without boundaries and a father who cared nothing about protecting his daughter’s innocence. I’d always been a puppet, used to further his agenda. And when others wanted what he coveted for himself, he offered that precious flesh for a price, shrewdly gaining alliances that broadened his business connections.
My nightmares began, and my father’s tiny empire grew.
As a result, I didn’t let people in. A few tried to bulldoze their way beyond my barriers with little care for my injured soul. But never had a man glimpsed through that wall as if it didn’t exist, a window that bared the darkest parts, exposing layers of shame, pain, and all the scars that followed.
Daniel saw therealme.
At least, he did earlier today.
Yelling stole my attention, filling the parking lot of the Crossroads as I recognized the familiar baritone. Only one biker was haunted enough to defy the entire universe. A single father who floundered in the absence of his ol’ lady. His entire world shattered; he didn’t know how to cope.
My body halted all movement, realizing the noise originated somewhere above my head. Higher than could be considered safe. Concerned, I pushed off the picnic table where I’d been sitting, gazing at the stars.
My heart almost skidded to a stop as a gasp flew out of my mouth, and I stared up at Daniel as he swayed on the roof of the Crossroads. Balanced near the edge, a bottle of booze in his hand, obscenities of every kind tumbled from his lips. His words slurred, making it impossible to figure out anything he said.
Instant irritation spiked in my veins, followed by the fear that he could fall. What if he jumped? Or worse, fell to his death, and I had to witness it?
And what about Zara? Didn’t he think of his daughter?
I wanted to kick his ass for this until I heard the agony in his voice, his desperate plea for answers.
“Why?” I heard him ask, his voice cracking at the end of the word.
Something inside me awakened, a hint of the girl I’d once been. The fighter who wouldn’t let my father win. I needed her strength, her resolve. Tapping into that reservoir, I heaved a shaky breath into my lungs. Determined, I knew I couldn’t let Daniel fall. Neither of us was giving up. I just had to figure out how the hell he got up there.
My gaze searched the lot, finding a ladder that leaned against the exterior of the club’s auto shop. Without pausing to consider the consequences, I rushed toward it, reaching for the rungs as I hauled my body upward. I had never climbed anything that fast in my life. Hurtling over the edge of the roof, I slowly stood, making my way toward Daniel.
Across from me, Daniel stood with his back facing my direction, his hair in wild disarray. His leather cut flapped in the wind as he took a sip of his drink, gripping the bottle of whiskey in his hand as he stumbled, righting himself at the last second.
Shit!
Rushing forward, careful to balance on the steep slope, I tried not to spook him as I softly called his name. “Daniel.”
Spinning around, he snorted. The drunken biker focused his gaze on me, those dark blue eyes almost black, appraising, calculating, deciding something that I couldn’t begin to guess. “Sweet little Skyla.”
