by Bella Jewel
Secrets you don’t want the world to know.
What secrets could Mykel be holding behind that door?
“THIS IS . . . WOW,” I say, putting another piece of tender chicken into my mouth.
Mykel managed to make some chicken, vegetable and noodle dish that has so much flavor, I’m already thinking about my second bowl and wondering if he’s going to judge me for eating so much.
I don’t even care; I’m going back for more.
“It’s nothin’,” Mykel says, his voice low and husky. He puts another forkful in his mouth and I try not to stare as he chews.
He even looks good doing that.
Seriously.
“It’s more than nothing; it’s divine. Where did you learn to cook like this?”
“My mom,” he tells me.
“She must have made some pretty incredible meals.”
“She did.”
God, he just doesn’t like talking to me, does he?
It doesn’t seem to matter what I do. Mykel seems to have this wall up around me. A wall that’s so high, not even I can attempt to climb it. I’m not sure what it is that he doesn’t like, but it does bother me. It bothers me because he knows nothing about me. He doesn’t know who I am, not right down to my core. He just sees me as this annoying woman who he wants out of his life, and his club.
“What is it about me you don’t like?”
He stops chewing and looks over at me. For a moment, I see a tiny flash of shock cross his face. Like he didn’t expect I’d actually ask that question. Then, he continues on chewing. It takes him a few moments to answer. “You’re just hard to deal with.”
Hard to deal with?
He hasn’t liked me from the moment I walked in the door.
It has nothing to do with being hard to deal with. He never even got to hello before he’d made up his mind.
“That’s a cop-out,” I mutter, and shove another mouthful in. It suddenly doesn’t taste as good.
“How is it a fuckin’ cop-out?”
“Because you don’t know me at all. You never even said hello before you decided you didn’t like me.”
“I don’t like smart mouths.”
“Oh, well, I don’t like jerks who don’t even give people a chance.”
He shakes his head and then stands, walking out of the room. Just like that, he exits the conversation. No explanation. Nothing.
He’s done, and that’s that.
“Fucking wanker,” I mutter under my breath and place my bowl down.
It bothers me like crazy. It bothers me that something about my personality makes him dislike me so much. It makes me feel stupid, and like I need to prove myself to him. I don’t, of course, but it doesn’t mean those feelings aren’t there.
My cheeks burn, just a little, and I glance around the now empty room.
Mykel might be judging me before he knows me, but the more I think about it, the more I realize the problem is his, and not mine.
Mykel has a lot of skeletons in his closet, and perhaps he’s starting to let them decide how he feels.
It’s not a good trait to judge someone before you know them, and Mykel is proving that, with every passing second.
I stand, unable to finish my dinner. I place some wrap on the top of the bowl and put it in the fridge for tomorrow, and then I go upstairs into my room and close the door. I lock it, because fuck him, it’s time to call Zariah. I miss not having her around. I miss not being able to vent to her after a hard day. She’s the only family I have here, and she’s the one person I’d trust with my life.
“How’s it going, sis?” she answers the phone, sounding out of breath. “I was going to call you soon.”
“Have you been doing that awful thing again?” I murmur into the phone.
She snorts. “You mean running?”
“Yes, that . . .”
“You know the answer always will be yes to that question.”
“And you know my answer will always be why?”
She laughs. “How are you, Waverly? How are things with Mykel?”
“I can’t stand him. He makes me want to go in there and gouge his eyes out with my fingers, slowly, just to watch him scream in agony and beg for me to stop.”
Zariah goes silent for a second. “You watch way too much television and that was an incredibly morbid thing to say.”
“Thank you.” I smile, flopping onto the bed.
“So, I guess it’s not going well then?”
“That’s one way of putting it. The man can’t stand me, and yet I’ve done nothing to him to earn that kind of hatred. I asked him tonight why he didn’t like me and all he could say was ‘Because you’re hard to deal with.’ I mean, what even is that?”
Zariah huffs. “He’s a moody one, alright. It’s like when they get patched in they automatically become moody jerks. I had to deal with Kendric today, and let me tell you, that man is something else entirely.”
“Yep. Bikers . . .”
“Let’s stop talking about them. Tell me how things are going with Dax. Are you still feeling safe, because the moment you don’t I’m taking you out of there . . .”
“I feel safe, so far. Isn’t Alarick keeping you updated?”
“I know, but I worry about you . . .”
“You’re a cop; you’re supposed to.”
We chat for a few more minutes, and then, with a yawn, I tell Zariah I’m going to get some sleep and promise to see her when I get a chance, considering I may very well be stuck with Dax for the weekend.
Sometimes, I want to just curl up into a ball and hide.
But then I remember why I’m doing this, and I hold my head up high.
Because I’m a goddamned warrior.
5
WAVERLY
“We’ve secured accommodations two doors down from where Dax is taking you. It’s a large lake, people everywhere, so you’re bound to be safe, but we don’t want to leave your side just in case,” Alarick tells me a couple days later as we all sit around a table working out the details for our next move.
Dax is taking me and a few other girls to a lake. He is also bringing some potential ‘buyers,’ though that’s not what he actually calls them. Last time, I recall, he referred to them as good, loyal men looking for love. Snort—it’s not a fucking dating app. It’s real life and those girls are not toys—they’re people. They fall for it, though. Which is exactly what makes it a walk in the park for him and his evil buddies as they carry out their twisted plans.
“I really don’t want to spend two nights there,” I say, rubbing my hands together in a nervous fidget.
I don’t like Dax for a start, but the men he brings around give me full-body shivers that make me want to run and hide.
“You’re going to be fine,” Briella says, squeezing my hand. “We’re going to be there the whole time, and nobody is going to lay a finger on you.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I say. “What bothers me is how it all makes me feel. Those men . . . they’re creepy. They just freak me out.”
“If you don’t feel like you can handle it—” Alarick begins, but I put a hand up to cut him off.
“I can handle it. I’m just explaining why I’m nervous.”
He nods. “Zariah has put a watch on, and we’re going to be there, too. If you can, take as much information as possible. Now we need to increase our efforts and get the info we need.”
I swallow but nod my head in agreeance. “I’ll get what I can.”
“When do you set off?” Briella asks.
“Dax is meeting me at the bus stop in an hour, so I had better check I’ve got everything.”
I stand and stare at the group of bikers all relying on me, all counting on me, and then I stare at my new friend. Briella has been through so much. She’s lost the only family she has left and the one she did save spends more time hating her than loving her. She’s been through all of this and yet she’s still strong.
“Ca
n I talk to Merleigh before I go?” I ask Alarick.
“Yeah. I’ll get Briella to bring her in.”
Merleigh is a survivor, in the truest form. She has been in Dax’s hands. She has seen the evil that is unleashed when you’re sold to someone. She has been through it all and come out the other side. The club saved her, and Briella’s sister, Cova, only a few weeks back and since then, they have been working on helping both of them recover.
If anyone can understand what I see behind those doors, it’s Merleigh.
I walk out of the room while Briella goes to look for Merleigh, and I gather my things. A moment later, a beautiful woman comes into the room. She’s like a tiny angel, gorgeous, blond and so damned innocent-looking it’s hard to ever think she had been so badly mistreated. How could you treat someone who looks like her badly? It would be like hurting a child.
She’s strong, though.
Her looks are nothing on her ability to get through the worst things life can throw at someone.
“Hey Merleigh.” I smile when she approaches.
“Hi Waverly, how are you?” she asks quietly.
“I’m okay. I was actually wondering if we could have a chat?”
She nods and sits on an old bamboo chair that is beside the one I’m currently placing my bags on.
“I know this probably sounds silly, but I’m a little nervous about spending two nights with Dax and whoever it is he’s bringing in. I was wondering if you’ve had to go through this, and might know some of the things I should expect?”
Merleigh nods and crosses her legs, as if thinking on it for a moment. “We spent a few nights towards the end with Dax, meeting people, interacting with other girls. It’s a huge trust-building exercise, and I know it’s going to be different for you because you already know what kind of monster he is, but I remember not knowing and thinking it was complete paradise. I loved that he took us on mini vacations to the lake or a beach. We got to meet men, and interact, and we got fed well and had fun. That’s where I met . . .”
Her voice trails off and I give her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay if this is too painful.”
“No, no, it’s not that. It’s just now I look back on it, of course it was too good to be true, but the life I had been living . . . it was like I’d died and gone to heaven. The men I met were kind and generous, and I truly believed that I was going to start a better life.”
“So basically what you’re saying is nothing terrible is going to happen, but instead, quite the opposite . . .”
She smiles, but it’s wounded. “Oh, it’s terrible. You just don’t know it, and that’s what makes it scary.”
I nod, swallowing the hard lump in my throat. “Thank you. I really appreciate you talking to me.”
She stands and looks up at me, her smile softer now. “You’re strong, Waverly. You’re also protected. You’re going to come out of this with no damage. But I do want to thank you for what you’re doing. It really means a lot to me.”
Dammit, this girl knows how to make my heart feel a whole lot heavier than it normally does.
She’s good people.
Strong people.
People like that, you hang onto.
STANDING ON THE BALCONY peering out, I can honestly say it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s a huge lake full of people doing watersports, and big thick trees surrounding the water, and sitting behind beautiful big cabins. There is a little shop overlooking the lake where people are sitting, laughing and enjoying lunch. A large jetty goes out into the water where visitors are putting in boats, and canoes, and jet skis.
It’s gorgeous.
I could vacation here for a good long time.
Maybe forever.
The smell of fresh coffee brewing fills the air, and a cool breeze tickles over my face as the sun begins to warm the day. The sky is blue, the water is fresh, and I want to stay here until I’m forced to leave.
It’s just a shame to be stuck here with a man I loathe.
Dax.
However, there are also two other men and two other girls.
Both girls, who I’ve been introduce to already, are only young. They’re possibly younger than me. I’d guess they’re only about eighteen, if that. It’s a little alarming that at their age, they’ve lived such hard lives. You can see it written all over them, which makes me wonder if I’m doing my job acting as a traumatized person real well.
Bobbie, the first girl, is young and pretty. She has blond hair and brown eyes, and is petite in build. She’s had a hard life though; her skin seems to be struggling against the trauma she’s putting it through by using drugs and drinking alcohol. She’s got premature age lines and her eyes have dark shadows underneath them. When she’s wearing a shirt, I can see marks on her arms to indicate she’s been using quite heavily.
Amy, the second girl, looks similar to Bobbie, except she seems to be holding her age a little better. She’s got blond hair, slightly ashier than Bobbie’s, and her eyes are blue. She’s a little curvier, but also petite. She, too, carries the marks of drug abuse, but mostly she seems quiet, and withdrawn, and if I’m seeing things correctly, there’s a bruise fading on her left eye.
Someone has hurt her.
She has a different kind of story to tell.
My heart breaks for both of them, mostly because I know what’s about to happen to them. They think they’re going to enter a better world, but soon they’ll find out the heaven they’re being promised is actually in disguise—this is hell. The doors will close behind them, and they’ll have no way out.
I’m not going to let that happen.
“What do you think of the lake?”
I jump when Dax comes up behind me and places a hand on my hip. All day, he’s been putting his hands on me in an affectionate manner. In a way that would make me think he’s got some sort of warm feelings for me. I heard him speaking to Bobbie, and while he wasn’t being cruel, he wasn’t using the same gentle tones he’s been using when we talk.
Does Dax see straight through me, and is playing the game?
Or does he actually feel something different when we’re together?
Both options scare the hell out of me.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he tells me, his voice low and gravelly.
I turn to face him and look up into his gaze. He’s a gorgeous man; it would be hard for anyone to overlook that.
I glance away.
“I’m sorry. I was just taking in the scenery. I didn’t hear you come around.”
“That’s okay; enjoy it. Would you like to take a walk with me? The other girls are enjoying some time with Yates and Jack. I think they might like them.”
Stop talking like you’re introducing a few old friends, you sick motherfucker. Anger bubbles in my chest and I struggle to fight it down, so much so I’m forced to look away and pretend I’m gazing at the lake again. If I don’t, he’ll see the blind rage I feel for him over that horrible comment. Yates and Jack are here for one thing only—to buy themselves a little fucking slave.
They’re rich.
I saw the cars they arrived in.
I saw their clothes and the watches.
They’re not here for fun.
They’re here for business.
“A walk sounds nice,” I say even though it takes every strength inside my body to stop myself from screaming.
“Wonderful.”
We start a walk along the lake, and I can’t help but glance at the cabins, wondering which one the guys are staying in. They said they were close. I notice a few cabins set back into the thick trees a little more, a dirt road leading to them. If they were smart, they’d be in one of those where they can’t be seen. If they’re seen, this all goes to shit.
“How are you feeling today?” Dax asks me, standing a little too close for comfort.
His woodsy aftershave does smell incredible, though.
I’m sure the devil did too, when he was a fucking angel.
“I’m okay. A little nervous,” I tell him, using a soft voice. “I’m not sure I fit in here.”
Dax reaches out and takes my hand, and I want jerk it back. A couple walking the opposite way to us smiles, like we’re the damned cutest things they’ve ever seen. I grit my teeth.
“You’re with me. I’ll make sure we have a wonderful time.”
Oh, I’m positive you will.
“It is a lovely place,” I say, trying to change the subject. “Do you suppose it’s too cold to swim?”
“Not at all.”
“Good,” I say, taking my hand from his quickly and running towards the water.
If this is what I have to do to get away from him, I will.
I take my shirt off until I’m in my bra and shorts, and I launch myself into the cold lake. It’s not as bad as I thought, but it’s still enough to make me let out a little squeal. Dax grins and then, before I know it, he’s taking his shirt off and walking towards the water. The man has a body on him—there’s no doubt about it.
I look away, irritated. I duck under the water, holding my breath and letting out the tension in my body by screaming as loudly as I possibly can.
When I surface, I feel a little better, though my chest is tight and sore.
I glance back in Dax’s direction but I can’t see him, which means he’s already in the water. Super. Now I’m stuck in here with him.
Great job thinking on your toes, Waverly.
He appears in front of me, hair wet, face chiseled. God, it’s not a wonder people fall for this man. He’s gorgeous and he knows it.
I duck back under the water quickly, not wanting to have to look at him a single second longer, or face this awkward encounter that I so stupidly put myself in.
When I surface again, he’s smiling. Damn, if I don’t have to avert my gaze.
“You’re beautiful, Waverly. I’ve met many women in my time, but none quite as exceptional as you.”
Right.
Great.
Fab.
“Thanks,” I say softly.
He extends a hand and places it on my cheek and for a moment, for a terrifying moment, I think he’s going to kiss me. If he’s going to do something that I’m sure he hasn’t done before, right here in the water, with a girl he’s supposed to be preparing for sale. When he leans closer, and my fears are nearly confirmed, I turn my face away. My cheeks are burning, thankfully, because it only helps when I say, “Oh, oh . . .”
