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Treading water, I hold my chin above the surface of the lake, and stare into his honeyed eyes. The gold flecks sparkle in the sunlight, full of life and love. Love for me. He reaches out and wraps one arm around my waist, pulling me close until I’m pressed tightly against his chest. Closing his eyes, he presses his forehead to mine, and our noses graze ever so slightly. My heart is speeding up, and his thrums right along with mine, both of us locked in a race to the finish line.
His warm breath feathers across my skin, and I close my eyes, trying to absorb the moment.
“I love you babygirl. You make me feel…everything. I need you, always,” he whispers against my lips.
“I love you Travis,” I whisper back, and his lips press against mine with a force I’ve never felt from him before. With an aching urgency, as though he’s being pulled beneath the water and I’m his only source of oxygen so he can’t let go. Our lips never part as I wrap my legs around his hips and press myself against him. Running my fingers through his wet, wavy hair, I sigh against his lips. Everything melts away. My grief, my sadness, and the whirlwind of emotions I feel after this morning’s encounter with my father.
None of it matters.
All that matters is this one moment when Travis Price makes me feel like the most important thing in the entire universe. Hell, he makes me feel like I am the universe.
Chapter two
Travis
“Where’ve you been boy? Over at that good for nothing girl’s house again?”
The lights flick on and I wince at his words, pausing just as my foot hits the second step. Turning around, I come face to face my father. I’m not small by any means, but where I’m tall and lanky, he still towers over me, and he’s nothing but a beast of muscles and rage. Always full of rage. Eyeing him up and down, I stare blankly, knowing his question doesn’t require an answer.
“The last thing you need is some piece of ass muddying up your future. You’re meant to take over Travis, so you need to get your fucking head right.”
I never stand up to him, but I’m an adult now and soon I’ll be able to get out of this town. Away from him. So I pick this very moment to test the waters, just one time. Because I should have a say in what happens next, right? It’s my life after all.
“I already told you I don’t want it,” I murmur, looking down at my feet.
“The fuck you just say to me boy?” his voice bellows, vibrating through the staircase and I suck in a breath, squeezing my eyes closed, preparing myself for the blow that’s about to follow.
Only it doesn’t.
Teddy Price would knock my lights out on a good day for looking at him the wrong way, so the fact that I’m still standing right now has me on edge. I’m suddenly extremely wary, because dad not hitting me, must mean he has something far more sinister in mind.
I’m not a delusional or naive kid, I know exactly what he is, and it’s something I can’t stomach. He’s a sadistic monster.
We live an upper, middle-class, suburban life on the outside, but no one knows that the man living at 127 Sycamore is a complete psychopath. A killer. But I know.
Second in command of a criminal organization known as the Havok Brotherhood, which operates within the city limits of Havok Hills, only an hour away. And he wants me to follow in his footsteps. The past few months he’s been pushing me more and more toward the edge of the cliff, and I’m holding on for dear life, but I’m closer to the ledge now and I can hear the rocks tumbling behind me.
“I’ve let you fuck around long enough Travis, it’s time you learn the ropes. You’re 18, and the days of treating you with kid gloves are over. Go get your ass in the car.”
Kid gloves? When has this man ever treated me with anything other than complete disgust and hatred? I’d swear that if he didn’t have a legacy to pass down, he never would have agreed to have a kid in the first place.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I slowly step back down from the staircase and head for the garage, “Where are we going?”
“Shut up and get in the fucking car,” he barks, as I open the passenger side door.
“You know, Ellis Underwood already handed the reigns to Ryker. He was already elbows deep in the life by the time he was 18. I’ve let you galavant around for far too long. You’ll be running things with Ryker shortly, and you need to know and understand your place in this organization.”
He grips the steering wheel, while talking between clenched teeth, and everything about his body language tells me it’s not the right time. My brain is screaming in the background, “Just shut your mouth, Travis. Don’t do it,” but I’m so tired of being afraid of him. I mean, what’s he going to do this time? Kill me. Doubtful, because then I couldn’t fulfill his little criminal legacy.
“I’m not doing that dad, I’m leaving town after graduation, and you can’t stop me.”
I stare straight ahead through the windshield. I don’t dare to move. I barely breathe. Just when I think that maybe I’ve shocked the old man silent, his knuckles catch my cheekbone, his rings slicing the skin beneath my eye open as my head smacks into the passenger side window. A loud ringing echoes through my ears and my vision blurs. Blinking a few times, the spinning finally stops and I lift my head, peering over at him through the hair that hangs in my face. Bright red blood drips from my cheek to my t-shirt. I spend the rest of the drive refusing to look up, hanging my head in shame.
We ride in silence for the next hour, and once we reach the city, he turns down a few side streets, before reaching what looks to be an abandoned lot. Bringing the car to a stop behind the large, empty building, he shifts into park and turns in his seat. Running one hand down his thick beard, he sucks in a breath.
“Your future is set Travis. I don’t want to hear anymore talk about the future you think you’re going to have. Your future is here, in Havok Hills. That building is a place you’ll come to know well,” he points out the window. “And that girl back home? She’s not part of it.”
“I lo-“