That’s why you can’t give in. Because he’ll leave you like that. Sad and alone.

“You girls gonna clear those tables and serve more drinks or what?” Bone shouted. I caught Sara’s hand, sharing a quick squeeze, then grabbed my tray to go clear the Reapers’ empties and wipe down their tables. That’s when I found the money, a stack of hundred dollar bills, just sitting out on the table like it was a perfectly normal and appropriate thing.

I grabbed the cash, counting it carefully, my heart starting to clench. Five hundred dollars.

Five.

Hundred.

Dollars.

The Reapers had been drinking all night, but this wasn’t some city bar. Drinks were cheap here at the Pit. Even factoring in all they’d ordered, there was no way this could be right. I stuffed the money in my apron pocket and then scurried over to Bone, feeling almost sick to my stomach. He was still chatting up his girl but I didn’t care—we needed to figure this out, and fast.

“How much was their tab?” I hissed at him. Bone raised a brow.

“Whose?”

“The Reapers!” I snapped, as if there could be any other answer.

“About two hundred,” he said. “But they already paid.”

I pulled the wad of cash out of my pocket.

“Shade left this on the table,” I told him. “What do I do with it?”

Bone shrugged. “Put it in your pocket. He left it for you.”

“I can’t keep a tip this big,” I insisted.

“Well, I suppose you could try giving it back,” Bone said. “But I got a feeling he wouldn’t take it. This is his game, Mandy. If you’re smart, you’ll make the most of it while you can.”

“I don’t want to play,” I insisted. “I don’t like this game. I don’t understand the rules.”

“Then you better leave town,” Bone replied, his voice serious. “Otherwise you got to play it out to the end. There’s no in between when it comes to the Reapers. You want to fight with him about it, be my guest, but I think you should take the fucking money. God knows you need it, so use it.”

He turned back to his girl, giving her a slow smile that left me with no doubt how his night would end. I glanced over to find Sara watching us. She gave me a shrug, and I realized Bone was right.

I needed the money, just like everyone else in this shithole of a town.

Goddamn but Violetta sucked, and so did the Reapers MC.

By the time I finished my shift, I was exhausted. Not just the normal tired that came from being on my feet all evening, but from taking care of the girls and the fact that I’d been up the night before dealing with Rebel and Shade.

It was just too much stress in too short of a time.

Not only that, I felt the weight of the money sitting in my apron pocket the entire time. Men didn’t just give waitresses tips like that. It was too much—way too much. And the fact that it matched the amount he’d offered Rebel for sleeping with me…well, let’s just say the implication wasn’t comforting.

Back home, I tossed and turned on the couch for several hours, unable to sleep. By four in the morning I gave up, stepping out onto the porch to look up at the night sky. Summer was short in Idaho, which meant there weren’t many nights a girl could sit outside and look at the stars without freezing her ass off, but this was one of them. Everything was still and peaceful. For a few minutes, I pretended I was living in a world where bad things didn’t happen to innocent people.

Except they did.

I’d gone to jail because my ex-husband had robbed a liquor store while I sat waiting in the car outside like a moron. My sister was barely surviving on food stamps and Medicaid because her ex was a loser who couldn’t be bothered to support his kids. And I had five hundred dollars in my pocket that I couldn’t explain—five hundred dollars given to me by a man who’d almost certainly done worse things than my ex ever dreamed of doing.

Money that might implicate me in some crime I couldn’t even imagine. He hadn’t left me a tip—he’d left me a ticking time bomb.

I pulled out the cheap phone Shade had given me and powered it on, searching for his contact information. Then I sent him a text.

Me: Thanks for the tip but I cant keep it. I’ll put it in an envelope and leave it with Bone. You can pick it up the next time ur at the bar. I cant get involved with a man like you so take it back

I hesitated for an instant before hitting send, then stuffed the phone back in my pocket, resolved. Then I lay back down on the porch and studied the stars. They really were gorgeous. Bright and beautiful and glorious and free. I’d only spent three nights in jail, but it’d felt like three years. I’d missed the stars most of all, which had surprised me. I never considered myself much of a nature girl. I guess you don’t realize how much something matters to you until you lose it.

The phone buzzed in my pocket.

Shade: Keep the money.

Me: No I cant. You seem to think I’m not serious when I say I don’t want a man but I am. I want to work and earn my money and take care of my sister. You don’t know me and you don’t know all the reasons I feel this way but they’re real and that should be enough.

Shade: Then tell me.

Yeah, right. Like I’d be sharing my past with him. No fucking way I’d give him more leverage over me. I turned off the phone and looked back up at the stars, wondering if I’d ever truly be free.

Probably not.

Pisser.

Chapter Ten

Friday morning

“Can we take some ice cream with us?” asked Callie.

“No way,” I told her, rolling my eyes. “Ice cream will melt at the park.”

“Not if we bring a bag of ice cubes with it,” she insisted, looking determined. “Mommy loves ice cream.”

“I think the sandwiches will be enough,” I told her. “And Mommy is trying to eat healthy, remember?”

Callie sighed heavily, making it clear that I was the meanest auntie in the history of time. Maybe she was right. This suited me just fine, seeing as I was also the brokest and most confused auntie, too. I’d defiantly put the $500 in an envelope and left it with Bone, determined to ignore Shade the next time he came to the bar.