by L. P. Maxa
EPIC
We’re end game. We’re forever. That's what Crue Matthews had told Avory Connor since they were teenagers, and she'd believed him. She'd believed everything he told her, especially that he'd given up being the most prolific f-boy in five counties. Then, she believed he betrayed her. When trust was broken she couldn't find it in her heart to forgive him. Worse, he never forgave himself, and for five miserable years, she buried her pain while he wallowed in his. But Crue is done waiting, and Avory is forced to face some hard truths. They need to forgive each other. Neither one of them was innocent in what happened, and both of them have been limping along as they lived their lives. Now they must learn to trust each other or there's no chance for the future they were promised.
ALSO BY L.P. MAXA
RiffRaff Records
Royalty
Legacy
Infamy
Loyalty
Sanctuary
Piracy
Certainty
Inevitably
The Devil’s Share
Play Nice
Play Dirty
Play Fair
Play Softly
Play Hard
Play For Keeps
St. Leasing
Mouth Watering
Breath Taking
Jaw Dropping
Heart Stopping
Soul Crushing
Other Novels
Happy Place
Stumbled into Love
Rescued
FINALLY
RiffRaff Records – Book 9
L.P. Maxa
www.BOROUGHSPUBLISHINGGROUP.com
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, business establishments or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Boroughs Publishing Group does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for author or third-party websites, blogs or critiques or their content.
FINALLY
Copyright © 2020 L.P. Maxa
All rights reserved. Unless specifically noted, no part of this publication may be reproduced, scanned, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Boroughs Publishing Group. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or by any other means without the permission of Boroughs Publishing Group is illegal and punishable by law. Participation in the piracy of copyrighted materials violates the author’s rights.
ISBN: 978-1-951053-0
E-book formatting by Maureen Cutajar
www.gopublished.com
To everyone who stuck with these characters, devouring all sixteen of their love stories
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This time, first and foremost, I need to thank my editor, Michelle. These two were a struggle for me, and I don't know if I would have had the strength, or brainpower, to get their story written without you. And, of course, my husband and daughter, their patience with me and my process is unparalleled. Thank you to Amy S. for listening to me complain. Thank you to my mom for reading every attempt. Thank you to Amy H. for always keeping me up to date and making sure I exist in the romance writer world. Thank you to my baby sister who basically told me to shut up because I was ruining the book she was waiting for. You reminded me that people love Crue and Avory, and that they deserved the best. And last, my Smitten Kittens, you guys are a constant well of support and laughter.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Writing Crue and Avory wasn't easy. They were the last story to tell, signaling the end of my time with The Devil's Share, RiffRaff Records, and The Devil's Spawn. Play Nice was the first book I had published with Borough's Publishing Group, and I couldn't have predicted that those four rockers would spawn another generation of characters for me. I love Dash, Smith, Jacks, and Luke. But the love I have for their kids? It's hard to put into words without starting to cry. I know it's sad that this series is done, but please know these characters live on in my mind. They're happy, and they're all still in love. They go to Friday Family Dinner and their children play together, running wild through the compound. I am eternally grateful for this experience, for these love stories I got to share with the world.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for loving these people as much as I do.
LP
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Epilogue
The Devil’s Share Family
Playlist
About the Author
FINALLY
Words can't say what love can do.
~Bon Jovi
Prologue
Crue
I didn’t come out of the womb in love with Avory Connor. It wasn’t a soul connection that started from the first moment our hands touched. No. I’m sure the first time I touched Avory it was to pull her hair or some shit. In all fairness, the last time she let me touch her I was probably pulling her hair…but that was years ago. I fucked up, and she still hasn’t forgiven me. It didn’t matter that I did what I did to spare her, and to spare my twin. It didn’t matter that I groveled at her feet, it didn’t matter that I’d gotten down on my knees and begged her to take me back. That girl held a grudge like no other.
I digress.
What I’m trying to say is this is a love story. Avory’s and my story. It isn’t as pretty as the rest. It isn’t all tied together in a perfect package with one of those glittery bows on top. It’s messy. It’s sad, and it’s twisted. But it’s ours. And I wouldn’t trade one moment of fighting with her for ten thousand moments of happy with someone else.
It took me over a decade to realize that Avory was the girl for me. It took me a couple years to lose her. And it looks like it’s going to take me an eternity to win her back.
Chapter One
Avory
Then
Crue had been acting weird all weekend, ever since that whore came up to us at Benson’s party. She wanted a date with him in exchange for not spreading stupid rumors. He was probably freaked at the prospect of our parents finding out that we were together, which we had been for like two years or something, since I had been a few weeks shy of my sixteenth birthday when we started seeing each other. But we were in love, and I was almost eighteen now. Even if my dad lost his shit, we’d only have to deal with the repercussions for one more school year. And I could even try to graduate early. I had the grades, even though most people assumed I was an airhead cheerleader.
I watched as Cash held tight to Katie, talking to his mom and smiling like the world was his for the taking.
I was happy for Cash and Katie, but I was almost a little jealous. I longed for the day that Crue and I didn’t have to hide the way we felt about each other. Our love story was different from Halen and Beau’s, even though we were two Devil’s Spawn raised as family who fell for each other late one night on our parents’ land. And Cash? Well, he’d been our biggest supporter, so I needed to step up and do the same for him.
I made my way through the crowd, coming to stand with my Aunt Lo, smiling when she invited me to dinner. Katie was leaving soon, and Cash was going to Europe with her for the rest of the summer. Of course I’d be at dinner. I wouldn’t miss it. Cash was one of my best friends, and I’d miss him like crazy while he and Katie were seeing the other side of the world together.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Crue grabbed my arm, speaking to me for the first time since we’d all met up for breakfast. His tight grip sent chills and relief flooding my anxious system. When he was with me, I could breathe. He was possessive and demanding, and he was rough. But I craved every damn second of being loved by Crue Matthews.
“Crue, don’t manhandle her like that.” His mom slapped his hand. “What’s wrong with you?”
Ha. If she only knew how much I enjoyed it when her son manhandled me. I stepped away, fully okay with letting Crue pull me into the nearest empty bedroom to “talk.” We’d spent more time apart the last couple of days than we had since we started dating, and I was yearning for him.
“Uh, Luke, which one of your twins is in this picture our publicist sent over?” Uncle Smith’s irritated tone rose over the noise, making everyone quiet down.
All eyes went to Crue and me. Well, all eyes that knew we were together. There was a pic of Crue and me? Had someone followed us? No, that couldn’t be right, we were so careful. It was probably a picture of Cash pretending to be Crue. He probably broke down and agreed to go on that date in Crue’s place. But wait, why would there be a picture? Cash wouldn’t do that to Katie. He was in love with her. I put my hand to my stomach, the sudden urge to vomit crawling up my throat.
“Okay. Well. Since there is a topless girl, who thank god isn’t Katie, I’m assuming it’s Crue.” Uncle Luke’s gaze shot across the patio, his eyebrows raised in annoyed disbelief.
“No.” I didn’t mean to speak out loud. I didn’t mean to throw Cash under the bus. But like, I also couldn’t handle them insinuating that Crue was screwing someone else. I felt like I was going to puke any second, my guts churning and twisting. “It’s Cash, right?” I pulled my hand from Crue’s ever-tightening grip as a chill went down my spine. “You had a date last night, didn’t you?”
Katie backed away from us, shaking her head. She was speaking but I couldn’t seem to hear her over the ringing in my ears. I felt like I was witnessing a car crash and I couldn’t look away. Either Katie’s heart was about to be shattered or mine was. I put my hand to my chest, trying to hold in my fear, my hope, my disappointment, and my utter shock.
“I hooked up with some random girl last night, who the hell cares? It’s not like it’s something new or anything.” Crue stepped closer to me, holding my wrist behind my back, stroking his thumb over my rapidly beating pulse. He was trying to keep me calm, trying to keep me connected to him. “Obviously I should have had her sign an NDA, but hindsight’s twenty-twenty. She’s over eighteen, the whole thing will blow over in a few days.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I pulled away from him, and with the loss of that contact, I severed everything that was between us.
Crue’d hooked up with that bitch from school. He’d cheated on me. He’d destroyed us, and there was now photographic evidence plastered all over the place. There were pictures of the exact moment the love of my life had smashed my heart.
How was this happening? How was this my life? In that moment, Crue lost me, and lost my trust. He’d ruined everything that we had, everything that we would have.
He threw it all away.
And I felt like I was fucking dying.
Chapter Two
Crue
Then
Avory wouldn’t speak to me. It’d been five days. I tried calling her. I tried texting. I tried crawling into her window, and found it locked for the first time in our whole fucking lives. Her shades were drawn, her curtains closed. And I deserved every single drop of her red-hot anger.
I’d gone on the date with every intention of leaving as soon as I could, of coming home to my girl. I was going to tell her, I was going to explain that I’d done it for her, for Cash. I was buying us time, time to get off this compound together, time for her to turn eighteen. I didn’t see the harm in going to one dinner. It was a few hours of bullshit I had to endure to enjoy a lifetime with Avory. But then that chick had asked me to pull over, asked if we could sit on the side of the road for a bit so her parents would think we were out hooking up. She was hell-bent on pissing off her mom and dad. She wanted them to know she wasn’t theirs to command and she demanded my help. Not inclined to oblige, I’d left her in the cab of my truck and had gone to smoke a joint on the tailgate. It was still early. I’d intended to pick up Avory as soon as I got home. She was having girl’s night anyway.
But then the bitch followed me, climbed in my lap, and took off her shirt. She’d kissed me. I’d pulled away. I’d tried to move her off me. But then she threatened me again, threatened Avory and Cash. Somehow, she knew everything. She knew Avory and I had been together since she was fifteen. She knew Cash had been lying, had been pretending to be me. She had names of all the girls we’d made the switch on. She’d done her research, the fucking stalker.
She wanted one kiss in exchange for her silence. So I’d kissed her.
And that one kiss had wrecked my whole fucking world.
“Hey.”
“Avory?” I stood, nearly flying out of the old overstuffed chair, knocking over the empty beer bottles at my feet. We’d always come out here together near the gate at the back of the compound. So that was where I’d been for the last five nights, hoping I’d see her. She was standing a few yards away now, her perfect hands clasped in front of her tiny shorts almost covered by an oversize t-shirt. Her feet were bare, like she’d climbed out of bed and her window desperate to get to me. “Holy shit, baby, I—”
She held her hand up, cutting me off. “I’m going to talk first.”
I nodded, not really in any position to argue with her. I missed the sound of her voice. I missed the sight of her. I missed the feel of her flesh against mine. I missed every single fucking thing about loving Avory Connor.
“It’s over, Crue. It’s so fucking over. I trusted you. I loved you. I worshipped you. And you cheated on me.” She licked her lips, tears pooling in her gorgeous eyes. “We could have come clean to our parents, we could have asked our family for help. We could have fucking packed our bags and run away. But instead, you shut me out, you went on a date, and you hooked up with the whore who was blackmailing you.”
I stepped forward, prepared to fall to my knees in front of her. “Baby, I didn’t hook up with her. It was one kiss. I swear. I know it looks so much worse in the photos, but she had pictures of us and she was going to—”
“I don’t care,” she screamed into the darkness, her face going red as her tears started to fall freely. “I don’t care if it was one kiss. And I don’t care if she had fucking HD video of us fucking in an empty field. I don’t care. I don’t trust you. It’s over.”
“Avory, baby, please.”
“Stop.” She held her hand up, her voice going soft. “You broke my heart, and you broke us.” She took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. “I’m not my sister. I won’t cry any more tears over you. I won’t spend the rest of my life mourning what we had. I’ll smile at family dinners. I’ll act like nothing is wrong. I’ll be the happy outgoing girl I’ve always been, and our parents will have no fucking clue that you ripped my soul from my fucking chest.”
We were both crying now, both panting, heaving with loss.
I never knew I could hurt this bad. I never knew I could feel so fucking low. She didn’t care that I did what I did to save us, to save Cash. She didn’t care that I’d done my best to fix what I’d broken between my twin and me.
“I don’t trust you anymore, Crue, and without that trust, we have nothing.”
Chapter Three
Avory
Now
I was half naked, standing in front of the bathroom mirror finishing my makeup, getting ready for Friday Family Dinner, which Colin insisted we go to. I didn’t mind skipping every now and then, but ever since I’d let my current boyfriend meet my large chaotic family, we’d been to every one of the noisy get-togethers. Colin was an only child, and he was captivated with the Devil’s Share and their many spawn. We were three generations now, and growing by the year.
I loved my family, and I enjoyed being around them, but once a week as an overflowing unit was sometimes a little much.
“Sweetie, are you ready to go? We need to leave now if we don’t want to be late to dinner.”
I turned as he stepped into the bathroom, a flirty smirk on my face. “Or we could be late on purpose.” I crooked my finger, teasing him. I was wearing tight jeans and a lacy white bra that, I had to admit, looked damn appealing.
“That would be rude.” He leaned forward, kissing my forehead gently. “I need your family to love me, sweetie. I need them to be okay with me whisking you across the country.”
I nodded, waiting until he left before I let my smile fall. Colin was nice, kind, generous, and brilliant. He treated me like a princess. He had values, tons of them. And he’d been offered a once-in-a lifetime job, in Portland, Oregon. He’d asked me to go with him seven days ago and I still hadn’t given him my final answer. I told him I needed time to think about it, time to talk to my family. But in his mind, he and I were a done deal, and there was no way I would turn him down.
