Wild Card is now available, so I thought I’d share the first two chapters. Please read the content warnings here before starting. This book contains many dark themes, including SA of a minor, which is how chapter one begins. It is not graphic; there aren’t any specific details of the assault. It’s more about the fear and what happens after, but please go forward with caution. Your mental health matters.

You can also grab the book for 99¢ or read it through Kindle Unlimited here.

Chapter 1

Abbie – Age 12

Pain was all Abbie knew. Pain and fear.

Someone was shouting, but she couldn’t tell if it was the monster holding her down or not. Maybe it was her own screaming, morphed in her ears. Closing her tear-filled eyes, all she could do was pray it ended soon.

In the distance, she heard a loud pounding. Was it her heart? The sounds of the horror happening to her?

Or something else entirely?

She simply didn’t know anymore. Didn’t know anything except what was happening to her, what was being done to her… And more than anything, she wished she didn’t know that either.

Abbie had hoped that someone else heard her, but with each ticking second that went by, each minute that the attack lasted—however long it had been since this nightmare started—she knew no one was coming to save her. He was going to destroy her.

Then, he was going to kill her.

For the briefest moment, she thought that might have been a mercy. If he ended her life, all of this would be over. And she would see her mom again. She would be free of this dark, cruel world.

Except, just as that thought flitted through her mind, his weight was ripped off of her. He shouted, cursed, threatened whomever had interrupted. She slowly turned from where she’d been bent over the desk to find her two older brothers on top of the monster. They were beating the life out of him. She could already see the blood on their hands, the floor.

“Abbie,” another voice gently whispered. “Sweetheart, can I help you?”

She turned to face Theo, her brothers’ best friend. He’d always been her friend too, she thought, taking care of her and making sure she wasn’t left alone in this big house. With twelve years separating her from the youngest of her older brothers, she didn’t have anyone her age around here. Her mother had left years ago, and her dad had been too busy for her. Hunter and Fletcher made time for her, especially Fletcher, but it filled her with guilt. She knew they had their own lives, just as Theo did. He hadn’t acted like it though. Not once. He’d always been kind, loving, and funny, always trying to include her.

But she didn’t know who to trust anymore. Not when her own father had just…

Theo shrugged out of his zip-up hoodie and held it open, offering to cover her, and she glanced down. Her sundress had fallen back in place for the most part, but one strap was ripped, leaving her partially exposed. Under other circumstances, she would have been embarrassed that he saw her like this, but none of that mattered now.

Nothing did.

When he reached for her, she flinched back. She couldn’t help it.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said in an even softer tone, seeming to understand.

She wanted to believe that deep down, but fear consumed her. Crossing her arms over her chest, some of the embarrassment she would have normally felt returning, she looked over her shoulder at the bloodbath happening on the other side of the room.

“Abigail, look at me,” Theo said in a slightly firmer command while keeping his voice still low so as not to scare her. “Focus on me.”

As a few of the men who worked for the Family came in, her chest heaved, her heart racing too hard. She didn’t see the one who’d found her in her room and brought her here, claiming her dad needed to talk to her. Gregory had been like family, like an uncle. She’d known him since birth, just like most of the men rushing in now. Panic coursed through her, and she quickly went to Theo. He gently wrapped her in his sweatshirt and asked, “Can I pick you up?”

With a nod, she lifted her arms toward him. Despite her age and recent growth spurt, he didn’t hesitate to pick her up like he had when she was younger, carrying her as if she were a princess. He was cautious not to touch her below the waist, keeping one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back. It only made her realize that her underwear lay somewhere on the ground in shreds. Not wanting to see them or anything else going on in the study, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, sobbing into his shirt as he carried her away from this nightmare.

No one stopped her brothers from destroying their father. Not even his own men, some who had worked with them for decades.

Though, he wasn’t really her father, it seemed. Even if he hadn’t revealed as much tonight, shoving the paternity test in her face, he would have never held that title again. He would never hold any title again. Not by the time Hunter and Fletcher were done with him.

“I’m so sorry, Abbie,” Theo whispered, putting a hand to the back of her head, still holding her as if she weighed nothing. “I’ve got you. You’re safe now, I promise. It’s going to be okay.”

Somehow, she didn’t think so, but she didn’t tell him that. As he carried her upstairs to her bedroom, away from the hell she was living, she just held on to him tightly and cried, trying to take comfort from one of the few men she would ever trust again.

Chapter 2

Theo – Present

12 years later…

Ignoring the pain spreading throughout my hand, I grabbed the man by the front of his shirt to lift his face higher and then punched him again. He moaned in agony. His head lolled to the side, blood dripping from his split lip and busted nose.

“Tell me,” I all but growled. “Where is she?”

When he stayed quiet, I shoved him into the wooden chair he was chained to hard enough to rock it back and wobble on its legs before slamming to the ground once more. I turned toward the table that sat against the wall covered in various tools and devices. Weapons for this very purpose. Considering my options, I snatched a six-inch carving knife and tossed it up and down while facing the scumbag again.

The piece of shit spit out a mouthful of blood to the floor before glaring my way. “You can’t kill me. If you do, you’ll never find her.”

I huffed out a breath of air through my nose and slowly shook my head. “No one said anything about killing you, Jacobson.” I took a step closer, one at a time, the corners of my mouth curling into the wicked grin that usually made people squirm with fear. “Did you know the human body holds ten pints of blood, and we can lose about forty percent of that before dying?”

Adam Jacobson started to move. Or at least, he tried to. He writhed and tugged his arms against the restraints. “You can’t do this. Do you know how important I am in this city? My people will hunt you down.”

At that, I let out a low chuckle. “They can certainly try.”

“I have unlimited resources.”

“Where?” I looked around the dingy, soundproof room dramatically, as if something would jump out of the shadows to aid him, before smirking at him. “What makes you think you’ll ever get out to use them?” I twirled my blade, watching the light glint off the shiny silver steel. “Besides, I have my own resources. Or do you really not know who I am?”

Adam spit more blood out of his injured mouth, this time in my direction. It fell to the ground near my feet. “Oh, I know who you are—Grantham’s little bitch.”

I laughed with actual amusement. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that nickname, but it didn’t bother me. It never had. I owed everything to Hunter and Fletcher Grantham, so yes, sometimes that included doing their dirty work. They were also my best friends though, my family in all the ways that mattered. Their demon of a father took me in as a child when I had nowhere else to go. My parents had worked for him, but that wasn’t what killed them. No, that was a drunk driver. I was eight years old and suddenly left with nothing but a trust fund. Vincent Grantham let me move into their mansion, and it would’ve seemed like a selfless act if I didn’t know he planned to put me to use the moment I turned eighteen. Not that I cared. I was just grateful to get to live with my friends.

A pang of grief and guilt, somehow still sharp and frequent, coursed through me, threatening to crush my lungs from the pressure. Hunter and Fletcher were two of the most important people in my life. But above them both had been their younger sister. My heart ached in my chest from missing her so much. It was coming up on seven years now…

“You want to know what I did to the little girl?” Adam said, drawing me back into the present and turning my sorrow into anger. “You want to know how she cried and begged? How she screamed when I—”

I closed the remaining distance between us, and without hesitation, drove the sharp blade through the vile man’s hand and into the wooden armrest beneath. His screams echoed around the small room. I hadn’t planned on going there so soon, but who was I to fight the muse when given so much inspiration?

I whirled around to swipe up another knife from the table, then held it to Adam’s throat. “Where is she?”

Panting, the asshole shook his head. I sliced along his neck just enough to make my point.

“Theodore,” a voice shouted behind me, but all I could see was red. All I knew was that this disgusting excuse of a man had hurt an innocent girl, just like—

A hand landed on my shoulder in a tight grip. I turned with the knife, but another hand shot out to grab my wrist before I could do any damage.

“Stop,” Hunter said, appearing in front of me seemingly out of nowhere. I couldn’t even be sure when he’d arrived, how long he’d been watching. “Breathe.”

I met my best friend’s gaze and realized I wasn’t in danger. And Abbie wasn’t here. She hadn’t been in a really long time. Relaxing slightly, I lowered my blade and inhaled through my nose.

“You can’t kill him,” Hunter whispered.

Nodding, I said, “I know… I know.”

When he released me and took the knife, I didn’t argue. “That’s enough for now,” he said. “Emily’s coming in to give it a go.”

I clenched my jaw but agreed to stop. This wasn’t over though. I needed to know where he’d hidden Savannah. Her parents were waiting for answers. Unable to face the man who’d abducted her, I said in a flat tone, “Is she at least alive?”

Adam clearly knew the question was for him, and his malicious laugh was low, sending a shiver down my spine. “Guess you’ll never know. I will tell you I had a lot of fun with her though.”

My stomach twisted, threatening to return the meager breakfast I’d forced down that morning. Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention just before Adam started screaming again. Turning, I looked down at the knife now sticking out of his groin, Hunter standing over him. The man cried and pleaded, begging for us to help.

“Did you just pin his dick to the chair?” I asked in a teasing tone I could barely muster. I had to keep up the façade in this building, otherwise I would fall apart.

“I did.” Hunter crossed his arms, glaring at Adam in repulsion. “I think we should leave him like that for a little while, let him reconsider whether he wants to share more.” He headed toward the door without another word and held it open for me to go first. A silent command to get out of here.

I took another deep breath and obeyed. Heading into the hallway, I ignored Adam’s pleas. But I didn’t slow or wait for my friend. I knew Hunter would follow, so I quickened my pace through the warehouse to one of the back doors. Shoving it open, I stepped out onto the concrete patio and went straight for the railing that overlooked the shipping yard and Lake Michigan beyond that. I could barely feel the icy wind on my cheeks.

Gripping the iron rail, I hung my head low, trying to steady both my pulse and my stomach. Hunter stood beside me and waited in silence. He was one of the only people who knew just how much of a toll this took on me. And why.

“I have to find her,” I whispered after a few minutes, once I was sure I wouldn’t be sick. “She’s out there somewhere. Terrified, hurt. I can’t… We can’t stop searching.”

“We won’t.” Hunter moved closer and put a hand on my arm. “Theo, look at me.”

I did, taking a deep breath and turning to lean one hip against the metal barrier.

“She’s not Abbie.”

The back of my throat burned, my eyes stinging. I looked away and focused on the gray-blue water of the lake, the wind causing mist to fly through the air each time the tide rushed in and crashed against the rocky shore.

Pushing off the rail, I whispered, “I know,” as I returned to the warehouse. But I was done for the day. I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving, but Hunter would know and take care of things. I only popped into the office long enough to slip on my jacket and grab my helmet.

I went out to the parking lot, where my bike waited, put on the helmet, and within a few minutes, I was speeding north onto Lake Shore Drive. It was early enough in the day still to avoid rush hour traffic, which was good since I had no patience for it right now.

I rode along, the typical gloomy, monotonous spring sky spread out above me. It mirrored my mood. Eventually, I pulled into the private garage beneath my apartment building, and I made my way to the elevator and then up to my penthouse suite on the thirty-second floor. Unlocking the door, I went in and set my keys and helmet down before kicking off my shoes. I’d moved out of the Grantham house years ago—I hadn’t been able to face it anymore. I couldn’t spend all of my time in a place that had seen so much trauma.

The place I’d tried and failed to help Abbie.

With the money from the trust fund my parents had left me, I had decided to officially leave the Family and start over on my own. I had sworn allegiance when I was eighteen, but with Vincent gone, Fletcher and Hunter were in charge, and they had let me out without making a big deal of it. Once I left, I’d opened my own PI business, which was successful, seeing how I wasn’t afraid to fight dirty. With my mom and dad dead, Abbie gone, and Fletcher in prison, I didn’t have much left to lose. Especially after cutting ties with the Family and losing most of my friends. Only Hunter remained in my life. When word spread of my willingness to do what it took to help clients… that was when the first set of parents found me and begged me to look for their daughter.

The police had given up. Of course, they told the parents they were still searching for answers, but it had been made clear that they shouldn’t hold on to hope that the girl was still alive. It had already been six months by that point, and the parents were desperate. They had poured all of their money into the search, hiring other PIs who played by the book and didn’t get results.

Not only had I agreed to do it immediately, but I also insisted on helping pro bono. It wasn’t like I needed more money. But this family needed their daughter. The girl, Tasha, had been eight when she was abducted. I simply couldn’t say no. After close to six months of searching—and doing whatever was necessary—had passed, I found the girl with Hunter’s help, alive and fairly unharmed, but understandably traumatized by all she’d witnessed. She’d been gone for almost a year, but I couldn’t give up. At the very least, I wanted to find closure for the family. After we returned her home, the family moved out of the city, but it wasn’t over for me. Not by a long shot. More and more parents started coming to me about their missing children.

Eventually, my search led to uncovering a trafficking ring, and I knew I was officially in over my head. I couldn’t rescue all these kids and take the ring down on my own. So, I returned to the Grantham Family, pledging allegiance once again in exchange for their resources and backup.

But I kept this penthouse as a way to separate myself from all of that. Being third in command of the biggest crime family in Chicago was taxing. I needed my own space to retreat. I’d shut down my business to focus just on taking down the trafficking ring and finding missing people. Really, there wasn’t another option; I couldn’t give a fuck about cheating spouses or blue-collar crimes when I knew this was going on right under our noses.

Sighing, I pulled out my phone and sank onto my large white couch. There was just one issue with living on my own… I hated being alone. The five-bedroom penthouse was too empty with no one else here. Hunter came to stay once in a while; he had his own room, just like I still had one at his house. But he was usually busy or out or hooking up with too many women and men to keep up with. The last somewhat serious relationship I had ended last year, and I didn’t particularly want to find some random woman to fill my bed tonight.

I stared at my phone. I didn’t want to be alone, but I didn’t have anyone I really wanted to talk to right now either.

Well, that wasn’t true. There was one person.

There was always one person I wanted to talk to…

Scrolling through my old texts, I found Abbie’s name. The last several messages were from me and had gone unanswered. She hadn’t responded in nearly a year, yet I still found myself trying.

Theo: I miss you.

I stared at the screen for far too long, waiting and hoping to see those three little circles appear. The sun set over the city, setting a glow through the open room before growing dark. When there still wasn’t any sort of sign that she’d even opened the text, I tossed my phone onto the coffee table and leaned my head back, closing my eyes.

It had been seven years since Abbie ran away, but the pain was still so fresh. Just the thought of her made my chest ache. She had kept in touch here and there—at least up until this past year—but she refused to come home.

Thoughts of when she left began to stir, and guilt overwhelmed me, as it so often did while remembering that horrible night seven years ago.

Because I was the reason she’d disappeared. And I hated myself for it.

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