Shattered Hart

Ella Fox

ISBN: 9781301012084

Copyright ELLA FOX 2012

Published at SMASHWORDS

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

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or
dead,
is purely coincidental. Ella Fox holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

Also, a very special thanks to all of the fans of “Broken Hart” who took the time to email, tweet, blog and contact me on
goodreads
to tell me how much they enjoyed the story.  You are the reason that “Shattered Hart” came to life, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  For every action there is a reaction, and what you all put out into the world pushed me forward and kept me going.  There really aren’t words to express my thanks properly, so I can only hope that you all know that you’ve been a HUGE motivator for me.

Last, but not least, this book is dedicated to a fellow writer.  She’s the person who made me what I am today, and I wouldn’t be able to string two words together if it weren’t for her.

Brooke changed everything.

Before I met her, my inner circle consisted of my family. No outsiders allowed.

From a
very early age
,
I learned
that the only way to
avoid pain
was to erect an emotional wall to keep people out.

For
twenty-five years
,
I stayed
hidden behind that wall.  No one was ever able
to approach
the perimeter… and
then I met Brooke.

One minute I was
safely behind
my wall, just as I always had been.
The next thing I knew,
she
had
somehow
vaulted over
and was standing right next to me.
  She never even set off the alarm system.  A lifetime of keeping people away and setting up minefields to deter anyone who tried to get close
was decimated
by Brooke in seconds.

I used to roll my eyes or scoff at terms like, "love at first sight," or "the one," and I was especially brutal about the most ridiculous statement of them all, "soul mate."

I
don't
roll my eyes anymore.  Now I know
it's
not some fairytale. 
Things like that
actually
happen.

All I wanted was for Brooke to be happy, for her to have someone in her life that deserved h
er.
  I
thought I was making
the right
decisions. 

I was wrong
.

I fucked up, and I fucked up badly.  The only girl I will ever love
can't
even look at me anymore, and I'm lost without her.

It
’
s
a surprise that my brother is bringing his new executive assistant and her sister to a family dinner.  I
’ve been in Denver for the last
nine
weeks
finishin
g one of
our
building projects
,
so
I
have
n’
t
had the pleasure of meeting his assistant face to face
yet, but this is weird.
Dante is behaving out of character by
including
her
in a
family night.

It’s
unlike
my brother
to open hi
s life to outsiders.
 
Actually
,
he’s never done something like this
.
  Introducing us to the new assistant is one thing.  I’ll be working with her anyway, so that was inevitable. 
But
Dante
including the assistant’s
sister
and
bringing them
to a family dinner is
a complete surprise
. 

Dante’s last assistant, Helen, had been with him for
three
years. 
They got along
swell
,
and she i
s a
lovely
woman, but I never once
saw her
outside of work, much less
at a family dinner.
 
I only kn
e
w
that
Helen
had
siblings
because of the pictures on her desk. 
I certainly never met them, and Dante had never tried to bring them out with
our
family.

Dante talks a
bout his new assistant
,
Sabrina
,
like
she’
s
the bee’s knees.
  If I
didn’t
know
,
with absolute certainty
,
that my brother would neve
r allow himself to fall in love…
I’d be
concerned.
 
The
type of women that he associates with
aren
’t interested in relationships
, and any woman who wanted more than that wouldn’t be someone that Dante would
spend time with.  It’s safer to keep those women far away
.
 

My
thoughts
are interrupted
by
the arrival of my twin sisters, Dominique and Delilah.  Standing from the table, I hug and kis
s them both before we take
our
seats
.
After sitting down, the three of us
spend the next few minutes talking about their college classes and how things are going.
 

My sisters are
two of the most
promine
nt
people in my life
. 
E
very
significant
decision I’ve made since the day they were born
was made with them in mind.
Dante and I have always put
our
sisters first
, both of us forced to make adult decisions long before we were even teenagers
.

Our
parents were abusive
drug addled asshole
s, and their bullshit
left a
dark
mark on my brother and me
.  He and I have
worked hard to make sure that
our
parent’s crazy
didn’
t
leave the same mark on the girls.

I’ve always known that I will
never
get
marrie
d
, so helping to raise
my sisters is
as close as
I will ever
come
to parenting. 
The fact that
they
’ve
turned out normal and well-
adjusted is my finest achievement.

Our
catch
up time comes to a halt
when my best friend, Spencer Cross, shows up.  Taking his seat at the table, he wastes no time verbalizing what
I’ve
been thinking. 

“
Raise your hand if
you
’
re
shocked
as hell that Dante is bringing the assistant and her sister to
family
dinner.
”

I nod my head
in agreement
, but the girls are
having
none of it.  Delilah jumps in fi
rst.  “Spence,
you
a
re
such a dick
sometimes.  The fact that
he
’
s
bringing them both tells me that
he
’
s
made a real friend, and a female one at that
.  Some men are actually able to grow up and stop fucking everything that walks you know
.
  You might want to try it sometime, slick.
”

Dominique
nod
s in agreement. 
“Exactly!
 
It’s
about time Dante had a relationship wi
th a woman that
i
sn’t
either
sex for sport
or purely
professional
. 
It’s
as if
he’
s
afraid to get close to
women
.
  This could be a step in the right direction. 
Maybe
now
that
he
’
s
getting comfortable
enough to have a friend that is a
woman
,
he
wi
ll
finally
find
someone
and start dating.
  Stranger things have happened.”

I shake my head.  “No, stranger things have not happened.  Dante will never settle down. 
He’s never going to get a girlfriend, and he sure as shit isn’t going to get married.
 
You
both
know that, and you also know that it makes him mental when you girls tell
him he
should find someone.  It
isn’t
in the cards for either of us,
and it isn’t for Spencer, either.  This is who we are and how we live our lives,
so let’s just be happy that
he’s
happy with his life.
  You two are the ones that are going to get out there someday and find love.  The three of us will be old bachelors who love spoiling your kids rotten.
”

No one answers that.  Instead, Spencer
and the girls stand
,
which alerts
me to the fact that Dante has arrived. 
Rising
, I turn
to face my brother and his guests.

The first thing I
notice
is the fact
that the new executive assistant
, Sabrina Tyler,
is stunning. 
As I shake her hand,
I brief
ly consider having a run at her.  Unfortunately
,
the reality is that it
would be problematic to continue to see a woman after I’ve slept with her.  I’ve got a
three
fuck
maximum, and almost no one makes it that far. 
I’m happier with one and done.