Against the Tide (41 page)
Authors: Nikki Groom
For everyone that has given your time to my stories, thank you! I hope I have taken you along a memorable journey. There’s much more to come!
Nikki Groom is a hopeless romantic, lover of all things happily ever after and firm believer that love makes the world go around.
In her spare time, you will find Nikki laughing with her very treasured family, walking with her beloved dog in the hundred acre wood or curled up in a cosy corner with words and wine.
She lives in East Sussex with her husband and two children. Having turned her hand to many things over the years, Nikki is now very proud to add ‘author’ to that list.
Having always been a dreamer, Nikki’s imagination stretches far and wide, which enables her to get lost in faraway places and imaginary people.
Nikki loves to chat, especially about books! You can find her here…
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Adult Contemporary romance
Holding Aces (The Kingdom 1)
High Stakes (The Kingdom 2)
Holding Aces
Synopsis
They say that time heals all wounds.
But mine are set in so deeply, they’ve taken on a life of their own, lurking in the shadows at every turn and haunting my thoughts.
The girl I once was has been replaced by a stranger.
I don’t even know who I am anymore.
I run.
And I hide.
Pretending to be someone I’m not…
Until I meet Denham King.
My burst of color in an otherwise grey world.
And for the first time in my life, I find myself running towards someone instead of running away.
But fate can be cruel,
and I can’t escape my past.
Can I?
Holding Aces
Prologue
I had to leave. It was bad this time.
Each time it happened, I stupidly forgave him. I knew it wouldn’t be the last time, and not to my surprise, each time after that it was worse.
I’m not even sure if I felt the physical pain anymore. I was numb, inside and out. A shell of the person I once was.
But this time … this time he had gone too far. I had needed medical attention. His kick to my left side had broken two ribs, one of which had punctured my lung. My kidneys were bruised from his fists slamming into me repeatedly, and my wrist was broken from the impossible angle he had twisted it.
Up until now he was careful not to mark my face or anywhere that someone could see. Each time it happened, he whisked me away for a weekend to ‘make things okay’ and let the bruises fade, and each time he took a little more of my soul.
My mom had her suspicions; I could see it in her eyes, and her gentle probing questions without asking directly for fear of accusing him of something he may not have done.
But she knew.
I wanted to tell someone … anyone. It was a lonely burden, an elephant sitting on my chest. He had worn me down so far that I didn’t have an identity. Functioning on a daily basis but not feeling.
I was his.
Nothing more, nothing less.
He was a powerful, well-respected businessman, so no one would ever believe me, and even if they did, he would pay them off and it would all be forgotten. I thought it was unbelievable that money could buy the conscience of a man, but it had become a familiar occurrence.
He had taken me to a private hospital and visited every day, the devoted fiancé. He had cried when he told the nurses how I was attacked in our home by an intruder, and I had cried at my helplessness.
I had ten days in that hospital with no fear and no pressure to conform because he couldn’t do anything to me while I was there. It was the longest I had been away from him in five years, and it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Every day my confidence built and I found a little more of the girl I once was. Only now, the girl had grown up. Now I was a woman and I knew what my future held. I knew that if I stayed, he could eventually kill me.
So I did the only thing I could do …
I ran
AMAZON US-
http://amzn.com/B00KLO4M9U
AMAZON UK-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KLO4M9U
B&N-
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/holding-aces-nikki-groom/1119618503
KOBO-
http://tinyurl.com/qjtsjj6
iBOOKS-
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id882792678
Table of Contents
