WRECKED: GODS OF CHAOS MC, BOOK FOUR by Honey Palomino Read Free Book Online

Royce’s wallet over the years, and I had it all saved in a few rolls stuffed in a sock in my dresser. I retrieved it, counted it one more time, and shoved the sock into my bag.
    There was just a few more things to pack and I’d be ready.
    I walked over to the dresser I shared with Royce and opened up the jewelry box on the top of it. Glittering diamonds and gemstones shined up at me and I emptied them all into a scarf, wrapped them up, and placed them in my bag, too. I’d sell them later to add to the nest egg I’d acquired. With a gleeful surge of joy, I slipped the six carat diamond ring off my left hand, placed it inside the jewelry box, and slammed the lid.
    I never wanted to see that fucking ring again for as long as I lived. It was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I didn’t want anything else to do with it. The other jewelry didn’t have as much of a significance as that fucking ring. I hated it with all my heart.
    I finished dressing, wearing a pair of designer jeans, a black and gold printed Yves St. Laurent blouse and black heels. I took one more quick glance around at everything I was leaving behind and my heart fluttered with sweet anticipation.
    Freedom.
    I was so close.
    I walked out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind me with a little more force than usual, the Coach bag slung over my shoulder as I came face to face with Travis.
    God, he was an awful man. He knew I’d been kept against my will all these years and he’d never done a thing to help me. Royce was paying him handsomely to make sure I didn’t slip up or disappear, and as I looked up at him now, his black uncaring eyes squinting down at me, I really hoped I pulled this off, because I knew Royce would lay into him for fucking up the job he’d been paid to do.
    Part of me hoped I could be around to see it all unfold, but hopefully I’d be long gone by then. I shuddered with the possibility that my plan might fail. I didn’t want to even imagine what Royce would do if it didn’t work and I got caught.
    “Heard you need a ride to a doctor?” Travis asked.
    “Yes, please,” I said, smiling up at him, my voice laced with sickly sweetness.
    “You sick or something?” he grumbled.
    “‘I’m having a problem with my pussy,” I replied, smiling again. He wrinkled his nose and turned away. No more questions. Just what I was hoping for. “Shall we go?”
    “Yeah, sure,” he said. “Want me to carry that bag for you?”
    “I’ve got it, there’s not much in it. Thank you, though,” I said, following him out the door and resisting the urge to look back at the house.
    I’d spent enough time there.
    I knew exactly what it looked like.
    I was done looking back.
    I was only looking forward from here on out.
    It was raining today and it only seemed fitting. I felt the urge to run naked in the rain, letting it cleanse me of all of Royce’s evil. Later , I told myself.
    I slid into the back of Travis’s black SUV, my heart racing a million miles a minute. My hands shook slightly and I looked down at my bare ring finger, covering it with my hand so Travis wouldn’t notice its absence. After ten years, the ring had left a smooth indentation around my finger and I wondered how long it would take for that to go away. I wanted absolutely no reminders of the nightmare I’d gone through. No reminders of Royce.
    I had enough of them swimming around in my head to deal with and that was enough.
    If only I could get my old face back , I thought. But that would never happen.
    I’d never be the same girl as I used to be. Maybe she hadn’t died when my father had blown up our home but she was dead just the same.
    It was like someone had pushed the pause button on my life ten years ago and I was finally hitting the play button again.
    I had no idea what the future looked like, but it couldn’t be any worse than my past.
    ***
    “Vanessa Randolph. I have an appointment at noon,” I said to the pretty receptionist. Her long blonde