Billionaire Misery Read Online Free PDF Page B

few miles from our house.”
    Craig’s fingers tightened around hers. “Damn, Jessie. You had a run of bad luck, and loss. I’m sorry, because life shouldn’t do that to anyone.”
    She sighed. He didn’t judge her, and he wanted to apologize for the shitty lot she had been given? She had judged him wrong at first glance. “Well, my luck was no worse than yours. At least my fosters weren’t too awful. And I was barely in the system.”
    “You did get lucky.”
    She nodded. “I guess I did.”
    “I had a family who grew weed in their garden right next to their tomatoes.”
    She started laughing. “Seriously? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? I mean, how do people get foster kids when they’re so screwed up? How does the system miss that shit?”
    Craig shrugged. “Beats me. I think it is because the system’s so corrupt. A long time ago I decided I wanted to do something about it. Maybe it was because—well, this one time, the case worker showed up at the house we, Morgan, Lisa, and I, were staying. The foster dad was passed out in his underwear when she pulled up, and he reeked of rum. The foster mom made us pick him up and carry him to the bedroom and tuck him in real fast. Then we had to stash bottles and empty glasses, all while the case worker was coming up the walk.” He shook his head. “You know, I was standing there just waiting for her to say it stunk like a ten-day drunk in there. Or anything. But she didn’t. She just made little checks on her papers and said everything looked good. Then the dude came stumbling down the hallway, in his underwear, mind you, belched a few times, and just sat down on the floor. He sat there just blinking at her.”
    Horrified but empathetic Jessie had to ask, “What happened?”
    He smiled grimly. “Nothing. She just said, ‘Oh I see you’re still working third shift Mr. whatever his name was’, and left. That was all.”
    “So how did you go from foster kid to biker?”
    “Me and Morgan... we started riding after we found this old beater someone had basically abandoned. At that time, we were living with a guy who’d been a mechanic before all the cars were computerized. He couldn’t keep up with the new stuff, and people don’t buy old cars except to customize them and all, you know.” His body relaxed, as if the memory was a good one. “The guy, his name was Rick, he had a little custom shop. He never made much money, but he was nice to us, and he let us hang out in the shop and learn stuff. I got the beater and a book and started working to pay for parts. Morgan thought I was totally nuts. Then when it was running, we spent a whole week busting our guts out on the asphalt and learning to ride it.”
    Jessie smiled. For a guy who didn’t usually say much, when he did talk, she found herself liking it.
    “Then we got another one and we started riding. Then we found a couple of guys who didn’t think we were young assholes and who wanted to hang with us. It just went from there. Before we really knew it, we had a club.”
    She nestled closer. “I have to ask, and you can tell me to fuck off if you want. How did you end up exiled from a club you helped grow?”
    “I was stupid and selfish.” His hand ran up and down her body, bringing little shivers to her skin, reminding her of what those fingers were capable of doing. “I let things get in the way, I guess. I met...” he hesitated, then shrugged. “Look, nobody knows this, not even Morgan. I can’t tell him. If I tell you... if you tell him, I will fucking deny it.”
    “What?” She was dying to know.
    “Lisa died. Lisa...I loved her. With everything I ever had in me. She was in foster with me and Morgan and she was a lot younger, and very vulnerable. Her parents abused the hell out of her. They tortured her, in fact, but she still wanted them to come take her home. Then when she gave up on that, she wanted a family. She wanted someone to see her as valuable, and to protect her.” His face