Read Hiding Out (Hawks MC: Caroline Springs Charter, #2) for Free Online Page B

wouldn't get taken away from them." I shrugged. "I was scared that if I went anywhere else, it would be worse somehow, and really...it wasn't that bad. They didn't beat me or anything like that. It was like they forgot I was even there. I would have been out of that house when I was twenty if they hadn't stolen the money I'd saved. They OD'd a few months after, leaving me with nothing. I was scared, and the only person I knew of was my cousin. He took me under his wing."
    Scoffing and then smiling sadly, I said, "I was going home to tell him last night I was moving out. I'd saved enough to stand on my own two feet...but then I discovered he'd stolen my money. I guess he had it planned all along. Gain my trust until I was useful in some way for him. That was when he'd..." I paused before I stumbled over the next words, still in disbelief. "S-sold me into slavery." I shook my head in disgust. "He'd blown his inheritance and stole from me to begin paying off his gambling debt." Licking my dry lips, I added with resolution, "He threw me under the bus. Pretty much told me he didn’t want to use me, but he had no choice because he needed the money. I thought he cared about me, but I was wrong.” Shaking my head, I said to myself, “Maybe it's just me. I'm a magnet for letting people stuff me around..."
    "Bullshit," Pick growled. I looked up at him with wide eyes. "You were handed a shit card from a young age. None of it's your fault." He stood suddenly and walked out of the room.
    Glancing at Josie, I asked, "Did I...?"
    "No." Josie smiled sadly. "We've all had something terrible to deal with in our lives." She took my hand as I watched Billy walk off to find Pick. "I'm just glad you turned up at the business so we can help you."
    "Do you know who he was gonna sell you to?" Dive snarled, his teasing smile no longer in sight.
    Shaking my head, I said, "No. All I do know was the money had already crossed hands and that I was bought by someone in some biker gang, who also had his hold on the law enforcement, as well. It's why I can't go to the police."
    Dive looked over to Dodge who nodded. "Hawks' business now," Dodge said then walked off the way Pick and Billy went, with Dive following.
    "W-what does that mean?" I asked Josie.
    She smiled. "It means we're going to help you. No one will touch you unless they want war with the Hawks MC."
    "I don't get it," I mumbled.
    She asked, "What, honey?"
    "Why are you all willing to help me? You don't know me."
    "No, but we see ourselves in you. Like I said, we've all had issues in our past and we helped each other through them. That's what we're offering, honey, help. We want to help you, so you can finally live the life you're supposed to."
    Luck was definitely looking out for me.
    "Now. Let's get you all cleaned up." Josie grinned and that time, I actually smiled with her.

Chapter Six
    D odge
    My blood pumped hard in my body. I wanted to go out and hurt some fucker. No, I wanted to kill Willow's cousin, and if her parents were still alive, I'd take them down, as well. Like so many I knew, she didn't deserve to be treated the way she was. Hell, she'd had no one since being a kid. How could a person like her turn out so normal after having fucked-up parents?
    "You all right?" Pick asked as I walked into the kitchen at the back of the house.
    Was I okay? Sure, it wasn't as if it had happened to me, so why was he even asking if I was okay?
    His next sentence explained why. "You look like you wanna kill someone."
    "I do," I barked.
    "She seems so...together, even after the shit hand she was dealt," Dive commented as he sat at the table with Pick and Billy.
    "Which is strange," Billy said. We all looked to him. "It's not that I don't trust her story, but come on, how does she not freak the fuck out being around us bikers and people if all she's known is heartache from her family?"
    "She's strong, that's how," Dive said. "Anyone can see it, the light in her eyes. She holds out hope for a new