Unexpected Chance Read Free

promise to be a good girl and listen to my Aunt Molly. I had to be a good girl and I had to do everything my Aunt Molly said. I thought in my naive little girl mind that my mother would end up in hell or something if I didn’t. I wasn’t going to put my mother’s eternal soul at risk by disobeying her.
    I thought I finally had my life back on track. I live in a nice condo, again thanks to Chloe and Ava. I have some amazing new friends. I’m in school, to become a Hospice nurse, something I’ve always wanted to do since my mother died when I was ten. I had finally had a streak of good luck which included a full scholarship to nursing school. That kind of luck has never happened to me before. I chalked it up to a lifetime of shit and karma had finally caught up to me and decided that I deserved some good in my life.
    The last part of my past that I needed to shake was Reno. And he was also gone thanks to Max. Up until a few weeks ago, that is. Reno was always possessive. I met him one night while working at Deuces. He was charming, good looking, had tattoos and George Clooney hair. It’s hard to believe back then that I thought he was the answer to all my prayers. He turned out to be my worst nightmare.
    We dated for a week and then I moved in with him. That whole week we dated, he plastered me with flowers and compliments, both which I’d never received before. But about a week after I moved in with him is when he started being possessive and abusive.
    I had been secretly stashing away tip money from the bar to get my own place. I dressed provocatively and said everything a man liked to hear, just to get better tips. Things had started to get really out of hand with Reno, and that’s when Chloe walked into the bar. I honestly think Chloe was a gift sent from my mother. Chloe herself was in a really bad place in her life; well, as bad as a doctor’s life can be. That poor girl, I can relate to how she must have felt when she was kidnapped, but in truth I really don’t. I was allowed to leave and come and go as I pleased as long as Reno knew exactly where I was, and I was at his beck and call.
    Reno was drunk, and I’m sure high on something, when one night he went too far. Once he started hitting me, it was like he wasn’t in control of himself anymore and he just couldn’t stop.
    After Reno passed out, I didn’t know who to call. Max was still dealing with Chloe when I thought about Levi. Max has two other employees that work for him, and when Max wasn’t following Chloe, one of his two men were. Thank God Levi gave me his phone number in case something happened while I was working in the bar with Chloe.
    Levi didn’t hesitate to come get me when I called him. He took me back to Max’s PI firm, and then, even though I asked him not to, he called Max. I hated having Max and Chloe see me like that. Chloe slept on a little bed with me in the safe room the remainder of the night. Max offered me a job as his receptionist, I still had my scholarship. Chloe suggested to Ava that I move into the condo when Chloe moved out, because she and Max had gotten married. Max ran Reno out of town, and I finally had my life back. For the first time since I was ten, I felt free.
    But Reno came back. I didn’t want to burden Max or Chloe again, or any of the Wellington’s. They’re all so happy and finally have their own lives all figured out, so I quit working for Max. I didn’t want to put any of them in jeopardy. I started picking up more shifts at the bar when I wasn’t in school to cover my rent to Ava. I withdrew myself as much as I could from the Wellington family, which hurt like a son of a bitch. I love that family more than my own life.
    Reno started following me again, and when I went in to get my check, he stood by my side with a knife and said I needed to come with him. But I was supposed to be in Ava’s wedding, and that’s exactly what I told him. Then the tip of his knife went into my side and I knew he