Always For You (Books 1-3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

was starting to well up, shaking her head, her
lips beginning to quiver.
    “ Oh
mom, it can't be that bad?” I leaned in and put my arm around her
shoulders as we ground down to a halt once more. “We're still doing
OK aren't we?”
    A few tears were beginning to trickle
down her face now, smearing her make up. She sniffed a couple of
times, trying to re-gather herself, grabbing a tissue from her
handbag and wiping her eyes. “No, Gracie, you're right. It's not
too bad. I'm just – having a bad day is all. Nothing for you to
worry about honey.”
    It was a fob off and I knew it. “OK
mom, you don't have to tell me if you don't want.” I was used to
being left out of the bigger dramas in the family over the years, a
symptom of being the youngest I guess.
    “ No
really Gracie, it's not like that. There really is nothing to tell.”
    I left it there. I always hated pushing
someone to tell me something, and hated when they did the same to me.
    As
we emerged from the other side of the roadworks mom continued to put
her foot down, once more lost into her own little world. Forget
it, if she doesn't want to tell me, that's her business.
    I turned to look out my passenger
window, the world rushing by as my mind drifted back to other things.
I caught glimpse of a guy on a motorcycle, getting a little close for
comfort next to us before dropping back. He seemed to be turning
towards me, looking at me, before easing off and falling back.
    A sudden jolt brought me back to
reality. It came from behind, on the back wheel of the drivers side.
I turned to my mom to see her wrestling with the steering wheel as
the car shuffled precariously along the highway. She tried to steady
the vehicle, shifting the wheel to the left and right as it lurched
from side to side.
    My heart was in my throat, a sudden
shot of adrenaline pulsing up through my body. I clung to my seat
with my hands, my fingers digging into the material, my back pressed
hard against it. My mom was panicking as the car continued to sway,
its movements quickly growing more intense. She slammed her foot to
the breaks, trying to arrest our momentum.
    It didn't work.
    The car swung further to the left, our
speed carrying us over, the world turning upside down. Time stood
still as the car flipped, spinning on its side and crashing down on
its back. The weight of the car carried it further as it continued to
turn and roll, tossing us around inside like rag dolls.
    I could hear my mom screaming, but no
sound escaped my voice. I was frozen in terror, unable to think,
unable to move. My belt kept me locked to my seat, my shoulders and
neck violently shaken from side to side as the car tumbled down the
road.
    I heard my mom's screams stop abruptly
but couldn't see her. My body was tensed up, locked in position,
shrinking away from the metal twisting around me. Then, I felt a
sudden and intense pain in my head as my temple clashed with metal,
glass shattering from the windows and sprinkling into my face.
    The world went blurry, me eyes losing
focus, until everything turned to black.
    Cain
    The
ring of my phone brought be out of my stupor as I lay half naked on
my bed, sheets discarded to the floor, bottle of empty whiskey
sitting on the bedside table next to me. I looked at my clock. Ah
shit.
    I was meant to work a game today, a bit
of extra money for a few hours bar work. I rolled onto my feet, the
world still spinning from the night before. My brain was pulsing in
my skull, broken images of toxic vodka and an even more toxic
stripper surfacing in my memory.
    No time to shower. No time to shave. I
grabbed my cleanest clothes and sunk a few pills with a half drunk
can of beer in the kitchen. Quick fix for a heavy hangover.
    I
took my leather jacket and helmet from the hook before gingerly
stepping downstairs and out into the late morning sunshine. Shit
that's bright .
I put my helmet on immediately to shade my eyes and kick started my
bike, the engine spluttering and roaring to life as