Dark Secret - Avelyn Paige

But when he discovers the missing daughter is his, he’ll rain down hell on whoever took her, and he might just find redemption in the process.

To Ellen B.

It’s readers like you that gave us purpose.

Rest easy, special lady.

Shelby

Thirteen Years Ago

Pregnant.

That’s what the doctor had told me with her disapproving eyes while handing me a pamphlet on my options when finding oneself in this exact situation.

Funny how that single word can change every plan you’ve made for your future. Suddenly, you and your wants don’t matter as much as you thought they did, and your boyfriend isn’t your whole world anymore. The only thing that matters is the tiny little being, protected and warm, deep inside your womb. That being becomes your everything.

I swipe another brushstroke of blush across my cheekbone, staring into the eyes of the girl in the mirror before me. Is she really ready to be a mother?

Short and curvy, with fingernails chewed down to the quick. A snub little nose I’ve hated for every single one of my eighteen years on this earth. Too much eye shadow. Too much mascara. Hair cut short and spiky, with pink locks scattered throughout the blonde strands.

That’s just what shows on the outside. There’s more to me than all of that, because the best parts are inside, right?

I’m a bright student, a good daughter, and a hard worker, even if that work is at the Frost-N-Freeze. Work is work.

But what about college? What about Wyatt? We have a plan—a solid one.

In September, I’ll attend community college in the next town over to pursue a degree in child care. It’s not what I truly want to do, but it’s the one course I can afford that will provide me a decent living. Wyatt is being patched into the Black Hoods MC, who are talking about sending him to school to get his degree in computer sciences. We’ve talked about our future at length. Wyatt has so many plans for us, but would that us include a plus one?

Nibbling on my lower lip, I place my hand on my belly. We now have this little peanut to think of, and Wyatt doesn’t even know yet. What’s he going to say? Which option of that teen pregnancy pamphlet is he going to want to choose?

“Shelby!” my dad calls from downstairs. “Miss Kasey’s here.”

“I’ll be right down!” I call through the cracked bedroom door. Shit. Kasey is going to know something’s up the instant she lays eyes on me. But should I tell her?

No, I shouldn’t. Not yet. Kasey can’t stand Wyatt; she’s going to be pissed.

Besides, this news is for Wyatt to hear first, then Kasey. Then—I shudder at the thought—my father. If he hated Wyatt before, knowing I’m having his baby will send him through the roof and straight to the moon.

Flicking my fingers through my hair one last time, I rearrange a few strands to ensure they’re standing at a perfect, haphazard angle, snatch my purse off the end of the bed, and make my way down the stairs.

“Hey,” I greet Kasey as I press a kiss to my father’s cheek, ignoring the burden of my secret when I pull away.

“You girls behave,” he asserts from his place in his favorite recliner. “I spent your bail money on a case of beer.”

He wouldn’t be saying that if he knew where we were going.

Kasey giggles as if she hasn’t heard that same joke from my father a thousand times before. “We’re always good, Mr. D.”

Dad snorts. Taking another swig of his beer, he warns, “Watch it, Miss Kasey. One of these days your pants are gonna catch on fire.”

I roll my eyes. “Bye, Daddy.”

In true Kasey form, I’ve barely closed the door to the house before she’s on me.

“What’s wrong?”

Laughing, I walk over to her rusted Ford Taurus at the curb. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What’s wrong with you?”

She glares at me over the roof of the car before climbing into the driver’s seat. Once we’re both inside and buckled in, she pulls out onto the road, heading toward the Black Hoods’ clubhouse.

“Don’t lie,” she retorts.

How does she always know?

“I’m not lying!”

“Shelby Jo Dawson, I’ve known you since we were four years old. I was there when you got yourself into trouble with Ms. Lester for gluing her stapler to her desk. I was there when Bobby Dixon tried to kiss you on the bleachers at the homecoming game our freshman year. And I was there when Wyatt Hayden finally made