Death Dwellers Motorcycle Club:: Fifteen Bad Boy Biker Books
Page 32
“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” she continued, exhausted and drowsy.
Christopher chuckled. “If you say so.”
She giggled, her little fingers brushing his jaw. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Megan.”
“Would you call Momma and tell her?”
Fuck, he’d prefer to slit his fucking wrists than talk to that whiny bitch. But she was his ma-in-law and Megan still gave her respect, although Christopher couldn’t understand why. He sighed. “Yeah, fuck, baby. Whatever the fuck you want.”
Christopher pulled out his cell phone and began to dial. He still heard Megan’s soft words. “As long as I have you and the baby, I have everything I’ll ever need.”
For once, they were in complete agreement.
* * *
THE END
… FOR READING MISLED.
* * *
All of the songs in the playlist below aren’t mentioned in Misled. But I listened to them while writing the story and fleshing out each character. To me, the music I chose for them gave life to the characters in my head.
* * *
I hope you enjoyed Christopher’s and Meggie’s story.
CHRISTOPHER
Fuck You by Lily Allen
Evil Angel by Breaking Benjamin
Sex Machine byDope
Die, Bom, Bang, Burn, F*** by Dope
Sympathy for the Devil by Guns N’ Roses
Another Love Song by ICP
My Axe by ICP
Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix
Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison
No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley
I Don’t Care by Fall Out Boy
American Idiot by Green Day
Apologize by OneRepublic
Time Won’t Let Me Go by The Bravery
With Arms Wide Open by Creed
Love In An Elevator by Aerosmith
MEGGIE
Girl On Fire by Alicia Keys
Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen
Scream and Shout by Brittany Spears
Insensitive by Jann Arden
Daughters by John Mayer
Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer
Cruise by Florida Georgia Line
Roarby Katy Perry
Breath of Life by Florence + The Machine
When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars
Rumour Has It by Adele
The Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga
You and I by Lady Gaga
Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus
We Can’t Stop by Miley Cyrus
Gangnam Style by Psy
Gentlemen by Psy
5 O’Clock by T-Pain/Lily Allen/Wiz Kalifa
Santa’s A Fat Bitch by ICP
Twist & Shout by The Beatles
Royals by Lorde
JOHNNIE
Hey Jude by The Beatles
Rocky Raccoon by The Beatles
Star-Spangled Banner by Jimi Hendrix
Convoy by C.W. McCall
The Most Beautiful Girl by Charlie Rich
Higher by Creed
Home by Daughtry
Come Undone by Duran Duran
Fairytale of New York by The Pogues
The Marine Hymn by Unmarked Cars
Love Will Turn You Around by Kenny Rogers
I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith
God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood
Always on My Mind by Willie Nelson
MORTICIAN
Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley
Brandy by O’Jays
Bottoms Up by Trey Songz
What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Hot Boyz by Missy Elliot
Big Poppa by The Notorious B.I.G.
Dear Mama by Tupac
My Chick Bad by Ludacris
ET by Katy Perry
Meant by Elizaveta
Too Taboo by Maria Haukaas Storeng
DIGGER
Cross Road Blues by Robert Johnson
Boom Boomby John Lee Hooker
Champagne and Reefer by Muddy Water
Mississippi Delta Blues by Muddy Water
Gin Bottle Bluesby Lightnin’ Hopkins
A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Bessie Smith
Lick It Before You Stick It by Denise Lasalle
Your Husband Is Cheating On Us by Denise Lasalle
Kathryn Kelly is living her dream and writing books. She's always been an avid reader and still devours books in her spare time. She also enjoys football, socializing, music, eating, and jokes. In her head, she's the ultimate biker babe. In reality, she's an ordinary girl-next-door and a native New Orleanian. Since the release of Misled in December 2013, she’s been living her dream of writing books. In August 2015, her life took a dramatic turn with the diagnosis of Stage 2B HER2 Positive Breast Cancer. She underwent a double mastectomy, lymph node removal, and breast reconstruction in February 2016. The support of her family, friends, and fans helped her to stay strong and keep her head up. #F*ckCancer became her rallying cry. Now located in the Houston area, she’s once again cancer free. Her hair is growing back and her nails are returning to normal. Currently, she is plotting her next book.
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EMAIL: katkelwriter@outlook.com
Phoenix Rising Rock Band Series
Inferno
Incendiary
Inflame
* * *
Death Dwellers MC Series
Misled
Misappropriate
Misunderstood
Misdeeds
Misbehavior
Misjudged
Misguided
Misalliance
Misconduct
A Very Christopher Christmas
Misfit
Mistrust
Misgivings
Outlaw’s Dictionary
Death Dwellers: The Complete Series
An Outlaw Valentine
* * *
Dirty Boys Studio Series
Dirty Boy
* * *
Other Titles
All My Tomorrows
Dangerous
Riveted
Pink: Hot ‘N Sexy for a cure: The
Books for Boobies 2015 Anthology
When Clubs Collide
Desire Me
CRYSTAL, THIS PROJECT WOULD STILL be on my hard drive, waiting for me to get around to it if it wasn’t for you and your dedication to Christopher and Meggie. He told Meggie he was her psycho. Really, he’s our psycho. You took two photos I suggested and turned them into my dream cover.
To my betas: Leslie, Shirley, and Al. Whenever I needed reminding of the work I faced and someone—you know who—suggested Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” to remind me Christopher thought Meggie was the hottest bitch in this place, I remembered it, too.
To Nanee at the Up All Night, Read All Day Blog, you gave me the final shot in the arm in the days right before the release by telling me how much you loved this story. Emily at the Sub Club Book Blog, I cherish our emails. Give me a moment here to catch my breath and give a blog roll holler. You ladies can’t imagine what you did to calm my nerves: Redheads Review It Better, TotallyBooked, Lusty Penguin, Sun Mountain Reviews, The Dirty Girls, Feisty Girls Book Blog, Sinful Thoughts, The Sub Club Books, The Danish Bookaholic, Geri’s EverAfter, IntoTheNight, and On The Precipice. If I have left out anyone, please accept my apologies!
To the ‘f’ word—you and I are great friends and you will always be Christopher’s best friend, right there when he needs you most.
To all the other bloggers who agreed to review Misled, THANK YOU!
To the writers who gave me inspiration, even though I’ve never met most of you, you brighten my day.
I’m still nervous and scared as a motherf*cker to let Christopher and Meggie go, but they gave me no choice.
AFTERWORD
Please recommend Misled to the fellow readers in your life! Reviews at point of purchase and on Goodreads are mu
ch appreciated. Your thoughts and opinions mean a lot to me.
DELETED SCENES
The following scenes were cut during the final edit of Misled.
Deleted Scene One –
The Original Preface
Meggie stared into the faces of her classmates, wondering how they’d take her short essay. At home, locked in her bedroom, it felt right to try and use this as a way to expose her stepfather. Now, she wasn’t so sure.
“We’re waiting, Meggie,” Mrs. Heffron said kindly. “We want to know your take on the labels we, as a society, place upon each other.”
Smiling, Meggie nodded at her Language Arts teacher.
“Come on, Megster,” Farah called. “I want to do mine.”
Poking her tongue at her friend, Meggie indicated the front of the classroom, in the spot where she stood. “You’re welcome to go first,” she said. Farah was one of her very best friends. “I’ll just sit and listen to you.”
“If you listened to me, you would’ve gone out with Mark Shrewsberry.”
The class laughed, and Meggie smiled, blushing slightly when Mark winked at her.
“At least I know your crew approves, Meggie,” he said.
“I approve, too,” Meggie responded. “It’s complicated,” she added on a mumble.
“How complicated can it be?” her other best friend, Lacey, called. “He likes you. You like him. Just go ahead and do each other.”
“Omigod, Lacey!” Meggie screeched, torn between embarrassment and amusement. “I’m going to kill you.”
“At least I would’ve gotten some if I die,” Lacey retorted.
“She means she would’ve gotten a lot,” Farah said sweetly.
Mrs. Heffron clapped her hands. “All right, girls. That’s enough!” she said sharply. “Please proceed, Meggie.”
Her nerves had eased with the exchange, so Meggie walked to the teacher’s desk, laid her paper, face-down, and looked at her classmates. She knew the words by heart, so she didn’t need to read them.
“In each of us lives good and evil,” she began, as a vision of her stepfather, Thomas Nicholls, rose in her head. He was big and bearded, a math teacher at the junior high adjacent to the high school. In Meggie’s mind, she saw Thomas giving up a seat in a crowded foyer of a restaurant to an older woman.
“The conundrum we face as a society is recognizing those we pigeonhole as evil and those we applaud as good,” she continued.
As the words fall from her lips, she saw him on the day he’d stood at the podium in church. Behind him set, the priest and church elders sat. He seemed so innocent. Thomas was applauded as good, while her father, who belonged to a group whose hobby was motorcycles, was called vile, and even evil. True, he had a bad temper, but he had more love in his little finger, than Thomas had in his entire, overgrown body.
“I’m impressed you know the word conundrum, Megster,” Farah said, “but I really want to get to mine. Can you speed it up?”
Meggie twisted to the side, slid her hand behind her back, and flipped Farah off.
“Meggie’s momma is assistant principal here,” Mark reminded them. “She should know that word.”
“Enough!” Mrs. Heffron yelled. “Get back to it, Megan.”
UH-UH. “That's the grossest mislabeling in the world, the greatest injustice,” she said, facing her classmates again and meeting each of them in the eye. She wanted the words to sink in. “Have we not heard of the fable of The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing? Do we yet misunderstand how deceptive appearances can be?”
The day her mom insisted she bring Thomas something he need rises in Meggie’s head. His students had been captivated by his easy, affable manner as he taught them.
Anger bubbled up in her. “The sun casting a golden gleam upon us doesn't shield us from the rain,” she said, more forceful than she intended.
Another more disturbing image rises in her head—Thomas beating Meggie’s mother. She sucks in a breath and huffs it out. “Good and evil are wrapped in illusions we're determined to create.”
She swallows, holding back her tears by sheer force of will. She’d rushed to the kitchen and dialed 911. While her mother was being abused, she’d been in her room, with a blade, slicing her thighs. Although she’d worn a tank top and underwear, neither her mother or Thomas noticed the blood dripping down her legs.
“The man society views as acceptable…you know the one…? He gives up his seat to little old ladies. Attends church,” she spat, seeing, in her head, the police arriving, although by then she’d put a robe on and helped her mom into one. “He sings carols with good cheer. Gives a hand out and a help up. That man, too, has evil lurking in the depths of his soul. Perhaps, he's more evil.”
Much, much more evil. He had her mother terrified, so much so that Dinah refused to admit to abuse. The cops questioned her, Meggie, and Thomas, separately and together. Meggie, as usual, thought about showing the evidence on her body, then realized she was the only one protecting her mother. Dinah didn’t do it for herself. If she told the truth, she’d be taken away, possibly sent to her father. Besides, she was weeks away from her eighteenth birthday. She could venture out on her own, but then…her mom…?
Meggie cleared her throat. “Sorry, my mind wandered.” Sadness built up inside of her. She knew, before she got to the end, what she’d do. What she wouldn’t say.
“This man can charm and smile and manipulate the world to see his goodness,” she said in a shaky voice, seeing her head the cops going on their way. Again. Resentment built inside of her. Why should she risk her life to protect her mom, when Dinah did nothing to protect herself? “In fact, he's the scariest of all.”
As soon as they were alone, Thomas slapped Meggie to the floor and Dinah ran away, sobbing. Afterwards, he removed Meggie’s door. “He's a wife beater and a child molester, who tears down under the pretense of building up.”
She glanced at Farah, Lacey, and her other friends. They were staring at her, knowing she stood on the precipice of a great revelation. And, yet, because Dinah had convinced Meggie that Thomas would find them as he had twice before, bring them home, and beat them severely, Meggie merely finished with, “thank you.”
When all she really wanted to say was: I know him well. He's my stepfather.
Deleted Scene 2
CHAPTER ONE – SHOWING DINAH’S WEAKNESS
Two days later, Dinah reached for her glass of wine as she and Meggie finished lunch. They sat by the window of a Pike Market restaurant. It was a Saturday. Whenever she could, Meggie slept at Lacey or Farah’s house, but Dinah hadn’t allowed it this weekend. School had recently opened after summer break and Dinah convinced Meggie they should go shopping for new clothes.
“I miss this,” Meggie admitted, staring into her glass of lemonade.
“Miss what?” her mother asked, purposely pretending ignorance. Or, maybe, her mom didn’t know. Everything had become about Thomas, and surviving his abuse.
“This,” Meggie stressed. “You and me. Just going out together and talking. Always joking with each other. We barely do that anymore.”
“We still go out toge—"
Meggie slammed her fists on the table, attracting stares. “It isn't the same. If we go anywhere, it's always with Thomas.” Falling back against her seat, she sniffled. Not only did she miss the strong woman her mother had once been, the relationship they’d once had, but she missed her father, too. It had been years since he’d been allowed to visit Meggie openly. Whenever she saw her dad, she had to pretend to be sick to stay home from school, and sneak to see him. All because of Thomas, a man not worth the oxygen he breathed. If only she could get her mom to see that.
“Why do you stay with him, Momma?”
“You know why.”
“No, I don't. All it would take is one call to my dad, or the cops. Or just not going back.”
“I can't just runaway. I have no chance to.”
Megan released a humorless laugh. “We don't have to go back home. We
just went shopping for new clothes, and to the grocery store. You have money and cards in your purse, and a car. We can get a motel for the next few days.”
“And what do we do when the money runs out? You're making it too simple. I can't abandon him, Megan. He's my husband.”
Meggie snorted. “Do you enjoy the abuse, Mom? Is that why you stay?”
Dinah reached for her wine, took a sip then placed her glass down. “It's time to accept he's my husband and your stepfather.”
Megan released another humorless, shaky laugh.
“He can be a good man sometimes. A good husband,” Dinah said quietly.
Megan placed her elbows on the table and rested her head against her hands. “No man who beats his wife is a good husband or man.”
“Thomas can be both.”
Megan glared.
“You know he can be,” Dinah insisted.
“Thomas is nothing but an abusive asshole!” Meggie yelled, forgetting where they were, only knowing she was stressed out and emotional. Lacey and Farah had questioned her about her essay. Mrs. Heffron had pulled her aside and asked was anyone hurting her. Meggie wouldn’t lie so she’d refused to answer. In turn, her teacher sent her to the school counselor—who, in turn, informed the assistant principal. The woman who happened to be Meggie’s mother.
Dinah raised her hand to summon their stunned waiter. Meggie blinked back tears, ignoring the several other diners who were looking their way. A few whispered to the person they were with.
“May I help you?” the waiter asked, looking between Meggie and Dinah.
“Check, please,” Dinah said briskly.
“Yes, ma'am,” the waiter responded, pointing to Meggie’s barely-touched food.
“Would you like a to-go box?”
“No, she doesn't,” Dinah answered before Meggie could. “Just bring me the check.