Jackson (MC Sinners #7)

PROLOGUE | Serenity

PROLOGUE

Serenity

D rip. Drip. Drip .

Water trickles down from a leak in the ceiling and drips onto the floor as I stare up at the dark nothingness, my chest tight, my hands curled by my sides. I’ve tried everything to get comfortable, but it doesn’t seem to matter what I do; I’m just fighting a losing battle.

I’m not meant to be here.

I was so sure I made the right call going after Gerard—I thought I would end it all and we could all go back to our lives—but instead I made it all worse. Now I’m in here, being accused of things I didn’t do, with him running free somewhere. My daughter is alone. I think that hurts the most.

She shouldn’t have to be without me.

Not now.

Not ever.

What if Jackson doesn’t get me out of this? What if this is something we can’t undo? A perfect plan that has been orchestrated so well that we won’t find a single loophole. That thought has my chest clenching as I turn to my side, staring out the cell door where it seems to be constant chaos.

It’s never quiet in here.

I don’t sleep—I’m too scared to close my eyes.

Being alone in this cell seems to be more trouble than it’s worth. I’m constantly snickered at and insulted for being a princess. I didn’t choose this. Hell, I’d do just about anything to go back and change what happened. It’s an endless cycle of panic and dread that swirls around in my chest, over and over.

I want to go home.

Jackson is beside himself, and I’m afraid he’ll do something stupid just to get me out of here. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping he would go to some extreme to free me, but I also don’t want this to follow us around for the rest of our lives. So, for them, I keep a smile. When he visits, I tell him everything is okay.

It’s the biggest lie I’ve told in a long time.

I’m not okay.

I’m terrified.

I have to trust that they’ll find Gerard and prove that he is a psychotic killer before I’m in here for too long.

Ava .

She is the only thing that truly has my heart clenching.

My baby.

This isn’t fair.

“It’s time for lunch.”

I stare at the guard at the door, a woman who is round and angry. She hates me, just like everyone else in here. Too pretty. Too precious. Too perfect. Princess. Baby. Dolly. I get called everything. They have no idea the life I lived before I met Jackson.

“I’m not hungry,” I tell the guard, shifting my eyes to the ground.

“I wasn’t asking you. Get up, or I’ll get you up.”

She will, too.

Biting my lip, I push to my feet and stand before her, my eyes still cast down.

“Come on, princess. There are many people waiting to see your pretty face today.”

She thinks it’s funny.

She loves that I’m suffering.

Some guards come into this job just to torment criminals. It makes them feel powerful and strong, like they are better.

I don’t react to her words, instead I follow her out to the line of people heading toward the dining area. I’m shoved as I move, but I don’t respond. I’ll get my food and leave. It’s the only way. Keep my head down and don’t interact with anyone. I need to get out of this alive.

That’s all I care about.

I line up with my food tray, watching the terrible goop being slapped down by the cooks. When I have enough, I find a table right at the back of the room where, for now, nobody is sitting. I take a seat and shove my food around, not interested in eating it. I know I should, I do, but I don’t want to.

“I have a message for you.”

The voice comes from a female, and when I look up she is grinning down at me, her face still. “You know my friend Hound, right?”

My heart skips a beat, I haven’t heard that name in years. Because that name belongs to a man I thought was long dead. I thought he went down when my father’s club was destroyed.

There is meant to be nobody left.

Shaking my head, I stare at the girl in confusion.

“Oh, you do know him.”

I know him alright.

His name is Hans, also known as Hound in the club that he once was part of. My father’s club. He was the Sergeant in arms and is, without a doubt, the most evil and disgusting human I have ever met outside my father. He was meant to die in that explosion. I thought they were all gone, but I was wrong.

So incredibly wrong.

“You thought you got rid of him, didn’t you?”

The image of that man flashes in my mind. Hound is probably the same age as Jackson, but he looks nothing like him. Instead, he is large, muscled, and bald. He is covered in tattoos, including his face, and everywhere that can be pierced on his body, is. He is terrifying, and he knows it.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

I’m stuck in shock.

“You didn’t know he was in prison when you decided to blow up your daddy’s club. Silly girl, you didn’t think that through. He wants you to know that he’s coming for you, and he’s going to make you wish you were never born.”

“Leave me alone,” I whisper.

She grins. “He’ll see you around. He might not be able to get to you yet, but he’ll find a way, and when he does, you’re going to wish you didn’t get locked behind these walls.”

This is bad.

It’s so bad.

My eyes dart to the left, then to the right, but there is nowhere for me to go.

I’m stuck in hell and there is nothing I can do to escape.