Comp’s Chance (Reckless Omens MC)

Chapter 1

One

SUNNY

M y phone ringing pulls me away from the book I’m currently working on editing. The client asked for a turnaround time of two weeks. How the hell am I supposed to get a one-hundred-thousand-word manuscript back in two weeks when there are a few plot holes and a metric ton of grammatical errors? There’s just no way, but I’m going to give it my best ditch effort. I look up from the manuscript and cringe when I see who’s calling me. My ex, Jason. Also known as my baby daddy, who has been involved in absolutely zero percent of my daughter’s life since the day we made her.

He called me out of the blue last week, wanting to see Paisley, my now seven-year-old baby girl. She turns eight in less than a month, and we have been doing absolutely amazing on our own since day one. I had to work two jobs and go to night school, but with the help of my best friend Milani, we found a way. Now, I’m a successful self-employed editor, and life couldn’t be better. Well, unless this fucker would disappear out of my life. I know he has some ulterior motive for reaching out, and I’ve heard talk around town that he wants to take me to court to sue for custody. I’ve always had a feeling if I let him see her once, I would never see her again. That’s not a fucking option.

I look up when I see Milani walk through my front door. I wave and start to talk, but my phone rings again. I know he’ll never go away if I don’t answer, so I take a deep breath before placing the phone to my ear.

“Hello,” I snap, annoyance clear in my voice.

“Don’t you ever fucking ignore me again. When I call, you answer,” Jason snaps over the line. I look at the phone like he’s gone fucking insane. What happened to the sweet boy who doted on me twenty-four-seven while we were dating? Who brought me flowers and told me I was beautiful, that he would love me forever? Oh, that’s right! It was an act from the beginning.

“Who the fuck do you think you are talking to? You don’t have any right to talk to me like that. You don’t even exist in my world,” I tell him, fuming, finally having had enough of his bullshit and standing up to the cocky fucker.

“Listen bitch, you will give me my child. Whether or not it’s by force, I don’t care. Kerry and I are getting married next month, then I’m officially running for mayor. I can’t have it look like I abandoned my child. Plus, Kerry doesn’t want kids. It would ruin her body like it did yours,” Jason says on the other end of the line. He is delusional if he thinks any of that changes things for me. He let me in on his plan, and come hell or high water, he will never see my daughter as long as he lives.

“But you did abandon her, Jason. You left me on my own at eighteen with a baby. You haven’t even met her more than twice. You will not take my daughter from me. She doesn’t even know who you are,” I tell him, wanting to reach through the phone and slit his throat.

How can this be happening to me? I was a teen mom who got pregnant by a man I thought was the love of my life. How wrong I was. He finally convinced me to sleep with him, then the next day, he ghosted me. He wouldn’t talk to me for days, and I didn’t know what I had done. I finally walked to his house to see him. When I got there, though, I saw him fucking a cheerleader in his driveway. He laughed and told me he was only in it for one thing, and I had been dumb enough to fall for it. I found out I was pregnant weeks later, and it’s been Paisley and me ever since.

Jason has seen her twice, but not on purpose. Both times were in the grocery store or passing. He had his parents try to pay me off to keep my mouth shut, to never admit who the baby’s real father was. I refused to accept the money, but I ensured no one ever knew who the father was. His name isn’t even on her birth certificate. What the hell has changed now, and why does he want to take her from me suddenly? If he thinks his little bid for mayor changes anything, he is more delusional than I thought.

“So you want to do this the hard way? Alright, I’ll have my lawyer and the police at your door within the next hour,” he tells me before hanging up. I fall to the floor in tears and shaking before Milani grabs me and holds me in her arms.

“He has this whole town on his side. What am I supposed to do, Milani? He’ll take her, and I’ll never be able to get her back,” I say, falling apart in her arms. My daughter is my entire world. If he takes her, he might as well kill me, too.

“I have somewhere for you to go, but you have to leave now and never look back,” Milani tells me, cryptic as hell.

“Where can I go?” I ask, wiping my eyes. This has been my home all my life. I’ve never even left the state.

“Do you trust me?” she asks.

“Of course I do,” I answer immediately.

“Leave your cell. Get Paisley, get in my car, and follow my instructions to a T. Only pack what you can grab within the next ten minutes. If there is anything you leave behind you absolutely need, I will send it to you when it’s safe. Other than that, I will move all your stuff to my place,” she explains.

I look at her in wonder. Who is this girl? And how does she know how to hide me from my ex? She barks at me to hurry and pack my stuff when I sit there staring at her.

“Paisley should get off the bus in three minutes. Meet her at the bus stop and then take off,” Milani tells me, and I nod, trying not to hyperventilate. This is just too much. My whole life and world are being destroyed by a mistake I made when I was seventeen. It’s all too much.

“Listen to me, Sunny. The men I am sending you to will protect you. They will keep you safe. I promise. Just find a man named Loki and tell him I sent you. They are a rough-looking motorcycle group, but noble men… mostly. Just trust me,” she says when I whimper from trying to keep the sob in, and she pulls me into a tight hug. When she pulls back, I see the fire and determination in her eyes. I know she will do everything in her power to protect me, and I have no choice but to trust these men.

But how can I trust another man with my safety when the last one I trusted broke me into a million pieces? Last time, at least, I got the greatest gift imaginable out of the situation, but if I trust these men with mine and my daughter’s safety, will I lose her either way?

Now, I have no choice but to trust my best friend and the men she’s guiding me to.