Free Trouble: Crooked Souls MC by Zoey Parker Page A

what happened to my sister. Why else would I have a knife held to my throat? The guy had threatened to kill me. He was scared.
    But so was I. I knew I couldn’t cross him again, because next time he’d go through with killing me, or at least seriously hurting me. I would be easier if I knew who he was. Maybe I could ask Gabriel. If I described him, he might know who threatened me. That would mean admitting I’d been to the bar, though, when he specifically told me to stay away. That idea was out. Besides, since when was I considering Gabriel my protector? What a joke. He was easily the most dangerous out of all of them.
    I watched as my eyes filled with tears. I wouldn’t give up. I couldn’t. Sabrina needed me. Why couldn’t she have listened to me when I begged her to be smart and stay away from the club?
    I thought about all the little firsts she’d experienced, the ones I’d been lucky enough to witness. Her first steps. Her first words. I taught her to ride a bike. I remembered the way my heart was in my throat when I first let go of her. She’d gotten all the way to the end of the block before she realized she was alone. Then, of course, she fell. I remembered bandaging her knee later on.
    Her first day of school. I walked her there, since Mom was at work. I was late for school, but by then the teachers didn’t seem to pay attention. They all knew the score. I was raising a kid.
    The first boyfriend. Oh, that had almost killed me. She was only twelve, and it was all innocent enough, even though I knew twelve-year-olds could be pretty sexually savvy, even more than they were when I was that age. I’d read up on the trends for kids her age, like the color-coded sex bracelets—she wasn’t allowed to have them, not even the innocent ones—and the cringe-worthy trend of getting drunk by soaking tampons in booze so the smell didn’t show on the breath. It was a real eye-opener, but I’d done my best to keep her on the straight and narrow by staying ahead of things like that.
    Then came the first heartbreak. That was just the worst. I was still young enough for my own memories of heartbreak to be fresh. I remembered struggling not to cry right along with her.
    Somebody was trying to take her away from me. I couldn’t step aside and let them get away with it, even if it put me in danger.
    I was startled by the sound of the doorbell, jumping and shrieking a little. My heart took off at a gallop. He’d followed me here. I should have known he wasn’t going to let me go so easily. He’d only waited for me to relax so that I wouldn’t be on my guard. Now he was going to attack me where nobody could disturb us this time.
    I looked around for a weapon, but I was in the bathroom, so there wasn’t much to choose from. My eyes fell on a curling iron, the hair dryer. Hairspray? Would it work like mace?
    I picked up my phone instead, creeping down the stairs with it. The doorbell sounded again, then again. Whoever was there was in a hurry.
    “I’m calling 9-1-1!” I shouted, digging my nails into the palm of my free hand to keep my voice from sounding scared. I dialed the number, my thumb poised over the “Call” button. “I mean it! I’m doing it right now so you’d better leave!”
    “Kat, it’s me. Open the door.” Gabriel. I breathed a sigh of relief, then thought twice. Was he any better than the alternative? I didn’t know if I could trust him any more than the rest of the club. I had to give this some thought. Maybe he’d found out I’d been there earlier, and he came here to punish me. He sounded pretty angry. I’d gone too far this time.
    Then I remembered how he’d kissed me. He couldn’t want to hurt me, not if he kissed me the way he had. If he wanted to, he could have hurt me in my car, or taken me to his house to do it. He was here because he wanted me to be safe. I had to believe that.
    I opened the door. I wanted to know how he found me—was it really that easy? Could my friend with