Series
Slave to the Rhythm
(Rhythm series #1)
Luka (Rhythm series #2)
The Traveling Man
(Traveling Series #1)
The Traveling Woman
(Traveling Series #2)
Roustabout
(Traveling Series #3)
The Traveling Series Boxed Set
The Education of Sebastian
(Education Series #1)
The Education of Caroline
(Education Series #2)
The Education of Sebastian and The Education of Caroline
(Education Series combined edition)
Semper Fi
(Education Series #3)
Standalone Titles
One Careful Owner (
coming next
)
Luka
Copyright © 2016 Jane Harvey-Berrick
ISBN 9780992924683
Harvey Berrick Publishing
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you do, you are STEALING.
I only distribute Luka through Amazon and Create Space. If you have received this book from anywhere else, it is a pirate copy, it is illegal, and you’ve really spoiled my day.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All rights reserved.
Jane Harvey-Berrick has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Jane Harvey-Berrick has asserted her moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
Editing by Kirsten Olsen and Trina Miciotta
Cover design by Hang Le /
www.byhangle.com
Cover photograph by
istock
Formatted by Christine Borgford /
www.perfectlypublishable.com
Table of Contents
Other Titles by Jane Harvey-Berrick
To Edwin and Eugene, years of friendship and a lifetime of love.
I’M NOT A
good man.
I’m not a bad man.
But I made some bad mistakes, made the wrong choices. Who hasn’t? But the consequences are tearing us apart.
I love two people.
I love them differently.
The world tells me I have to choose. Why?
Why do I have to choose?
Love hurts. Love flays you raw and leaves your skin hanging from your body in bloody strips. It brands and burns you. Ultimately, love is the worst thing that can happen to a human being.
In my opinion.
I loved two people.
I loved them differently.
One was a man.
One was a woman.
And I never wanted to hurt anyone, least of all the two people who mean more to me than anyone else in the world.
Love isn’t supposed to be that hard.
It started with a note.
There was no reason on earth for me to think that this short message would change my life. Or fuck it up. Depending on your point of view.
But it did.
Twenty-four hours earlier . . .
IT WAS OUR
final performance.
We gathered together holding hands, trying to make a rough circle in the cramped backstage area of the London theater.
Ash looked at each one of us, his eyes shimmering with pride and unshed tears.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege working with you. You have brought
Slave
to life. We’ve made people think, and we’ve made them feel. Thank you.”
He glanced down at his wife, Laney, who was watching him, her eyes full of warmth and love.
Seeing them together was a lesson in possibilities: Ash so strong, so athletic, an amazing dancer; Laney strong in different ways, a steel flower trapped in her wheelchair.
“This is our last night together for now. But then we’ll be preparing for a new tour next year.”
He paused, his eyes sweeping across Yveta’s face. We all knew that the months away from the show would give her time to recover from the plastic surgery that she needed. The operation would smooth out the jagged scar running down the side of her face, a vicious reminder of being tortured by the Russian mafia.