I shift my backpack and nod. “Where can I find it?”

“Not safe for a girl walkin’ round here alone,” Cade drawls.

“I can take care of myself,” I retort.

“What’s a little girl like you gonna do to a big man on a bike if he tries to have a little bump and grind with you?”

“Shut the fuck up, Cade,” Jackson growls. Ha! My old man has some fire.

“Can you tell me how to get there, or not?” I say, glaring at Cade.

“Out the gate, to the left, number ten. It’s about a five-minute walk,” Jackson answers for Cade, thrusting some keys at me and not once moving his eyes from mine.

“Thanks, I’ll be on my way. I won’t be staying long. I just need to earn some money and then I’ll leave.”

“You need a job, girly?” Old grey asks.

“Yes, I do.”

“We got one goin’ at the bar, here at the compound.”

“No,” Jackson says. “She ain’t workin’ there.”

“Why not?” I say, crossing my arms.

“You’re too young.”

“I’m twenty-one, and last time I checked that is the legal age.”

“You don’t need to be put in front of a bunch of drunk, dirty old men lookin’ for a fuckin’ bang.”

I raise my brow. “I’ve dealt with far worse.”

“Oh yeah, sugar, like what?” Cade drawls.

I turn towards him. “Like pimps, drug dealers, junkies, and there were always the men that tried to rape me in my sleep because my mother had brought them home for a good time, but she passed out from whatever high she was on, and of course, they weren’t leaving until they got what they were promised. You learn real quick how to defend yourself when you’re thirteen and a forty-year-old junkie tries to climb into your bed and put his fingers in places his fingers shouldn’t be.”

“What. The. Fuck?” Jackson snarls.

I turn towards him. “You didn’t think my mother raised me in a nice neighborhood with rainbows and lollipops, did you?”

He looks shocked. The big, bad-ass biker looks shocked. “Yeah, I fuckin’ did.”

“Well, she didn’t.”

When I glance back at Cade, he’s watching me with a look I don’t quite understand. Is that…pain? He blinks a few times and the smirk returns.

“I say give her the job, make her put her money where her mouth is.”

“No,” Jackson snaps.

“Aww, come on boss,” Old grey says. “We need a girl.”

“She’s my daughter.”

“Well, least you can keep an eye on her if she’s in the compound.”

Jackson sighs, and then turns to me. “Fine, we’ll give you a run.”

“Good,” I say walking towards the door. “Later.”

“Oh and Addison?” Jackson calls.

I glance over my shoulder at him.

“Ever disrespect me in my club again, I’ll punish you. Your Momma might have let you get away with that behavior because she was clearly a worthless piece of shit, but I ain’t. Don’t fuckin’ speak to me like that again.”

I tilt my head to the side. “You’re a bit late to play daddy now, Jackson. In fact, I am pretty sure you lost that chance the day I turned thirteen and got raped by a man nearly three times my age.”

I walk out to the sound of his strangled gasp. I hold my head high though; I have to take care of myself. Feeling means losing, and I can’t lose. My mother might have fucked up my life when I was younger, but it doesn’t mean I have to live like that forever. I’m free now, and I plan on doing everything I can to fight for the life I know I deserve.

CHAPTER 2

PAST

“Don’t push me away, snake,” Jasper hisses in my ear, as he presses my body against the wall.

I can smell his breath; I can taste it in the back of my throat. I want to gag. I want to hurt him, but I am powerless. I have nowhere else to go. I have no one else to turn to. This is my home, and these are the people that are in my life, like it or not. I squirm in Jasper’s grip, needing to get away, just for a moment. I know what he wants; he wants to fuck me against the wall. He wants to put his filth all over me. He gets off on taking girls that fight him, so I learned not to fight. Most of the time, he gets bored, others, he does it anyway.

“My mother will be here soon, with her friend for the night. If you’re here, what’s that going to say about the kind of service you’re running?”

He hisses, and I hold my breath, not wanting to smell him a moment longer. His dirty-grey eyes scan my face, and his grey hair wisps around his chin. I don’t know why any man would leave their hair so wispy; it’s disgusting.

“I might not get hold of you this time, snake, but I will…”

I know he will. He always does. All I’ve done is buy myself a night, maybe two, if I’m lucky. He’ll come back, and perhaps next time, he won’t listen to my attempts at turning him away.

“I’m sure you will,” I snarl, in a low, dangerous voice.

“You make sure your Momma brings in a good amount tonight. Don’t let her pass out on her client again. That no good piece of shit is startin’ to get on my nerves.”

“Go and find yourself some fresh meat then, and leave us alone,” I growl.

He lets me go, and the instant pressure release throughout my body is massive.