by Vi Keeland
“I told you I would come back.”
I stepped back and gazed at him, stupefied. “There was a time when you didn’t come back for me. I can’t lose you. You’ve been protecting me, but it goes both ways. I will protect you too. It’s not just you in this relationship. I love you too. And I knew you were lying to me. That killed me the most. You didn’t trust me to tell me the plan—”
“And if I had?”
I stopped. If he had? My eyes went down. “I would’ve done what I did anyway.”
“Exactly.” He closed his eyes, holding my hand to his chest before he lifted it for a kiss. “The Bertal family knew an Elder was working with Franco. They knew he had been tipped off before the initial strike. I was supposed to wait until they found out who that was. When I got word, I demanded a meeting and the timing was perfect. The elder’s daughter works at The Richmond in Chicago. She was given three tickets and he volunteered to be the one for the meeting.”
“You knew all of that was going to happen tonight?”
He nodded.
“And you never told me.”
“I made a call.” His eyes grew hard.
I didn’t care. I didn’t care what I would’ve done. My chin rose and I stepped even further back. “I won’t have that in this relationship. Take it or leave it, Carter. If you’re going to intentionally put yourself in danger, I need to know. I can’t be kept in the dark, not anymore. I love you and I will always protect you, no matter the consequences to me. And it’d be smart for you to acknowledge my side.”
His eyes clasped shut and a soft curse slipped from him. Then he sighed again, “I forgot how much fight you have in you.” A crooked grin appeared. “I love you for it.”
“Really?”
He nodded, tugging me against him again. He bent down and teased me with a soft kiss. “We didn’t know who else was supporting Franco, even on my side, so I kept most everyone in the dark.”
“Your men knew.”
“Not until the last minute. Their calls were being monitored to see if they would send an alarm to Franco.”
I bit my lip. “Did they?”
“No. Everyone was loyal. They could’ve taken you, another reason why I didn’t want you to know. You were supposed to stay at your table.” He groaned and swept me tighter against him. I could feel every inch. The water slid over us, increasing the arousal in me, but I held back. He was too damaged for that. He needed to heal.
He continued, hugging me so tight, “The plan was for the Elder to think I was almost dead. Once he made the call, we had him. We could locate Franco from the number.”
“Did you?”
“Yeah. He had no idea. It’s over. Franco is dead.”
I frowned but didn’t move away. His arms clenched me tight, making his biceps bulge from the movement. I hadn’t known Franco wasn’t dead. “But the guards? You only put two on me.”
He shook his head. “No, they were always there. They just followed you from behind in case Franco tried to snatch you. I didn’t want to alarm you.”
“Carter.” I was so pissed at him.
“What?”
“You should’ve told me all of this.” He drew back, capturing my gaze and holding it. I couldn’t look away. I didn’t want to. He needed to see how I was affected. “I thought I was losing you. Do you know what that did to me?”
He grinned. “Yeah, it made you act crazy.”
Rolling my eyes, I almost punched him in the chest, but pulled back at the last second. His grin widened at that. I shook my head. “You can’t keep me in the dark anymore.”
“I won’t.”
My eyes caught his again and I searched inside of him. When he saw my suffering, he softened. He whispered, “I promise.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Then he kissed me and he put all of his love into it.
I stood on my tiptoes and hugged him as much as I could. He didn’t seem to mind his wounds, but I did. After showering, we dressed again and left to see the doctor.
When he was being prodded, Amanda came over and stood beside me. She had put on a fresh pot of coffee since it was the middle of the night. She yawned as she flashed me an apologetic grin. “I am sorry again. You deserve to be happy and he’s the guy for you, no matter what anyone says. This is right. The two of you. You’re right together.”
Warmth rushed up in me and I swallowed thickly. I was choked up with so much emotion, and all I could murmur was, “Thank you.”
She patted my hand and kissed my cheek before whispering, “You deserve your happily ever after. He’s it. This is it.”
I grinned, blinking back more tears. “Even with the mob connections?”
“Even with.” She pulled me in for another hug.
I was too touched to respond. The cynical side would’ve joked when had she turned into a hallmark card, but the sentimental side was too moved to even speak. It meant a lot, especially through all we’d been together. This was a friendship I didn’t want to lose.
“Okay.” She pressed her hand against my arm again. “Do you think I could get a ride home?”
My hand took hold of her arm before she could venture far. I pulled her back and shook my head. “You’re better off staying here.”
“Why?”
“I am pretty sure Theresa’s not home alone.”
“Oh. You’re right.” She sighed. “They can get loud. Alright. Can I sleep in a room this time?”
Laughing, I showed her to a guest bedroom on the second floor before returning back to the kitchen. The doctor was finishing up his assessment. He lectured as I drew clearer, “You need rest, lots of it. That means no nothing, Carter. No sex. No fighting. No nothing. If you can work from home, I’d recommend it. And I mean it about the sex. Don’t think I didn’t see that cute honey standing looking all concerned before. No sex.”
Carter pushed him back a little. “Don’t start, Doc.”
“Don’t start,” he sniffed. “Don’t start he says. He only woke me up, had his men come and transport me here, and now he says ‘don’t start.’ I’ll start all I want. You have a broken rib. It needs to heal!”
“Yeah. And it will.”
I turned the last corner. The doctor saw me and graced me with a smile. He lifted his notepad in my direction. “Make sure he rests and don’t have sex with him. Even if you’re doing all the work, it’ll still strain his ribs.” He clapped Carter on the shoulder, giving both of us a polite salute of the hand before he picked up his bag again. “And now I’m hoping that same transport will take me home?”
Carter waved his guys to do his bidding.
Later, as I helped Carter into bed and curled up next to him, I asked over a yawn, “Is everything done now?”
He pulled me closer to him, tucking his head into the crook of my shoulder and neck. His hand went to my breast and simply held it. “Yeah. I think so.”
I nodded, my eyelids already drowsy. “Good.”
He kissed my neck where he was nuzzling me. “Good?”
Reaching up, I laced my fingers with his and breathed out a deep breath. Everything was how it should be. Amanda’s words. Franco’s death. Carter beside me. I knew that no matter what came at us, things would be fine. I breathed again in relief, feeling the first flutter of peace in my chest. My lips curved up as I rested my head against his. “Yeah. Everything’s good.”
“Good.” He pressed his lips to my neck again, one last time.
It wasn’t long until I heard his deep breathing and knew he’d fallen asleep. Then I closed my eyes. Everything would be fine. I’d make sure of it, no matter what challenges came at us.
Everything was perfect.
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Tijan's Bookshelf
Fallen Crest High
Mason and Logan Kade are two brothers who did their own thing. They were ri
ch and expected to attend Samantha’s school, Fallen Crest Academy. They chose public school and now she has to live with them. The problem is that she doesn’t care at all: about them, about her friends, about her cheating boyfriend, or even about her parent’s divorce. But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe change is a good thing.
A Whole New Crowd
He told me to go away.
I did. I followed his instructions. I left with the new family. They were from the right side of the tracks and I tried to become one of them. I really did, but I failed. When someone died, someone that I loved, I couldn’t keep pretending everything was fine. It wasn’t. This privileged world he gave me wasn’t privileged. There were problems. He just never told me that he created them, that he had sent me into a world he set up for me.
It was all a lie, but it was lie that I was going to expose. Or I would die trying.
**This is a standalone.
Coming 2015
Fighter
Pick A Book!
JAKE UNDONE
Penelope Ward
JAKE UNDONE
First Edition, October 2013
Copyright © 2013 by
Penelope Ward
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced nor used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover by RBA Designs. Stock photo © Shutterstock.com
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
PART 2:
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
Contact Penelope
PROLOGUE
JAKE
She loved to pull on my lip ring. It was her favorite thing to do.
“Ow…that’s a little too hard, baby,” I said. “You’re nothin’ but trouble, you know that?”
She apparently didn’t like that comment because then she scratched me in the face.
“Damn it, girl! Those nails are like claws.”
She pulled my lip again and started laughing this time.
I loved her laugh.
I smiled and shook my head. “That’s it. I’m done with you.”
She laughed even harder, and it was infectious because now I was laughing too.
“You’re so cute. You know I could never be done with you, right?”
I hugged her hard and then lifted her up as the smell of shit wafted through the air.
“Aw, hell, girl. What did your mother feed you this morning?”
My niece started giggling again, as if she understood me. That belly laugh was music to my ears. Holly was only six months, but I swore she understood everything I said. I reached over for a diaper and some wipes and began to unwrap the load.
“Oooh, so whatever you had, it was green. Nice.”
Just then, the phone rang, and I could see from the caller i.d. that it was Alex, one of my engineering study partners. Why the hell was he calling?
I held up my hands. “Stay there, Holly. Don’t move,” I said, grabbing the cordless phone. “Yo.”
“Jake, dude, where the hell are you?”
“I’m home watching my sister’s kid. What’s up?”
“Did you forget Professor Sarma moved the exam to this morning?”
I scratched my head. “No, he didn’t. He moved it to Tuesday.”
“Today is Tuesday.”
The realization that he was right set in. “Oh, crap!”
My sister, Allison, had switched the babysitting day on me this week, and it screwed me all up.
“Fuck!” I yelled into the phone.
“You can still make it here in time if you hurry,” Alex said.
Before I had a chance to respond, I looked over at Holly on the couch and saw that she had managed to touch her ass and get poop all over her fingers.
“Code brown, Alex. I gotta go.” I hung up the phone and rushed over to the baby who was still smiling at me, happier than a pig in shit.
“Okay, sweet pea. That was Uncle Jake’s fault. We are gonna get you clean and then hightail it outta here. I can still make the last half hour of the exam if we hurry.”
Holly squealed in delight amidst the chaos.
I took her over to the sink, holding her with one hand as I used the other to spray her hands and bottom vigorously with the nozzle, adding some dishwashing liquid. That mess was too far gone for baby wipes.
Once cleaned and smelling like Palmolive, I bundled her up and propped her on my chest in the carrier my sister left me, grabbed the diaper bag and ran out the door.
Holly bounced up and down, as I ran down the street to the train station.
We boarded the train, and the looks and reactions I got from the yuppie passengers were typical. I could imagine what they were thinking: Who is this tattooed, pierced bastard wearing all black carrying a little innocent peanut in a baby carrier?
I envisioned Amber Alerts being called into the Boston police. They looked at me as if I was going to friggin’ jump them with this baby on my chest. Those judgmental people always made me laugh, though.
The train suddenly stopped. The conductor announced that there was a small mechanical issue being worked on and that we would be moving in a few minutes.
Ten minutes and one bottle of formula later, the train started moving again.
I had totally screwed today up. If I were lucky, I would catch the professor at the end of the exam and play the sympathy card with Holly in tow.
When we got to Ruggles station, it was pouring out. I grabbed a plastic Walmart bag out of the black tote and put it on top of Holly’s head like a hat, careful not to cover her face.
Running through puddles, we finally made it to the building. When I entered the classroom, it was a ghost town. Professor Sarma was gone. I had missed the entire exam and couldn’t even plead my case.
Fuck.
We made our way back outside, and it was now raining cats and dogs.
Holly was giggling again and started to hiccup.
I adjusted the plastic bag away from her face. “What are you laughing at? Huh?”
I looked up and saw that Holly was staring straight ahead at a girl who was spinning around and dancing in the rain. Everyone else around us was running for cover, but this girl was staring up at the sky, letting the water pour down on her and relishing every moment of it. She certainly didn’t seem to care who was looking at her.
After a few minutes of watching this in amazement, we walked slowly toward her. The closer we got, the more excited Holly became, flailing her arms and legs in the carrier.
She was probably a Northeastern student and looked about seventeen or eighteen, around my age. She was wearing a long flowing skirt that spun around with her and had red curly hair cascading down her back. She was pretty damn cute.
Her eyes were closed now as she lifted her head and opened her mouth to drink some of the falling rain. She didn’t notice me as I stood there taking in the sight of her. She twirled around again reaching her arms out to slap the raindrops.
“Hey,” I finally said.
The girl stopped short, looking startled, o
pened her eyes and smiled. “Oh…Hey.”
“Do you always dance in the rain like that?”
She glanced down at Holly. “Do you always pick up babies at Walmart?”
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m Jake,” I said holding out my hand.
She didn’t extend hers, but smiled. “Jake, is that your baby?”
“Nah, it’s my niece. She has a twin sister who’s with their grandmother, but this one prefers me, so I take her a couple of mornings a week. We hang so my sister can get stuff done.”
Holly was reaching her fat little hand out, and the girl took it. She smelled like patchouli and whispered something to Holly then stared back at me, but said nothing.
I wasn’t entirely sure why I was still standing there, but there was something very intriguing about her. A guitar case was lying on the ground a few feet away, and it made me wonder if she played or studied music. I was just enjoying living in the moment with her under the falling rain.
Finally, she looked down at my arms and said, “I like your tattoos. They’re hot.”
“Thanks. You’re pretty hot yourself,” I said.
“You don’t strike me as the babysitting type, Jake.”
“Yeah, well, things aren’t always what they seem on the surface.”
I had no idea back then how prophetic that statement would become…when it came to her.
There was a rumble of thunder in the distance, and she finally cracked a smile. Then, came the three words that would change my life. “Hi, I’m Ivy.”
SIX YEARS LATER
CHAPTER 1
NINA
“Welcome to Brooklyn,” my driver, Reza, said as he helped me out of the yellow cab. He took my bags out of the trunk, and I handed him a tip.
“Thanks. It was nice chatting,” I said before watching him drive away, leaving me alone to face my new life.
I wasn’t quite ready for it to begin, so I stood on the sidewalk staring up at the aging building that was now home as cars on the busy street sped by.