Sentinel - Devil Riders MC Book 1 (MC Romance Novel with FREE Bonus Novel!)
Read Sentinel - Devil Riders MC Book 1 (MC Romance Novel with FREE Bonus Novel!) Online
Authors: Ashley Rhodes
SENTINEL
DEVIL RIDERS MC BOOK 1
by
Ashley Rhodes
Copyright 2016 Ashley Rhodes
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHRISSY
Chrissy’s head throbbed from where he had hit her, and she winced as a trickle of blood oozed from her nose.
This is it. This is the last time.
She’d said that to herself so many times before, but this time she meant it. Truly meant it. She hurried to her wardrobe and threw it open, grabbing armfuls of clothes and haphazardly shoving them into a case. It briefly crossed her mind just how much all this stuff was worth, and how roughly she was treating it, but that didn’t matter anymore. She had to get out, she had to get away.
A sudden banging on the door started; heavy, urgent knocks followed by a hoarse voice, the words thick and slurred.
“Open this fucking door, Chrissy!”
Her heart was pounding. It was Benny—he must have woken up again. Chrissy had thought that the cocktail of drugs and booze he’d already consumed would have been enough to keep him unconscious all night. Obviously not.
She crammed the last armful of clothes into the case and forced it closed, then took a brief moment to glance around the room for anything she might have missed that could be important. It was huge, their bedroom. Lavishly decorated, stuffed with impossibly expensive furniture and fixtures. Chrissy could still remember the awe that she had felt, the first time that he’d brought her here.
Now, all that was left was hatred and contempt.
She could have taken some of the jewelry; Benny would never notice, and it was worth a fortune. But she couldn’t. It would always remind her of him, and all she wanted from him was distance. She had to escape him, his abuse. The jewels would help, but she wasn’t going to steal from him, not make it seem that she’d been after his money all along. She wasn’t the gold-digger he accused her of being and she wouldn’t do a thing that would let him suggest it.
Fuck that.
She dragged the suitcase off the bed and strode to the door, taking only a moment to steel herself before she threw it open. Chrissy expected Benny to be waiting, his anger building. She was anticipating a confrontation—having to struggle with him physically. She had psyched herself for it and was ready to fight to get away from him. But when the door opened to reveal the corridor beyond, he was laying on the floor, unconscious. Drool seeped from his lips, and he was snoring loudly.
Benny Ashcroft, son of billionaire media mogul David Ashcroft and one of the most desirable bachelors in America had shown her his true colors. And now, lying on the floor, he looked exactly like what he was—a pathetic, utterly loathsome, cowardly, alcoholic woman-beater.
If she didn’t hate him so much, Chrissy could even have felt sorry for him. But not anymore. He’d hit her for the last time. He was a bad drunk, and it wasn’t the first time he’d flown into a jealous rage over nothing. He was a spoiled brat, and his father’s money had protected him from the consequences of his actions for far too long. But all the money in the world couldn’t make her stay. All the money in the world wouldn’t make him seem like a real man.
Fuck him.
She stepped over his unconscious form and walked out without a backward glance.
* * * *
When Chrissy pulled up in front of an unassuming suburban house, on an unassuming suburban street, she let out a sigh of relief. Although far removed from the luxury and opulence of Ashcroft Manor, it seemed welcoming. It was home. Or had been at least, until she’d moved out.
She took a deep breath and looked at herself in the rear view mirror, wiping away the crusted blood from her nose and wincing as she gingerly probed her rapidly blackening eye. There was no way she was going to be able to hide it from her Mom and Dad, but maybe it would finally be the evidence they’d need.
Chrissy’s reservations about Bennie had been growing for months now. She’d always disliked his attitude toward people, but thought he would respond to having someone care for him. About him. He was rich beyond most people’s wildest dreams, and provided for her every financial need, but he was troubled. The occasional drink had turned into binging every night on whatever he was able to get his hands on. Booze, pills, and powders were his idea of fun. And it was only escalating. Chrissy knew that she couldn’t go back, not ever again.
She had brought up her concerns with her parents, gently, a few times now. She’d told them about his violent temper, his unpredictable behavior. Each time, though, they’d urged her to ride it out.
“Think of the money, sweetie. He offers security… opportunities. Don’t throw it all away just because he likes to take a drink once in a while. He’s wonderful when he’s sober. If you throw this away, wreck your relationship with him, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
Their concerns and her own belief that she could help him, had convinced her to keep trying.
Chrissy had never been all that close with her parents and ever since she’d grown up and started making her own decisions, living her own life, she’d felt herself becoming more distant from them. She thought they were probably happiest when she was a kid. They’d liked being able to dictate her life, but they’d had trouble coming to terms with the fact that she was now an independent adult capable of making her own choices. They didn’t like it to the point that they’d begun losing their tempers with her when she didn’t see things their way.
She didn’t expect them to be happy she’d left Benny, not even now, but she needed support and she didn’t have anywhere else to go. And they were still her parents, and she was sure that once they saw what he had done to her, they’d come around. They’d see that she was making the right decision and help her get away from him.
It was late as she walked up to the front door, knocking and then waiting. The lights were off and they were probably asleep, but it didn’t take long before Chrissy’s Dad opened the door, his confused and bleary countenance clearing a little once he saw her there.
“Chrissy? What time is it? Is everything OK?”
Chrissy had wanted to remain strong, to show him that she was rational and clear-headed, but as soon as she saw him she broke down and burst into tears, flinging herself into his arms. He hugged her, a puzzled expression on his face.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Here, come inside and I’ll make some cocoa and you can tell me all about it.”
* * * *
The three of them sat quietly around the kitchen table. Steaming mugs of dark, soothing liquid sat in front of them. Chrissie’s parents were still slightly fuzzy with sleep, dressed in their pajamas. Chrissy herself was still wide awake after the night’s events. Her Mom had tended to her nose and swollen eye with clucks of concern, and now they were expectant, looking at her and waiting to hear what had happened.
And Chrissy told them. She poured out her heart. She detailed how Bennie was wild and out of control, how one moment he was sweet as could be, and the next he could fly into a rage. How he was drinking a bottle of whiskey a night these days, more often than not passing out comatose on the couch. How he had gotten jealous that evening when he saw a message from a male friend on her cellphone, and how he had hit her when she denied any wrongdoing.
She tried her best to make them see how it was over; that there was nothing good left between her and Benny, and that she wouldn’t be going back to him, no matter what.
Her Mom and Dad listened intently, letting her tell her story. Their faces were full of sympathy and righteous anger. That was, right up until Chrissy reached the end of her story. The part where she was done with Bennie Ashcroft.
Then things changed.
Her Mom was the first to speak.
“Chrissy,” she said. “You are upset. You need to think about this for a little while before you make any rash decisions.”
“Think about what?”
“Benny made a mistake tonight, for sure, but everyone deserves a second chance. Maybe you could suggest counseling for him, get some help for his problems.”
Chrissy shook her head.
“Mom, there’s no way in hell he would ever agree to it. Every time I’ve ever brought up his problems, he waves them away or gets angry at me. He’ll do what he wants to do—he’s Bennie Ashcroft the billionaire. Untouchable, above everyone else in his mind.”
The first twinge of annoyance crossed her mother’s face then.
“So you’re just going to throw away everything for one…indiscretion?”
Chrissy could only gape in shock.
“Indiscretion?” she spluttered. “Look at me! Look at what he did to me! And it’s only getting worse! Who knows what’ll happen next?”
Her Dad put a hand over his wife’s, a look passing between them, and then spoke gently to Chrissy.
“Sweetheart. We know you’re hurting right now, and we know that you hate him for what he did. That’s completely understandable. All we’re saying is, sleep on it. Don’t make rash, emotional decisions that will affect the rest of your life without taking some time to think about it first.”
Chrissy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. A rage welled up inside her and she began to tremble uncontrollably, as she blinked back the tears that threatened to overcome her again.
“I’m your daughter, and I’m looking for help. I’m sitting here in front of you with a black eye and a bleeding nose. All I wanted was your support, for you to tell me that everything’s going to be OK, that I can stay here with you until I get back on my feet. He beat me. He beat me until I ran away and hid because I was so scared. If he hadn’t passed out, I don’t know what he would have done. And you’re telling me that I should take a day to calm down and then go back and beg him to take me back?”
Later she would remember the moment, the precise instant that something snapped inside her mother. The woman leaned forward over the table, an ugly expression twisting her features. She looked frightening under the harsh glow of the light above their heads.
“Listen here, Chrissy,” she hissed. “I don’t want to hear any more self-pitying whining from you, you hear? Bennie Ashcroft is a billionaire. When you marry him you’ll be rich. Do you have any
concept
of how rich you’ll be? There isn’t a woman in her right mind who wouldn’t do anything and everything to be in your position—you could help your family. And I hear you telling us that you are so damn selfish that you are willing to throw all that away because the man made one drunken mistake that he’ll regret in the morning?”
Chrissy couldn’t believe her ears. There was nothing she could say to that. Then she watched her mother relax and lean back in her chair. The scowl faded slowly and was replaced with what the woman must have thought was a gentle smile. Instead, it was a mockery of genuine compassion.
“Now, why don’t you go upstairs and get some sleep? Everything will look better in the morning. It always does. You can stay with us for a few days, then we’ll go over to the Ashcroft place with you, and we can all get everything straightened out.”
Chrissy wondered if they could hear the pounding of her heart. It was almost deafening in her own ears. That was part of the shock. She had come here because she thought it was a safe place, a haven after the horrific events of that night. But she was wrong, and she knew it now. She had to get out, get away. She stood and stumbled backward, sending her chair clattering to the ground. Her parents stood too, confusion on their faces.
Even now it was clear that they assumed that she was going to do as they asked. That she would go back to him, as if nothing had ever happened. She backed away from them slowly.
“I need to go,” she stammered. “I can’t stay here. Not anymore.”
“Chrissy,” her Dad said firmly. “Listen. I’ve always been too proud to tell you this, but you aren’t giving me any choice.”
He took a breath.
“We are
deep
underwater on this house and behind on the mortgage. My hours have been cut, and we can’t pay the bills. If it carries on like this, we’re going to lose everything. Please, I beg you, don’t do this. Once the two of you are married, things will be different, I’m sure of it. But you can’t leave before that. We need you.”
Chrissy gasped in amazement. It was all about the money, nothing more, nothing less. They needed her to stay with Bennie for themselves. They weren’t even thinking about her or her safety. The anger and resentment exploded out of her mouth with fiery intensity.
“I came here because I needed you!” she howled. “I needed to be your little girl again, for you to tell me that everything would be OK and that you’d support me in whatever I wanted to do. I needed you to protect me and take care of me.”
Tears of anger and fear and desperation flowed down her face.
“We
are
taking care of you, Chrissy,” her Dad pleaded. “We’re trying to take care of all of us.”
Chrissy just shook her head and backed away. She couldn’t stay here, either. There was nothing for her, nobody. She turned and ran from the kitchen, toward the front door. Behind her, she heard her parents shout, calling her to come back. She didn’t listen. It was over.
She was alone.
She had run away from Benny, and that had been the right thing to do. She’d stopped running, thinking she’d gone far enough, would find support, but she’d been wrong.