Page 1

1

S tumbling backwards as I round the corner, I plaster myself to the wall of the narrow passage just as a set of voluptuous breasts come bouncing my way.

“The crowd is hungry tonight, Angel.” Shandi beams, tossing her sweaty bra at me where it smacks me dead in my face. “I bet they’d love a baby mumma shaking her milky tits at them.”

My glare is nothing new as I peel the hot pink lace from my face, stacking it on top of the other lingerie I have bundled in my arms.

“Give it a rest, Shandi. Stop trying to get Angel out on the stage.” Ariel slaps Shandi’s bare arse as she squeezes past, both women giggling as Shandi gives a playful shake of her well endowed butt with a wink over her shoulder.

Sighing, I shake my head, fighting back a grin .

Who would have thought I’d end up in a strip club? No one I know, that’s for sure, which is exactly why this is the perfect place for me.

“I go on in five minutes,” Ariel smiles playfully, hitching up her breasts so the tops of her nipples peek over her black lace bra. “Make sure you watch from side stage. I’m doing my new trick tonight.”

“Sure, I’ll try to make it.” I roll my eyes, smiling. “As soon as I get this in the wash and clean the vomit from the men’s toilets, I’ll be sure to watch you squeeze baby cucumbers from your hooha.”

Ariel gives my shoulder a playful slap. “Girl, this ain’t no hooha. This is grade-A pooosey,” she coos, thrusting her pelvis at me.

“Stop it.” I giggle, shaking my head before leaving her to limber up in preparation for her set.

My cheeks are red, just as they usually are when conversation turns to anything remotely sexual, so I force myself to think of something else. Anything else as I weave through the maze of passages heading towards the back room, where the washing machine thuds loudly on the spin cycle.

Dropping the pile of lacy undergarments into the basket, I move to the dryer, watching the clothes spin.

My reflection stares back at me in the glass door.

I look like me, but also, I don’t.

My hair is a dusty pink now, thanks to Martini and her pink shampoo, allowing me to have a temporary change without really doing any damage to my hair.

A fake nose ring glints in the light, reminding me that this new life I’m living is nothing more than an illusion. A bad attempt at a new identity as I hide away from the police, my family, Daniel and his mates, and the Southern Sadists MC.

The curve hugging clothes Ariel insisted I wear to help me blend into the vibe of this place feel too revealing given how big my twenty-four week baby bump is.

Even so, Abbey Delany, the good little Catholic girl from Fox Pines with her makeup free face and golden blonde hair would stand out like a green grape in a bowl of deep red cherries in this place. Hence the appearance change.

But I’m not her anymore. I can’t be if I want to keep my unborn baby safe.

As if the little tacker can hear my thoughts, the sensation I started feeling last week flutters, like a ghost of movement, so light it barely registers. But I know my baby. I know he or she is reminding me that soon enough, I will hold him or her in my arms.

“I’ll find somewhere safe for us, little carrot. I promise,” I whisper, running my hands over my bump, hoping my baby can hear me and feel the safety I want to provide that I haven’t felt in so long.

Even here, at Leather and Lace, I’m not truly safe. It’s not the best environment to be living in, but it’s better than living on the streets of Melbourne. Better than the shelters where cops lurk and questions are asked.

It’s been over three weeks since I fled Ringo. It was by chance that Ariel and Martini found me defeated and crying, sitting on the curb outside Leather and Lace. They took me in. No questions. Just a lumpy couch, a job cleaning, and a little security .

It’s more than I had before, and I don’t even have to take my clothes off and dance on the stage. You could even say I’m happy.

Kinda.

Sorta.

Okay, maybe that’s a lie I keep trying to tell myself to stop myself from thinking about him… Ringo.

A sudden burst of shouting from the club shakes me out of my thoughts, and I frown.

It kind of sounds like a fight has broken out, but it could also just be overexcited patrons watching Ariel squeeze those cucumbers out. She’s definitely a crowd favourite.

I should probably hurry side stage to show my support, but since I’m not in the mood for another anatomy lesson, I’m happy to stay tucked away in the back of the club, minding my own business.

The laundry room door suddenly slams open, ricocheting off the wall and nearly taking Ariel out as she stumbles inside, fear stark on her face.

“Ariel?” I ask, stiffening.

“Girl, you gotta go!” Her voice is urgent, her hands waving frantically.

“W-what?” I take a step back as my stomach twists.

“The cops are here. They’re looking for you.”

My eyes widen as panic grips me, the walls suddenly feeling like they are closing in.

“How?” I whisper. “I don’t understand.”

“Shit girl, come on.” Martini appears behind Ariel, pink glitter shimmering over her bronze skin as her claw-tipped nails wiggle in my direction. “You are Abbey Delany, right? The missing girl plastered all over the news?”

My breath catches.

My name.

They know my real name.

“I told you my name was Angel.”

Ariel scoffs. “We knew who you were the second we saw you. Why do you think I insisted on changing your look?”

“To blend in,” I whisper.

“Yeah, and so you didn’t look so much like that sweet girl on the news.” Ariel darts her worried gaze between me and the door. “Come on. You have to go. We don’t have time for this.”

Snatching my hand, Ariel tugs me through the door while explaining over her shoulder as we rush through the passages. “Freddie is trying to stall them out front, but it’s only a matter of time before they come back here.”

My heart is practically in my throat as we run, weaving back through the maze of passages until we reach side stage where Shandi is bouncing up and down impatiently waiting for us.

“Hurry! They’ve started their search.”

Shandi shoves my backpack into my hands, and I clutch it to my chest as Daffney rushes up, stuffing a wad of cash inside.

“I can’t take that,” I protest.

“Girl, we look out for each other,” Ariel snaps. “Take the money and run. Come back when things cool down. You’ll always have a home here.”

Tears prick my eyes. “I’ll be back. I promise.”

The stage door swings open then. Smoke and neon light spilling over us, as the audience comes into view .

Time slows as my gaze lands on someone I never wanted to see again.

I stiffen as my blood turns to ice.

Daniel.

His venomous glare finds me instantly, and his lips curl as he mouths a single word.

“Gotcha.”

“No.” The word barely escapes me, fear making my knees weak as I stumble back into my friends.

“Out the back door,” Shandi snaps, taking charge, and I don’t hesitate.

I run.

The club is a maze, but I know my way through the old building, and I hope like hell my knowledge of it has me at an advantage.

I shuck on the backpack as I run, white knuckling the straps as I hurry down some stairs before bursting into the kitchen. A bowl of wedges flies from Chef Bow’s hands as we collide raining potatoes on us both and I cry out an apology while ignoring Bow’s curses.

“Sorry!” I leap over the carnage, almost stumbling when a deep bellow echoes from the passage I just escaped from.

“Stop!”

A ripple of fear zaps down my spine, but I don’t stop. I keep running.

Risking a glance over my shoulder, I find Daniel bursting into the kitchen, his eyes locking onto me before he slips on the wedges still strewn across the floor.

An “umph” flies from him as he crashes to the tiles, and a satisfied smirk tugs at my lips momentarily .

Bow blocks Daniel’s path as he staggers to his feet. “You can’t be in here!” Bow snarls, waving his butcher knife at Daniel.

“Get the fuck out of my way, you crazy fucker!” Daniel yells, and as much as I don’t want Bow to get hurt, I can’t stick around to find out. I have my baby to think of.

Shoving through another door, I rush out into yet another passage that forks off into different directions.

One leads back around to the front part of the club. It’s a passage the security guys use. And the other leads to the laneway behind the club.

Taking the one that leads to the back laneway, I hurry down a short flight of stairs and then back up another before rushing out into the last passage that leads to the back door.

I’m so close. It’s right there, my eyes zeroing in on the old rusty door as I run, but before I make it two steps, a hard body crashes into me from behind.

“You fucking whore. Did you really think you could run from us?!”

My heart stops as the familiar voice registers.

Donny Allen. Daniel’s mate and probably one of the cruellest people I have ever met.

We stumble into the wall, and I turn my body as much as I can to protect the swell of my stomach, the movement dislodging the arsehole trying to tackle me.

He trips and falls to his knees, giving me just enough time to shake him off, and I turn to face him.

I’m struck frozen for a beat as I stare at Donny, only now noticing how much he looks like his uncle, the police officer that threatened to harm my sisters last year when I tried to report what Daniel and his friends had done to me .

Donny and his uncle have the same round face. The same dark eyes with lashes too light compared to their dark brows. Even their sneers are the same.

His eyes glint. “What did you think would happen when we found out you were up the duff with my kid?”

My stomach lurches. “It’s not yours.”

He sneers. “Could be. It could be any of ours. But we both know whose dick was inside you the most.”

His sinister eyes fall to my stomach as he points, but I shake my head, not wanting him to ever think he has a claim on me or my child.

I know it could be his. But who the sperm donor was doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is that those monsters never get their hands on my little boy or girl.

“You assume I wasn’t sleeping with anyone else,” I mutter, wanting him to think the baby isn’t his or any of theirs. “Newsflash, arsehole. This baby was made with love, and the father is a real man that doesn’t have to force himself onto women!”

By the time I finish, I’m screaming, my emotions getting the better of me, but the slight moment of uncertainty flickering across Donny’s face is totally worth it.

“Nice try, slut,” he scoffs, smirking at me like the cat that got the cream. “We both know you didn’t have anyone else fucking your muckhole, so yeah, that baby is likely mine, and once it’s born, I’ll take it and throw you back to Daniel so he can do with you as he pleases.”

My chest rises and falls rapidly as my emotions spill over, falling from my eyes in the form of tears.

“I fucking hate you!” I scream, and he snickers before lurching forward.

A squeal flies from me as I spin, making a run for it, but I only make it a few steps before his hand fists in my hair and jerks me back hard.

I flail, scream, hoping someone from the club will hear and come and save me.

Donny spins me to face him, his hand like a brick as it slaps hard across my cheek.

I see stars before my left eye with black rimming my vision as I try to fight back, slapping and scratching while I scream.

Donny curses, and I can tell by the way he’s trying to get control of my hands that he’s working to avoid really hurting me.

Because let’s be honest, if he really wanted to, he’d smash his fist into my face and knock me out, just like he’s done three other times before. So the fact he hasn’t done that means he doesn’t want to hurt me.

Well, he doesn’t want to hurt my baby, which means he has to be careful with me.

My nails claw at his face as he tries to grab my wrists, before I lean in and latch my teeth onto his arm.

“Ahhh! Fuck!” He lurches back, giving me more room, and I don’t think. I react.

My knee slams between his legs, and he drops, a strangled gasp wheezing from him, as I bolt for the back door.

Yelling echoes down the passage, heavy footsteps pounding the floors as what sounds like a herd of men get closer.

Not waiting another second, I bolt for the old rusty door, my hands outstretched ready to shove it open.

The moment my palms hit the door, it bursts open, and relief washes over me as the taste of freedom becomes within reach .

Stepping out into the cooler night air, it takes me a second to realise that everything is far from okay as hands grab me from both sides.

I scream, the hands tighten, practically lifting my feet off the ground as I’m carried forward towards the open door of a black SUV.