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PROLOGUE

SHILA

That was not the boy I knew years ago Back then, he had a boyish charrin, and he didn’t let his situation as a foster kid stop hi the carefree person he was

That all changed one night I honestly have no one to bla hi not only his heart but my soul in the process The day I watched hi towards hi with hi and too dumb not to tell him, but he carried the other half of my heart

Two years later, I left it all behind—e scholarship, the only ho I could have ever done for , I searched and searched for what I no is the only love ofcorid It had to work two jobs, lived in a roos, including food and clothes I didn’t even have a car, preferring to save anything I could, and would walk to work, ride the city bus to school It was a never-ending cycle, but being in the hoh, I already knew I’d still need two jobs until e therapist really took off

“Hey, Shila” I dartit’s Jolie who’s trying to grabmyself down memory lane, like I’m still sixteen instead of the twenty-five-year-old I a out what I wanted to do when I left ho me how disappointed they were in me, like it’s on repeat in my head Well, to be fair, the day I didn’t leave with the boy who stoleover and over The days after, the being grounded for wanting to be with soutted me I became a shell of myself, withdrew from friends, social activities, did the bare h school and getting the hell away from it, all with a broken heart

“Hi, Jolie,” I reply

“Can you do ot to the rest of the His is the only one I didn’t Decker is itching to go for a ride” Jolie is giddy, bouncing on the balls of her feet, then clapping her hands

“Sure,” I say, even as the bottom of my stomach falls to the floor

“Thank you!” She hugs me quickly, then leaves Meanwhile, I’ holy that Shadow isn’t in his room See, that boy who I searched for, for years after our world fell apart, well, I knew him as Bennett, not the person he is today

No, the , not a hint of the characteristics that once ruled his personality, of the boy I knew I also try to avoid hi hat I’ve learned is his now fae him in fear he’d hate me Besides, it’s not every day you’re accused of statutory rape I just hope Bennett knows that I would have never allowed my parents to do that to him Which is the only reason I stayed behind when he askedhi we did was completely consensual

I just hope Bennett isn’t in his room, or anywhere at the Inn for that matter I’m still not prepared for him all these years later

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SHADOW

The club gave me this road name for a reason, and it’s comin’ in handy now oin’ after the woman who’s kept me on the run from every aspect in my life besides the club No one, not my Prez, not the brothers, not a fuckin’ soul, knows of my past past with Shila, and I’m willin’ to bet my last dollar Jolie doesn’t know either

My eyes locked on Shila the minute alked into The Breezeway Inn Scurryin’ like a nized who I was A fuckin’ shame, too If she had stuck around, she’d have known that I see her All of her The way she bends her head down, tucking that long dark hair of hers behind her ear, showin’ off the slope of her neck Lips she licks when she’s nervous Fuck, she’s the exact sa curves to her body The thing that has me stumped is how she landed in Louisiana e’re both frouess, the fickle bitch that she is