Free HARD KNOX by Jaxson Kidman

jumped forward and managed to
break away from the two goons. My right hand went forward and I was two inches
from hitting Porter. And, damn, if I had hit him, he would have gone up in the
air.
    Before I could get to him, the two
goons were back at me. This time they both worked me, pummeling me to the
ground.
    Porter eventually called them off.
    He left me with a stern warning - stay
away from Ana.
    I watched the car drive away and I
climbed to my feet. I had taken worse beatings, but not by much though. Figures
the first night I’d put my leather cut back on I’d get into a brawl.
    I lit up a fresh smoke and smiled.
    Stay away from Ana …
    I took a deep drag and climbed on
my motorcycle.
    My life changed right then.
Everything I believed in was left there on the ground with my blood.
    “Stay away from Ana,” I whispered
to myself.
    I started my motorcycle and took
off.
    Nothing then would ever keep me
from Ana.
    Well, except one thing - death.
     

 
    chapter thirteen
     
    (ana)
     
    *NOW*
     
    My only real friend in life was
Megan. She understood what I went through growing up because her mother ended
up in the same boat. Her father actually had an affair that spanned the
country, along with a second family. When her father chose that second family
it sent her mother into a spiral. Her mother then craved married men, trying to
find a way to get to married women. It was a vicious cycle that left Megan
leaving her mother and never talking to her again.
    She was also connected into the
family like I was. One of the guys who ran the finances - Mickey - was her
boyfriend. He was tall, skinny, looked weak, but I heard rumors he loved to
kill people. That alone made him terrifying.
    I sat on the corner of my bed,
worried that the light was going to hit my face the wrong way and make my
makeup look like shit. Not that Megan would judge me for what Porter did, I
just didn’t want to have that conversation.
    I was mad at myself for it
happening. I was mad at myself even more that I was still there, in my
apartment, knowing Porter could show up whenever he wanted to.
    She cradled a glass of wine but
barely drank any of it. Which was good because if she drank too much then she’d
have to stay over. Call me mean but I wanted to be left alone. My mind wouldn’t
stop racing, no matter what I did.
    “You ever wish you could get away
from it?” Megan asked out of nowhere.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Just leave. Start over.”
    “What would that get?”
    “Hope,” Megan said. “I mean, it
sounds silly… but imagine just finding a little town. And there’s a little
diner. Right? You get a job there. You find a cramped apartment. But you make
it work. And then it’s all… simple.”
    It was like she was reading my
heart.
    I smiled. “Too many movies, Megan.
I don’t think it works that way.”
    “What keeps you here then?” she
asked me.
    My answer was easy - Knox .
But I wouldn’t admit that to her.
    “I don’t know,” I lied. “So much
happened to me at once. And then my mother getting sick, getting worse, and
dying… I feel like I haven’t caught my breath yet.”
    “Yes!” Megan cried out. “That’s it.
Catching your breath. Every time I turn around, Mickey has something else going
on. I find stacks of money in my closet. I find guns in the drawers. It’s just
so…”
    Megan shook her head.
    Chances were even if I was with
Knox, that would be my reality. The town and city were run with crooks and
outlaws.
    “Maybe things will change,” I said.
“I mean, look what happened with Danny and the club, right? They caught that
guy stealing and stopped it.”
    “They killed him,” Megan said.
    “I know. But once all that stuff is
straightened out… maybe it’ll be easier.”
    “Maybe it won’t,” Megan said.
    She stood and sipped more wine. We
then walked out to the kitchen where she put her wineglass down.
    There were a few awkward minutes of
silence. So much so that I wondered if Megan was sent to