Chapter 1
Genesis
I hadn’t much thought about where I was going when I left home in the middle of the night. I simply waited until the house was quiet, grabbed the bags I had packed earlier that day, crept down the stairs, out the door then got in my car and got the hell out of there.
I’ve already been driving for two days, only stopping long enough to get a few hours of sleep here and there, fill the tank and grab some snacks. I don’t have much family left and those I do have…they would call me crazy for running…maybe even tell Josh where I am…and I can’t have that.
I remember my aunt on my mom’s side…a woman who ran from an abusive relationship after nearly being killed by the bastard she was married to which left her with most of the family turning their backs on her. My mom was one of the only ones who still kept in touch with her, even after my aunt moved to some hole in the wall town in the middle of nowhere…a place called Warren.
It took some digging, but I found her most recent address in one of the address books that had been sitting in a box in the garage since my mom passed three years ago. The address isn’t for a house though, not according to an internet search…it’s for a diner.
Showing up like this is crazy and, as I pass the sign showing there’s 18 miles till I’ll reach Warren, I have to wonder if I’m making a mistake by coming here. Well, it’s not like it would be the worst of the mistakes I’ve made, that’s for sure.
The town is smaller than I expected…but it makes it easy to find the diner…since it’s the only one in town. I pull into the parking lot with the cracked asphalt and reflective lines that are so faded that you can’t tell where one parking spot ends and the next begins.
I give myself a minute, sitting in my car as I stare into the window while I think of all the ways this might blow up in my face. It’s not like I have much choice and the money I was able to take from Josh before I left won’t last much longer.
I take a deep breath and force myself out of the car, my legs feeling like they’re weighted with lead as they slowly drag me to the door. I push open the glass door and my breath catches when I see the woman behind the counter.
I had seen pictures of my mom and her sister, Darla, when they were younger, but if I took the last memory of my mom, gave her grey hair and a few more wrinkles…she would be nearly identical to the woman standing behind the counter.
“Go ahead and sit wherever you’d like, hon! I’ll be right with you!” She doesn’t really look up, too busy focusing on getting the coffee pots set to brew.
I try to ignore the many eyes that are watching my every move as I make my way to the stools at the counter, but I definitely don’t miss the matching leather vests they all seem to be wearing. I slide onto one of the stools and that’s when she finally turns to face me…and her reaction is immediate.
“You look just like her…” Her voice is so soft that I barely hear the words.
“Hi, Aunt Darla.” I give a small, lame wave, unsure of how she feels about having me just show up like this. I guess her shocked reaction might also be in response to the bruises on my wrist…or the ones on my neck…or maybe the black eye I tried to cover up, though I know it’s still visible.
“Genesis? I…I can’t believe you’re here!” She hurries around the counter and is pulling me into her arms before I can fully process what’s happening.
“I’m sorry I just showed up like this, but…I just had to leave and I didn’t know where else to go. I couldn’t tell grandpa or Uncle Tony…they would’ve made me go back.” She just hugs me tighter for a second before stepping back, but her hands stay on my arms.
“We can talk about it all later, but, for now, let’s get you something to eat. Do you like coffee? Or would you prefer soda?” The normalcy of the question is enough to relax me and I have to fight back the laugh that’s threatening to bubble out of me at the realization that the most normal moment of my life in the last two years came from a woman I’ve only ever seen in pictures!
“A coke would be great, thank you.” I return to the stool, fully aware of the fact that every man in a vest is now watching me very closely. I relax a little when Darla sets the cup in front of me, giving me something to focus on.
“What can I get you to eat, hon?” I didn’t even look at the menu that’s sitting on the counter, but I’m simple…always have been.
“Just a side of fries with a side of ranch and some barbeque sauce, please.” She gives me a soft smile before writing it down and handing the slip to the cook.
“Hey, Darla! Who’s your friend?” My body tenses as I hear the sound of boots on the linoleum, getting closer with each step.
“Jax, don’t you go upsetting her, or I’ll let Lexi know…and we both know you don’t want Lexi to be pissed off at you again. Last time she was, you ended up with a little dick tattooed on you.” I have to lower my head to hide my smile, but the threat only makes the man chuckle.
“Take it easy! No need to piss off the wife. I was just trying to be friendly. You know we don’t get a lot of new faces around here.” I swear, it sounds like this grown ass man is pouting, but I’m not willing to look at him to confirm it.
“You boys will behave or I’ll tell Chef to let you all starve.” He mumbles something under his breath about ‘grumpy old ladies needing to get laid’, but I hear his footsteps retreating to somewhere behind me.
“Don’t you mind them, hon. They’re a bunch of heathens, but not a one of them would harm you.” I nod my head, not accepting it as a fact, but acknowledging that I heard her.
Once Darla sets my plate in front of me, I mixed the ranch and barbeque sauce together then eat quietly, only managing to finish a little less than half. Darla boxes up the rest for me then gives me a piece of paper with an address written on it and instructs me to go there and she promises to join me shortly.
Finding the small house was easy enough, but I can’t bring myself to go inside. I mean, she is a virtual stranger, after all. I choose to sit on the top step of her porch, enjoying the fresh air and watching cars and several motorcycles go by before one pulls into the driveway of the house next door.
I watch the rider from the corner of my eye, noticing his toned body, blonde hair and, most of all, the tattoos covering both of his arms and a large rose on the side of his neck. He’s attractive enough and he’s wearing one of those black vests the guys at the diner were wearing. I expect him to go inside the house, but then I hear footsteps on the gravel…coming closer.
“Hey, you here to see Darla? She’s working at the diner today.” I look up at him and give him a weak smile, but it drops the second his light blue eyes widen as he spots the bruises that I did a shit job of hiding.
“I already saw her. She gave me her address and told me to come here and wait for her, but…it feels weird just walking into someone’s house when I don’t really know them.” He finally seems to get over his shock and manages to nod while shoving his hands into his pockets.
“How do you know Darla?” My eyes drop down to the patch on the right side of his vest…the word Tech over the letters IT. What the hell kind of title is that? Tech IT?
“Oh…um…she’s actually my aunt, but we just met for the first time today.” That earns another nod as he rocks back on his heels. It’s strange that a man who could snap me like a toothpick looks so awkwardly shy.
“Well, she won’t be getting home for a few hours…if you want you can come hang out on my porch and have a drink with me to pass the time. I don’t have alcohol, but I’ve got soda, bottled water and energy drinks.” I’m usually cautious around new people, but something about this guy makes me think he’s not one of the bad ones.
Hell, even with Josh, I felt uneasy around him from the start, so I know my spidey senses work…I just really suck at listening to them.
“Yeah…okay.” Seeing this guy smile and the way it lights up his face…it’s so damn strange…but I like that smile on him. It makes him seem…softer somehow.
“Come on over. What would you like to drink?” The second he had mentioned energy drinks, I was sold. I need an energy boost if I’m going to stay awake long enough to tell Darla why I came here…why I ran away.
“An energy drink would be perfect.” His smile only gets brighter as we climb his steps and he gestures to the two wooden deck chairs sitting under the awning. He hurries inside and comes out only a minute later with two cans of watermelon flavored Monster then hands one to me before sitting down in the other chair.
“So, what’s your name? I don’t want to go around calling you ‘Darla’s niece’ all the time.” A soft laugh slips out of me before I can stop it, but, hey, this guy is the most awkwardly charming person I’ve ever talked to and I don’t think he even knows it.
“My name’s Genesis.” I look at him, waiting for his introduction, but it takes a second for him to realize it.
“Oh, I’m Tech.” He points to the patch on his chest and…it doesn’t clear anything up.
“Tech…is that a nickname?” His head bobs awkwardly from side to side and his face forms some complex expression before he answers.
“Eh, kind of. It’s my road name. All the cool names were taken and, since I pretty much always have a computer in front of me, the club just went with something easy…and pretty damn obvious.” He rolls his eyes at the end, but…did he say club? What the hell kind of club are we talking? An AV club maybe? Wait, isn’t he too old to be in an AV club?
“Club?” Okay…why is he looking at me like I’m the crazy one here?!
“Yeah…the MC. Didn’t Darla cover things with you?”
