Chapter 1
Chapter One
Isabelle
Months Ago . . .
I rush into the hospital, spotting Sutton and the rest of my girls standing down the hall huddled together.
My heart thuds against my chest, seeing the worried expressions on their faces.
Not far down from them stands a group of seriously hot guys.
Honestly, they’re the hottest men I’ve ever seen, even with grim faces.
Sutton and Everleigh spot me first and take in my outfit—baggie long sleeve shirt, leggings, and my hair down. Juniper and Josephine notice me seconds after they do. Juniper opens her mouth to say something, but Sutton pinches her arm to hush her up. They know I don’t want anyone to know.
A few of the men eye me as I stop near Sutton and give her a hug.
The one that has a scar running down the side of his face catches my eye, and he seems to assess me momentarily before he turns away.
Another one standing close to him is also looking in our direction, but I can’t tell if he’s looking at me or one of the others.
It doesn’t matter if he is. I know it would be me.
I’m the ugly one out of our group. Hell, I’ve never even had a boyfriend, for that matter.
I pull away from Sutton and take a step back, curling my arms around my waist. “How is she?” I ask, worrying about our other friend Ivy. We’re all best friends, more like family than anything.
“Reaper said she’ll be okay,” Sutton murmurs, nodding her head in the direction of the men. “He’s heading to Ivy’s room now and said he’d let us see her after he does.”
Reaper is Ivy’s man. She met him a little while ago and ironically spent a night with him before she knew Reaper was her new boss. They ended up together, and from the grim looks on all the men’s faces standing around, the rest of them must really care for my friend.
I nod and focus on her rather than the men, not hiding the fact. They’re taking us all in. “That’s good.”
“Yeah, but what about you?” Everleigh murmurs, grabbing hold of my wrists. She pushes my sleeve up and winces at the gruesome bruises on my skin. “It’s getting worse.” The way her brows crease in the middle of her forehead deepens when I yank my hand a way.
“Babe,” Sutton whispers, but I shake my head.
“No, don’t. I . . . I was short this month. It won’t happen again. I’ll make sure of it. I have to. It just means I work harder and ask my boss for more hours. I’m sure she’ll give them to me,” I reassure them, wrapping my arms around my waist. “I’ve got this.”
What my friends don’t know is that my boss isn’t the same one I had, considering they think I’m still a receptionist. I haven’t told them I left my old job nearly a year ago and have been working well over an hour away in a strip club.
I didn’t want to take the chance of working at any of the clubs closer to home.
There’s no way in hell I’d want anyone I know to see me on stage.
The last thing I need is for anything to get back to Dexter.
He’d for sure raise his price on my parents, and I wouldn’t have anything to my name, period.
In the time I’ve started working at Hellfire Dancers, life’s been marginally easier than it has in years.
They all look at me, ready to call me on my bullshit.
Dexter decided to up his prices on the smack he sells, it’s not the first time, and of course, my parents didn’t pay.
They never do. I didn’t know he came calling to collect.
I’d gotten good at making sure I had more than enough each time he found me.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t times I don’t.
For instance, these past two days. Thankfully Dexter wasn’t able to do anything else but beat me.
It’s been that way for about two years now.
I think it has to do with the amount of alcohol and the fact he’s doing his own drugs—he can’t get it up.
But the downside to this is that I end up beaten worse than normal.
Josephine takes my hand and drags me to a corner out of sight of the men and turns me to check my back. She’s a nurse and works at a free clinic over in Jackson. My shirt is lifted in the back before I realize what she’s doing, only for her to gasp at the heinous sight I’m sure it is.
“Isabelle,” she whispers nearly inaudibly. “You need to have these checked.”
“No.” I shake my head furiously. “I’m not doing anything. I’m fine. You all know I’m fine. It’ll be okay. They’ll heal.”
“How are you standing right now?” Sutton asks, blocking anyone from seeing around her and Josephine while I shove my shirt back down.
“I’m standing because I got a text message saying one of my best friends had been in an accident, and I needed to make sure she was okay,” I answer, not lying in the slightest. If it weren’t for my concern for Ivy, I’d be home, in my bed.
“Everything okay?” I stiffen at the sound of the gruff but sexy tone coming from behind my friends.
Sutton whirls around and smiles as she answers. “Peachy, Angel.”
Angel? That’s an interesting name. It must be his road one. I’ve seen shows about motorcycle clubs and have read about them. I’m not completely dense.
Plus, the women I work with tell me that Hellfire Dancers is actually owned by a motorcycle club, but they rarely come in since they’re not close.
Mia, my boss, well the manager, she’s told us all that when the owners come, she makes sure to let us all know.
The woman runs a tight ship, and I think that’s why I like working and driving the distance I do.
Though sometimes I’ll sleep in my car a couple of nights in a row to keep from exhausting myself even more with the drive home.
We always get three days on, two days off.
“If that’s the case, can I speak with your friend here?” Angel smirks, cocking a brow, and motions to me.
“Um, yeah,” Sutton says sweetly and looks at me. “We’ll be right over there.”
I nod, swallowing nervously. Why does this man who I’ve never met want to talk to me? He’s hot. Nearly as good-looking as the one with the scar on the side of his face.
Angel steps closer. His eyes seem to assess me as he clears his throat. “Didn’t know one of Ivy’s girls works in one of our clubs, he says, getting straight to the punch.
My eyes widen, and I visibly swallow, “Um, what?” I stammer.
“Babe.” He smirks and shakes his head lowly. “Guess that’s my answer. They don’t know. We’ll keep it between us. The only reason I know is ‘cause Mia sends footage of the girls dancing every once in a while. I’m the VP of the club that owns Hellfire Dancers.”
Well, shit on as stick. This isn’t what I was expecting.
“You . . . um,” I start.
“You don’t want them to know. I get it. I’ll keep it that way, but you need to tell me who the fuck hurt you.”
My back stiffens at his demand.
“What?” I whisper, licking my lips nervously and wrapping my arms around my waist.
“You heard me,” he states, nodding. “I’m not dumb or blind. I know the signs. You work for us, and the club takes care of its own. Your family now regardless of your employment considering who you are to Ivy.”
Seriously this guy is going to give me a panic attack. “I appreciate it, but I’m okay. It’s done and not going to happen again.” I don’t know why I’m telling him this. Maybe it’s his eyes.
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s not going to happen again.” Angel smirks. “I’ll make sure of it. Keep your secrets for now, but just know I’ll find out. After all, I’m deeming myself your newest best friend.”
Oh my.
Ugh.
What?
“Everything good over here?”
I nearly jump out of my skin at the gruffness of the voice for the man to who that voice belongs—the guy with the scar on his face.
“Yeah, brother, I was just talking to my newest BFF.” Angel chuckles and wraps an arm around my waist.
What the hell?
What alternate universe have I walked into?
The guy with the scar on his face furrows his brow at Angel, then looks down at me. His eyes are dark, assessing, and inky. And I must admit the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen in my life. I could get lost looking at them, which is bad.
Very, very bad.
I can’t allow it.
Nope.
My life is already hell as it is. I can’t let myself be consumed by anything else.
Sitting with my friends in Reaper’s room at the clubhouse, we surround Ivy.
This is the first time I’m seeing her since the accident and all of us going to the hospital.
I’m just thankful she’s okay. We could’ve lost Ivy if it weren’t for the club racing after her.
I swear I want to claw the eyes out of the bitch responsible for making her run away from the clubhouse right before everything went down.
I’m not a violent person. I leave the violence to Josephine and Everleigh. They get off on the mess.
The girls are all talking about which guy they’d like to get it on with, and Juniper mentions how she’d love to have a chance to screw either Angel or Hellhound.
Yep, I found out his name at the hospital after Angel declared himself my best friend. I couldn’t believe it. I swear it was all a joke. It had to be. Right? I’m not sure.
Angel made a point of texting me and even showing up at my apartment with food, saying he got my address from a file Mia has on me from when I applied.
I feel the way Ivy’s looking at me when I don’t add into the conversation, but she doesn’t say anything—thank God. Instead, she changes the subject completely before we all dive back into our binge movie day.
I’m sure Ivy will try and get out of me later about what’s going on, but for now, she’s leaving it. I intend to make sure she doesn’t get the chance to. At least not for a while. I don’t even know what’s happening in my own life as it is.