Draft #1

Transpose: Chapter One

I can’t believe I am doing this, I don’t know how the hell Liz talked me into this. I am currently standing outside the office of a 25 year old self-made billionaire, who is looking for a secretary, and I am applying for the position. She is the snoopiest person I know and she found this job on the down low from a guy in the IT department that apparently adores her very much since no one is supposed to know that they are looking for someone yet. I was just informed moments ago that I am allowed to go in and yet here I stand hesitating. The little devil on my shoulder keeps saying something along the lines of ”Really Sin you need to go in there.” With a few choice words added in here and there. Taking a deep breath I knock on the door and seconds later I hear a whispered “Finally” coming from behind the vast oak door. I idly wonder if it will be heavy. I am yanked out of that train of thought by a very appealing voice allowing me entrance to the office. As I push the door open my question from before is answered with a “No”, there must be some kind of assistance system in place, or it’s not real oak.

The first thing I see is the huge desk in the back of the room, it’s not an immense room so it’s definitely the prominent entity, and a little ostentatious I think. Sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the desk is Tammy, the first women I met in the interview process. I think she liked me or I wouldn’t be here, she was his last secretary and had to leave for maternity and decided to be a stay at home mom instead of returning. I walk toward them keeping my eyes down and I still haven’t looked at him, pausing by the only unoccupied chair I wait to be told to sit down. Coming in here and taking a seat would be rude without permission and so here I stand, in dead silence, I remain standing for what feels like minutes with no one saying anything before the man behind the desk asks me to sit. I sink into the chair and it is very comfortable, cold red leather with arms to match and a very thick padding that I think is made of microfiber of some sort.

I still haven’t looked at the powerful man that sits in front of me not wanting to see his reaction. I am not a pretty women but I am also not ugly. I stand at 5’6” with long straight brunette hair that reaches my waist, my blue eyes contrast with my hair and my hair contrasts with my skin giving me a light pale glow. I don’t look like a ghost but I not a blonde bomb shell like Tammy in any way. “Miss. Abernathy” wow just my name from his lips is like silk to my ears, god I sound like Liz, “you may look up.” As my head raises I still refuse to make eye contact and by the smirk on his face he must find that funny. “Well, I see Tammy has described you accurately. I need to ask you a few questions before we move on however, you have already given a few answers and you didn’t even know it.” I quickly look to Tammy who is in a full on smile at me and I find it scary and reassuring at the same time. I slowly turn my attention back to the man in front of me watching her from the corner of my eye. “Look at me,” I don’t really have time to process what he has truly just said before I am already trapped in his eyes and when I say trapped I mean holy hell I can’t look away kind of trapped.

He is so, for lack of a better word, hot. Jacob Steal, his chiseled jawline and slightly pale face in just a beautiful as I would imagine the angel Gabriel was. His hair is dark brown or nearly black I don’t know but his eyes, that is the most striking feature, green eyes with hints of grey. I’m captivated; finally I am freed of his pull when he looks down at the paper in front of him. “You went to college.” He sounds like he is just stating a fact so I stay quiet. He looks up at me but I refuse to make eye contacting not wanting to be lost in his eyes again, “How was that?” I don’t know how to comprehend a question on education that has nothing to do with this interview but I play along, “It was ok, I just graduated not but 4 months ago and since then I have been looking for a new job and a new apartment Sir.” His eyes darken at the end of my answer and I have a hard time trying to understand it but before I could dig to deep he looks to Tammy in a silent “what the fuck” kind of way from the corner of my eye I see her shrug.

When he finally turns his gaze back to me his eyes have cleared to a stony look giving no room for questions or comments of any kind unless spoken to. “You have no family?” before I could dig too deep into that thought I answer him in a steady voice that surprises me. “No, Sir.” He looks as if he has seen an alien and I ignore that look waiting for the next question and hoping it is not on the subject of family. “How?” You have got to be fucking kidding me; I can’t stand to look at this man while I answer secretly hating him with every word that exits my mouth. “My father was killed as a prisoner of war in Afghanistan, my mom couldn’t handle it and she didn’t want me and my brother suffering so she was going to bring us with her, I survived my brother didn’t.” When I look up the only emotion that shows on my face is my despise of this insufferable man. “I’m sorry; I didn’t know it was that bad. Do you want to build a family? I only ask this so I can take into consideration the possibility of losing another secretary to children, Not that I’m not happy for you Tammy.” I haven’t really thought about it. “I don’t have a boyfriend, never have, and I don’t plan on having one, or a husband, or anyone else who could give me children so I’m sure you’re safe.” I try to keep my suffering from showing through my expression or tone of voice but of course he hounds me on that subject. “Why, don’t you want a family. “Closing my eyes I take a deep breath and don’t open them again until I finish. “For the obvious reason, and because I don’t want to be hurt or lose anyone again.”

He looks upset, “What is that obvious reason Miss.Abernathy?” I roll my eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me and please answer the question I am honestly intrigued to hear this answer.” I answer by only taking out my phone and showing him pictures of a group of girls with their boyfriends, all my friends and me in the middle alone of course, “That was my 21st birthday, tell me you don’t see the reason all of the girls in this picture have a guy hanging on them and the one girl in the middle is alone.” Realization crosses his face, “I see a woman who is alone, by choice, and you don’t think you are beautiful.” I am tempted to clap my hands in a sarcastic gesture but refrain “It’s quite obvious you see,” When I look him in the eyes I see nothing but compassion. He looks away immediately and turns to his computer. “ Tammy come here,” I watch in confusion as she walks to the other side of the desk and looks at the computer screen with a smile, nodding her head as he finishes showing her something.

They both look at me with mischievous smiles and I nearly faint at the sight of him like this. “Come here darling.” This is the first time Tammy has said anything to me in the time I have been in this office. I walk over to the desk but stay on opposite side as them. “Come here Sinclair.” This time its Jacob, Tammy gasps waiting for my reaction having learned yesterday not to do that. I watch him like a hawk as I walk around the desk. I was not expecting him to use my first name “If you’re not going to use formalities don’t call me Sinclair. No one is allowed to call me that, you can call me Sin or Clair, never my full name.” He looked at me like I was brittle, like I would break any second. When I get to the other side of the desk I can see they are looking at a video from security cameras. “Watch this and tell me no one finds you attractive.” I watch as I walk in the door and up to the reception, I was talking to the guy at the desk and as I walk away he is watching me walk away. “He was looking at your ass Sin.” I am repulsed by this action, “So what, he finds my ass attractive. That just means he would only want me for my body.” I slap my hand over my mouth; I can’t believe I just cussed in front of him. He looks at me like he doesn’t believe I just said that. He switches screens to the desk outside his office and the guy that is sitting there; I remember he looked majorly annoyed when I walked up. He wasn’t looking at me though so I didn’t take it personally. I watch as he looks up and I watch his slow progression of skimming my body as he goes. When I was standing there I thought it was because of my Wal-Mart and JCPenny’s clothes, but watching it from a different viewpoint he looked mesmerized. “Mr. Steal that is just one person, you can’t judge my effect on people just by the reaction of one man. I think it’s time for me to leave. This conversation is way too personal.” I turn intending to do just that, leave. I can hear the little devil on my shoulder screaming at me about my stupidity of leaving this man’s office.

He grabs my arm just above the wrist as I am walking away from his desk “Wait Sin, please I’m sorry. I know you don’t know me that well but from what Tammy has told me you would be the perfect person for this job. You can have the job; if you sit down we can talk about salary and responsibilities.” I freeze; I can’t process this information, perfect for the job are you kidding me. I came in here ready for rejection and here I am thinking on if I want to stay and talk about the job even though this man now knows more about me then most of my friends. Now that I think about it the only person that knows any of that is Liz, and that’s only because she lives with me. “I’ll stay but only because I need a job and I think this one will pay the bills.” He starts laughing, is he laughing at me? “I swear I’m not laughing at you, I am laughing because I am sure the salary will pay your bills.” I think he can read my mind, how does he know I was thinking that? I walk slowly over to the chair I was originally sitting in followed by Tammy. “Alright Miss. Abernathy, responsibilities are outlined in this document as well as salary, I do want to inform you that the salary mentioned is just for starters, once you hit a year of working here it will go up in increments similar to the ones stated in this document as well. I know you are eager to get out of here, but please take this offer seriously. I apologize for over stepping my boundaries. Thank you for coming in and please let me know as soon as possible. Out of 20 people you are the only one that has made it to me.” I am shocked by the number of people that didn’t make it through, and I’m the only one. “Thank you Mr. Steal, I will call with my answer as soon as possible. Have a good day.” I stand to leave and as I walk across the beautiful hard wood floor listening to the clink of my heels as I make my way I already know the answer to his question, but do I really want to play this game. I know how he is, he will over step his boundaries all the time, but I doubt I will mind. He knows not to talk about family with me and he can cross any other boundaries with me within reason, if you know what I mean. I reach out for the door and as it is settling behind me I can hear one last sentence from him “I look forward to hearing from you Sin.” And in that moment I feel as if he is the one that will make me live up to my nickname, I like hearing my name from him and it’s a wonderful sound.

Chapter 2-

It is currently 12:34 am and I am still completely shocked and I still can’t look away from this paper. It looks so innocent, just black ink on white paper but in reality it is so much more.

Documentation of Responsibilities and Salary-

Responsibilities:

1) Bringing breakfast, as described below, promptly at 8:30 am from Mary’s Bakery, Address- 76 Mulberry Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60618

One Raisin Bagel Lightly Toasted with Butter

One Black Coffee w/ Two Sugar Packets on the Side

One coffee/drink of your choice and one breakfast item of your choice.

2) Bring One Black Coffee w/ Two Sugar Packets on the Side every 3 hours or when asked from Mary’s Baker, Address- 76 Mulberry Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60618

3) Assist in any copying, scanning, faxing, Dictation, Etc. That is Needed for the Success of that Day’s Work.

4) Give Daily Updates Every day at 8:35 am on Finances in all Departments including IT, Production, Farming, Solar Powered Engineering, Etc.

5) Bring Lunch Promptly at 12:45 pm from Mary’s Bakery Address- 76 Mulberry Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60618

This will be pre-ordered daily by me and will be ready when you arrive

6) Care for Any Unexpected Problems While Mr. Steal is Busy Including Answering Phones and Signing for any Packages Received. If it is something He can Sign and Return Later place it in the Inbox.

7) Be Available for Any Task at any Time.

8) Get at Least 8 Hours of Sleep Ever Night Including Weekends

Salary:

Salary will start at $150/hr and increase yearly as stated below

1 year- $50/hr

2 year- $100/hr

3 years- $150/hr

4+ years- $200/hr

Should you have any questions or concerns please contact Jacob Steal at

(312) - 706-4005

(312)- 496-0855 (cell)

His cell number is written in I wonder if it is because the other phone doesn’t work anymore. I don’t really know what to make of the 7thand 8th responsibilities, but the biggest shocker is the salary. If I stay working for him 4 or more years I will be making $350 an hour, holy hell that’s a lot of money. I think I can put up with him and any invading questions he may ask for that much money. No wonder he was laughing, thinking over the interview there was one thing that I truly didn’t understand, he said I had already answered some of his questions without even talking. What could that mean? Looking over at the bedside clock I decide it’s time to go to sleep, I can always think about this tomorrow.

I woke up from an amazing dream; let’s just say it has to do with my boss, well soon to be boss, and puts that big desk to use. A dream I will carry with me daily even if it isn’t a possibility, a girl can dream. I get up and grab that dang Document and hurry out to talk to Liz, she should be here her classes don’t start till 3 pm. Liz still has a few months left to finish school and we have until then to find a job and apartment. We want to live in Chicago so we will be moving about 50 miles from here but that also puts us within 10 miles of Steal & Rush Inc. I wonder who Rush is but before I could put much thought into it Liz ambles out of her bedroom and I walk to the kitchen to fix some toast and eggs. “Good morning Liz, how was your night?” I am answered by an unladylike grunt, judging by the smeared make-up, ratted hair, and the fact that she is still wearing a very short, very tight dress; she was out clubbing last night. “I’m making toast and eggs, do you want some?” She looks at me like I am the devil before answering with a finger to her lips telling me to be quiet. She has a hangover “Liz I need to talk to you about the job interview you sent me to yesterday.” She looks at me in a really you want to talk about this now. “Liz, I am talking about the one at Steal & Rush Inc.” That woke her up right away, “What happened did you meet Mr. Steal, I bet you did, is he hot? Did you like him? Did you get the job?” I try to process all her questions and try to answer all of them in the right order. “I did meet Mr. Steal, yes he is majorly hot, yes I liked him, but he gets a little personal and asked me questions about my family including how they died. I was told that if I wanted the job it was mine but I need to talk to you first.”

“Sin, are you joking? You get a job with the hottest young billionaire and you decide you want to think about it before you say yes?” I know I am going to say yes but I don’t want to be so quick to jump on this job if it could be bad for me. “How do you know I will say yes, have you thought maybe his questions might bother me? He even asked if I wanted a family and if I wanted to have kids. Why does he need to know that?” I grab the toast out of the toaster and put it on the plates as I flip the eggs “Sin, you know you are going to say yes, maybe he likes you and wants to know what you are doing in life so he can decide if you are right for him.” I roll my eyes as I put her eggs on her plate and slide it to the other side of the counter top to her. “Your right I am going to say yes, but there is no way in hell that man likes me like that, I bet he has a ton of girls lined up for him and he can choice from any of them and they are probably the supermodel type.” I finish my toast and turn to leave the room; I might as well call him. “Sin? Are you going to call him?” I turn and look at her while continuing to walk backward, “Why of course I am, he did give me his cell number.” Her mouth drops open, I knew she would take that as more than it really was.

I jump on my bed belly flopping and reach to the bedside table for the paper with his number written on it. I dig my phone out from under the pillow and dial his number, I hesitate and as the butterflies in my stomach flutter around I press send and put the phone to my ear. “Steal.” Wow even on the phone I am speechless, “Hello? Anyone there?” Shaking my head I take a deep breath “Good morning Mr. Steal, I was calling about the job Sir.” I fiddle with the loose strings on my blanket before he answers and I am thrown for a loop. “Sin, you have had the job since you walked into my office. Are you going to do it for me?” the little devil sitting on my shoulder say something along the lines of ‘I’ll do something to you.’ “Yes Sir, I will.” I sound breathy even to me and I know he is going to catch it. “Good,” I can see the smirk on his face as if he was right in front of me. “You can start now. Come into the office at lunch and bring mine with you. Thank you, that is all. Until lunch my dear Sin.” The phone goes silent, ‘my dear Sin’? Am I his, I don’t think so, I only work for him. I check the time and seeing that it is 11:00 I rush to get dressed, I have to get to Chicago get Mr. Steals lunch and to the office by 12:45. I look up Mary’s Bakery and find the phone number. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to let them know when I will be there so it will be fresh.

I dress in a black pencil skirt that comes to just above my knees, and a red blouse made of a very soft material. My go to outfit when I am nervous and need something to keep me calm and comfortable. Adding my matching red 1in heels I grab my purse and walk to the door yelling over my shoulder to Liz that I am leaving.

Arriving at Mary’s I walk in at 12:30 and lucky me it is only a 5 minute walk from the office. I jump in the car after a 7 minute wait and head to the office and in about 2 minutes I am walking in the door to the elevator, passing the guy at the front desk this time. By time I get to the 53rd floor and the two stops on the way I arrive at the front desk to his office. “Hi, can I help you?” It’s not the same person from yesterday, actually it’s a blonde women and I suddenly become very jealous. “Sin, just come in here.” I smile at the girl behind the desk and walk to the door. Opening the door I see he has another man with him, quietly I walk to Mr. Steal’s desk and lay out his lunch while the men continue their conversation. I stand up ready to leave when Jacob stops me. “Sin, come here. This is your office now too. Sit anywhere; there is a desk over in the corner and a tea cart in the other, relax for right now.” I nod, “Yes Sir.” He gives me a very appealing smile and I refuse to look him in the eyes. As I walk away I hear the other man say the most confusing thing yet, “She is good, is she already trained? I’m sure she would be fun to play with.” My eyes go wide as I hear this, play? What on earth? I am here to work not play like some 5 year old in the school yard. I take a seat by the tea cart and I get a tartlet from the tray set with different foods, I slowly pick at it wondering idly what he means and what exactly it means for me.

Chapter 3-

After about 20 minutes the man gets up to leave and Jake walks with him but stops at the door waving me over. “Mr. Rush, this is Miss. Abernathy, my new secretary. Sin, this is Mr. Rush the father of Jessica Rush, the name in the company.” I smile politely at Mr. Rush but honestly I am more relieved that Jake meets with her father and not her. “It’s nice to meet you Sir.” He looks at me the same way the Jake did when he met me the first time. Is it something I say or my face, what the heck makes them look at me like this? I watch him as he looks to Jake and out of the corner of my eye I see him shake his head. “Well I must be going, it was a pleasure meeting you as well Miss. Abernathy.” He smiles but it is anything but comforting, I jerk my head down so I don’t make eye contact feeling like him smiling at me in such a way is just wrong. The door clicks with a sound of finality, he is gone and I don’t have to see him anymore.

“Sin, what’s wrong?” he looks truly concerned; I guess all I can do is be honest. “The way he looked at me was unnerving, it felt wrong.” He smiles at me but his is a reassuring smile and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. “It should make you uncomfortable. Have you ever worked this close to the top boss?” I don’t understand the reason behind this question, “I have only ever had jobs within my social circle, I keep myself closed off from most everyone, and this is a new experience for me.” He takes this into consideration and “It’s okay, this is a new experience for me as well.” I am about to ask him what he means but decide against it. “I’m going to get you some coffee, I will be back.” I need time to think and here is not the place. This man clouds my judgment and I need to figure out what these stupid hidden messages mean. “Hurry back Sin.” again the sound of my name coming from him is enough to send me into overdrive and suddenly I want to run there so I can get back faster. “Yes Sir.” My voice sounding a little too husky, I close the door behind me and take a deep breath before walking to the elevator and waiting for it after pressing the button, the girl behind the desk catches my attention. “See you again never; he wouldn’t want someone like you working here anyways.” I smile back at her and decide it will be better to surprise her later. “Yes dear, it was nice to meet you to I hope Mr. Steal didn’t hear you. Wouldn’t want to lose your job now would you?” She puckers her lips at me and blows me a kiss. “Suck it up princess, I work here you don’t and never will.” I walk onto the elevator and give her one last smile and a little wave.

I can’t wait to see her face, I double time it over to Mary’s and I am back at the building in record time. I walk in the door and smile at the man behind the front desk. Making my way up in the elevator I imagine her face when I walk in, it will be priceless. The doors finally open and she looks up sees the cup in my hand and her mouth drops open, she must know that he gets his coffee from Mary’s. I walk to her and lean toward her. “Didn’t think I was coming back did you. Sweetheart I work here now,” I stand to full height. “You can apologize now. I wouldn’t be making such rude comments to someone even if I didn’t work here. You really think I would just let you walk all over me like that without a fight if I wasn’t coming back?” she is still frozen with her mouth wide open. I lean across again and snap it shut. “Don’t want to catch any flies.” With a smile I walk away to the door behind the main desk. “What took so long Sin; it’s just right down the street.” I give him my best innocent look. “I had a problem that I had to take care of Sir, I’m sorry” He gives me an apologetic smile “What happened?” I don’t really want to get the girl in trouble, she didn’t know, but she still shouldn’t be talking to people like that no matter who they are. “It’s nothing Sir, I’m sorry, hopefully it won’t happen again.” He gives me a very hard look, very no nonsense do as I say look. “What happened Sin, tell me now.” Okay he really wants to know, “I don’t really want to get anyone in trouble but the girl at your front desk really shouldn’t be saying things like that to anyone, even if I wasn’t coming back it was wrong for her to say such things.” He wants to know more, “she said. ‘See you again never; he wouldn’t want someone like you working here anyways.’ I was sarcastic back to her and I guess what I said was mean but I wasn’t insulting her, I told her it was nice to meet her and that I hoped you didn’t hear her or she might lose her job. Like since when is it okay to say that to anyone, anyways she replied by puckering her lips at me and blowing me a kiss Saying ‘Suck it up princess, I work here you don’t and never will.’.” I feel like I ran out of air about 4 sentences ago.

When I look at him again he looks pissed, he rounds his desk and pulls up security cameras on the computer. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, I just want to see what happened when you came back.” As he watched the video you can see his eyes progressively get more dangerous. When it finishes I watch him as he pinches the bridge of his nose and slowly open his eyes. “I’m proud of you, you didn’t hit her and you stood up for yourself afterward.” I am glad I didn’t get in trouble for how I acted; I was still acting inappropriate for the work environment. I watch him as he walk out of the office and make his way to the front desk. I hear his mumbled words but can’t make out what he is saying but seconds later you hear her yell in frustration and something slam before the elevator is called and everything goes quiet. When he walks back in he acts as if nothing happened, I make my way to the door to clean up whatever was smashed on the ground. “Where are you going?” I turn toward him looking grim, “I’m going to clean the mess out there.” He shakes his head at me and I stay where I am. “Cleaning crew is already on the way up.” I nod and turn to return to my seat when the phone rings and he is preoccupied, awaiting instruction.

“Babe, there are some papers downstairs in the lobby, will you bring them up to me, and as Tim to send up John so we have someone at the front desk.” At first I didn’t th8ink he was talking to me, I’m not his babe, I’m not anyone’s babe, but I sure do like the sound of that nickname from him. “Yes Sir, I will be back shortly.” I give him my best smile and he returns it with a megawatt smile of his own that could drop any girl’s panties even if her boat floats the other way. “Good girl.” I don’t think I will be able to handle this for long, if he keeps up with the pet names and weird comments he might thaw my heart that I have worked so hard to immobilize, I don’t want to fall and it will be his entire fault. I take my time getting down stairs and decide maybe it’s time to chit chat with the guy at the front desk. I walk to him as the elevator doors slide closed and try looking as normal and friendly as I can. “You’re Tim, right? Mr. Steal sent me down here to get some papers that were delivered.” He looks at me for a minute before he really grasps what I am saying. Turning he looks for the papers, while I compose myself to create a conversation of some kind. I’m not really the talkative kind of person, well unless you are Liz. “Here you are Miss….” No one knows my name here, I am new and I haven’t really talked to him. “You can call me Clair.” I don’t really want him calling me Sin, it’s not right, I don’t know when I decided my nickname was wrong for people to say but it is not like me at all, everyone calls me Sin. “Alright Clair, is there anything else I can do for you?” I can hear the implication in his voice and I don’t really want to encourage it so I look away and act like I am looking at the papers he has handed me. Oh, I have to send John up, “Yes, can you send John up to the front desk on floor 53 for me?” He about laughs, “Is that why Jen ran out of here? She deserved it, what did she do this time?” Well here’s my chance to talk, “Well it’s really not my place to tell and I am sure Mr. Steal would not appreciate his secretary involving in gossip about employees or rather previous employees.”

He looks at me as if I have two heads, “Really, you won’t talk about what happened because you are scared of getting in trouble? He isn’t even on this floor.” I still think it is a bad idea so I play it off, “I’m not scared of him,” I didn’t get to finish that sentence, I knew who was coming before I even saw him, the sound of his gate is etched into my mind, “Sin? Who are you not scared of?” I wonder what I should say but decide I might as well tell him the truth; he knows most everything about me so I might as well, “You.” Tim looks as if I have just poked a lion and am about to get mauled, “Well good, you on the other hand should be scared.” He says the last part while addressing Tim. “Was he bothering you Sin?” he looks truly concerned. ”No Sir, I was just about to head upstairs. He was just curious about the new girl is all, I don’t mind.” He gives Tim an icy glare and turns to me, “Okay, but if anyone gives you trouble let me know.” Wow he really is concerned. “Yes Sir.” He grabs my hand and pulls me toward the door, “Thanks Tim!” I yell over my shoulder.

In the elevator the tension is noticeable; I honestly didn’t know I was this attracted to him, I wonder if he feels the same way. When the doors open a man, I assume is John, looks up from his seat and smiles at us as we walk by. He seems nice but I don’t have time to think before I am in the office with the door closed behind me. Jake looks at me with his head cocked to one side, as if trying to decipher a difficult puzzle. “I don’t understand you; you’re so different from everyone else here.” Now it’s my turn to cock my head at him. “What do you mean?” he turns to go to his desk and I follow but stay on the other side so I don’t invade his privacy. “You’re kind and caring, you don’t want to get people in trouble, even if what they did is extremely rude, you follow all the rules and it’s only your first day. Not even Tammy remembered to get coffee every so often.” I’m confused, this is my job, and shouldn’t I know what to do. “I’m sorry Sir, but shouldn’t I know what to do? This is my job and I don’t like to disappoint people.” He looks amused by my answer, “Trust me you don’t disappoint, yes it’s your job but you do it rather well for your first day.” I don’t really know what to say so I say the only thing I know he would like to hear. “Thank you Sir.” I watch as his eyes darken that way I love, I know I said the right thing.

Chapter 4-

It was a long day at work and after my conversation with Jake we didn’t talk much. He had a few meets and I was ready to go home when the day was over. I want to think about what is going on. What do they mean by play? Why does he look at me like that sometimes? He called me Babe! What the hell? I am currently lying on the sofa in the living room with the T.V on but I’m not watching it. I’m the only one home and I don’t like complete silence, most of the time I have music playing if Liz isn’t home. Contemplating life I as I know it and I find that everything I thought was right is really in question at the moment. Liz won’t be home till late, some after class study thing with a guy in Physics, and I doubt they are doing any studying. I decide it’s time to go to bed; I’m not going to bed because the stupid rules of this job, no one is going to tell me when I can and can’t sleep!

I slip into my dad’s old over-sized T-shirt and my mom’s old Joe Boxer shorts and lay in bed thinking of them. I have put them out of my mind mostly and they are now invading my thought whenever I am alone. Thank you Mr. Steal, note the sarcasm. I guess it’s not all bad though, last time I talked to someone professionally about them they told me I need to make peace with them even if I don’t want to and I will be able to move on. I stopped seeing that guy, I don’t like the thought of that, it’s like saying I will forgive you but I will never think about you again. Even though I have been mad at my mom for years I know why she did it, I don’t think I would want my kids going through that either. Sometimes it just gets to the point of me thinking ‘Why didn’t I die with them.’ I am glad I am alive and I have made myself in to a better person but I didn’t have anyone. That same stupid guy told me that I need to expand my social group and not be so closed off, that I need to get past Nix, some people you can’t forget, or don’t want to. The nice doctor also said I am bottling my emotions and that if I don’t let it out I will end up in one big explosion of depression, anger, and anxiety. That’s bullshit I can tell you.

My mind was going a million miles a minute but somehow I was able to fall asleep, I wake up refreshed and ready for a new day. I can hear Liz snoring down the hall so I know she is home safe. I walk to the bathroom and turn on the water in the shower to warm while I brush my teeth. Once I am satisfied and I have brushed out my knotted hair I strip down to my birthday suit and step into the shower. The steam feels amazing and the hot water is hitting just the right muscles. I roll my neck and it pops and then I lean back and forward and my back pops, I bend my legs up one at a time and my knees pop, I swear I sound like an 80 year old women. After about 25 minutes I know I need to get out if I want to make it to work on time. I didn’t wear any make-up yesterday and I know I should have but I wasn’t expecting to work and I needed to get there in time for lunch. That will take extra time but it’s worth it in the end.

I dry off with thoughts of my once again oh so delicious dream, this time however I had my wrists tied with his tie, a deep purple color with diagonal lines running through it in raised lines of thread. That was an amazing dream, but I need to stop thinking about that and get ready. I tie my hair up in the towel and head to my bedroom. Walking to the closet I know I need to go shopping this weekend to get some more work appropriate clothes, for now I pick out a deep purple dress the same color as Jakes in my dream, a soft cream colored scarf, and a pair of black pumps that make me 5’8” and make my legs look longer. I lay them on the bed and head back to the bathroom. I pull out the make-up I will be wearing today and sling my legs up to sit crisscross apple sauce, for lack of a better term, on the sinks edge. I lightly apply a layer of foundation and seal it in with a translucent powder. I add a little blush and mascara; I finish off with a lip gloss, not too much just enough to give them moisture. Natural seems like the best way to go, I head back to the room and dress in a hurry knowing that Liz will be up soon and I need to leave before she sees me. If she does see me, I won’t be able to get her off of me for an hour, I never dress like this and I think she might have a fit over it and try to get pictures. I step into my pumps and walk to the door. Picking up my little black purse I open the door and take a deep breath.

As I am rummaging through my purse trying to find my keys I can’t help thinking that I might not get to see Liz very often, I will be gone for work before she gets up and when I get home she will be in class and I will be in bed before she gets home. Maybe I will see her on the weekends but she knows I don’t do parties and I might be working weekends since I am “On Call” all the time. I wonder what he could possible need from me on the weekend. Before I know it I am outside Mary’s and I don’t even remember getting in the car, checking the time I see it is 8:15, perfect timing. I walk in and a little Old Italian woman comes up to me smiling and hugs me like I am a long-time friend. I slightly pat her back and she pulls away “Hi Miss. Abernathy, I am Mary. Mr. Steal told me all about you and I think he was right, I agree with him completely.” You can hear the Italian accent in her voice that lets you know she really did live in Italy, “Completely agree with what exactly?” I am truly intrigued to hear what Jake has said about me, “He says, you are a beautiful young girl with long brown hair and striking blue eyes, he likes you Miss. He never talks about a girl like that; give him a chance, yeah?” I think I’m going to pass out, he likes me, and she has it all wrong. “Mrs. Mary, I work for Mr. Steal and that would be wrong.” A girl walks up behind Mary and hands her a bag similar to the lunch bag I was given yesterday and after a few words in Italian she turns and hands the bag to me, “His coffee will be out in just a second, I know you work for him but he is the head of the company, he can break the rules and he can protect you from getting in trouble because he is the boss.” She was laughing by the end of her speech. The same girl returns with a cup of coffee and I thank them before heading to the door and making my way to the car with 7 minutes to spare.

I am in the building in less than 5 after giving my beat up old civic to the valet and walking to the door. Tim is sitting at the front desk but makes no move to talk to me, “Good Morning Tim.” He grunts in return. He must not be a morning person, I wonder if Jake is a morning person. What would it be like to wake up next to him with a smile on his face and hear his sexy morning voice? Holy hell I need to calm myself, I take time to relax and rid my mind of that thought as the elevator rises through the building.

The doors open but its John sitting at the desk; I would have thought they would have someone new by now. “Good morning Miss. Abernathy.” Well at least someone is talking to me, “Good morning John.” I walk around the desk and check the time after 2 seconds the clock ticks to 8:30 and I walk in the door ready to set up Jakes breakfast. Sitting behind Jakes desk is not Jake, Tammy is sitting with her baby and another little girl who I know is not hers, she is about 3 years old and I know Tammy doesn’t have a 3 year old daughter. “Good morning dear.” I can’t help but smile at her and the itty bitty baby in her arms. “Good morning Tammy, She’s beautiful, and how is this little one?” I bend over so I am at the same height as the other girl. “Say hi Lily, this is Unkies new friend.” Wow the perfect name, “Hello Miss.” I can’t help the smile that stays plastered on my face “Hello Lily, it’s nice to meet you.” I hold my hand out for her to shake but instead she walks to me with her arms out wide. I pick her up and set her on my hip as she starts talking about her new princess doll her Unkie Jake got her. She is so beautiful; I wish I could have her all the time. “Lily, will you go ask John to come get Joanna please?” Tammy is all but glowing at me as Lily squirms out of my grip and I set her down, she runs to the door and goes out screaming John’s name. “Sin, I need to tell you something that might help you to understand Jake a little better. Don’t call him or anyone who walks in here Sir, Call Jake Mr. Steal, which won’t last long, he will be having you call him Jake in no time. He likes you dear and I know you don’t do relationships and I know you don’t like getting close to people but try it out. You never know, plus you are good with kids. I mean damn it took Lily months to even talk to me and she is already letting you hold her. Jake’s going to love that.”

I want to answer but that second John, Lily, and Jake walk into the room. I get the chills from the sight of Jake this morning. His hair is still messy like he hasn’t brushed it since he got out of bed and my jaw nearly drops when I see his clothes. He is wearing that tie, the tie in my dream, how the fuck? “Good morning Sin?” I snap out of my haze and find all of them staring at me except the kids. Lily is playing with the hem of my dress and the baby is sleeping, she wouldn’t understand anyways. “Good morning Si…um Mr. Steal.” I add a smile to the end of that and hope it somewhat hides my slip up but his head snaps straight to Tammy. “Well I will be going now then, sorry John I won’t need you after all.” Tammy goes to walk out the door and looks very nervous. “Alright then, I will speak to you later Tammy.” Tammy and John leave but Lily stays in the office with us. Jake leans to pick her up and she clings to my leg shaking her head at him. “Uh, Lily will be staying with us for a while today, she is my sister’s daughter and I am not that busy today so I let her have a day to herself while John is working.” John? As in the John outside. “John? Is that her husband?” he looks amused but I let it go, “Yes her husband, John works here, at the desk for right now actually.” Wow, his daughter calls him by his first name? That’s weird, but I guess some families are just like that.

I am yanked out of that train of thought by none other than Mr. Jake Steal himself, “You’re amazing with kids, normally if I am in the room she won’t let go of me. You just met her and she is already clinging to you. Lily baby, can you come to Unkie?” what? He has a little kid voice, you know the one where your voice goes softer and you sound sugary sweet. “Nauh.” I remember saying that to my parents when I was little. I grab Lily around the armpits and hall her up onto my hip again. “Lily, Unkie wants to say hi, can you let him hold you?” she looks up at me with her innocent child eyes and I can’t help my smile, she makes me so happy I almost want to cry. I realize that I do want kids but I don’t want to get hurt. “Mmk.” She reaches toward Jake and I let him take her while I go to his desk and take out the contents of his breakfast from the bag and set them on the desk. I hear a weird noise behind me and I see Jake blowing on Lily’s belly, I think that’s called a raspberry, I don’t know. I remember my dad doing that to Levi, I still love his nickname and I have a hoodie of his that he got at the fair one year with his nickname Lee Lee spray painted on the front of it.

“Sin?” I hadn’t noticed my eyes were closed; I was lost in my memories. “Sorry, what did you say?” Lily’s eyebrows are scrunched together in a confused look and the fact that Jake is looking at me the same way makes me want to laugh. “Well, Lily wants to go to the park for lunch, do you want to come with and pick up lunch for me? Lily already has her lunch packed and your lunch will be ready when you get there too.” A picnic with my boss and his niece? Sounds inappropriate but Mary told me not to worry about that. Do I really want to take a chance on him, I have sworn off men for all my life, but I don’t think this is going anywhere. He just wants me there to watch Lily and chase her around, he will most likely be oer lunn the phone with clients and partners all day. I wonder how he is going to do any work without his computer. “Yeah, sure, I’ll just run to the bank before lunch and I will meet you there.” I don’t know how much money is in my account since I haven’t received my first check yet but I am sure I will have just enough to get lunch. “Why do you need to go to the bank?” He is so damn nosey, I wonder if he will always be like this or if it’s just because I am new and he doesn’t know me well enough. “I need to get some cash out for lunch, and…” He puts his hand up and interrupts me before I could finish, “Babe, lunch is already paid for, and they won’t take your money anyways.” God I hate this, why does he have to be nice, why can’t he be normal and let me pay for my own stuff? Wow I love how the fact he called me Babe didn’t even faze me that time. What is wrong with me? “With all due respect, I don’t want you paying for my things Mr. Steal. I am a capable of holding my own.” He raises his perfectly sculpted eyebrows at me and I can’t help but almost droll. “Babe, you are mine now and I will pay for anything of yours I wish to pay for and if I have to prove my point I will.” Oh my god this can’t be normal! Since when has your boss paying for your lunch okay? What does he mean prove his point, what could he possibly do to prove such a point besides buy my lunch, which I already plan on hiding some cash somewhere he won’t find it for a while and maybe he will think he just misplaced it. I can’t help the eye roll that came with the comment and his voice telling me not to roll my eyes accompanied by the slap on my ass has my engine revved but I know I need to hide it and I know I failed miserable by the smirk on his face, He is an awfully proud man.

Chapter 5-

Between the time of that conversation and the time of lunch I have run several errands including picking up a tux for some unknown fancy dancing event he is going to this weekend, which as his assistant I should know the details of but of course I am left in the dark. Then I was out picking up some kind of form from the library. When lunch finally rolls around Jake and Lily head over to the park and I make my way to Mary’s. I honestly wonder why both his breakfast and lunch from Mary’s, maybe he knows her. She seems friendly and as if reassuring that she comes nearly running up to me as I walk in the door. “Oh Sin, how are you doing? I was thinking of bringing your lunch to you and Mr. Steal but didn’t get to it in time I guess. Why are you here so early dear?” She must be used to his schedule, I can’t help but smile, I have warmed up to her in no time. “Mr. Steal is taking his niece to the park for lunch and he asked me to come along to help I guess.” She looked at me like I was a chicken with my head cut off. “Sweetie, Jake wants you to come spend time with them not do work for him.” That can’t be right; I don’t need to spend time with him. I see him every dang day. “I work with him Mrs. Mary; I don’t need to spend time with him outside of work.” I need to get out of this, there is no way I want to continue this conversation right now, matter of fact I don’t want to have this conversation at any moment in the future. “Okay Sin, I see you don’t want to talk about it let me go get your things.” She shuffled along to the kitchen, and a little longer then I though need be, came back with a whicker picnic basket and a red checkered blanket, you have got to be kidding me! “Here you are dear; I had a few things in the back I thought might help with the picnic idea of things.” I guess she is only trying to help and maybe it will make Lily happy that it will be like a real picnic. “Thank you, I’m sure it will make Lily happy.” She had a huge smile on her face that said ‘I’m up to something’ and I decided I would got through the basket before I got to the park. “It’s not just for Lily; it’s for you as well sweet girl. Have a good lunch and I will see you tomorrow.” I head to the door and hope for a minute to relax, I walk to my car and get in while placing the basket in the passenger seat and checking the time on my phone. Its 12:27, I can get to the park at about 12:35 and that gives me ten minutes but I don’t know where they are in the park or how long it will take to walk there.

I pick up my phone to call Jake and find that I already have a text from him telling me they are by the fountain near the middle of the park so it should take about 5 minutes to get there. I still have a few minutes to unwind so I text him back and let him know I am on my way. I start the car and drive off to the direction of the park and I spend the time wondering what will be happening today and how this will all be playing out. I don’t even remember the drive here and by time I am turning off the car I am ready for a much needed break on thinking, my eyes slide closed and I relax but I am fully aware that I only have a few minutes. Peace, my mind is at peace for once since I met Jake my mind is at peace but it doesn’t take long for me to open my eyes and find that it is about 4 minutes from lunch and it takes 5 to walk out there. I open the door and grab the picnic basket at the same time and nearly drop it when I hit the edge on the frame of the car. I made a mad dash toward the center of the park and when I am close I slow down and calm my breathing so I show no sign of rushing. I can here Lily squealing in the distance and I wonder what is going on. The squealing continues and when I get close enough to see I find her in midair and find myself scared enough to drop the basket and can’t help the “Shit!” that came out of my mouth, as Jake catches her I sigh in relief, and his head snaps in my direction in a look of worry and shock, as if I was the one to be worried about, however, I instantly regret my choice of words when I think about Lily and the possibility of her saying it now. Jake rushes over to me with Lily in his arms still and I look down not wanting to see the look on his face when he gets here and finds that nothing is wrong. I look at the ground as if the blades of grass beneath me are the most interesting thing I have ever seen; his footsteps slow as he gets closer and at the same time my anxiety grows. I watch his hand slowly move under my face to my chin and his fingers close gently around it as he pulls my head up.

I keep my eyes down still not wanting to see the expression on his face and when I don’t look up he bends down. “Are you okay?” I’m stunned, first he didn’t command me to look up he bent down to my level, a man of his status would never do that, and then he asks if I am okay even though I am clearly fine. “I was scared, I’m sorry I worried you. It’s just she was in the air and I didn’t see you and I know you wouldn’t let her fall but it was terrifying seeing her up there. I mean she is moving with around 613.09J of energy if she is about 30 lbs. and if she hit the earth, its petrifying even thinking about it.” My eyes are teary and I don’t know why this is affecting me so much. He looked at me alarmed and I don’t think I should have thrown the statistics at him but I couldn’t help it my mind was working in over drive and I always explain this spewing of information its way of calming my brain down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think about it, I have been doing that for a while and I guess that never crossed my mind.” I look at Lily who is playing with Jake’s tie and poke her to get her attention, she looks at me and she beams at me as she stretches her arms toward me and Jake gives her up, I know holding her will make me feel better.

I can feel Jakes eyes on me and I feel safe, like he is watching over me and Lily. Slowly I decide it’s time for me to look at Jake and see what his reaction is after me nearly going hysterical. He looks me in the eyes and I nearly melt only snapping out of it when I feel Lily start to slide down me and I tighten my grip to keep her in my arms. “Better?” not wanting to speak out loud for fear I might sound shaky I nod and busy myself with bending to pick up the basket while I balance Lily on one hip. However, I find the basket not on the ground but a couple feet up in a very masculine hand belonging to none other than the life altering Jake Steal himself. Why does he keep surprising me, I know he is rich but he is still a good guy. I need to stop thinking he is such an arrogant jackass like all of the other men I know, some of which are nowhere near as rich as him. When I finally open my mouth I say something I know I am going to be interrogated for and almost shake my head at myself for not filtering according to who I am speaking to. “Thank you.”

I can’t recognize the look on his face until I hear the tone of his voice, “Can you start treating me like a normal person, and you don’t have to thank me for something as simple as that. I might be of higher status then you but I will always treat you as my equal. Oh, and cut the crap I’m not 50 years old, call me Jake for goodness sake.” I break into a smile, he just made my day with one simple action and I can’t help testing out the sound of his name, “Jake” I love it, it sounds so sensual almost erotic. “That’s it babe.” Oh dear, I need to clear this tension, his voice is so husky and I can feel my eyes become hooded as I relax into the sentiment. “Okay, well it’s time for lunch.” My phone shows 12:50 “I’m sorry Jake lunch is a little late. I will unpack if you take Lily.” He must like the sound of his name off my lips as well guessing from the predatorily look that comes over his face. “You hold her I will set up. Don’t worry about lunch; it’s just a few minutes.” I give most of my attention to Lily but I can still hear him mumble to himself about me not being what he thought, “What do you mean?” he turn slowly to me and looks quite guilty, “Uh, I just mean you’re not as particular as some of my other assistances, you are kind of taking the standing of an… inamorata. I am always anesthetized in your presents. From the look on your face you don’t know what I am saying and that is a good thing, someday I will tell you in a way that you will understand I promise you that.” Okay I think I should be offended by him saying I don’t understand him but he is right. I need to remember those words and look them up later. “Err…. Okay.” He turns back to his task and in a matter of less than a minute he has the blanket down the basket open and the food ready to be eaten. Shoot I didn’t look through the basket; I guess nothing is wrong if Jake hasn’t said anything and I don’t see anything out of place. I walk over and as gracefully as I could, which turned out very successful, sank down to the blanket with Lily still attached to me. I set her on my legs as I curl them both to my side and take a deep breath.

I reach for her lunch box and get her food out, I get it all ready and give her a bite before I unwrap my sandwich and open my bag of carrots. I alternate between me and her for a few minutes and I look up to find Jake watching me in a way that I must be confusing because it looks like adoration. “What? Did I get something on my face?” he stifles a giggle as he shakes his head in amusement, he does that to me often, I’m not that funny. “No, I just can’t help it, you’re so good with kids and you seem to be enjoying yourself with her. Why would you not want some kids of your own? I know I said I wouldn’t ask questions like this but I really want to know.” I feel like the air has just been sucked out of my lungs, I knew this was coming but I thought it would be months from now. My heart says trust him but my mind says to get the hell out of dodge, my heart wins this battle and I know this is only the beginning of the war this man will cause within me. “You can’t tell a soul about this do you understand? I mean it, not many people know this about me and one of which is dead.” His eyebrows scrunch together and he looks majorly offended. “Babe, I would never tell anyone the things we talk about, it’s private between you and me.” Okay I guess he decided to play the role of my psychiatrist today, I hate psychiatrists. A little voice in the back of my head is telling me that maybe he is the key to ‘Moving on’.

Chapter 6-

Here goes nothing, “Well after my parents died I was on my own but I didn’t want to give up school, which was all I had to make life better. Most kids hate it and they use to complain and I was always at school, I would sneak into the gym to sleep and use the locker I had for gym to hide my clothes. No one knew but I secretly wished one day someone would help me, take me in you know. This kid named Nix use to make fun of me a lot, talked about how I wore the same clothes every week and said things like ‘ your parents don’t love you, that’s why you have crappy clothes.’ We continued to go to school together and in high school he was worse because I had grown out of my clothes and had taken some old clothes from one of the donation boxes outside a store that fit me. It was after a basketball game and everyone was going home, he had been there and I had been under the bleachers hiding so I could stay in the gym without being noticed. When everyone was finally gone and they turned off the lights, I came out from behind my spot and walked to the locker room to get the only thing I had left from my old home, my pillow and blanket. I grabbed some of the left over popcorn from the stand and a water bottle before heading to the bleachers.

I set up my bed for the night and was getting ready to curl up in the covers and go to sleep when Nix walked into the gym with his phone light to lead him. I held my breath hoping he wouldn’t shine his light toward me and to my udder horror he did, we both froze in place. I was so scared he would go around telling everyone that I sleep in the gym and eat left over popcorn after the game. He slowly started walking toward me with a curious expression on his face, I broke I knew what was coming, the taunting and teasing but I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I wouldn’t have a place to sleep and I wouldn’t have food to eat now because he knew. He walked up the bleachers two at a time and sat down in front of me observing me, and then his face softened. ‘What are you doing, you run away?’ I couldn’t take it so I answered honestly. ‘No’ he was confused by my answer and I don’t blame him, I’m a confusing person. ‘What happened?’ that was the first time someone asked me that question, the first time someone acted like they cared. I told him everything, absolutely everything down to the way he made me feel, and then he broke. From then on he protected me I stayed in his house and his parents treated me like their own, eventually we fell for each other. We lived together 2 years and we shared a bedroom for the last year we were that close, I loved him. The end of senior year came around and he knew I wanted to go to college but he wanted to go in the military so we decided I would stay home with his parents and go to school and when I was done he would discharge and come home so we could start our life.

I came home one day and everything was fine until I walked into our room, there was a suitcase sitting on the bed. I thought it was Nix home for a surprise visit, I ran downstairs and his parents were sitting in the living room told me I had to move out and then I was on my own again, my college was paid in full by my scholarships and I had a part time job so I had some cash saved up and got an apartment to rent. Some guy in full dress uniform came to my house one day asked if I was Sinclare Abernathy and I confirmed that, he told me his parents said he could find me here that I was listed as emergency contact so I was first to be told. I was confused and when he came in he had a grim expression on his face, I was 19 never experienced military so I didn’t understand what he was saying until he handed me the letter. He stayed while I read it, after finishing I kicked him out of the house, I wanted to be alone. The letter was from the president of the United States informing me that Nix had been killed in action after being imprisoned in Afghanistan. The stupid song Traveling Solider wouldn’t leave my head. I worried about this happening but never really thought it would. He was gone; the man I loved and planned on building a life with was gone. That was number 4 the 4th person I lost in my life, I swore I would never love anyone again; I wouldn’t get hurt that way again. Losing a man is hard, but if I lost a child, I would be gone just like my mother.”

He was frozen just like Liz always was when we talked about it; Lily had somehow gotten on the blanket between us and was pulling on my skirt hem and Jake’s pant leg at the same time, like she was trying to pull us together. Jake looked at her and then me and he moved closer letting Lily make moves for him and I leaned away. “Sin, I won’t hurt you. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Matter of fact if anyone so much as touches you heads will be rolling.” Why is he so protective of me, I am just his assistant, ‘That everyone keeps saying he likes’ the little voice in the back of my head peeps up again. He likes me; Jake Steal likes me Sinclaire Abernathy. The plain ordinary girl with a rough upbringing, I don’t even know if you can call my upbringing rough just unnatural. “How can I be sure, you’re not only my boss but a man with a ton of money, good looks, and an amazing personality, who I’m sure, has no problem getting women?”

His eyebrows rose to his hairline, it almost reminded me of the cartoons I use to watch as a kid, okay I still watch them to this day but that’s not the point. “Sinclair Abernathy, I am completely one hundred percent offended by that statement, I may have a lot of money, I may be attractive in a way, and I may have a good personality, but I have not slept with a women my whole life and the only bed I have ever been in with a women, only to sleep, was my mother’s.” I am floored by his statement, there is no way in hell he has never been with a woman, they throw themselves at him and he just brushed them off. “Why?” he looked confused, “What do you mean?” He doesn’t understand? Does he not know that most men would jump into any woman who is willing? “I mean why haven’t you slept with someone yet?” he looks nervous and I think he is going to clam up but then his mouth opens, and snaps shut before he finds the right words. “I want it to be the right woman. I don’t think it will be much longer though, I am almost certain I have found her and that is all thanks to a good friend of mine.” He looks proud of his answer and I am just curious as to which woman his caught his eye and his attention enough to be that lucky.

I knew he didn’t like me, everyone keeps saying he does but now I know he likes someone, he already has her lined up I’m guessing he is just waiting for the right time. “Okay then, I abandon my lunch in favor of Lily and finish feeding her before getting her up and having a little fun. “You better run Lily, Sin’s gunna get you.” She squeals and takes off running with me fast walking behind her pretending to be running at full speed so she feels faster than she is. She stops with me about 10 feet from her looking behind me like she just found the most interesting thing ever, I ignore it and continue to stalk her slower at a creeping pace. “Got ya!” I nearly have a heart attack as strong arms wrap around my waist and pulls me into the air. “Jake, put me down!” I can’t help the giggles that escape me as I watch Lily run toward him full speed and grab onto his leg trying to help me out. “I’m going to put you down like I dropped you so be careful.” He whispered this in my ear and I am confused until he does drop me and I land on my knees and he drops to the ground as Lily crawls on top of him and sits on his chest looking back at me with a huge smile and returning to him. “Don’t be a meany Unkie!” she is beating on his chest with her tiny little fists and he acts hurt, I decide to play along and pull her off him and up onto my hip again.

Watching Jake with Lily is so heartwarming, he is good with kids and I love that. Wow where did that come from? “Say sorry NOW.” She is going to be a bossy little thing when she gets older “I’m sorry Sin, I promise not to do it again” He leans close and kisses my cheek I can feel them heat up and before I have time to process what is going on I hear Lily scream ‘Ewwwww’ and start to wiggle out of my grip so I put her down and Jake takes off after her and away from me as I stand there completely stunned.

Jake and Lily continue to run around the park and at the end of lunch I let him know I am leaving and he told me I could have the rest of the day off. I know he wanted me to stay and be with them in the park but I needed to get away. Liz doesn’t have classes today so maybe I can talk her into going shopping. I head over to the apartment after a 5 minute cool down session in my car. Taking the long way home seems like a good idea, it’s peaceful and quiet and no one is around to piss me off. I see a black Yukon behind me and they are too close for my liking but I can’t get too far because just when I get comfortable with the distance between us a traffic light stops us. I swear I am hitting every red light there is on the way there, and I swear the SUV behind me is following me I don’t know why they would; I must just be blowing things out of proportion. When I get on the bridge the SUV backs off and I relax, I focus on the road again and before I know it I have motorcycles all around me the bike remind me of my dad, he was the VP for the devils angels at one point in time. Two in front one on each side and one behind are taking the place of the SUV. The bikes in front of me slow down and I have to slow down with them or I risk hitting them, the one on my right starts to inch closer to the car and the one on my left disappears behind me. Shit this is weird, the one beside me jerks over and I jerk my wheel to keep from being hit and run right into the side rail. Mother fucking bullshit, I slam my fist into the dashboard in the passenger side knowing if I hit the one in front of me the airbag will explode in my face and as I assumed the airbag deployed and hit the head rest of the passenger seat. There is no one around, one guy opens the door and hits me hard in the face, I black out like a defenceless little pussy.

When I wake up I can’t see anything but I am in a comfortable room with a fluffy bed under me. As comfortable as it is I need to get out of here. I walk to the door and when I open it there is a man outside standing against the doorframe with his back to me. He is wearing a cut, fuck, he’s wearing a devils angels cut. He doesn’t seem to notice me so I poke his back and he tenses before facing me. “I’m glad you're awake, boss needs to see you.” I never met the President of the club and I’m scared of what is happening but I smile up at this hulking man in his leather cut and jeans smeared with what I would guess is oil, he is handsome with tousled brown hair and green eyes that pierce through me. He looks at me like I’m nuts, I know he thinks I should be scared but I have a little luck, if they believe me. “Great, let’s go, time for me to get the hell out of dodge then man.” He smirks as if he knows something I don’t and walks toward the stairs. He is oddly graceful as he walks down the stairs, almost as if he is floating, we get to the bottom and I have about 30 bikers looking at me like I just wrecked their hogs. One of which shocks the hell out of me, Levi is sitting in a corner booth with a blonde chick and he has the same expression on his face as me, he should be dead, I now suddenly hate him for not coming for me. We continue to walk toward the back of what I would call a bar. When we get to a

red door marked private I am nervous as hell, the man just opens the door. From what I know you can only do that if you are high rank, I think.

He lets me walk past and then closes the door as he leaves, sitting at the desk in front of me is an older man who I swear looks familiar, before I can give it to much thought he interrupts me “Sit down.” I do as I am told, even though I am the former VP’s daughter doesn’t mean I can do what I want. Especially if they don’t know that yet, “I need to leave Pres.” I take the chance of using his title and I know I am right about him because he is patched as president. He raises an eyebrow at my use of his title, he know I have some knowledge of MC’s “No, No you don’t need to leave. You will stay here and you will do as you are told. That means working at the bar, cleaning up and anything else I ask you to do. You see, your little boy toy is a bad boy, he needs to be punished, and really I am doing you a favor. I won’t let you leave until we have him and you get it through your skull he is a bad man.” I am completely confused now. “What are you talking about; my only ‘boy toy’ as you call him is nowhere near bad.” He gives me a sad smile and opens a cabinet behind him without getting out of his chair, he pulls out a huge folder that looks like it is about to fall apart and hands it to me. I take it cautious of what might be inside. “He sells girls, underage girls at that. He runs drugs and guns; he is all around a bad man. I open the folder and find dozens of pictures of Jake with young girls no older than 15 holding them roughly by the arm, handing them over to men with bags of what I assume is cash or drugs, slapping one girl and even holding one down on a dirty mattress while tying her up.

I can’t think straight, why would he do that, what do I have to do with it and why the hell and I being dragged in here. “Okay, what do I have to do with this?” he scrunches his eyebrows at me thinking of how to say it. “Well, he has taken a liking to you but so has his friend, I am sure you have met him, he is a little creepy you would remember him.” I do remember him. “What I am saying is if you stayed much longer you would either be stuck with him forever or be sold to the highest bidder, that being his friend.” I’m pissed beyond belief, I stand and look the man dead in the eyes, well here goes nothing. “I want to see Levi, Now.” I put more authority in my voice then I thought I would and he looks amused and shocked at the same time. “How do you know Levi? He doesn’t run with people outside the club so I’m sure you don’t really know him. So tell me, how do you even know he exists?” I weigh my options and decide to tell him the truth in the simplest way and the fastest way, “My name is Sinclair Marie Abernathy. That’s how.” He laughs “Bullshit you are, tell me who you are and how you knew that, Now. I don’t take well to people lying and I sure as hell don’t deal well with someone pretending to be a dead woman.” My eyes go wide and I am about to cry but I need to stay strong and show him I won’t back down. “Listen here, I am Sinclair Marie Abernathy, my brother is Levi Michael Abernathy, my father is ex-VP and both he and my mother are dead. Is that enough damn personal information for you? I have to drag up my painful past and the fact that I thought my brother was dead and then I see his with some blonde wrapped around him like everything is fine and dandy. Well guess what motherfucker, nothing is fine, or dandies now get his scrawny white ass in here now so I can kick it.” He burst out laughing, “Okay, okay, you have to be his sister if you have that kind of attitude. He walks around the desk to me and hugs me like he has known me forever. “Welcome back Sugar Plum.” Shit he is calling me by my nickname from my dad.

I am almost crying when he walks to the door leans out and yells “Oh Lee Lee, someone’s here to kick your ass.” I can hear the whole bar bust out laughing and I can’t help the smile that slips out when he looks back at me and winks, he walks back to his desk and leaves the door open, second later Levi comes running through the door full speed and slams it. I jump him, hugging him at first and he kisses my temple and when I let go and get down I punch him full on in the face. “WHAT THE FUCK SIN.” He looks pissed; Pres. Gets up and walks out “This is my queue to leave. Good luck Levi. She’s not too happy.” I give Levi a death stare and study him momentarily I see the same green eyes as our fathers like a forest and the features of both of our parents mixed perfectly and stop when I see several scars on his face and one running the side of his neck leading into his shirt. I don’t even think I touch his face studying his scars, “You know I am fine Sin, I’m still standing here with no blood coming from me, well besides what is coming out of my nose from your seriously hard hit. Damn women you are going to fit in great with the chicks, if you got in a fight with the guys out there I would bet on your win.” I know I am strong for my size and I know I look dainty but I can pack a punch, and a kick, and about every defensive move you can think out. I am focused on the one going down his neck now and without thinking I yank on the hem of his shirt to see how far down the scar goes, it stops about mid-way down his side and I get pissed. What the hell man, I thought he was dead, I now find out he is alive and living

in the MC and now I see he has been seriously hurt. “I hate you.” That’s all I say before I walk out of the room and he follows trying to catch me. “Wait, Sinclair stop.” I don’t I keep walking I go to the stairs and go straight back to the room I woke in and find the guy from earlier meet me there. “Welcome…” I slam the door on him before he can finish.I don't need to get caught in him right now and i know if i stop to talk i won't be out of here fast enough.

Fuck him, fuck Levi, fuck this damn MC and fuck Jake. I don’t need this. I’m done, checking out. I walk to the window and to my luck it is unlocked and it’s only on the second floor. I know I can jump it and I know I can run as soon as I hit the ground. I climb to the window seal and sit on the edge, I didn’t think about the window below me but no one is going to be paying attention so I go. I jump and bend my knees so I don’t break my legs and as soon as I hit the ground I bolt, running was always my thing, I do it when I am stressed, sad and about any other emotion. I haven’t for a while but I am still in good shape. I was wrong about the window, as I approach the gate to the clubhouse I see 2 guys running toward me, my brother is right about one thing, 2 guys are not going to hold me back at all. As they get close I dodge one and he goes head first into the ground when I push on his back with my foot and the second comes up right behind him. This one gets the same punch to the face Levi did but I add an uppercut and he is out. The other guy is getting up so I bolt and he comes after me he grabs my leg and I fall, I try to kick him but he is expecting it and by time I get myself free I have another 5 guys around me. Motherfuckers, I might not be able to fight them all off but I sure as hell am going to hurt every one of them I can. I start handing out punches and manage to get 2 KO’s before I am tamed by the other 4 guys.

I took 4 of them to hold me still and they are still having a hard time. I am completely off the ground one foot per guy and one arm for each of the other 2. “FUCK YOU GUYS! FUCKING LET ME GO! LEVI IS GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!” they don’t stop walking but I can see the confusion on their faces and I know they don’t know who I am. “Oh, poor things. You don’t know who I am do you? I my dear fucking friends am Levi’s sister and if you don’t put me down this instant I will fucking skin all of you and make sure you are alive the whole time to feel every inch of it being cut from you motherfucking bodies! Do you understand what I am saying?”When they process this they instantly drop me and by that point we are on the front porch of the club, when I say they dropped me I mean I landed on my back. “YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKERS! YOU’RE DEAD!” I snap up into standing position without even touching the ground and one gets a hit to the face another a hit to the balls and before I can get the other 2 someone grabs me, someone I know I can’t get away from, they are too strong, “FUCKING LET ME GO BEFORE YOU LOSE THE ABILITY TO HAVE KIDS JACKASS.” He laughs and I want to hit him so bad. He lifts me in a vise grip and walks me inside while I scream my threats at him swearing to fuck him up and then kill him with a gruesome dead and when I notice where I am I just get madder.

I am being held like this in front of everyone and right in front of Levi, he looks surprised. “What is going on? Why the hell is she bleeding and what the fuck are you holding her like that for man? Fucking drop her or I will let her carry out her threats.” He drops me and I turn to the fucker behind me and I get trapped by his motherfucking green eyes, he really is fucking hot and being worked up turns me on. My personal restraint is none other than my guard outside the door to my room. He is fucking hot and I have to snap out of it so I quickly turn back to Levi before he can see my reaction. This man can restrain me by himself when the others couldn’t; he can pierce into me with his eyes and render me speechless with something that has never given me a problem before. Him restraining me fucking turned me on. Shit am I a bad person for liking that, I don’t give a fuck if it does because it is true. “She jumped out the window…” before he can continue Levi grabs me and looks me over to see if I am hurt. “Shit Sin, are you okay? Why the fuck did you jump out the damn window?” before I can answer Mr. Hunk is talking again behind me and his rough voice that I never paid attention to is now a huge turn on, I have met guys with hot voices but hell that man’s voice is a panty dropper for sure. “She knocked out 3 guys and an injured 2 others. She is feisty as hell and can give a threat scary enough that the boys let her go as soon as she shut her mouth from that last one. She’s one fine ass women.”

My mouth drops and I whip around to look at him, he just called me a fine ass women, he has a shit eating grin on his face and I know my eyes flash lust but I slap him anyways, he grabs my wrist and turns me to pin it behind my back in seconds. “Man that’s my sis, don’t say or do that shit in front of me.” Wait so he did mean that, and he does like restraining women. “You like having control babe? You like holding me in place where you want me?” I can feel his hand tighten and I grind back on him, he drops my arm and grabs my hip. God I want this man but I just wanted to be let go. Well for now anyways. I turn to him once more and I am glad

everyone excluding Levi and his chick has gone back to themselves. I know my eyes are dark when he looks at me, I can’t help the smile that spreads on my face and I wink at him before turning back to Levi and moving into the booth with him and the blonde. “Alright big bro, if you’re gonna get pissy with me for hurting your brothers, go ahead and bitch me out. This is going to be weird.” I said the last part under my breath. Levi has never yelled at me, of course we were little when everything happened so I guess I didn’t have the option. “I’m not mad, I’m kinda glad. Now even the chicks know not to mess with you and that will save a shit ton of blood, sweat and tears when it comes to Ty.” Who the fuck is Die and I am not fucking crying of some guy. “Who the hell are you talking about first of all? And second I don’t fucking cry over men whoever it is can kiss my ass if he thinks I will fucking cry over him.” Levi just smiles, “I wasn’t talking about you crying, I’m talking about the club whores.” The guy hunk behind me taps my shoulder and clears his throat, “and if you had not slammed that door in my face I would have been able to introduce myself. I’m Tyler, better known as Ty.” The look on my face must be entertaining because he busts out laughing.

Chapter 7-

I feel a need to justify what I have just said and I can’t get the words out fast enough, “You might be hot and just right, but I still won’t be crying over you Babe.” For a moment I regret what I had just said and then I think back and I have a strong feeling that he likes me to, it’s a long shot but maybe I can get a little fun while I am here. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it; you’re a strong women I don’t expect you to cry over me. Well at least not in that sense of the word.” I hear something behind me and turn my head but don’t fully turn around. “Well I guess that is all we need to talk about for now, Ty I would tell you to stay the hell away from my sister but I see that won’t be happening. At least I know she can hold her own with you. Have fun Sintar.” I want to hit Levi so bad for calling me that in front of people. Ty grabs my wrist again and I go along with him, I wonder what we are doing, my dreams are answered in a weird way and I blush furiously. “USE PROTECTION SIN!” of course my loving brother decide now, when I have already walked away to say something like that. I look to see what kind of reaction it got from Tyler and I see nothing but determination and deep thought in his face and body language.

Unlike I originally thought we walked past my designated room and down the hall to a large door at the end. I don’t like this, I know he likes control but there is no way in hell I am going to have sex with him right now. I yank my arm free of his grasp and turn to run back to my room before I could see the look on his face, I change my mind and head down the stairs to the bar, there are people down there to save me. I get down the stairs, I know he is close but I am almost to the booth with Levi when he grabs me around the waist and I scream surprised that he caught me before I could get there. I swear I had a few seconds between us, he shouldn’t have caught me. He throws me over his shoulder and pauses looking to Levi who is asking what has happened, “She ran, made things fun.” Shit, he likes the chase, mother fucking bullshit I tell you. He is just my type but there is no way in hell I am going to admit that. “Sorry Sin, I guess I should have warned you.” When Tyler turns to walk away I can finally see Levi again and I give him the death stare while he smiles unapologetically, I see the blonde girl, who I still don’t know elbow him and I decide that I shouldn’t stereotype her. She is helping me out and I find that I like this girl. “Tyler, Babe put me down.” He just grumbles and I can feel the vibration through my body and with my legs pinned to his shoulder I feel a bit of that vibration in a very pleasant way. I try to hide it but my sudden intake of breath must have given me away because he smacks my ass, and he hit hard right where my legs meet and my womanhood starts. This is BS I don’t want to be anymore turned on but it seems every few seconds he is doing something new to get me worked up. “Fuck, Tyler please let me down; I swear I will be good.” I don’t realize how true that is until I am being slid down his body and to the floor, he holds me in a position that I can feel his rub against me and I almost break.

I close my eyes to steady myself and regret it instantly when I feel him lean down and bite my neck. Fuck Fuck Fuckity Fuck Fuck, I need down, I move my hips to try and wiggle free and lose all chances of fighting when I feel him against me, hard as a fucking rock and I can’t handle it. We haven’t even really done anything yet and he is already hard. I let go of my control and hand myself to him, he picks me up and I wrap my legs around his waist and my pussy is so wet and I can feel the seam of my jeans wedging itself in beside my clit and causing a very new feeling. I’m so screwed, I lean forward and repay him the favor by biting down on his shoulder right beside his neck, hard. I like being rough and I know he will just by his actions so far. I am not a very dominant person in most ways I am actually submission. Not like major bondage and play rooms and shit like that but I

enjoy a few things that a lot of people would consider to be repulsing, I just don’t show it to anyone. I let go of Tyler’s neck when he starts to wobble and start licking where my teeth marks are. I move over to the other side of his neck and start sucking on his earlobe, never knew why it is such a turn on when someone does that but it really is. He grabs me by my hair and yanks my head back, I hadn’t noticed we stopped and when I look around I see I am in a new room, not in the hallway. Wow, I was really distracted for a moment there, who the hell am I kidding I have been distracted since I was being hauled up the stairs upside down over this man’s shoulder.

He wraps my hair around his hand and cranks my head to the right, I see a massive bed with red and black sheets, is that silk, the frame is made of a beautiful mahogany that has been sanded and shined. The corners of the bed have posts that reach toward the ceiling and are carved beautifully, moving in and out curving in one direction and moving back out again. At the top of the posts a see through mesh is hanging over like a canopy, the same color red as what is on the bed, for a man’s room this is very womanly. “This is your room now, and this is your bed, for now anyways.” He walks me to the bed and instead of sitting me down like I thought he throws me on it and starts to climb up my legs as I squeal and try to move back. He grabs them and yanks them back down to where they were and continues moving up. When he gets to me he reaches past me and takes a slip of the fabric from the canopy, that I hadn’t noticed way cut in strips, and starts to tie my hand to the post. “ Tyler, why don’t you just use your hands for now, it’s not that I don’t trust you I just haven’t done this for a long time. He gave it some thought and released me from the fabric. I am startled by the door opening and when I snap up to see who is coming I am majorly surprised. “Ty, baby why don’t you leave this whore and come to my room, I thought you were alone but I see I got here just in time.” This tan skinny ass girl walks into the room and toward the bed and then she addresses me, “You can leave now, sorry to take him from you but I think he would rather have sex for free then to sleep with an STD infected whore he has to pay.” I want to rip her long curly brown hair right out of her hair and move to do just that but Tyler is in my way and he is ready to deal with this himself, but like Levi said I need to make myself known when it comes to Tyler, I don’t know why the hell I am so jealous. “ Ty baby,” I can’t help but imitate her annoying voice just to piss her off a little more “let me up and we can continue in a minute, I promise.” He let me go and I sat up in the bed and moved to the edge to get off. I walk to the fake boobed bimbo and give her my best plastic smile, “Hi, I’m Sin.” I reach out my hand like I am offering a shake and she sneers at it before looking back to me. “I don’t need your dirt ass hands touching me, now get the fuck out of Ty’s room before I make you.” I hear Tyler laugh behind me and the chick in front of me thinks it is because of her joke. “I’m sorry sweetheart but that’s not going to happen, this is my room now and trust me, I’m not a whore, I’m not even a club whore like you, I don’t give out my pussy just to stay around the guys. I don’t need to, so why don’t you take your own advice and get out of my room before you regret it.” She laughs out loud and I shrug back at Tyler before pulling back my arm and punching the bitch in the face. She jerks back from the force and screams as she moves her hand to hold in the blood coming from her mouth. “What the fuck, you bitch, this is Ty’s fucking room and I don’t know why the fuck he brought you in here, he never fucks anyone in here. You are so fucking dead.” She moves toward me and gets ready to hit me but before her fist can connect I duck and tackle her around the waist and she falls to the ground with me on top of her. It takes one hit and she is out.

I sit back on her legs before getting up, if I am going to have to deal with this shit everyday then I might as well start a workout routine here. I grab her by the hair and pull her up to an almost standing position, she is taller than me so she is still dragging the ground. I open the door and inform Tyler that I would be back in a minute and walk out dragging the bitch behind me. I get to the stairs and contemplate if I should drag her down or roll her down and decide to roll her. I lay her down parallel to the top step and walk in front of her as I roll her backward down the stairs. I get to the bottom and no one seems to notice me and her so I grab her by the hair once again and drag her to the bar and get the attention of one of the guys sitting there, I am surprised no one has noticed me dragging around a girl's body. “Well hello there little thing,” I try hard not to roll my eyes, “Ya, don't say that in front of Levi and apparently not in front of Tyler either, anyways sorry to interrupt your drink but I need to find the club whore hang out please.” He looks confused but hides it and smiles, “You don’t need to be hanging with them, why don’t you spend some time with me and the guys.” He puts his hand on my shoulder and I shake it off, I lift the chicks foot into the air and continue “ I have a little message for them and I won't be hanging out with them don’t worry.” He looks at the girl on the floor and busts out laughing catching the attention of most of the guy in the bar and a few woman, “ Sure they are out back and probably a

few in the clubhouse so why don’t we start here. I’m sure you can do it. HEY EVERYONE THIS FINE LITTLE PIECE OF ASS HAS A THING TO SAY.” Shit he is so dead. I turn to look at everyone and I see Tyler and a few others standing at the top of the stairs. The girl on the ground starts to move so I pull her up by the hair again for everyone to see. “Hey guys, sorry to interrupt but I have an important announcement,” the girl starts to scream beside me and it hurt my ears so I wrap my hand around her mouth to shut her up and she bites down I move my hand and bring it down on the face in a hard slap. She shuts up immediately. “Like I was saying I have an announcement, this bitch came into my room a few minutes ago insulting me and saying things I really didn’t like, I know I could have worked it out with words but it just so happened I was busy at the time and was not so happy about being interrupted. Now, this is kind of a warning, I am not a Slut, I am not a club whore and I will not fuck any of you, well except the guy I was busy with. I do not take people’s shit and I will not. Last but not least if one more person call me a ‘fine piece of ass’ they are going to be KO as well,so have a nice day.” Tyler comes tearing down the stairs and I give the guy at the bar a heads up “ You might want to run, you have two men out for you right now and I know one is coming this way right now at a very rapid pace and guessing by his speed he will be here in about 4 seconds.” The guy looks stunned and he doesn’t start moving till Tyler is already here and I see Levi not too far behind him. “Tried to warn you.” Tyler looks pissed and doesn’t say anything until Levi gets here, they both move past me and stand in front of me like a damn shield, “Shane, this is Sin,” surprisingly that is all Levi had to say and I can see between the guy's arms that he is shocked and nearly ghost white. “Sorry man I didn’t know,” he couldn’t finish that because Tyler had him by the neck, “She is mine, one more comment or look and you are dead at my hands not hers.” Well fuck this just got serious, and damn I didn’t know I wanted it to be serious. Everyone’s attention is on Tyler and Levi while they have their exchange with Shane and they are all now looking at me like I am an angel. Fuck Tyler just claimed me as his in front of the entire club and Levi should not be okay with this. I don’t listen to any more of what they are saying and I drag the girl by the hair with me to the back, “I'm sorry Sin, I didn’t know you and Ty are together and I didn’t know you had Levi to, I thought he had an old lady.” She thinks I am fucking Levi, Ha Ha funny “ Shut the Hell up, I'm not fucking Levi bitch he’s my fucking brother!” I am so tired of dealing with this bitch, most of the girls are in the room so I wont waste my time going out back.I drop her to the ground and give the boys one last look as they continue to beat down on the poor guy, they might not be hitting him but he just insulted a very importan person to not only the VP but to the Sargeant at arms to in front of the whole club so he is getting one hell of an ear full. I never thought about how Ty was the Sargeant at arms, I just keep digging this hole bigger and bigger. Dad never complained about his life, in fact he loved it, said they protected him and that we would always have a family if we stayed with them. I guess that was true, Levi was brought in as family when everything happened, why not me? I need to talk to Ty about all this, why was i left on my own but Levi got a family? He was raised by people who love him, I had to do all of this on my own and go through so much shit while he was here protected and ending up with a beautiful girl and a loving family, what do I have? Nothing now, a brother I thought was dead and I currently hate and my best friend doesnt even know where the hell I am. “Tyler let’s go! We need to have a little chat.” I know he can hear me based on the looks I get from everyone I was pretty loud. I take the steps two at a time and head to my new room, deciding it would be less distracting I sit in the big comfy arm chair in the courner of the room by the window. As I wait I watch the clouds go by, it is so peacful, I don’t think I have ever just stopped to watch the clouds.The beautiful powder blue color in the background and the fluffy white color that makes them look like cotton that has been torn up and frayed at the edges. I started to feel a smile spread on my face and in that moment I was happy, full on happy for the first time in a while, I have been happy but that was always covered in worry of the other problems in my life that are sure to come back.

 I hear the door open and my smile fade but I don’t turn my head until the lock clicks into place. “Ty, how long have you been in the club?” I see the confusion on his face but he answers anyways, probably trying to find out my angle of questioning, “Since I was a kid, you met my dad your first day, he is the Prez, so I grew up in the club.” I don’t understand, Ty was raised in the club and Levi was raised in the club and I am sure almost everyone in the bar was raised in th club except the club whores, why couldn’t I have had that life? How did they find Levi and not me, I was left alone and I was so much younger then him. “What’s it like, to have a family that raised you? Do they love you unconditionally like everyone says? Is it true that no matter what they will be there, even if you made big mistakes?” I can’t look at him anymore, it’s not fair, I never had a real family, no one hugged me and told me everything was fine, not until High School and that didn’t last long. “ Sin, you have family, Levi is right down stairs and you know he loves you.” He seems like he isn’t understanding my questions. I am starting to get frustrated and I just want to yell and scream and hit things, “No, I don’t have family here, I have someone born of the same blood, he may be my brother by blood but he isn’t my brother anymore, he left me, I was on my own most of my life. I raised myself and was homeless for years but Levi, he had you, he had this club and he had a family. Why didn’t I, why didn’t you guys care enough to take me in too?” by this point I was crying, I couldn’t help it. I feel just as alone now as I did all those years ago, no one cares, life goes on and it’s you who lives it, don’t drag someone down with you. Ty opens his mouth to reply but I don’t want to hear it. “Nevermind, can I go run now?” he pressed his lips together in a tight line and looks uncertain. “I’m going so keep the fuckers away from me until I get out of the gate or they will be my punching bag.” for the remainder of my stay here.” I am glad my bag is in my old room, i rush out and into it, Grabbing my ipod and headphones I head back out and down the stairs. Before anyone could notice I was outside and run toward the gate. Full force running is always the best and it is one of the only ways ,besides sex, to let off major steam. As I reach the gate I push it open and only pause on the other side to close it back. I didn’t think this through very well, I kick off my shoes and throw them over the gate hoping they don’t hit anyone or anything and when I don't hear anything I take off bare foot. I head south, I listen to my music as I go and just observe my surroundings. The road seems mostly unused so I lean my head back and watch the clouds as I run, I know I am going side to side as I run but I don’t care, it’s not like anyone will hit me. I don’t know how long I was running like that but when I looked forward I was in a town. I don’t know where I am but I know it is a break from the MC, things have been moving so fast I mean damn I have only been here a day and now that I think about it I need to head back. 

The sky is starting to darken and I don’t know how long it will take to get back. I turn to go back and decide to contemplate the recent events in my life on my way back. I fell in love with a guy who ended up being a drug dealer and trafficked women, I was then kidnapped, knocked out and brought to a strange place with people I don’t know. I find a strikingly handsome man and he makes me speechless, I have to admit it to myself, I tried to just ignore it but I knew I would be screwed. I found my long lost brother who was suppose to be dead and yet he is alive and well with a full family while I rot away and raised myself, I was then claimed in front of the whole club by their Sergeant at arms after being acknowledged as the VP’s sister and now here I am, alone again. I don’t think I want to stay there, I will be tied down and I don’t want to be in love and if I have to live with him it will be so much worse. I won’t be able to avoid him and I know I will give in, but what if I find him with another girl or what if he doesn’t want me anymore, what if he leaves me, then I am stuck in the club and I have to watch him with other girls and I don't think I could get through that. I have been alone for all my life, is it worth the pain if I can finally have a family and be with people who love and respect me? Levi is here, as much as I hate him right now, he knows as well as I do that I will forgive him in a day or two, I always have. I love Levi, I miss the tree house and the sheet forts and eating icecream together at three in the morning while mom and dad were asleep. I need to get to the club, I need to get home.

Chapter 8-

 I may not have been raised by the club, I may have just come here but they are all the family I have left. I will talk to Levi, I will work through this and I am sure he wouldn't let me be with Ty if he thought I would get hurt, wait I don’t want to be in a relationship.That fact is the only thing that saved me from Jake. When I get to the gate I stop dead in my tracks, it’s dark, the gate is open and I am covered in light from what looks like about 20 motorcycles. I slowly walk away from the gate and out of the way but they start turning the bikes around and reparking one at a time, did I do something?I watch them go and two of them stay where they are, they slowly move forward and I have to move back as they come forward, I don’t know why they are following me but one curves to the left of me and grabs my arm . I finally got a good look at the guy and what do you know it’s Levi. “What in gods name were you doing? Where have you been? You have been gone for two hours and it is pitch black!” I froze, I don’t get yelled at, no one yells at me unless I have done something really bad and that hasn’t been for years. “Lee Lee , I was just out running, you don’t know this but I run when I am emotional so you better get use to me being gone for hours.” He looked pissed but I know he felt bad and that was my goal, he doesn’t know me anymore and he has no right to be mad at me. I yank my arm from him and start walking but I was stopped yet again by the other biker, “Fucking let me…” I didn’t finish that sentence because when I looked up I was forced into another world. I was captured by the predator and at that moment I knew there was no getting out. I was looking into the eyes of my Tyler, I just called him my Tyler, shit. “Hi,” I could only get the one word out and even that was very quiet, the words didn’t want to come out and he knew he had me. I was rudely yanked from this beautiful world by the roar of my brothers bike as he speed off to behind the club. “Come on, I’ll take you back so you don’t have to walk.” I walked to the back of the bike and gripped Ty’s shoulder to steady myself and swong my leg over. I haven’t been on a bike since my dad took me, that was my first and last ride until now. I was so young I bearly remember 

 I hold on to Ty’s shoulder while I swing my leg over the side, I never wanted to get back on one, I loved the way it felt but I was little, I was going to like it no matter what. What if it is different, what if I don’t like it? What if I like it too much? Then the most random thought came to mind, I need clean clothes, I need to get my stuff from the apartment, I need to let Liz know I am ok. “Ty, we need to go get my stuff.” He thought about it but then nodded before answering “We can get it tomorrow, it’s late.” He steers the bike to the back of the club like Levi and helps me off the back. I Scurried up the back steps and into the clubhouse, I need to just get lost. I haven’t had anything to drink in weeks but I deserve it after all this. First I fall in love with this retarded ass horrible man and now I am stuck here with a amazingly beautiful man and my dead brother. I duck behind the bar with the tender before Ty comes back in the door and grab a bottle of Crown Royal from the bottom shelf. Without even thinking about a glass I crack the seal on the bottle and down a good portion of it. I can heard Tyler on the other side of the bar asking if anyone has seen me and when the bartender looks down at me I put my finger over my lip to keep him from telling. I just need a little bit of time to myself with this wonderful new friend of mine. “I haven’t seen her Ty sorry.” and I hear his footsteps as he walks away and toward the stairs. I slump back against the bar and continue to drink from the bottle. As I sit there I slowly feel myself drifting to sleep but I don’t want to go to sleep yet, I slowly stand stumbling and needing to use to counter for support. I notice that no one is in the main room but I can hear muffled talking coming from all around in the different rooms. Heading upstairs to my temporary bed I end up stumbling to the floor and all I see is darkness.