by S Cinders
Running Scared
The Billionaire's Baby, Volume 2
S. Cinders
Published by S. Cinders, 2018.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
RUNNING SCARED
First edition. May 23, 2018.
Copyright © 2018 S. Cinders.
Written by S. Cinders.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
CHAPTER 1 – Shay
CHAPTER 2 – Shay
CHAPTER 3 – Shay
CHAPTER 4 – Will
CHAPTER 5 – Shay
CHAPTER 6 – Shay
CHAPTER 7 - Shay
CHAPTER 8 – Shay
CHAPTER 9 – Gina POV
CHAPTER 10 – Marco POV
CHAPTER 11 – Shay
CHAPTER 12 – Will
CHAPTER 13 – Shay
CHAPTER 14 – Shay
CHAPTER 15 – Shay
CHAPTER 17 – Will
Further Reading: More Than Friends
About the Author
To Kat who has believed in me every step of the way.
CHAPTER 1 – Shay
Step one: I admit I am powerless over my addiction and that my life has become unmanageable.
My throat was dry, my hands were shaking, and I almost dropped my water glass when I tried to take a drink. Maybe it’s best if I just fold my hands in my lap. Does that look weird? What am I talking about? I look like a June Clever want to be in my sensible suit and fake pearls. This was a mistake I should never have come. I can’t do this.
Step two: I believe that a Power greater than myself can restore my life and my sanity.
I’m a lunatic to think that she will ever forgive me. Shit, I fucked her sister’s husband for drugs. Self-loathing washed over me, and I wanted to get up—to run away from here. I don’t deserve to be in the same city let alone the same room as her. I almost ruined her life. I sure as hell tried to.
Step three: I have made the decision to turn my will and life over to the care of God.
I have never been a religious person. My momma went to church when I was young, and she was always praying/cursing God for all of her mishaps. But what did I know about the big guy in the sky? He pretty much kept away from me and I sure as shit never invited him in. It was only in the darkest of moments when I was sitting in a county cell in my own urine that I finally asked if he was really there. If he cared about a meth whore like me because nobody else did. I had seen to that.
Step four: I have made a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself.
My name is Shay Montgomery, I’m from a little city called Deepwater in Tennessee. I’m a methadone addict. I have stolen money from friends and family. I have had sex with men for drug money. I drove my best friend Mandy away and treated her like shit. To make matters worse, I slept with her sister’s husband Andrew—my dealer. If that wasn’t bad enough, he murdered their parents because they couldn’t pay what they owed him. I’m not sure I would have stopped using on my own. I was picked up nearly a year ago by the local police and served a little under a year for drug possession. I’m now clean and in a twelve-step program. This is my truth.
Step five: I have admitted to God, to myself and all other human beings the exact nature of my wrongs.
And now you know why I’m here. Sitting at a café in an ill-fitting suit that I picked up at the thrift store, with a pair of fake pearls loaned to me by my roommate, Stacy. I met her at the bar that I work at. Her dark skin and kicking body have men flocking to her like flies to honey.
Shit, if I was into girls I would put her at the top of my list. But the most important thing is that Stacy is one of the kindest people I have ever met. She doesn’t put up with my bullshit and she doesn’t tolerate drugs of any kind.
It was her idea for me to try and make amends with Mandy. I had sent letters to both Mandy and Kim when I was locked up. Not surprisingly. I never heard anything back and didn’t expect to. But Stacy was right, Mandy deserved for me to apologize to her face. We were best friends, and I shit all over it.
I noticed her out of the corner of my eye. Mandy’s handsome husband was glued to her side and glowering right at me. Mandy’s slender shape and blonde hair were so familiar to me. I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.
Mandy didn’t return it. She approached the table and didn’t sit down.
I nervously stood, “Mandy, it is good to see you.”
Her eyes narrowed, “Shay, I wish I could say the same. Haven’t you done enough for my family? The only reason I’m here is that the lawyers said that it was your testimony that put Andrew away. I figured that I owed you the decency to listen to what you have to say. But now that I am here, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want your excuses. I’m happy now. You can’t take that away from me.”
She turned on her heel to leave and I felt my panic racing up my throat.
“No, no, no! Please, Mandy, don’t leave!”
Elliot growled at me and I took a nervous step back.
Mandy turned, and I saw tears swimming in her blue eyes. Shit, I didn’t come here to hurt her.
“I wanted to tell you how sorry I am,” I started, and she actually laughed in my face.
“You? Are you sorry? You know what? Whatever, thanks for letting me know.”
She whipped back around and stormed out of the café, her expensive shoes clicking on the tiles. Her husband glared at me, “Don’t contact us again.”
I nodded—defeated, “I won’t.”
He followed her, and I sank back down in my chair. The snotty waitress who had shamelessly watched the whole scene raised a brow, “Are you going to order anything? Because if you aren’t we really need the table.”
The fucking café was empty, and she knew it as well as I did. They wanted the trash out of the establishment—me.
I stood, tucking the strap of my purse over my shoulder only to have the thin leather snap. Suddenly everything I had in my bag was scattered over the tiles. There were tampons, lip gloss, my phone, some lotion, gum, and my twelve-step book. The waitress grabbed the book and looked at me again with a hint of pity.
I thanked her and tucked the bag under my arm with my possessions shoved back inside.
The voices had already started up.
‘Just one hit, it won’t hurt anything. You will fill so much better. All of this will go away. Do it, Shay, we need it.’
I choked back a sob. This had been a mistake. I didn’t feel any better if anything I felt a crapload worse. But this wasn’t about me feeling better. It was about owning up to my mistakes.
I pulled out my phone and started to dial Stacy’s number.
“Hey, Shay, how did it go?”
Right as I was about to answer a hand wrapped around my mouth and yanked me back against a hard chest. The other arm wrapped around me like a vise and lifted me up off the pavement.
“Shay? Girl, did you butt-dial me?”
My phone fell to the pavement as my captor shoved me inside of an unmarked van that I hadn’t noticed parked at the curb. I couldn’t call out, couldn’t move, and didn’t expect when the blow came to my head and black dots appeared in front of my eyes.
“Shit, there is no need to rough her up!”
The man’s voice was somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t place where.
“She was going to scream!” the man who hit me argued, “What do you care if I
hit the bitch?”
I didn’t hear the other man’s answer because I had finally escaped into nothingness.
CHAPTER 2 – Shay
Step six: I am ready to have God remove all defects of character.
When I awakened my hands were tied behind my back and there was a blindfold over my eyes. The strange thing was that I was laying on a soft surface, possibly a bed. Living in jail for all of those months I know all about bad mattresses. The one I was currently on was high end. There was no saggy middle. I tried to bounce myself a little and felt the plush softness envelop me.
I expected to be waking on a cold floor or basement. But I wasn’t cold and there was a soft blanket covering my body. What kind of kidnapper made sure you were covered with a blanket?
I felt panic rising in my throat and realized that my mouth wasn’t covered. A scream wrenched from the very heart of me. The terror apparent in the high-pitched wail.
There was a mad rush of footsteps, it sounded like someone was running up some stairs. I heard the sound of a door crashing against the wall.
“What the fuck, bitch?” a voice snarled right before he grabbed my hair and yanked it back painfully.
I whimpered and tried to curl into a ball.
The man wasn’t impressed and pulled even harder. I felt tears dampening my blindfold.
“Stop, please stop,” I begged.
Something nasty smelling and even worse tasting was shoved into my mouth. My cries were now silenced, and the tears were ignored.
“You are more trouble than you are worth,” he growled and then he struck me across the cheek. The pain was excruciating. I huddled trying to make my body as small as possible. I don’t know what he would have done if the other man hadn’t have come up.
“Jamie! Fuck, you weren’t to hurt her!”
The man named Jamie sneered at the newcomer, “Who the fuck cares, Marco?”
“The boss cares, dick for brains! There is a fucking bruise forming on her face. Are you trying to get us killed?” Marco demanded
“What is so special about her anyway?” Jamie scoffed.
“I don’t know, but I do know that your ass is grass if the boss sees this. Get the fuck out of here!”
Jamie stormed off just as I felt the bed compress where Marco must have sat.
“I’m sorry, Hermosa,” He removed the gag and tenderly touched my cheek.
I shied away from his touch and whimpered. My cheek hurt, and my mouth tasted like dirty socks. Marco got up and for a second, I thought he too was leaving. But then his body was back, and he was helping me to sit.
“What, what are you doing?” my voice didn’t even sound like my own.
“A drink, Hermosa, it will help you feel better,” his accent was soothing, and I gulped down the fresh drink of water that he had given me.
“Careful, Novia, you don’t want to choke.”
I pulled back and whispered, “Why are you doing this to me? Who are you?”
I didn’t know anyone named Marco. I was appreciative of his kindness but that didn’t negate the fact that I was being held, prisoner.
He sighed, “I cannot tell you that. The boss has his own agenda and he did not share it with me.”
“Who is the boss?” my voice broke on a sob, “Please just let me go, there has to be some kind of mistake. I don’t have any money.”
The mattress shifted as Marco stood. Instead of answering me I heard that familiar voice from before. This was the man who had taken me off the street.
“You!” my accusation hung in the air.
“It’s lovely to see you again as well, Shay.”
I knew that voice. Suddenly my mind flashed to another time. It was before I ever moved to the city, before the drugs and the partying. The man who belonged to that voice had been little more than a boy.
“Will?”
His low chuckle had the hair on my arms standing up.
“I don’t understand why you are doing this?” I tried to face where his voice was coming from.
For a moment he was quiet and then he barked out, “Leave us.”
I had forgotten about Marco and James.
The bed sunk down again but this time I felt the heat radiating from the body next to me. I felt my nipples tighten as his hands loosened the blindfolds and pushed my reddish-brown hair back from my face.
I blinked a few times trying to adjust to the bright light.
William Ethan Jennings face came into view. He was broader than I remembered. His muscular form was new to me. I remembered him being the lanky boy that had followed me around and asked me out a million times.
I could hardly recognize the boy I knew from the man sitting in front of me. His inky black curls were shorter, and I wondered what they felt like. His icy blue eyes were locked on my face.
“Who struck you?”
It was only three words, but I’m not sure I have ever heard anything more menacing.
“Shay, who struck you?” he demanded, eyes flaring.
I blinked and noticed that he winced at my glazed expression.
“The-the man, Jamie,” I stumbled over my words noticing the way that his fists clenched. “Please Will, why am I here?”
His eyes darkened, “I don’t go by Will anymore. And they weren’t supposed to hurt you. I will deal with Jamie.”
His face was expressionless, and I felt the power radiating from his muscular form. I was intimidated and turned on at the same time.
“Will,” I prompted.
He stood and straightened his immaculate black suit. I knew nice clothes, and this had to be six grand if it was a dollar. The Will Jennings that I had known lived in a trailer park with his mom.
“I will send Marco in to tend to you. I’m sure you will feel better after a bath and something to eat.”
“Will,” it came out sharper than I intended, “Why am I here? What are you involved in?”
He turned to leave, and I worried that I was going to be left without any answers. But at the last moment, he turned and spoke, “I’m saving you, Shay.”
“Saving me?” I screeched, “From what? I wasn’t hurt until you took me off the street. Will, what in the fuck is going on? You can’t just leave me tied up here!”
But he was no longer listening. The man I knew as Will was gone and my captor had nothing more to say.
Moments later Marco came back in the room and went to the en-suite bathroom to start the water. I could smell something feminine that he must have squirted into the water.
“Why am I here?” I begged Marco as he came back in the room and cut the ties on my wrists.
“I cannot tell you, Hermosa,” he was a little taller than I was, of Hispanic descent and rather good looking.
“Marco, please, I don’t know what has happened to Will but there must be some mistake.”
Marco shrugged, “The boss doesn’t make mistakes. You had better go get your bath. I cannot leave you here alone, but you can shut the door partially for your privacy.”
“Can you tell me why?” I begged him rubbing my sore wrists.
Marco shook his head, “No, Hermosa, I do not know.”
CHAPTER 3 – Shay
The next time I awakened to fire rapid Spanish. It took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t tied up and that there was a woman arguing with Marco. I wished to God I had paid attention during Spanish class at school because I had no idea what they were talking about. I did catch her name, however, Gina.
After that bath from the night before I had climbed into bed in my wrinkled blouse and panties. Marco raised a brow but didn’t say anything. I was so exhausted, and I knew that he wouldn’t tell me what the fuck was going on.
I slid from the bed and yanked on my skirt. If it looked bad yesterday it was nothing compared to the train wreck that I was today. Slipping into the bathroom, I tried to freshen up. I found a comb in one of the drawers and washed it with the hand soap and hot water. I wanted to think that it would sanitize anything that
might still be living there.
Thankfully there was a new toothbrush under the sink and I grabbed it as well as the toothpaste. My hair was a tangled mess from sleeping on it wet. The bruise on my face from Jamie had turned a deep purplish black. Cocking my head to the side I assessed the damage. It was nothing that wouldn’t heal, but it sure looked bad.
I wrapped my reddish-brown hair up into a bun and secured it with the bobby pins I had taken out before my bath the night before. I looked like shit, no doubt about it, but this was as presentable as I was going to get in the current circumstances.
I heard the outside door open and a woman’s voice called out to me. “Shay? Where are you?”
“In the bathroom,” I called out and hurriedly cleaned up my mess.
When I opened the door, I was faced with the meanest looking girl I had ever seen. Her features were beautiful, high cheekbones, full lips, and dark curly hair. She had great boobs and a curvy figure that most women would die for. But her expression and cut arms gave me pause, this girl didn’t mess around.
“So, I am to be your babysitter for the time being. My name is Gina.”
I walked a little further into the room, “Can you tell me why they have me here?”
Gina laughed, “Can I? Yes. Will I? No.”
My heart sank, and I felt that urge to use to escape. Trying to shove that down, I tightened my fists, “What do you they want with me? I don’t have any money, I’m a fucking waitress.”
The gleam in her eyes was cold, “What part of no aren’t you understanding? I won’t give you any information.”
I sighed and sank down onto the bed, “Can you at least tell me where Marco and Jamie went?”
I was hoping that Jamie was far away from where we were. He was a mean bastard and I didn’t need any more enemies at the moment.
“Marco is downstairs, and Jamie, well he won’t be bothering you again,” she snorted, “He won’t be bothering anyone ever again.”
I felt the color draining from my face,” What-what do you mean?”
