He wanted to watch me suffer, know that I was broken, breaking. The satisfaction he had gotten from watching me burn down the clubhouse, well the look that had been in his eyes that day had told that very thing. Hatred, for me, was unlike anything else. He hated me, his own son.
Peaches was another casualty by association. Fuck.
"You gotta be patient, son."
"Do not call me, son," I growled. Peaches mom laid a cold hand on my forearm, this woman was everything I hated in the world, and nothing would have given me greater pleasure than pushing her away. But, if there was any chance that she could help bring Peaches home, then I had to just deal with her. For now, at least.
The man beside her gave me an uneasy feeling. George. Fucking George.
The very same one who had made a pass at my Peaches now was in a god damned relationship with her mother? It was fucked up, even in this world. Fucked up.
"Look, Ashby. We will find her," he spoke, and I felt myself seconds away from throwing a fist at him.
"It's been almost a week, a whole fucking week" We didn't even know if she was still alive. Posters littered the streets with her beautiful face on them. The national news had picked up on the story of the missing girl from White Church Creek. Despite all of that, despite us searching every goddammed day, we were no closer to finding her than when I walked into that bar the night she disappeared. When she had failed to come back to the cabin, back to me.
Her best friend sat on the other side of me, tapping her fingers on the cool metal table. She didn't approve of me, that was clear. After everything that had happened over the years, I couldn't blame her. She was just as worried about finding Nala, which I'm pretty sure is the only reason she hadn't attempted to punch me in the face. Not that it would have done much damage, not really.
"We're not giving up, but you know that.."
"Let's go," Patricia, Peaches' mom, stood. Unwilling to hear the same speech that they gave us every time. Statistics about finding someone alive when they go missing is blah blah, fucking blah.
"We're going to have to rip this town apart, Ashby," Claire spoke, eyeing the crew, specifically Pinky, who were waiting outside of the precinct, bikes all aligned "Go through every house, building, van. They won't be the ones who are going to find her, it is going to have to be us."
"We've done that"
"Well, we're going to do it again, those friends of yours. Get everyone to meet back at the bar. We can't give up on her, not again."
And with that, she stormed off, leaving me standing outside of the police station as a white Bentley drove past.
One that I knew very well
Fucking Matthews.
Fuck you, dad.
Throwing up a middle finger, I leaned against the wall, lighting a cigarette and taking a deep drag.
Everyone was talking around me at once, but I couldn't hear a god damned word.
My fingers were tapping on the bar top, unable to concentrate.
"Maybe we need to start looking further afield?" Harley said after hanging up the phone to the prospects who had just checked Hudson High, and the surrounding buildings, again, just as my cell phone rang.
Answering the unknown number before the second ring could sound, I held a breath.
She was alive.
Standing up and grabbing my keys, I dialed detective Barnes as I moved. Everyone continued talking around me and moving, following my movements with every step I took.
"She called me, I think, I think she's at the high school, she said locker room or something."
"She called you?" He sounded as shocked as I felt.
"Did I fucking stutter?"
Huffing in annoyance, "We're leaving, now"
"I'm already on my way," slamming the truck door behind me. I was surprised to see Harley getting in the passenger seat, challenging me with his eyes. How he didn't hate me now, I will never know. If the shoe had been on the other foot, I would have been out for blood, my blood.
"You gotta wait for us, Ashby, I mean it," disconnecting the call, I was already starting the truck and moving out of the lot before anyone else who was scrambling to follow me as quickly as they could. My eyes darted to the patch on Harley’s vest, Pres.
"You gotta slow down, Ash" Harley almost sounded like he was afraid of my driving. Not saying a word, I pushed my foot down on the gas. I had to get to her now.
Speeding into the school lot, my tires screeched, skidding to a holt by the entrance. Leaving the door wide open, I moved as fast as I could.
She had said locker room, where the fuck was that?
It had been way too many fucking years since I had been in school. Jesus.
Turning to Harley, who was following behind me "Locker room" eyeing the other cars and bikes as they roared into the lot behind us, I could hear the police sirens in the distance. "Harley"
"Follow me," he broke out into a run, and I followed behind him, pushing into the girl's locker room.
"PEACHES!!!"
We tore around, but there was no sign of anyone being in this room since school had let out for summer.
I could hear Claire's voice behind, down the hall shouting out for Peaches.
"Across the hall."
"What?"
"The boy's locker room."
Peaches, I am coming for you.
Please be okay.
Pushing the door open, my senses heightened, a bad feeling crept into my bones.
A metallic scent filled the air. Blood.
Moving quickly, I was shocked to see a row of lockers pushed to one side, revealing a sight that I would forever remember. The sheer amount of blood was unforgettable.
The sight before me made my own blood run cold.
Brandon fucking Matthews was half hanging out of the shower room. Unconscious or dead. I didn't know or care which one it was. Every fiber of my being knew that he had been involved. In this, I fucking knew it.
My eyes were fixed on my girl.
My girl who was laid on the tiles, surrounded by blood, eyes trained right on me with an almost hollow expression. It was a look I had seen in her eyes once before, the first day we had met. When she had passed out at the tattoo parlor.
Becoming aware of voices coming up behind me, I didn't think for one more second before I moved to her.
She needed me.
My feet slid in the blood, soaking into my black jeans as I dropped to my knees.
She was here, I finally had her.
Gasps came from behind me as the others had caught up, the sirens were deafening now, the police were here too.
With any luck, Brandon, if he was alive, would never see the light of day again. He didn't deserve to.
"Peaches," pushing the bloodied hair from her face, her eyes closed fully, she was out cold. "Baby, please."
"Jesus," turning to the detective his voice was shocked beyond belief as he entered the room.
"She needs an ambulance, now," I growled.
"What about the other girl?"
Other girl?
Looking in the direction his eyes were fixed, I saw a brown-headed woman slumped in the corner. The telltale hue of blue covering her skin. A hue I had seen one too many times during my life in the crew, a blue hue that screamed death. She was dead.
"I didn't leave" Peaches was awake, her voice broke my gaze on the other one.
Who was that?
"I was coming back to the cabin," she started to cry, and I pulled her into my arms, moving her hair further out of her blood-covered face.
"Shhh," Peaches tears were mixing with the blood on her beautiful face, it was something I never wanted to see, never ever again. "I've got you, and I am never letting you out of my god damned sight ever again."
"Promise?"
"No doubt in my god damned mind, baby. I love you."
“I… I love you Ashby B.. Bronx”
She lost consciousness just as a small smile tugged on her beautiful full lips.
There are a
lot of people I could list here for all of the encouragement and help I have received in order to complete this book. It’s been a labour of love and there were many times when I fell into the hole writing the first in The Unholy Confession series. I put everything into this story, and I hope it’s as loved by you as I loved writing it.
However, I want to thank you, reading this right now. Thank you for reading my book, thank you for going on this journey and most of all, thank you for just being you!
Laura
xxx
Laura Christopher lives in a seaside town on the south coast of England, with her two ginger and white cats, who have attachment issues. When Laura is not writing you can find her lifting heavy weights in the gym (Specifically the leg press), binge watching boxsets on Netflix and drinking copious amounts of green tea (and gin). Connect with Laura on Instagram (@laurachristopherauthor) for all upcoming releases.
Chapter One
Valentina
They say you can’t beat a California sunset and those people may be right, but my favorite thing about living in New York wasn’t the buzz of the city. It wasn’t the culture that poured out of every crevice. No, my favorite thing was the incredible views from the high-rise buildings. Especially when the sun is setting, it just looks so beautiful. The brilliant light would glow, bending around every building, hugging every curve.
That is why I enjoyed gazing out of the large glass windows of The Lilac Orchard wine bar, watching the orange hues of the skyline while Allie, my best friend, who has been gone on her bathroom break just that little bit too long.
Sipping the ice-cold beer in front of me, I was surprised when she finally returned to our table. Huffing and puffing away in annoyance?
“What's up?” feeling my brow crease as she struggled to form any words in response to my question.
Holding a single finger in the air, she just took several deep and calming breaths, still unable to answer me. Taking a gulp so big from her gin and tonic that it was almost a shot. Well, okay then.
“Allie, what is it?” Probing again, but she just looked up at me with her big brown eyes. It was like she had just witnessed some kind of accident and was in shock.
Wait, had she?
I hadn’t heard anything unusual while she had been gone.
Suddenly words began to pour from her mouth so fast I struggled to keep up. “The biggest, most arrogant prick I have ever had the displeasure of meeting just hit on me when I walked past the bar. I feel violated,” stifling a laugh, I continued to sip on my beer as she signaled for a refill from a server before proceeding with another huff. “And when I told him exactly that, he smirked at me, trying to be all smoldering and shit, and turned around saying that woman had offered to pay for that service, many times, but he’d do me a favor and do it for free, tonight.”
Bursting out into a laugh, she grumbled, “Val, it was not funny.”
“I dunno, I’m finding it about fifty shades of funny right now” This of course only annoyed her further, her cheeks flamed, not in embarrassment but instead from rage.
Shaking her head dramatically, she grumbled, “If it had been you, well... you probably would have just shoved your converse in his junk and walked away, not letting him say anything else.”
She knew me well. “Yup,” I winked as she poked her tongue out in response. My eyes were glancing down at the white chucks I was currently wearing.
“Can I get you anything else, ladies?” The server asked as he placed her new glass of gin and tonic on the table between us.
“No, thank you,” I answered for the both of us as Allie proceeded to down the rest of her drink before picking the new one up and going to town on it. He quickly went to the next table, sensing that the blond sat before me was about a fraction of an inch from losing it. Maybe. Okay, knowing Allie the way I did, that was highly likely.
“Oh god,” she groaned and looked down at her already half empty glass, a look of regret crossed her face. “Don’t look now, but he’s sitting down, at the table by the cheese plant you love,” shaking the half-full glass, making the ice clink against it. “I should have ordered two.”
“You do realize telling someone not to look makes them instinctively want to look, and I do not love it, Allie, It just made me want to buy one for my own apartment” Was that a crime?
“It's such a shame he is such an asshole because fuck me, look at him” conflict passed her features as she kept looking over my shoulder to this guy who one minute she is calling an asshole and the next is saying he is hot. She was giving me whiplash.
“Allie,” I hissed, “Do I look or not look?” She was seriously driving me mad.
“Oh shit, sorry,” she laughed “you can look, he can’t see us unless he turns sideways, I don’t think.”
Craning my head around over my shoulder, I had to ask, “Which one is it?” My eyes scanned over the array of men and women in the bar,
“Navy suit, blonde hair, tanned, sexy as sin with that stubble on his face.”
My eyes immediately found him sat in the corner with a very, very big guy. I’m talking about hitting the gym for seven hundred hours a day kind of big. The asshole, as Allie had named him, was indeed one of the hottest out of any of the men sat in this high rise bar, undoubtedly. The navy, three-piece suit, screamed money. Actually, his whole being screamed money. Skin tanned a golden brown from what I am sure are his many vacations a year. Probably on a yacht in the south of France or something. A face, well the side I could see looked like a models, perfect bone structure and one of those jaws, as sharp as a blade that makes the girls swoon, with a scattering of a darker blond, maybe even a light brown stubble.
“God,” she grumbled. “Maybe I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did and just let him do bad, bad things to me, Valentina” a sad sigh left her lips as she pouted, holding her chin up one hand.
“Allie! You’re married.”
“Oh, yeah,” she casually waved a hand in the air as if that was a normal thing to forget. For the love of God, this girl was hard work at times.
“You are something else!” Shaking my head at my best friend. I must admit that I was curious about the two guys sat in the corner. There was just something about them, and it was not only because they were very, very good looking. No, there was something else that was in the air around them.
“You love me.” Sighing, she dropped her now empty glass on the table between us, crunching an ice cube in her teeth.
Squinting my eyes at her in mock disgust, I told her, “I’m not so sure. Sometimes I think that I must be crazy to put up with you.”
“Seventeen years deep, baby, you’re stuck with me now, Val,” she snickered. The two of us had met in junior high and instantly became best friends. No matter what has happened over the years. No matter the drama, the relationships, the breakups, or even her marriage to one of the coolest guys I had ever met, Corey could never change our friendship. She had always been the one constant in my life. Well, her, my parents, and my brother, Eduardo.
“Talking of my darling husband, I need to get back to the apartment before he does, hide the evidence of our shopping.” Those brown eyes sparkled with the challenge of hiding it from him. I could count the number of times that had been successful on the one hand. What made me laugh more than anything about this was that Corey didn’t care about what Allie bought at all, no matter how much she splashed the cash. He would just roll his eyes to himself and kiss her on the forehead. So why she felt the need to hide it form him always confused me.
“Your shopping, I don’t have anyone to hide anything from” Living alone these days had its perks. Many perks, actually.
“One day, a man is going to sweep your little butt off those converse clad feet. I can feel it, Val.” Sighing, I stopped myself from listing the many times that it had gone wrong in the past.
“Your crazy is showing again,” rolling my green eyes at her, I tapped one finger against the side of the beer bottle clasped between my
hands.
I had reserved myself to the fact that no man was ever going to sweep me off my feet, as Allie had put it. In all honesty, that didn’t bother me. I was very content in my life. I had good friends, a close family and my store. What else did I need? Not another man lying to me, that was for sure.
Peaches: MC Romance (The Unholy Confessions Book 1) Page 22