Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Shaw narrowed his eyes at me. “We can’t abandon family, Jax.”
I shrugged. “What do you plan on giving them, Shaw?” I demanded. “Homelessness? Hunger? Fucking fast-food joints that’ll only pay you part-time wages?” He stared down at the table, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “Why the fuck do you think I’m in this predicament?” I demanded. “For shits and giggles?” Konrad sighed, frowning at me. “I’m in here because I was trying to find a way to support all of you. This is what that town will eventually get you.”
“And where the fuck do you suggest we go?” Konrad demanded, anger tightening his features.
I arched a brow and held my hands up. I wanted to spread them out, but they were cuffed together, preventing me from doing so. “Does it look like I have fucking internet at my disposal to Google some shit, Konrad?” I bit out. He glared at me. I knew I was being an ass, but I had to drive them away. I needed them to go start their lives somewhere else.
“I’ll keep in touch with Ace,” I promised them. I couldn’t abandon that boy. “Cameron will be alright. He’s twelve. Life has already hardened him, and I know he’s angry with me right now.” Shaw nodded in agreement. “Just get the hell out while you can, alright? And cut ties with me.”
“Cut ties with you?” Konrad gaped.
I softened my features, and he swallowed thickly. “Please,” I quietly asked him.
He scrubbed his hands down his face before nodding. “Okay,” he rasped. He looked back up at me. “No matter what, Jax, you’re still our brother. Always.”
My throat burned with tears, but I forced a smile on my face.
“Always,” I rasped.
CHAPTER ONE
Jax
NINE YEARS LATER
Irolled my neck around before tilting my head back, staring up at the clear, blue sky above me. White clouds dotted the sky, but nothing blocked out the sun beating down on my skin. Humidity hung heavily in the air, making my clothes stick to my skin almost immediately—clothes that didn’t even fucking fit anymore. Even now, my t-shirt constricted the movement of my arms, the seams biting into my biceps uncomfortably.
The prison loomed behind me, towering over me like a menacing giant threatening to suck me back within its depths. Quickly, I made my way around the building and to the sidewalk, my old, worn shoes crunching over the gravel until I made it to the asphalt. I had some cash that I could use to get some decent clothes and a burner phone from the nearest Walmart. And then, I needed to call Ace.
He was the only one I still had contact with. Ace had kept me up to date on his grades, the shitty foster homes he’d been tossed to, the beatings he’d endured from some of the foster parents. And I did my best to keep his spirits up all while mine dwindled to nothing.
Those letters had been the hardest to read. Because I wasn’t there to protect him. None of us fucking were. I was supposed to be the one to stick around and keep everyone safe, and instead, I’d gotten caught doing illegal shit—stealing a car and burning a house down just to get some extra cash—and had to do nine years inside. And I hadn’t even had the opportunity to get out on good behavior.
Criminals didn’t get second chances in this town.
The good thing about Walmart was that when you walked inside looking as poor as I did, no one batted an eye. Especially not around here. I was just a normal-looking customer to the workers, so no one cast me a second glance.
I grabbed the first pair of jeans I found in my size and a t-shirt, then snatched a pair of steel-toed boots off the back wall in the shoe section. Ten minutes after waiting for someone in electronics, I had a burner phone and my clothes were rung out.
I was more than happy when I got to throw those damn old shoes and clothes into the trash. Finally, I could move my fucking arms and my jeans didn’t ride up above my ankles and squeeze my thighs.
As I was walking out of Walmart, I dialed the number Ace had given me in his last letter. It rang three times before his voice came through the line. “If you’re fucking prank calling me—”
I chuckled, my shoulders relaxing a little at the sound of his voice. It’d been too fucking long since I heard it.
“Ace, it’s just me,” I assured him. I swallowed thickly, my chest tightening. I’d really missed him. I missed all of them. “I got out today.”
“Jax? Holy fucking shit!” he exclaimed. “I thought this day was never going to come.”
I blew out a soft breath and took a seat against the brick wall outside of Walmart—out of the way of the shoppers and the cart pushers. “Me neither,” I told him quietly. “You doing okay?”