Chapter One
"No one knows you're thinking about him."
WINTER
If looks could kill I would have been dead a long time ago.
The way he stared at me that night was sickening.
Like he was going to destroy every part of me.
I forced the tremble out of my hand and turned the corner of the large space, plastering a fake smile onto my face as I shrugged the coat off my shoulders and let it fall against the back of a lone chair. All grins, no emotions. That was the mask I had created for myself long ago. Positive and upbeat, never scared.
No one knows how bad you fear him, Winter, relax.
No one knows you’re thinking about him.
The poker game was already in full swing by the time I showed up at the warehouse an hour behind schedule. I pulled the fabric of my tight green dress down further; desperately trying to hide the redness of the most recent bruise one of my demon stepbrothers had left on my body.
Always out of sight, always just where the marks could be covered with clothing.
They were nothing if not clever.
I had witnessed my fair share of evilness in the world. Heck, half of the men in that room had probably done worse things than any of my stepbrothers. Hence their need to throw away hundreds of dollars a night on a game of pure luck. I didn’t care about any of the drunks or thieves consuming the illegal games, though. I didn’t even care about my stepbrothers sitting at home drinking themselves into a coma while they planned whatever scheme they had up their sleeves next. And my stepfather sitting in a jail cell just counting down the days until he could make bail and come home to control us all again barely crossed my mind.
My thoughts were too busy being warped and controlled by someone else.
By the one man who hated me purely for existing.
A year without watching him, a year without that look of disgust on his face whenever he happened to glance my way, and my body was starting to feel the withdrawals almost as much as my mind. Too bad the man who captivated my desires so effortlessly was the evilest of them all.
“Winter,” my boss, Drew, rushed over to me. “Where have you been?”
I pushed the thoughts of that perfect face with the intense eyes out of my mind and refused to miss a beat, spreading my fake smile wider. “I’m so sorry, Drew, family emergency.”
“We have a full house tonight, Winter.” He looked at me skeptically. “If you can’t get here on time, I’m going to have to find someone who will.” He glanced around at all the tables packed with numerous men, wasting money and consuming too much alcohol to think straight.
My smile faltered a beat. “It won’t happen again.”
“I can’t keep them betting if they aren’t drinking and how can they drink if you aren’t here to shove drinks down their throat?” He took a step closer to me, looking me up and down slowly. “You know, a lot of women would kill for a job like this, sweetheart.”
I tried not to wince at the nickname. Drew was kind of sleazy but most of the time he was harmless, and he wasn’t wrong. Girls in town would have jumped at the chance to take my place. The money was too good to pass up, the drunker the guys got the more tips they tossed your way.
The difference was that I needed it way more than any of them.
“Drew,” I said firmly. “I’m thankful for the opportunity, really. I promise you it’s not going to happen again.” It wasn’t the kind of thing I should put my word on considering my stepbrother’s habit of picking the worst times possible to use me as their punching bag but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice. Not if I wanted to keep this job and, God, did I need it. No other gig in town was going to put this kind of cash into my pocket.
Drew hesitated only a moment longer before nodding. “Get to it then.”
I didn’t wait for him to change his mind, rushing over to the bar on the other side of the massive space and starting to load up a tray with drinks. I could feel a few drunken eyes on me, trailing up and down my legs and hovering on my ass. I ignored them, reminding myself that I only had another six months of this hell before I could run away for good.
My stepbrothers had no idea I had been working here every weekend for the last six months, stuffing my pockets full of tip money for college tuition. I had applied without them and I was going to pay for it without them, too. I may have only been nineteen but I wasn’t naive enough to think that my life would ever change if I hung around this town forever.
At this time next year, I would be across the country, creating a new life without them. A life where my stepbrothers would never be able to find me. A life where he would never be able to find me.
Once upon a time, the thought of creating a life with him would have sent a thrill of anticipation shooting into my stomach but that was before he made it perfectly clear that he wanted to destroy every part of me.
Slowly.
“Hey, baby, get that fine ass over here and pour one of those shots down my throat,” a drunken voice rang out from the other side of the room, causing my shoulders to stiffen. The drunks got testy when they had to wait. And when they got testy, they got handsy.
I closed my eyes and bit down on my lip, forcing that fake smile I had gotten down to a tee. Six more months, Winter, and then you’re free. A hundred and eighty days and you won’t have to put up with a drunk guy groping your ass while he tries to slobber all over your neck ever again.
I hoisted the huge tray above my stomach and rested it on the top of my shoulder before turning around. I felt the sensation of heat come over me instantly but it didn’t matter, it was too late.
I felt blindsided.
Lost.
Terrified.
I knew he was there even before I spotted his hazel eyes across the room.
I shook my head, trying to convince myself that I had been obsessing over him so deeply that I was imagining his presence, hallucinating the fact that he had come back for me, to finish me.
I blinked a few times but he didn’t go anywhere.
No, he couldn’t be here. Not yet.
He was supposed to be in jail for at least another year.
At least.
Hatred dripped from him as he drifted his hollow greens up and down every inch of my body, so slowly that I felt my heart starting to tighten inside of my chest. When he met my gaze again he titled his head to the side one time, swiftly and fiercely. He was summoning me to him, demanding that I close the distance between the two of us.
It was part the thrill for him, the game.
Always with the games.
Darkness came over his features when he realized I wasn’t responding as quickly as he wanted me to and he narrowed his eyes at me. The message was clear. Don’t make me come and get you.
I responded by dropping the tray of drinks all over the ground.
Caden Dean was back.
And judging from the look on his face he hated me more than ever.