Bent not Broken (293 page)

Letting out a deep breath, he pressed his forehead down to mine. With his eyes closed, he whispered, “That’s what love is … It’s scary not knowing what’s expected, but I know it’ll be the
best
frightening love we’ve ever had.”

Seconds or minutes went by as I stood watching him. I loved him so much, and I was miserable without him, but could we do this? If this wasn’t love, then I wasn’t sure I wanted to experience love at all because what I have with him is something no one could ever replace. Without further thinking, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, locking our lips together.

His lips spread into a smile, and he slowly lifted me and tightened our embrace. We stood in the rain tangled with one another.

I wasn’t sure where our paths would take us, and although this felt both wrong yet so right, this time around I knew one thing for sure: as we gave ourselves a second chance, I had no choice but to be
cautious
.

Epilogue

Lou Sorrento

Taking a long-needed puff of my fine Cuban cigar, I leaned back on my chair as I watched the cloud of smoke dissipate into the air. I needed to get to the bottom of this fucking mess ASAP. If Marky keeps giving me the fucking run around, then I’ll have no choice but to take it upon myself.

Speak of the fucking devil. He stormed through my office doors with his clothes drenched. Eyeing him suspiciously, I thought he seemed fucking anxious.

“What’s so fucking important that I had to run down now?” He snapped.

He’s been getting a little rowdy these past few fucking days. I clenched my teeth and dabbed the tip of the cigar against the ashtray. Cracking my neck, I straightened in my chair to look at him. If he wasn’t family, I would’ve fucking cracked his head with the back of my hand.

I breathed deeply to keep myself from exploding. My temper’s something that gets the best of me, so I’ll start off in a nice way … see how it goes. “Why the fuck are you soaked?”

His arms spread as he looked down at his clothes and back at me like I’m the fucking dumb-cock fuck. “It’s pouring out, what else could it be?” His arms slammed back to his side.

“You don’t own a fucking umbrella or something?” He’s pissing me the fuck off.

“What do you want, Lou?” he snapped. Marky has grown a lot of fucking balls!

It’s time to show him who the fucking boss is! “I want to know,” I was now out of my chair hovering over my desk, and I yelled from the top of my lungs, “WHO THE FUCKING RAT IS!” He didn’t fucking flinch. He’s standing there staring at me like I had lost my fucking mind. This kid is going to give me a fucking heart attack!

Lowering my voice, I pressed a finger on top of my desk and glared at him. “You’ve been giving me the fucking runaround for the past few months! There have been FBI scumbags sniffing around my fucking warehouses! Either you find out who the rat is, or I’ll do it myself, Marky.” I cocked my head, burning my eyes into his. “Unless you know something you’re keeping from me?”

Letting out a deep breath, he looked me square in the eye. “I don’t know shit. I’ve been dealing with personal things, but I’m back on track now. I’ll find that rat for yah. Can I go home to my girl now?”

Ever since he’s been with that fucking girl, he’s been one loose fucking canon. I stared at him for a long time. Laughing once, I adjusted my suit jacket and sat back in my chair. “That’s fine. Go back to Mia. Tell her I said “hi” by the way.”
Oh
, he didn’t like that
mmmh.
His jaw clenched when I said her name.

I smirked at him. “You have another week. If I don’t have my rat, you’re off the job.”

Marky nodded, turned, and walked out the door. Vinnie walked in right after, closing the door behind him. He slowly walked over. Once he approached my desk, he reached into his inner leather jacket pocket, removing a large yellow envelope. He tossed it to me, and I grabbed it from the wood surface it just fell on. Smiling, I looked up at him. “Is this everything?”

“Yeah boss, everything you need to know about her.”

“Good, good. Do me a favor. Keep a close eye on Marky. I want to know his every whereabouts.”

“Sure thing boss. Anything else?”

“Nope, you did a great job, Vinnie. Make sure Stacy pays you before you leave.”

Vinnie nodded and headed out the door.

Grabbing the envelope, I pulled out all the documents. The first document I saw was a picture of Mia Sullivan. She sure is fucking beautiful. The next document listed everything about her: past employment, residence, relatives. Squinting my eyes, I took a better look at her siblings. Well I be damned … Michael Sullivan.

Motherfucker!

Snatching the phone, I made a quick phone call. “Hello, yeah it’s Lou. I need you to do me a huge favor. Meet me here at six. Thanks.” After ending the call, I re-lit my cigar and took another long puff as I continued to rummage through the documents.

If Marky thinks he has one up on me, he’s clearly fucking mistaken!

Everything I’ve Never Had

By

Lynetta Halat

Prologue

I’D ALWAYS KNOWN loving him was never going to be easy, and with my eyes wide open, I’d been prepared to face many battles to keep him for my own. But I never thought I’d have to fight him for his love. A crippling pain fills my soul as that realization sinks in. As if he can’t stand to be loved back by me, he has taken his love from me and is pushing me away. He’s punishing himself. And I know that’s what has brought this on—guilt and penance. Taking a deep breath in and releasing it, I steel myself to fight for my man. When I knock on his door, my heart is in my throat.

One

This Kiss

AT THE FIRST heart-stopping note of one of the most sensual songs I've ever heard, my head flies up and I make eye contact with the band's rhythm guitarist. He looks like he's having a great time. I feel like I just got sucker-punched.

I lean in to my best friend, Bonnie, and shout, “I'm going to get some fresh air, OK?”

She flips her blonde hair over her shoulder, and her worried dark brown eyes meet mine. “You, all right? You need me to come with?”

I paste a fake grin on and shout back, “No, no. I'm good. Just need a minute. Keep dancing, ma belle amie!”

With one last glance at the stage, I make my way through the sea of elbows and hips. When I reach the back porch, I take a huge breath and let the lyrics permeate my brain.
Holy shit!
Was there a sexier song than this on the entire planet?
Umm…No!
And him up there strumming it. I think back to all of, what I hope were, my surreptitious glances of the evening.
Geez, he is gorgeous.
I imagine running my hands through that shaggy dark brown hair and staring into those exquisite ice blue eyes. What if I had enough guts to place my hands on his chiseled jaw and bring his impossibly full lips to mine? I close my eyes and picture what had to be the most luscious lips I'd ever laid eyes on.

Part of me wishes that he were just a pretty face with a nice body because that I might actually be able to resist, but no, he was just as gorgeous where it mattered. And that’s where my problem lies—because of his kind heart and generous nature, he’d become my best friend and my confidant.

I know I'm not supposed to want him. He's my own slice of forbidden fruit—my deceased husband's outcast cousin. And with the way our families were connected, that was not something I could ignore.

My conscience takes a nosedive and picks up where I left off with my explicit daydream. I’ve been denying my desire for him for so long because of our complicated connections, and I've only allowed this one other time. I'd promised myself I wouldn't permit it again. But, surely, I could make an exception because of this—my favorite of favorite songs—”Everlong.”

So I allow myself to imagine, me mumbling his name against his lips...Adrian...even his name is sexy. I feel a shiver course through my body. It's on this thought that I hear the screen door bump closed behind me. My eyes fly open, and I take another deep breath to collect myself and know immediately that it's him. Yes, his scent is that unique. It somehow reminds of the desert and the ocean all at once—hot and quenching.
Why does he have to be an assault on all my senses?
Wait...what is he doing out here? He's supposed to be on stage! I search frantically for some semblance of control over my body. What is the proper etiquette for getting caught in your lustful musings by the very object of your desires? Hmm...

His rich timbre reaches across the porch as he asks, “Celeste, everything good?” If whiskey possessed the ability to speak, that's what it would sound like—his smooth, sultry voice.

My voice sounds heavy to my own ears. “Umm…yeah, what are you doing out here? Doesn’t your band need you?”

“They’ll live. You’re more important.” I close my eyes and let those words fill and warm me like a fine, aged bourbon. “You streaked out of there like you’d seen a ghost. You scared me.”

I spin around too fast, and my head seems to keep spinning. There he is in all his glory. Even with my heels on, I barely reach his shoulders. He's so broad that I could imagine him double-timing it up a couple of flights of stairs with me thrown over his shoulder and I'm no waif. My eyes meet his, and I'm lost. Lost to his look. Lost to this song. Lost to my fantasizing.

I stride over to him as the guitar plays out a little stalking march for me.
I'm really going to do this.
When I get close enough to him, I can see the worry in his hypnotizingly beautiful eyes. He's worried about me. I know he cares about me and my children. He’s been absolutely amazing to us since my husband passed. Could he see me as more than just a friend?

I'm close enough now to breathe him in fully, and when I do, I hear Zach sing out, “‘Breathe out, so I can breathe you in, hold you in.’” I take a deeper breath and my eyes flutter half-closed as his scent saturates my every pore. Even though my eyes are almost closed, I don't miss the flare of his eyes; I take this as encouragement. And that’s it. The edge I was clinging to dissipates from my tenuous grasp.

When the guitar rift hits its crescendo, I watch helplessly as my hands dart out and pull his face down to mine just like in my fantasy. Maybe I'm still fantasizing? My doubt is quickly erased as his lips are softer than anything my feeble imagination could ever come up with. I move my lips over his in what, I hope, is an enticing way. I'm not sure yet because he hasn't responded. But he hasn't thrown me off, so I continue my assault. I slant my head to the side a little more and my tongue, apparently with a mind of its own, darts out to help itself to a taste. Mmm...but his taste can barely register because as soon as my tongue touches his lips he opens his mouth under mine.

That's all I need. Desire like I've never felt before wars with my good sense. I feel his tongue move with mine hesitantly; nonetheless, it moves.
Thank God!
Oh my...this is...everything. Everything I've never felt, everything I've never tasted, everything I've never had.

When the song breaks off into what I call “the voices in my head” section, my conscience decides to make itself known again; and I wrench myself free. Adrian wasn't holding me. I was holding him, but I was suddenly overcome with self-doubt, which was quickly followed by self-preservation. I can clearly see any scenario other than friendship ending in disaster for us.

As I back away slowly, my frantic eyes assess his equally frantic eyes. Then, his look changes, and he looks downright unhappy. I clear my throat and offer, “Adrian, I'm so sorry. I...I don't know what I was thinking.” My hand trembles as I push my hair back off my face. “I wasn't thinking, I guess.”

He stares at me like he's never seen me before, and it scares me. Panic seizes my throat. He's been amazing to my boys and me. We can't lose him. I'm such a fool. I open my mouth to continue groveling when that damn stalking rhythm starts up again and all of a sudden Adrian is the one stalking toward me, but he looks...pissed. I lick my lips, swallow hard, and stumble back until I feel the porch rail behind me.

This time when the crescendo hits it's Adrian who assaults me, but I am a more than willing participant, so that when his hands run down my back, my body melts into his. Even though I feel melded to him, it's not enough for Adrian because his big hands keep going until they clasp my behind so hard that my right leg springs up to rest around his hip. Oh my God! I thought it was great the first time, but his kiss puts mine to shame.

I moan in time with this new knowledge as Zach sings the Foo Fighter's lyric, “You gotta promise not to stop when I say when.” One realization crashes into another as I realize I never want this to stop. I never want to stop kissing him. Squeezing my eyes shut and tightening my grip on him, I throw myself even more into his soul-stealing kiss. Mmm...his hair is just as soft as I thought it would be. I pull it through my fingers roughly. When I do, he groans into my mouth and deepens his kiss momentarily before completely throwing me by pulling back a little and softening it. It's excruciatingly tender. I’m torn—I want to savor the sweetness but also want him to devour me again. Greedy—I feel so greedy. How can I want more when what I’m getting is already so good, so perfect?

When he pulls back to place closed-mouthed little kisses on my lips, I fulfill my fantasy and mumble, “Mmm...Adrian.” Adrian's shudder reverberates through me, and he pulls back to grasp my hands and pull them down from around his neck. I hear the song come to its beautiful end and Zach tells the crowd they'll be back in ten.

The kiss I never wanted to end has ended and I feel bereft. I finally open my eyes to stare into his most expressive ones. His eyes are filled with regret.

I gasp at the sudden sharp pain that pierces my heart. I snap my mouth shut, drop my leg from around his hip, and pull my hands from his. “Adrian—”

“No, that's all on me, Celeste. I'm...” He runs his hand through his hair, proving what I thought impossible by making himself even sexier with mussed hair. “Shit...I'm sorry. I'm a shit. It's just...”