They were taken. Off the street. From parking lots. Malls. Playgrounds. Snatched from life and thrust into hell. They took Orion Darby on a perfect summer day, while she could still taste her first kiss on her lips. She joined the others with chains on their ankles and scars on their souls. They turned into nothing more than statistics. Cold cases. Lost girls. Years passed and the world forgot.
Until the day they escaped.
This is not about their captivity. This is about their struggle to return to a life that's passed them by. This was the real world. But for Orion, this was hell. You see... freedom isn't enough. She needs blood.
My story isn’t unique. Isn’t rare. Which is, I guess, what makes it so sad. The story about a girl who falls in love with the wrong man, lured by tender gazes, devoted promises and gentle touches. The gentle touches disappear and she’s held captive with ugly insults and brutal beatings. It’s common, this story. My past. I can’t change the past. I wouldn’t even if I could. The ugliness of my past gave me a future worth living for. Worth dying for. It gave me a reason to fight. To escape. That was my mistake. Thinking girls like me could have a choice. I wasn’t given many promises in my life that weren’t broken, but chaos is a constant promise, always kept, never broken. He comes amongst the chaos. Amongst the ugly. He doesn’t promise a way out. He definitely doesn’t promise peace. But he gives me the opportunity for a different ending to my story.
Everyone expects the fairy tale from me. Because on the outside, I look like I live in a fantasy. I'm a hopeless romantic. I fall in and out of love. I change careers, zip codes and hair colors on a whim. I'm a free spirit without a care in the world. I'm the one that loves everyone and hates no one.
But I've got a secret...
I'm not a free spirit. Not really. I'm not free at all. My life is only designed to look chaotically peaceful. I'm only designed to look like that. Peace is lost to me. Because I'm trying to escape something. Trying to escape him. My life isn't a fairy tale. It's time the world saw that.
My name’s Rosie and I come from a dynasty of sorts… the Sons of Templar, maybe you’ve heard of them.
I just happen to be the daughter of one of the founding members and am the sister of the current president.
The fact I’m a woman means I don’t wear the patch, but it’ll never change the fact that I'm a Templar by blood.
We're known as royalty in the outlaw world. Though, the dynasty is dancing on the right side of the law these days.
That doesn’t mean that the law and those who enforce it are friends. It will remain the one constant in my tumultuous life. The one rule in our law-free existence.
Befriending the law and those that enforce it is a betrayal.
Which means me being one half of a doomed love is that much more comical when he’s a cop.
Or was.
Before I went and ruined it all.
Before he shattered that shield he wore to protect society in order to protect me.
He saved me and I damned him.
I damned myself too, but to be honest, I was damned long before that.
Limited edition Christmas anthology from five of your favorite bestselling MC authors!
On the 3rd day of Christmas, Amo Jones gave to me… One hellraising reckoning, Two loved ones dying And a broken girl hanging from a tree…
On the 4th day of Christmas, Anne Malcom gave to me... One prison riot Two bullets flying Three mangled corpses And a psychopath running free...
On the 5th day of Christmas, MariaLisa DeMora gave to me… One plea for mercy Two bodies writhing Three clues to find her Four reasons to love him And a man determined to get his life back...
On the 6th day of Christmas, Chantal Fernando gave to me… One broken heart Two best friends Three familiar faces Four sexy bikers Five life regrets Six nights at a bar And a second chance romance that’s been long coming
On the 7th day of Christmas, Giana Darling gave to me One blind eye Two bloody fists Three kidnapped whores Four attempts at murder Five fights a wrecking Six nights a fucking And a bloody biker and teenage runaway finding home.