We both laugh.

  I believe her. Jessika is a strong woman. She will get through this to find her happily ever after when the time is right. The question for me is, have I found mine? Is this the right time?

  Her words play in my head. When you’re a couple, that person’s problems become your problems … I want to carry the load with Maverick. I want to share in his successes as well as his burdens. When I think of my future, I see him in it.

  “What’re you daydreaming about over there, Twix?”

  “Happily ever after,” I reply with a smile.

  “Oh, the things fairytales are made of.” We both giggle. “Seriously, I’m happy for you and for Maverick. Richard, too. You deserve all of this happiness and so much more, Kenzy. One day, when it’s right, I’ll have it, too.”

  Sixteen

  Maverick

  “Thanks for the hook up at work, Tapper.”

  “Don’t thank me; I had my own motivations. On the rig, gotta have men you can depend on, and I can rely on you.” We laugh.

  Heath has decided to come work with Lance and me. Construction is good work, but it’s not reliable in today’s economy. I don’t know why he needs a regular job, since he makes more than enough in the underground fights, but that is his business, not mine.

  “With fighting and working here, you still gonna be able to help me with the project?”

  “Have I ever let you down?”

  “Nope.” I smile. “Guess I should talk to Kenzy, then, so we can get started.”

  “That’s the only thing left.”

  I shake my head. If only it was that easy. I want to have more with Kenzy than the few nights we share in my childhood bedroom and her apartment. I also don’t want to miss anything with Pops. The daily reminder of what he has lost—what we have lost—keeps me firmly in place to not miss the signs again. Even on the days he is a grumpy old man, I refuse to let him slip casually through my fingers again.

  The rest of my day passes in a blur as I finish up and let the thoughts run through my mind of how to ask Kenzy to move in with me … and my dad. I know she cares deeply for him, but is she really willing to commit to sharing a home with not only me, but him as well?

  I want life with her, day in and day out. I want a future. I want it all and with Kenzy Davis by my side.

  These same thoughts are still racing through my mind when I pull up at home. My chest tightens painfully at the thought of asking Kenzy to take this next step with me. Sure, she loves me, but is she willing to make such a huge step?

  I hear her laughter as I walk in through the garage and into the kitchen.

  “It’s not rabbit food, Richard. It’s got chicken in it.”

  “You want to feed me salad with chicken wrapped in a tortilla with—what was it you said—oh yeah, a tablespoon of ranch dressin’ on it. Not even a damn dollop like the commercial for sour cream. I’m starving, Kenzy, and you’re feeding me a wrap with only enough dressing to make my mouth water.”

  “It’s good for us all.”

  “Maverick, tell her you’re hungry and want a real man’s meal, like steak and those twice baked potatoes she makes. I’ll even skip having a roll and salad dressing on the salad to have one of those potatoes.”

  “Hey, hey, hey, I made a chocolate mousse for dessert with sugar free pudding, so if we have all those carbs, we can’t cave dessert. This gal wants chocolate, boys, so suck it up.”

  My dad raises his hand up like he is waving a pretend flag. “I concede. I’ll eat your chicken wrap, but I get dessert no matter what that meter says.”

  She smiles at him as he laughs. She catches my eye and blushes. Will I ever tire of that? Hell, no.

  “Heath called, and he’ll be by to start measurements for the addition this weekend.”

  Kenzy doesn’t seem fazed by any of this, so I head to my room to change my clothes and wash up for dinner. The three of us sit down together, much like we have the last few months when Kenzy and I are both off.

  “Well, since my house is about to be torn apart to get put back together, and my son isn’t piping up, I will. Kenzy, this ain’t easy, but Maverick is right: I don’t need to be alone. That said, I’m not getting any younger and neither are y’all. We’re getting an addition put on the house. I’ll move into that space so I can have a better bed, and although I can get around, I’ll have a better shower to wheel right into rather than what I have now. Then Maverick can have the master bedroom and bath I’m in now. The new part will be on the other end, so y’all can have privacy, but we’re still together. You good with that?”

  Her mouth drops open in surprise before she catches herself and closes it sharply. She doesn’t answer, only nods her head and continues eating silently.

  My dad looks at me, and I look to him, unable to say anything more.

  After dinner, Pops wheels away while I still sit quietly with Kenzy.

  “I want you to move in. I know Pops told you about the addition. But he wasn’t clear and I want to be clear—this,” I reach over and take her hand in mine. “I want this, every day with me, every night with me.”

  She hasn’t said a word, which is only putting me more on edge. When she stands to take her plate to the sink, I reach out and pull her to my lap. Her eyes meet mine, and I see the unspoken questions in them.

  She wraps her hands around my neck and nervously traces her fingers over the back of my head. I drop my head to give her more access as her touch relaxes me.

  “Kenzy”—I look up at her— “I want you here. I can’t leave Pops. I don’t want to. It’s a lot to ask, but he’s all I got. Can you live here with him and me?”

  She smiles at me. “I was scared you were making plans for the future without me. I wasn’t sure where he was going with the conversation. It had me worried. What I feel for you, I’ve never felt for anyone in my life.”

  Cupping her face in my hands, I bring her to rest her forehead against mine. “You. Are. My. Future,” I whisper before I pull her into me and kiss her softly.

  MaKenzy

  One Year Later

  What a difference a year makes. Once heartbroken, untrusting, and lonely, I am now in love and ready to marry the man of my every dream and fantasy. Jessika is wearing a strapless, coral, to-the-knee, fitted dress, and my mom is wearing a chocolate brown, one-shoulder, floor-length gown. My dress is a simple, strapless, white gown with lace overlay. Our ceremony is small as neither Maverick nor I want anything over-the-top elaborate. This is a private, intimate moment to share the exchange of our vows and our love for each.

  Richard is doing well. He really buckled down on his diet and got his diabetes under control for the first time since his wife’s passing. There will always be the challenge of maintaining it, and he will struggle, but together, we will see him through it. He has been fitted for his prosthesis and has been working with his physical therapist to walk more and more on it, even though that has brought on its own set of challenges. He can’t manage it for long periods as it makes his wound area tender, but he is learning, coping, and living with his disease and its repercussions.

  I moved in with Richard and Maverick. We are there if Richard needs us, but for the most part, he does everything on his own. He likes my cooking, and I like his company.

  When there is a knock at the bridal room door, Jessika goes over to answer it. Richard wheels in not far behind Jessika when she opens the door wider for him. I smile sweetly as I watch him come over to me.

  “Kenzy, you look beautiful. Are you ready?”

  I lean down to his chair. With all of the emotion and moving around, he is wearing his prosthetic but using his wheelchair to get around.

  “Almost,” I reply, taking his hand in mine. “I need an escort down the aisle.”

  Tears pool behind his eyes. “Are you asking me?”

  “I didn’t have a dad until you, Richard. You are someone special to me. You brought Maverick and me together, in a way. I would be honored if you would walk me down the aisle and give me away today.”

  My mom lets a small sob escape behind me as I let the tears fall down my own face. Much like his son in the past, Pops reaches up and wipes my tears away with his thumbs.

  “Are you sure?” He drops his head toward his legs that are covered in dress pants. The average person wouldn’t know why he is in this chair. If he stands, they won’t even know he is missing a leg today.

  “As sure as I am that I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my days loving your son in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

  “What if I stumble? I’ll need to lean on you.”

  “Family does that. I think it’s only fitting if we start today with a walk together. I’ll lean on you as you lean on me.”

  Pride crosses his face as he nods his head in agreement. Together, we then make our way to the church’s front doors. Richard parks his wheelchair and rises. The doors open, and with my arm on his dad’s, I make my way down to my love.

  The End

  Diabetes Information

  Type 2 diabetes—once known as adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes—is a chronic condition that affects the way your body metabolizes sugar (glucose), your body's important source of fuel.

  With type 2 diabetes, your body either resists the effects of insulin—a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your cells—or doesn't produce enough insulin to maintain a normal glucose level.

  More common in adults, type 2 diabetes increasingly affects children as childhood obesity increases. There is no cure for type 2 diabetes, but you may be able to manage the condition by eating well, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight. If diet and exercise aren't enough to manage your blood sugar well, you also may need diabetes medications or insulin therapy.

  * * *

  For more information on this disease or to donate, please visit

  http://www.diabetes.org/

  Heath

  Blue Collar Bad Boys 2

  * * *

  * * *

  Written by

  USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author

  Chelsea Camaron

  Copyright © Chelsea Camaron 2019, 2018, 2015

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or electronic or mechanical methods, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Chelsea Camaron, except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.

  * * *

  ISBN: 978- 1078300483 (Paperback)

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  Thank you for downloading/purchasing this eBook. This eBook and its contents are the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied, and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download/purchase their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

  * * *

  First edition published March 2015

  * * *

  Carolina Dreams Publishing

  PO Box 527

  Hubert, NC 28539

  Content Warning

  This book contains mature content not suitable for those under the age of 18. Involves strong language and sexual situations. All parties portrayed in sexual situations are adults over the age of 18.

  * * *

  This series was originally published as the Roughneck series. Reading order and content have not changed just the series title.

  Production Acknowledgements

  1st Edition Published: March 2015 as part of the Blue Collar Make Ya Holla Anthology

  Published Independently by Chelsea Camaron 2015

  * * *

  Editing by: Asli Fratarcangeli, and C&D Editing

  Formatting by: IndieVention Designs

  Original Cover Design by: IndieVention Designs Cover picture: Shutterstock

  * * *

  2017 Updated Cover picture: Shutterstock

  2017 Updated Version edits by: Emma Mack - Ultra Editing

  * * *

  2019 Updated Cover Photo Credits: Deposit Photos

  Crusitu Robert-Lucian (crstrbrt)

  Vladimirs Poplavskis (fxquadro)

  2019 Title Page Vector Credit: Deposit Photos

  Tetiana Kovalenko (spline_x)

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  Heath

  Property - Possession

  “One day, I will be more than an item to be bought or sold, won or lost.” LoraLeigh

  * * *

  At fifteen, she was helpless. At eighteen, she was ruined. LoraLeigh Riffel fights every day to hold on to herself as she is tossed from the loser to the next winner, time and again.

  Heath “Hitman” Thomas works hard and plays even harder. From tripping pipes to winning fights, his world is in his hands.

  When a battered and unstable woman is left at his doorstep for payment on a fight, everything changes in an instant.

  She is the prize, but is he willing to accept the payment?

  For everyone who still believes in fairy tales…

  LoraLeigh

  Welcome to my secrets …

  Welcome to my Hell …

  Welcome to what somehow might just be my happily-ever-after.

  Prologue

  LoraLeigh

  “Once upon a time…” my mom begins reading. The softness in her voice is a lullaby all on its own. Sweet memories of a moment in time, these small blips in my existence are a silent torture all of their own. In the blink of an eye it changes, she changes. She isn’t reading to me this time. No, she’s screeching the words of her own made up story that won’t end with a happily ever after for me. This woman isn’t my mother anymore. I don’t know who she is. She looks like my mother, sounds like my mother, but she’s not kind like my mother once was.

  Scrambling, I scurry from the bed and into the darkest corner of my closet. There I pull down the access to the attic and make my way up into the crawl space.

  “Lora—” She stops abruptly, most likely pulling her own hair out at the roots. “Fucking twat, where are you?” I listen as she continues to screech. “I know you took them. You took my candy, you little cunt. When I find you, I’m gonna claw your eyes out!”

  Did I imagine the sweet bedtime stories from my younger years? Is my subconscious playing evil tricks on me? Is this all some game, played only in my mind? Where is the mom I had in my little girl dreams? Was she ever real? Is anything actually what I think in the recesses of my mind?

  The woman who once braided my hair and read me stories about castles and princes on white horses now lives to torment me. The last time she thought I hid her stash, she pulled my hair so hard it came out in a big chunk in her hand. My scalp was sensitive for months after while I would silently pray for it to regrow.

  Absently, I run my fingers over the still healing scratches on my face. Two days ago as she was tweaked out on God knows what, she attacked me, saying I was a zombie trying to eat her flesh. One of us definitely looked like the walking dead, but it wasn’t me. This has become our new normal.

  It wasn’t always like this. Only the more time passes, the harder it is for me to remember when things were better. I fight to hold onto the good.

  Rigging the string to the attic access door, I settle into my little nest. Today is the twenty-third. Any time after mid-month is when the stress level escalates. The welfare and food stamps have certainly run out by now. As soon as the first of every month comes, she trades the grocery card for cash. That very cash then pays for her stash while I live off my free breakfast and lunch at school each day. It’s been this way for so long, I don’t feel the hunger pains anymore.

  The attic is my only place to hide. Each time she gets like this the violence grows. As long as I make it up here before she gets me in her grip, I am safe.

  Tears fill my eyes. Summer is coming, and I know I will spend my days hungry and my nights hiding from whatever scumbag hangs out while she lives from one high to the next. No matter how weak, tired, or hungry I get, I’ve learned to stay out of sight when the strangers come over.