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Under the guise of contributing to the household, Ray makes me pay him half my wages each month. Ray doesn’t have a mortgage because his dad left him this shitty trailer, and the money I give him more than pays all the utilities. Any money Ray makes goes right to the casinos, and even that’s not enough for him anymore.
I hold my breath and focus on the hair growing from his ear. “The new job got postponed for two weeks.”
His grip tightens, no doubt pulling strands of my hair from my scalp. “You’re a fucking liar. Did you get fired before you even started? Wouldn’t surprise me, you worthless piece of shit.”
A knock on the door stops his assault. He shoves my head away before walking over to see who it is, chugging his beer as he goes. I exhale slowly as I wrap my arms around my middle, holding on tight to stop the uncontrollable shaking.
“Is it them?” Mom whispers. She can’t see the front door from her vantage point, but I can. When Ray sidesteps to grab his wallet and keys, I get a good look at the two large men in all-black suits standing on the other side of the doorway.
“Yeah.”
As if in sync, they both look through the house, catching my gaze. I quickly turn away. Ray is a scary bastard, but these men? They terrify me to my core. I don’t know who they are or why they occasionally come for him. All I know is that Ray is a disrespectful son of a bitch to everyone except them.
Each time he leaves, he’s gone until just before the sun comes up. And when he returns, he’s covered in blood that didn’t come from him.
Without a word, Ray walks out, slamming the door behind him. In his absence, there’s a sudden return of air to the house, and Mom and I breathe deeply for the first time since he got home from work.
“Who do you think they are? Does Ray ever say anything?” I take a bite of my now cold macaroni and cheese. I don’t mind. I actually prefer it after it’s been sitting in the fridge all night.
“I don’t know, and no, I’ve never asked. The less we know about it, the better.”
“Whoever they are, I’m glad when they show up.”
“Me too.” Mom pulls her blonde hair up into a ponytail. Ray demands she keeps her hair down, but Mom hates it. If it were up to her, she’d cut it all off. The first thing we’ll do when we get to Henderson is visit a salon where she can get the cute pixie cut she’s always wanted.
“I have to leave for a bit, but when I get back, let’s make some popcorn and watch a movie. Sound good?” I stand, picking up my bowl.
“Leave it,” she says. “It’ll give me something to do while you’re gone.”
Guilt and depression ooze from every fiber of her being.It would be easy to say she deserves it, to remind her of all the bad choices she’s made, but I know she did the best with what she had. She had fuck all to work with, same as me. The only villains in our story are my father and Ray.
I set the bowl back down. “Are you okay?”
She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’m fine, honey.”
“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”
I make a pit stop in the bathroom to run a flat iron through my hair, touch up my makeup, and change my clothes. I opted for one of the corset tops I bought for work. It’s black and strapless and pushes what little boobs I have up, giving me a surprising amount of cleavage. Below my tits, sexy mesh fabric with exposed boning curves in toward my middle, running down my torso to my belly button, cinching my waist and giving the illusion of curves. After that’s in place, I pull up a pair of black pleather shorts over a black thong that matches the corset and pair the outfit with cobalt blue high heels for a pop of color.
Here goes nothing.
It’s the second time I’ve worn some of my new digs, and still, I don’t recognize myself. I’m used to oversized T-shirts, jeans, or my diner uniform of a polo and slacks. It’s not just what I see on the outside, though. Something about this sexed-up version of myself transforms me on the inside too. I feel braver and bolder.
I’m not Vivi. I’m Navy.
I slip outside, not wanting to show Mom this new version of me, and I do a happy dance when my car roars to life. Just as promised, Rigger returned it fixed. No one knocked to let me know; I just stepped outside the next day, and there it was, keys tucked under the visor. Hopefully this means Colin is more reliable these days.
After a ten-minute drive, I’m happy to see the steel gates of the Sons of Erebus clubhouse wide open. It’s much busier than when Colin brought me here before. At least fifty motorcycles line the entrance, and almost as many cars are parked in the lot. I pull into a spot closest to the gate in case I have to make a speedy exit.
Colin has ignored my calls and texts, so let’s see how easy it is to ignore me face-to-face. If he’s even here, that is.
My knees shake as I walk, but it’s because heels and gravel don’t mix, not because I’m scared—Navydoesn’t frighten easily. At least, that’s a personality trait I’ve assigned her. Whether or not it’s true has yet to be proven.
As I pass a group of men dressed in leather and black, smoking and drinking near the entrance, their conversations quiet as their gazes land on me. They must sense I’m an outsider and don’t belong. With my head held high, I ignore them and keep walking.
“Hey, baby. Let’s play carpenter. First, we’ll get hammered, then I’ll nail ya!” one of them shouts. He’s the biggest of the group, and instead of a cig hanging from his lips like the others, there’s a rope of red licorice. Something about that stirs a memory I can’t quite grab hold of.
I push it away and embrace the badass personality of Navy by furrowing my brows and cocking my head. “I highly doubt you have enough wood to handle a woman like me.”
