Free Starting Over (A Motorcycle Club BDSM Dark Romance) by Olivia Kobblestone

 
    “There you are, I was looking everywhere for you, where did you come in a-,” Jenny stopped mid sentence, her mouth agape as she stared at Tessa’s face.
    She completely forgot that she didn’t put on any makeup, the flight had been exciting and terrifying all at the same time, and all she wanted to do was get the hell out of there.  Get the hell away from him.
    She did it. She took the plunge and got the hell away from the vicious bastard once known as her boyfriend. The rich, entitled, self-serving prick.
    Besides, her face looked nothing as bad as all the areas she hid on herself. She tugged on her shirt, just to be safe.
    As quick as the look came on her face, it went away, and a sweet smile replaced it. It was sincere, and it helped Tessa feel at ease. Jenny always had that effect .
    “I am so glad you’re here! How are you feeling?”
    “A little tired, a little hungry.” Hungry was right. She only had fifty dollars to her name, it was all that she could save for her lunches, and from scrounging around the house. Taking the jewelry would have meant that she could hock it, and get enough for at least a month of rent, but it risked his anger, and his attention.
    She hoped if she got far enough away, if she took as little as possible, he wouldn’t come after her. But with all his money, well, all his father’s money, he could easily find her.
    Especially if she pawned jewelry he put a watch out on. No. It was better this way.
    “That’s not a big deal, we can get you fed. So, I wasn’t lying when I said I had some good leads on a job, and a place. When we talked last week.”
    It had been her first admission of what he was doing. On how he was doing it. The pain, the anguish. She had to tell someone, so she bought a little disposable phone and texted Jenny. After months of MyFace conversations, she finally let it all out. She was a better person than what she was getting.
    And she knew it.
    She was just too afraid to let him go. To let all of it go.
    “Oh?”
    “My boss is looking for a new secretary for the auto shop she owns, the old one got left to go and get married to some billionaire or something, I don’t know. Some hot rich guy. So they need a new one, and they also have an empty apartment. I told them about you…”
    “What about me?” she interrupted, the hair on the back of her neck standing on edge. She didn’t want anyone to know, that was something Jenny promised.
    She promised.
    “Just that you were a friend and that you were in need of a place to stay and a job. That it was a bit of an emergency, because you were coming out of a bad breakup, which is mostly true. I told her we went to school together, and that you were even more organized than me. Don’t worry, she didn’t ask questions. Cynthia isn’t like that. She just said my reference was good enough. So you can start as early as next Monday!”
    “Not earlier?”
    “I mean, sure, if you want…”
    “How about tomorrow?” she asked. Tessa wanted to put this far, far behind her.
    “I guess, but are you sure you don’t need time to rest, or heal?” Jenny was being gentle, but the implication was clear. She looked like an abuse victim, and it was off putting.
    Hell, she was an abuse victim. She shuddered inwardly as she thought it.
    “What? No. I need to get to work as soon as possible. Do you think you can help me, you know, cover it?”
    “Oh honey, a little makeup will go a long way, and if there is one thing I have a lot of, it is makeup. Let me handle that, I just want to make sure you are okay. That you can handle difficult situations…”
    “Why, is this job difficult?”
    “No, but the man you are going to be working for… he can be. A bit of a cranky ass. Hot, but totally sour.” Jenny gave her the rundown of her new job, exactly what she would be doing, and who she would be working for while the two of them walked through the airport, down towards the exit. “I mean, he runs a garage filled with