Prologue
“What the hell are you doing, Kayla? You can’t leave him here,” Lexie Howard said, glancing down at the baby who couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old.
“You’re my sister, and we both know you’ll handle this a hell of a lot better than I would.” Kayla handed over a bag filled with all kinds of crap a newborn needed. “I’ve got everything here. His food, clothes, diapers. Oh, and here is some money to tide you over.”
Taking the envelope from her older sister Lexie looked inside to see well over ten thousand dollars.
“Fuck, Kayla. What the hell have you been doing?” Lexie stared at the baby then at her sister. Kayla was a beautiful woman, slender with long, silky blonde hair. She’d admired her older sister for as long as she could remember. They were half-sisters as they didn’t share the same dad.
“Nothing. It’s what I’m due.”
Lexie watched as her sister started to head out of the door.
“Wait, you can’t just leave me like this with a baby and no f**king clue when you’re going to get back.”
“His name is Simon. You’ll be better for him. I can’t look after a baby.” Kayla raised her arm showing the track marks of her addiction.
“You said you were getting clean. You can’t do this to me. I’m only just surviving myself. There’s no work for me to take care of a baby.”
“I’ve given you all of his paperwork. I’m really sorry, but I can’t be around. If someone comes calling for me and asking questions promise me you won’t say anything. It’s better for you and Simon not to say anything.”
Following Kayla out of the apartment Lexie felt her whole world crashing around her. At twenty-one years old she couldn’t believe she had a little baby in her life.
“This is wrong. I shouldn’t take him at all.”
“Then I’ll be back for him soon. You’ve just got to keep him by your side and love him. I know you can do that. We’re different like that,” Kayla said, tears glinting in her eyes. “I can’t love him, Lex. You’re the only one I’ve got who’ll give him a good home.”
Before she could say anything more, Kayla climbed into a beat up car with a guy who looked way too pale to be driving. Shit. Lexie charged toward the car only to meet dust. Staring up and down the beat up street, Lexie realized she was alone. She was all alone with a baby who should be with his mother.
“What are you staring at?” she asked the old lady who hadn’t moved on from their scene.
She lived in a rundown neighborhood that had long since been forgotten by any government funding. Heading upstairs, she heard Simon screaming. Lexie ran to her apartment, slammed the door closed, and went to the little carrier where her new charge lay. His face was screwed up, and the cries were deafening.
Her next door neighbor slammed their fist against the wall demanding they shut the f**k up. How had her life changed so f**king quickly? One moment she’d been getting ready for work; in the next, she had a baby to look after.
Lifting Simon out of the carrier she held him close and was shocked when he grew silent staring up at her. His eyes were a beautiful blue color, shocking in their appearance and so startling they made her melt instantly.
“Hello, little guy. I’m your Auntie Lexie.” Stroking a finger down his cheek, she fell instantly in love. She’d always loved children and babies, recalling all the times she’d babysat for the kids in the surrounding area when she’d been younger. “It looks like I’m going to be taking care of you. I promise to be nice at all times.”
Fuck, she didn’t know the first thing about looking after a baby. Blowing hair out of her eyes, she carried him over to the kitchen where her second-hand fridge stood. Opening it up she saw the few items of cheap food she owned. Going back to his bags, she started going through everything with one hand.
The moment she tried to put Simon down he screamed. For the next couple of days she’d grow accustomed to what to do. There was nothing else she could do.
Lexie put his things away making a note of the formula he used along with the diapers and creams. When she was finished, she carried him to the nearest store to have a look at what everything was going to cost.
By the time she left the store the tears were threatening to fill her eyes. There was no way she could afford to have a baby. The other problem she faced was in the last few hours she had come to love Simon. It was the strangest feeling in the world. She didn’t know this child in any way, yet all of her mothering instincts were coming through begging for her to take care of him. Pushing hair out of her eyes, she stared down into his sleeping face.
“There has got to be something I can do.”
The following day she headed out to work, but arriving at the diner with a baby in tow got her fired. Lexie would never forget the look on the woman’s face when she walked in with Simon on her hip. She was fired on the spot.
Great, one day with a kid and she’d been fired.
After applying for three jobs with Simon close to her, Lexie knew there was no hope of her getting work.
Going to the end of the street she was caught by the sign for “help wanted” as she passed. The sun was still up, and she wasn’t looking at where she was going. Opening the door, she went in and was overcome by a cloud of smoke. Covering Simon’s eyes, she gasped as a woman danced na**d on the stage semi-naked.
“Can I help you?”
She turned to see a large man with his hair pulled back in a ponytail staring down at her.
“No, I, erm, no, I’m in the wrong place.” She made to leave, but he gripped her arm.
“Are you looking for a job?”
Simon was in her arms, and she noticed the man didn’t pull too hard on her arm.
“Yes, I was hoping for some waitressing work.”
“Anyone look after the kid?” he asked.
She shook her head. “There’s only me. I’m all he has.”
“Follow me.”
With no other choice she followed the large man to the back where his office was. Lexie couldn’t believe she’d walked into a strip club. She hadn’t been looking, and desperation was clawing at her for something good to happen.
“I’m Vincent. I own this club.”
“I was looking to waitress or bartend or something,” she said, holding onto Simon tightly.
Kayla, when we see each other I’m going to f**king kill you.
His gaze wandered down her body. She knew there wasn’t much to look at. Lexie wasn’t a beautiful woman. Her tits were too large with too wide hips. Her mother loved to tell Lexie how inadequate she was at being a woman. No man wanted a fuller woman in their bed. She didn’t possess striking blonde hair but a dull brown that failed to stand out.