A Rebel Love (Black Rebel Riders' MC Book 7) Read Free Page A

eye due to an infection. The Optometrist said had I waited a day longer, my sight would have succumbed to the damage from the blow and the infection. 
    He urged me to leave John, he knew the truth. I had been working in his office for a year. I couldn’t hide my scars or my shame all the time and still hold down my job. Carlos was an elderly man and he retired. When he closed his practice, he offered to give Kyler and me sanctuary with him. He was alone and old—lonely after the passing of his wife. He was good to me. I should have gone to Colorado with him when I had the chance.  But I knew John would come for me. He is always threatening me, that if I leave him, he’ll kill me and Kyler.
    He'd kill Kyler first, making me suffer the brutality of watching, before taking my life. The thought is unbearable.
    John has the whole town believing I am a drunken fool, that’s how he explains my injuries away, but that’d be him. I’ve not touched a drink in years. I leave that to John. He consumes enough Jim Beam for the two of us. I swear if I don’t get the gull to kill him, his liver won’t fail me.
    His nostrils flare as he strikes my side.
    “Is that all you got?” I continue to goad him. Maybe this time he will kill me for good. But then I hear the voice of my baby and I know I have to fight for him. I have to stay strong and take all John pummels me with so Kyler won’t have to.
    “Momma, my tummy hurts,” Kyler cries from his bedroom door. His voice is raspy and pained. He’s sensitive to spicy food, but John doesn’t care. He says, “When Kyler buys my groceries he can tell me what to eat.” He is such a bastard .
    “I’ll be there in a minute baby boy,” I croak.
    “Go on take care of that eyesore.” John shoves me toward the hallway in time to see Kyler throw-up on the carpet.
    “Boy, I told you about making messes!”
    Time moves in slow motion as John grabs my son by the collar of his Ninja Turtle pajama shirt and shoves him towards the stairs. “Go on and get something to clean this shit up!” He kicks at his little shins, sending him tumbling.
    Kyler’s small body sails down the steps, thumping against the hardwood.
    I crawl across the floor, to see my world crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, crying out for momma to make the pain stop. From his mouth to God’s ears, I pray for a sign, I pray for anything, but most of all I pray and wish I could turn back time. I wish I could take it all back—leaving Tread, the father of my son.
    If I could go back and do things differently I would. I’d have told him I loved him…that I was going to have his baby instead of telling him we were over and goodbye.
    Tread’s face smiling back at me, with his dimples glowing and his light brown hair shagging across his eyes is the last thing I see before John’s foot connects with the back of my head. 

Chapter 2
    Tread
     
    Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday—they all blur into one.  Eat, work, fuck, ride, and sleep—that’s all that I do. It takes more than fucking someone you don’t know to make you feel whole. I’ve not felt whole for quite some time.
    Taking a swig of my beer, I watch as Amy works the pole in the center of Truth’s living room. He moved in over the garage a few years ago. Grim gave the apartment and the garage to him. He’s slowly getting it operational again. Place hasn’t been the same since Striker ran it. Miss the hell out of him. Still doesn’t feel real—my best friend, Baby and their little dude, Colt are gone. One minute, they had it all and then— poof they were ripped away from us.
    This place doesn’t appear as if they ever lived here. Colt’s pictures and toys were boxed up years ago, along with our memories. It hurts to look back. Makes me think of the one who got away—Liberty. I loved her, but not enough to make her stay.
    I shake my head not wanting to get caught up in the memories. Instead, I focus my attention on what is