Chapter 1
Another day gone, another wasted day. It was all Keeley Stone could think about. She felt like she was wasting her life away. She worked to give her father, Mack Stone, all her money so he could drink it away. She had been working since she was fourteen years old. First, it was part-time at different restaurants or cleaning houses in the neighborhood. Then a year later her parents gave up the ruse completely, forcing her to drop out of high school altogether. That’s all her homeschooling had been, a scheme to keep the state off their back about what she was doing at home. It was a way for her parents to keep her there. She was just labor to them, a money maker, only doing the minimum required schoolwork to keep social services from investigating. She was a way to support their drinking habit, until her mother was killed in a car accident almost a year ago. Now, without the little income her mother did have from the gas station she worked at, it was up to Keeley to pay all the bills and support her father’s drinking habit. Since her mother’s death, she has been able to at least pay the rent and get a paltry amount of food so she wasn’t solely relying on handouts from her greasy, dirty, no-good boss. He was always trying to cop a feel. And even though the other waitresses had told him to back off and leave her alone, he still didn’t. She had been working at Fred and Eleanor’s Diner for just over two years now, and Fred had been hitting on her ever since. Eleanor, of course, blamed Keeley for it and made her life miserable every time they worked the same shift.
Lately, the abuse had gotten worse though. Fred cornered her in the big freezer one day, about a month ago, and even though you could clearly see her struggling and saying no, Eleanor walked in and blamed her. Again. Eleanor had slapped her across the face and told her this wasn’t a house for whores. Since then, Keeley has been avoiding the both of them like the plague. She always tried to make sure someone was with her when she had to go in the back, and it had mostly been working, too. But she knew her time was limited and she’d run into one, or worse, both of them, by herself sooner or later. And that’s when the shit was really going to hit the fan.
It’s time, she thought. Time to leave this city. Leave this life. Leave her father behind for good. Keeley was going to work just until her next payday, and then just leave for good and never look back. She didn’t have high hopes for herself, after all; she had to drop out of high school to start working full-time to support the household bills, as well as her parents. All she wanted was some peace and something stable, without fear of being hit or yelled at for no reason.
She always tried to work the night shift. The tips sucked because it wasn’t as busy, but at least she could avoid not only Fred and Eleanor but her father as well, since that’s when he was drinking and slept the day away mostly. Something was about to happen though, she could just feel it. And it wasn’t going to be good.
As she walked into the diner, two things happened simultaneously. One, Keeley saw two of the most amazingly handsome men she had ever seen in her life. They were both tall, even sitting down. They easily had to be about six feet four inches tall and very rugged looking. Both had short cropped military-style haircuts, dirty blonde in color if she had to guess. One had deep brown eyes and the other had hazel, and they were freaking huge. Built like linebackers. They awoke something in her she had never felt before. She was confused by it, had never felt that tightness in her chest or arousal low in her abdomen.
Then the second thing happened, this one much worse. Eleanor came out of the back yelling in that screechy voice of hers, “Fred you no good, cheating, fucking piece of shit man!! How could you sleep with that dirty little slut?!” Fred, like usual, just ignored her, which pissed her off even more and that anger came directed at Keeley, since she was just walking in.
“Well, if it isn’t the little slut?” Eleanor spits out.
“Look Eleanor, I’m sorry Fred’s being such a jerk, but I swear it hasn’t been, nor will it ever be with me,” she tried to reason with her.
SLAP!! She heard it before she felt it.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch! The only reason you’re still around is because if you weren’t, his filthy paws would be all over me.” Eleanor just carried on while Keeley bent her head in shame, and so no one could see the silent tears tracking down her cheeks as she practically ran to the employee restroom, while Eleanor continued her rant.
As she stood in the dingy looking bathroom, with its outdated and cracked tiled flooring and peeling painted walls, all she could think was—Is this seriously my life?
There was a bruise already forming on her cheekbone, and right below her right eye. “Gonna be a good shiner by tomorrow,” she whispe
red to herself, “but not the worst, either.” Sighing, she walked out of the bathroom to start her shift and nearly collided with Fred.
“What’s taking you so long in there, girl? Tables are waiting on you. Get to it,” he said angrily then walked away.
Talking to herself she said, I can do this, just two more weeks. She walked out to the main room with her head held high and her shoulders straight.
Chapter 2
Nathaniel and Tyler Maxwell sat there in stunned silence, as they watched the gorgeous young woman run to the back room after getting slapped so hard it sounded like the crack of a whip. This was the place their mother, Amber, had told them had the best pancakes in all of Austin, Texas. Hard to believe, when the owners abuse their employees.
“Do you think she’s ok, Nate?” Ty asked.
“I dunno man, that was fucking harsh, but Ma swears this place is worth the ignorance of the owners,” Nate replied back. The cracked vinyl seats and the dingy black and white checkered floors told a whole other story.
But that girl, she was something to look at, and if Nate was a betting man he’d say his little brother was thinking the same thing. She was what was so great about this place, since their mother told them what time of day to come in, and it was approaching one a.m. now. Not exactly pancake time to him.
“You think she’s why Ma keeps boasting about this place, don’t you?” Ty said, echoing his thoughts.
“Yeah, I really do. Here she comes.”
As she started walking closer to them, Nate really got a good look at her and she was breathtaking. Hair the color of a raven, and the bluest eyes he’d ever seen; they were almost crystal. A cute little button nose, with the fullest pink lips that were made for kissing. The only flaw was the bruise forming on her cheek from that slap, and the tear tracks down her cheeks that showed it had hurt as much as he suspected it did.
Nate looked over at Ty to see him completely riveted to the young woman. He had to nudge his leg to get him to shut his mouth, so he didn’t start drooling. “But dude…,” he said.
“Ya man, this is the reason,” Nate whispered back.
“Good evening gentlemen, or rather morning I guess, can I get you some coffee?” She asked them in an almost whisper that Nate really had to strain to hear.
“Sure thing, darlin’,” Ty responded for them both. As she turned and walked away, Nate couldn’t help but feel a little angry. That young woman was suffering from more than just a slap to the face. She had a dejected look to her. Face down, shoulders slumped forward, and those gorgeous eyes looked dead, when they should have the sparkle of life in them. He wondered about her and what gave her that look.
“She doesn’t look good, Nate. And I mean more than just that bruise. She’s too thin, despite what the baggy clothes might suggest. She seems a little too pale as well. But fuck is she ever gorgeous. Did you get a look at those eyes, man? Never seen anything like it, and those luscious red lips. Damn.” He agreed with Ty’s assessment of her, but he swore he heard his brother sigh at that last part, too.
“How old do you think she is, Ty?” Nate asked him.