Read Redemption Road (Roughneck #3) for Free Online Page A

seethed.
    “I’m not lying, but I am hanging up now,” I said quietly, not wanting Kash to hear this conversation.
    “You’re not hanging up. You’re going to listen to me. You’re going to get your shit and get your ass back home. I’ll forget this whole thing ever happened and we can just go back to normal.”
    I almost wanted to laugh, but knew that would be a mistake. Normal. My life with Jake was anything but normal. He would probably beat the hell out of me if I ever went back to him, I didn’t have any doubts about that. I finally had a way out and I wasn’t going to screw it up. I didn’t want him, I hadn’t wanted him in a long time. He had made me hate him a long time ago and that wasn’t going to change. He wasn’t going to change, and even if he did, I was done.
    “I’m not coming back, Jake. It’s over,” I said.
    “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s not up to you?” he said with a laugh.
    I was so tired of living under his rule.
    “Don’t you get it, Jake? You don’t own me. You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore. I’m not living that way another day. I’m sick of it,” I said loudly, feeling a boldness come over me that I didn’t even know was buried inside me.
    “You’re more stupid than I thought,” he said with a laugh, and then silence. He hung up without another word.
    I sat my phone down and realized my hands were trembling. I rubbed my hands together trying to make the shaking stop. I wasn’t going to let him scare me anymore. I was taking control of my own life. The thought of it made me nervous, but I was doing this. This was my life. It was the only one I was ever going to have, and I wasn’t going to spend it being miserable. Not one more day.
    Just then, I heard music playing from the kitchen area. I listened for a minute. It was Like a Wrecking Ball by Eric Church. I loved that song. I couldn’t spend the whole night in my room, and the smell of pizza made my stomach growl. So I ran a brush through my hair and walked to my door. I was going to have to get used to seeing Kash, and since my boldness was still running through my veins I figured what the hell, and opened the door.
    I walked into the kitchen and there he was. He was in a pair of basketball shorts and no shirt. Figures. That tattoo of his displayed and my fingers twitched, longing to run across all the intricate lines and designs. I balled my hand into a fist and pushed that thought out of my mind.
    “I never figured you for a country music guy,” I said, as I walked up to him and watched him slice a frozen pizza.
    “There’s probably a lot you didn’t figure me for.” He looked at me with a wink as he sucked pizza sauce off of his thumb. That one gesture caused my boldness to melt away. I gripped the countertop to keep from swaying.
    “Hungry?” he asked, as he grabbed a couple of plates from the cabinet. I wasn’t anymore. The butterflies had filled my stomach again, and I couldn’t even think about food.
    “Sure,” I said, since he was offering. He put a couple of slices of pizza on a plate and handed it to me.
    “Wanna beer?” he asked, and I saw him squint as he was eyeing my cheek. Shit.
    “I’ll grab them,” I said, as an excuse to move away from him. I grabbed two Bud Lights out of the refrigerator and handed him one. He grabbed mine out of my hand and opened it for me, then gave it back.
    He sat his beer on the counter, then walked over to me. He gently ran his index finger along my bruised cheek. I tried my best not to flinch. I also tried my best to keep from panting, since he was so close and touching me.
    “What happened here?” he asked, with a genuine look of concern.
    “Oh, it’s nothing,” I said. I didn’t want to talk about this. Not now, not to Kash.
    “Looks like something to me,” he said, and dropped his hand.
    But he didn’t push. He didn’t ask any more questions. He just grabbed his plate and beer, and headed into the living room. I