I pass Kendall, and we lock eyes. “Karma is a bitch, Kendall. Just like you,” I sneer.
“Shut up. Keep walking.” The deputy shoves me toward the door, and my shoulder slams against it, the momentum causing it to open.
I don’t know what the hell the next eight years has in store for me, but I’ll never trust a woman again. If someone I loved for three years can turn their back on me so easily, then so can anyone else. I’m better off alone. The only person I can trust is myself.
The only person who always knows the truth, is me.
Fuck there being three sides to every story.
There’s my side and Kendall’s side.
The truth always seems to get buried by lies. No matter how deep, the truth will rise to the surface, and the liar will get punished.
Eight years and counting.
Revenge will be mine, and karma will be a bitch.
Chapter One
GRAYSON
Present Day
I glance toward my closed bedroom door and make sure no one is coming down the hall. The Cliff House has grown over the last year when it comes to how many people are in it and there always seems to be someone wandering the halls.
No one would ever enter my room anyway, but I’m paranoid. I’m afraid Quinn or Gabriella will knock on my door, and I’ll lose the nerve to do what I’ve been trying to do for weeks now.
Build a dating profile.
I don’t want to date, date. I’m not trying to go out on the town with someone and build a huge future or anything. I don’t believe in futures anymore, not after what Kendall did.
No, that’s lie.
I don’t want to believe in a future anymore, but after Quinn and Jaxon found one another and then Sebastian and Gabriella, it’s hard not to believe in fate when it’s been thrown all around me lately.
Jaxon went to prison for killing his sister, something he didn’t do, and then ten years later he crashed Quinn’s wedding to stop her from marrying the real killer. Then, Gabriella had been in love with Sebastian for years, but his brother set him up, and Sebastian went to prison. Years later, Sebastian tried to find her, but Gabriella had been under lock and key with Sebastian’s brother.
He tortured her. He abused her for years. Just the thought has me wishing the man would come back to life so I could kill him, but Gabriella had that honor by strangling him with the whip he always used on her.
How the hell can I not believe in love or want it for myself if the people around me can find each other out of the most challenging pasts? It’s just me, Heaven, and Owen now. Heaven fucks anything that moves, and Owen is a loner by nature.
I’m only a loner because I’m too nervous to trust anyone again.
Quinn is pregnant, and seeing Jaxon rub her belly, talking to it, kissing it, laying his head on her lap so he can place his ear against it, makes me realize I want that. I don’t know how to have it. I’m fucking broken. Kendall put me through the ringer, and I don’t know how to get past the pain she caused.
She ruined my life.
Sure, I have the guys and more money than I can imagine now that we do heists. We haven’t been on a job recently since Jaxon and Heaven are healing from the explosion that nearly killed us last time. My side is okay. It still twinges, but I guess that’s what happens when a metal bar impales you.
My trust fund is gone. When my lawyer said Kendall was going after everything, I made him donate all of it to a domestic abuse charity. I had no money when I came to Jaxon’s door after deciphering a code in the paper. He was looking for a few guys, and I guess only certain people can dissect code.
After a few heists, I had more money than I ever had in my life. We would never have to plan another heist. Not if we didn’t want to. We had enough money for us, our kids, and our kid’s kids.
But we like it too much. Revenge is strong in this group since we were all innocents wrongfully accused of crimes were did not commit. Years later, after regaining our freedom, we feel an overwhelming urge to seek justice. Now, we are criminals.
We steal from other criminals. We haven’t had any backlash from Richard, the guy we tried to steal from when we all got injured. He’ll be lucky to find us. No one can. It’s why they call us the Underground Kings. We get in and out. The explosion set us back, and we almost got caught red-fucking-handed.
I’m glad we didn’t. One, I don’t want to go back to prison. Two, I have a better life now than I ever have. I want what my friends have, but I know that can never happen because I don’t trust a soul. I’m not capable of knowing how to put my faith in someone again. I’m a bitter man. I have been for a long time.
I’m not worthy of love anymore, and I know for damn sure I’m not capable of giving it. I don’t want to feel lonely, so maybe I can make a friend that isn’t based in this house.
I open my laptop and peek toward the door again. When I see the coast is clear, I open the browser and type: dating websites.
What else do I say? I don’t know what the hell I’m doing in this modern world anymore. Prison had the basics and the world changes a lot in eight years. It’s taken me the entire year that I’ve been out to learn
