Page 1 of Bully's Darkness
Chapter One
Olivia
“It doesn’t take a genius to know why you’re grinning like a Cheshire cat this morning.” Bria throws her arm around my shoulder and kisses me on the cheek. “What time is he getting out?”
I peer into my handbag for the third time to check I have my phone and car keys. “They won’t give me a time,” I reply, zipping it closed, “so I’m just going to head over and wait.”
She frowns. “Well, that’s ridiculous,” she says, running her fingers through her dark brown hair and scraping it back into a ponytail. “Why can’t they just give you a time?”
I shrug. “You know what the prison is like, they don’t make anything easy.” I grab my bag and jacket.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
I shake my head. I’ve been waiting for five years for this moment. Five long years. I’ve had time to plan every last detail,even down to the hotel where I’m going to surprise Bully with an entire night of . . . well,me. I smile at the thought.
“Livvy,” she says, and I look over to where she’s filling her cup with hot water. “I know you’re excited but be careful. I love you.”
“Relax,” I say, adding a reassuring smile. “Things will be good this time around. He’s promised.”
I check my watch and then my mobile phone. It’s almost five o’clock, and I’ve been sitting here waiting since ten this morning. The gate has opened a few times to release prisoners into the loving arms of their relatives, but not one of them has been Bully.
As it slides back for the fifth time, I grab my bag and get out of the car. This has to be him.
I straighten my dress as I make my way over then run my fingers through my hair to loosen the curls I’d spent an hour doing at six a.m. when I was too excited to sleep.
The prison guard pops his head out, glancing over me before stepping back. I hold my breath in anticipation, smiling wide. It fades the second a tall man steps out. A whistle from somewhere behind me gets his attention, and he gives a relieved sigh as he heads off in that direction. The guard begins to close the gates.
“Excuse me,” He pauses, “I’m waiting for my fiancé.”
“That was the last of them today, love,” he tells me, once again moving the gates closed.
“But it’s definitely today,” I push, stepping closer.
He sighs heavily. “Name?”
“Liam Bull.”
He glances down at a clipboard. “He was released first thing,” he tells me. “Nine-thirty.”
I frown, my mind racing with questions. If he’d headed home, Bria would have called me. Unless . . . I feel tension building in my chest. “Do you know if he was picked up?”
He glances behind him, looking mildly irritated. “Charlie, did you see if Bully got picked up this morning?” He waits for the reply that I can’t make out before looking back to me and nodding. “Yep, he got picked up. Bikers, apparently.”
I nod, my hands curling into tight balls of tension. “‘Course he did,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.“What did I expect?”
By the time I get home, I’m raging. Bully promised me he was done with that place. The Royal Bastards were the entire reason he was in prison.
Bria looks up when I enter the kitchen, frowning when she sees I’m alone. “How did it go?” she asks, concern lacing her features.
“Take a guess,” I mutter, throwing my keys on the side and dropping down into a chair.
She sits up straighter. “He didn’t get out?” She growls in frustration. “Fuck, Livvy, I knew he’d do this to you. This is exactly what happened the last time—”
I hold a hand up and shake my head. “He hasn’t got extra time,” I confirm. A year ago, he was given a twenty-four-month sentence added on to his current eight years for fighting. Luckily, with an appeal and some good behaviour, he’s only served half his entire sentence. “He was let out this morning. The club picked him up.”
“So, where have you been all day, with him at the club?”
I shake my head, foolishness creeping in as I take a breath. “I waited all day, and when he didn’t show, I asked the guard, who told me he left at nine-thirty with bikers.”
