Stealing Ryder (20 page)

Chapter 20

Harper

And then he got down on one knee.

***

The End

***

Epilogue

She was sitting there. I saw her in the magazine.

Her.

Harper.

My Harper. Sitting in a fucking magazine cover with some
pussy-ass bitch. He looked like a fucking douchebag. Who the fuck stops playing football, then surfs. But at least now I know where she ran off to.

She will be mine again.

I can’t believe she ran off without me. She is a useless little piece of shit. That bitch thinks she can run away without me, and get me in trouble? Hell no.

I grabbed my computer and found the first plane ticket to San Diego. I grabbed one of the credit cards I stole from the rager the other day. I hoped it would go through before the owner cancelled the card. I needed to get to San Diego to her before she could run away again.

She had to be punished for her crime. She had to be mine again. Did Harper really think she could run away from me? I only had trouble trying to find where she was. She was never really gone. I thought about her all the time.

She was always on my mind
, and she needed to know that. I needed to show her that this…man she was with, was no man at all. He would never take care of her like I did. He was a piece of shit. He was useless. I would be the only one she ever needed.

I found the cheapest ticket and booked it for a month from now. I had to prepare. I needed
to get some stuff so that she would come back home to me. She needed to come back home to me. She was MINE.

I threw the computer against the wall, getting irritated reading the article. I should never have been on that stupid sports website. I knew I shouldn’t have
, but I am so glad I found the article. I am so glad I found my baby.

I ran to pick the computer back up and there were a hundred little cracks in the top right corner, but I could still make out the picture on the screen.

There she was with her beautiful brown hair, which was longer than I remembered. It’s okay; when she came back home, she would fix it. I needed her like my baby. She would have to fix it.

She had those big brown eyes I remember staring in. Those brown eyes that said yes to everything I told her to do. She was the only one in this world that actually listened to me. I knew I should have taken the blame for everything that went down
, but it wasn’t my fault. See? I needed her with me. She did everything for me, and she just up and left me.

She left me standing there, looking like a motherfucking idiot at the courthouse. She couldn’t have the last say. That was for me. I wanted the last word. I wanted to give her the closure she needed.

I needed revenge.

I needed to plot.

God, she made me so fucking mad. How could the same girl infuriate me to the point of exhaustion, and at the same time, make me want her more than I have ever wanted anyone in my life. I couldn’t wait to have her back in my life. That piece of shit that has her now is only a temporary holder. He is just warming her up for the main course: me.

I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when I showed up. I couldn’t wait to be there with her again. I would bring her back to Chicago
, no matter what it took. She needed to come back home with me because her home was here. She didn’t belong with that other man.

And if he got in the way? I didn’t care. I would kill him before he stood in the way of me getting my girl back.

She would be mine again.

Soon baby. I am coming to get you
, soon enough.

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for reading and loving my
second novel! If you would please leave me some feedback and reviews wherever you purchased this item, that would be much appreciated. Indie authors thrive on our reviews!

I am working very har
d on finishing novel number three. I have a few projects in-between that I want to get to that I promise are as juicy as this.

I hope this isn’t too much of a cliffhanger for you.
If you want to keep up with me, turn a couple of pages and check out how you can.

To the endless indie author community, thank you for allowing me to join and connect.

Peace, Love, & Happiness,

V

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I want to thank my parents and family for helping me and supporting me through this novel. Although it may seem at times that this will not be a career or something serious, I love you all very much for supporting me through this time. You understand and realize how much this means to me and I could not thank you enough.

Second, I want to thank all the fans, supporters, friends and bloggers for helping me with the success of my first novel. Without you I would not have topped Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s charts. I would not have become a worldwide bestselling author. For you all, I am so grateful.

I also want to make sure I thank all my amazing author friends and the huge indie community. You all have been a huge support and amazing to me. Thank you especially to Jake Bonsignore and Danielle Jamie who have been there for me even through pestering emails and annoying messages. Thank you guys so much!

Danielle, um, you are my rock. I am so thrilled to have been able to meet you this year in Las Vegas. Um…ice machine room much?! I love you so much and am so grateful for everything you have done. You are my author best friend always!

Taylor, thank you for being my rock and support. Thank you for helping me through this novel and life in general. How can I thank someone for being so awesome? All I can say is that you will always be there for me and for that I am forever grateful. Also, Rita’s shop is pretty on cue, huh?

Kayla the Bibliophile. Thank you so much for working on editing my novel for me. Thank you for letting me use your blog as a homebase and support and for your hilarious video snapchats, which I should respond more to. Again, for all those annoying messages, I apologize but seriously, you rock.

My assistant, Ashley. ERRRMAAAGOD. Where would my brain be without you. You have the most amazing notes ever….no really. You keep me completely sane and grounded. You help run my blog, my page and pretty much my life. Thank you for supporting me through this and hopefully I can work with you in the futur
e


To the rest of my beta readers: Danielle, Amy, Jennifer, Jessi, Dianela, Chantel you guys are awesome. Thank you for providing AMAZING feedback to me. I wouldn’t be here without you!

Thank you to my friends who have heard about this too many times to count. To my awesome cover photographer Liz, author photographer, Cal and models Erin and Bryan. Thank you guys for providing a visual realm for my imagination. Erin, I love you like a sis!

To those who I am sure I have forgotten, to all the incredible bloggers and the online indie community thank you guys so much. To all the groups that have allowed me to post my links you guys are awesome! Thanks for helping me spread the word!

Last, but definitely not least. Jordan. Where do I even begin? When I first came out here, I didn’t expect to find my very own Ryder, but I did. Here you are now and I am so excited to go on this adventure with you together. I miss you so much and know that soon we will be back together. I know you are proud of me right now and just know I am so proud of you too, babe. I love you more than all the waves in the ocean, always and forever. Thank you for being there for me.

About the Author

Hi! I am V. Murphy and I love everything about reading (some may call me a bibliophile). I am a current graduate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with my bachelors in psychology and heading out west to live the California dream while pursuing my Master’s degree in School Counseling at the University of San Diego. You can find me writing in a Panera, small coffee shop or on campus. When I am not spending my time in school or reading, I love to write, bake and shop. Thank you for taking your time to pick up and read my story. I hope you loved it as much as I have loved writing it for you. If you would like to know more about me and the books in progress, look me up on the ‘net.

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