Only Love (The Atonement Series)

Only Love

The Atonement Series

Copyright © 2013 Elle Chardou

All Rights Reserved.

Cover Artist:
Tamra Westberry

ISBN:
978-1-3018-5701-2

Publisher: Midnight Engel Press, LLC

License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Publisher’s Note:

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without express written permission from the publisher. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, resold (as a “used” e-book), stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Dedication
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Acknowledgments
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Part One: Freedom
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Chapter One
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Chapter Two
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Chapter Three: Colin
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Chapter Four
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Chapter Five
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Chapter Six: Colin
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Chapter Seven
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Chapter Eight
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Chapter Nine
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Chapter Ten: Colin
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Chapter Eleven
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Chapter Twelve
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Part Two: Falling
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Chapter Thirteen
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Chapter Fourteen: Colin
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Chapter Fifteen
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Chapter Sixteen
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Chapter Seventeen
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Chapter Eighteen: Colin
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Chapter Nineteen
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Chapter Twenty: Colin
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Chapter Twenty-One
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Chapter Twenty-Two
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About the Author
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Contact & Resources
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Current & Upcoming Novels

Dedication

This novel is dedicated to the usual suspects: my daughters, my sister and my friends (both in the writing community and those who aren’t involved in this crazy world). Love you to death and enjoy!

Acknowledgments

There are so many people who helped me on this fabulous and fascinating journey so I will try to start at the top. My FB Groups, Indie Insiders (shh), my ladies at Indi-Licious for all your encouragement and support, The Secret Society of Indie Writers, Indie Writers Unite; my friends: Jessica Meigs, Christine DeMaio-Rice, Michelle Muto, Red Tash, and Laura Yirak.

Laura, for all your advice (she knows what I am talking about), Nikki (for being such a supportive sister), Jess (for just hearing me bitch and moan all the time); others who I will be eternally grateful for include Tamra Westberry and Stephanie Nelson. Thank you for all your help, love and support anyway.

Part One

Freedom

Summer 2013

Chapter One

The day started like any other day but by that evening, something inside me inwardly panicked. I needed to run and although I would hate myself in the morning, I kept telling myself it was for the best.

My day at work had been calm yet once I received a call from Dr. Grant, my OB-GYN, everything went from sugar to shit literally. It was a routine call like any other but it was what she told me that ripped my world apart and nothing would ever be the same again.

The funny part about the whole situation was nothing had really changed because when I looked in the mirror, I was still the same person. I was just shy of five feet, nine inches and slim at one hundred and twenty-nine pounds. My skin was still a silky olive tone and I still had great cheek bones and a patrician nose with slightly full lips.

My hair was still dark brown with deep auburn lowlights and wavy if I didn’t flat iron it but since I hadn’t cut it in a while, it was wavy more often than not. My hazel-green eyes were still my best feature and though I wore very little makeup, my skin had a natural inner glow from pregnancy.

I don’t remember the rest of my day at work nor do I remember the commute home either. The elevator ride to the outrageously expensive condo I shared with Colin seemed like my own personal jail cell. I knew he wouldn’t be home because the bar didn’t close until the wee hours of the morning and while the place was still brand new, both Colin and Drew were putting in a lot of hours to make it the success they wanted it to be.

Our relationship had never been conventional. Colin and I were in love, that was true, but it didn’t erase the horrible secret that bound us together. It also didn’t stop my sister from asking so many questions about what was going on and why I still spent so much time with Liam if I was in love with Colin and he was my fiancé.

I couldn’t trust my sister with the truth or any truths to be honest. What could she possibly say and how would she feel about the situation? I knew how good I was at keeping secrets and the one I knew about Colin and Liam would be taken to the grave.

Who could I really tell my secrets to when I thought about it other than the parties involved? If I couldn’t trust Caitlyn, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell Aubrey. I knew she could keep a secret and that certainly wasn’t the problem that existed between us two but how would she view Colin and Liam again knowing what they’d done to my family? She’d grown up in a chaotic home and though her life had not been perfect, she was a huge believer in justice. It was the same reason why she wouldn’t give her mother the time of day after what she had put her through during the years she’d lived in Quebec with her.

I had to be honest with myself and admit it had been sheer lunacy to forgive him so easily but maybe it was the pregnancy hormones. I knew we had more on the line than our relationship. We were now expecting a baby, an innocent child who had no idea what his or her parents’ were going through.

The decision wasn’t an easy one for me to make, mostly because more than my life was at stake. However, my present lifestyle was starting to strangle me and I felt lost and spiraling even further out of control. Furthermore, the hurt surrounding the situation seemed to grow each day and now I knew such an overwhelming truth that marred our situation all the more, how could I live with myself? I could barely keep what I knew contained; it would only be a matter of time before I blurted the truth to Colin and he would hate me.

Funny how there were people who existed and always thought of themselves as worthy of forgiveness but they were unable to extend that way of thinking to other people. Colin felt that way about me, as if I was above sin, and I would never do anything to hurt him. I also knew him as a person and he would never accept the present situation. Sure, he would lie and smile and say it was okay all the while thinking I was a hypocritical bitch who’d ruined his life because what I done went way beyond the pale as far as he was concerned.