All Chapters of The Serpent's Heart : Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

"Shit!" I hissed, wrenching the steering wheel to violently pull over into the closest truck stop I could find. The gravity of my mistake hit me like a physical blow, my mind whirling with the implications I'd failed to consider in my haste to escape the monster I'd left behind.Arthur could track the GPS in the car. He was a paranoid asshole who had all of his company vehicles installed with additional anti-theft devices, and I should have known he’d do the exact same to the one he gave me. It was how he always knew where I was. It wasn't my phone—it was the damn car.I ducked slightly in my seat, peering beneath the steering wheel, looking for the cluster of wires under the dash.Flashes of my old life swirled behind my eyes—echoes of boosting cars that belonged to rival clubs, and quiet evenings in my father's garage when he was showing me how to survive in a world I'd eventually tried to discard. I looked across the lines. I knew exactly what they all did. I knew how to hotwire an

He stood before me, his hands tucked casually into the pockets of his expensive suit. His blonde hair was styled perfectly off his sharp, aristocratic features, his blue eyes gleaming with a cold fire that sent an immediate chill down my spine.His leather shoes clicked rhythmically against the asphalt. His stride was controlled and calm, as if he hadn't just tracked me across the state like an animal. His expression remained entirely neutral as he stepped onto the concrete walkway of the motel, closing the distance between us.My mind raced a million miles an hour, trying to figure out how he’d found me."Come home, Lottie. Don't make me get blood on your mother's jacket," he drawled, cutting through my panic with a flat tone that brokered no argument. A malicious, arrogant curl deformed his lips as his hand slipped out of his pocket. He reached out, his fingers wrapping like a steel cuff around my wrist. "You'll forgive me. We can forget this whole little incident ever happened."I