by A. K. Evans
Some time passed before Sienna tipped her chin up to look at me. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“You promised me a long time ago that you’d never let me regret moving in with you,” she said. “I thought it would be messy and complicated for us, but it wasn’t. You made it all worth it, Roscoe. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“I feel exactly the same about you, Sienna. Thank you for being so easy to love.”
At that, she cuddled in closer, her hand reaching out for Teagan’s foot. She held onto our daughter’s foot with her cheek pressed into my chest, and within a matter of minutes, she drifted.
That night, I found that staying up wasn’t as difficult to do. Watching both of my girls sleep in my arms, there was nothing else I wanted to do, nothing else I needed.
Until one year later, two months after Sienna and I got married, when we found out we were having another baby.
The year after, we welcomed our son, Griffin, to our family.
Preview of Broken
Prologue
Tarryn
Day one.
This was it.
The time had arrived at last.
After so much effort, energy, and patience had been expended, I was finally going to be able to do what I’d set out to do.
This day was the start of what would be a downfall. But not my own. I was going to see to it that every person involved—every person responsible—paid for what they’d done. It didn’t matter to me how small their role in all of it might have been. They all needed to be held accountable.
But I had to be smart about this. I needed information before I could start taking people down. This wasn’t merely about a surprise attack. This was about justice.
Retribution.
For Presley.
My baby sister had had so much taken from her, and now the people responsible were going to pay the price for what they’d done to her.
On the surface, it might have seemed like only one individual was responsible, but that wasn’t the case. And the moment I learned the truth, I started preparing.
It didn’t take me long to recognize that I couldn’t rush the process. The only way I could make sure that I got the results I wanted was to be patient and trust in what I was doing.
Two years.
It had been two years in the making.
I’d paid my dues and got the knowledge needed, even if everything inside me had wanted me to react immediately. Deep down, I knew it wouldn’t be smart to go off seeking revenge without a plan or the crucial skills necessary to keep myself safe.
I wouldn’t allow Presley to suffer through anything else, namely losing her big sister. So, I had no choice but to take my time and do things the right way.
Presley deserved that, and I couldn’t wait to give it to her.
As prepared as I was in the physical sense, now that the day had arrived and I was a matter of a couple hundred feet and a few minutes away from making my first move, there was no doubt that I had some nerves about what I was going to do. I wasn’t going to let them dissuade me from carrying this out, but I couldn’t ignore them either.
I’d never been able to hide my emotions very well, but I’d learned a lot about staying in control over the last two years. I was going to take everything I’d learned and put it to good use.
I saw my target from where I was parked.
It was time.
I took in a deep breath.
I could do this.
Of course, I could do this.
I had all the tools. Now it was time to put them to use.
After I took in one more deep breath, I exited my car and began making my approach. At the very least, he was alone. I’d scanned the area just as I’d been trained to do before I even got out of the car.
Situational awareness.
That was one of the things I’d had drilled into my head during my training. It wasn’t just about physical training. My mind needed to be ready, too. I needed to be aware of what and who was around me. I needed to know where the exits were. I needed to have a plan for escape even if things never took a turn. Being mentally prepared was arguably more important than any physical training I could have been given.
So, with each step I took toward him, I continued to make myself aware of my surroundings.
Then again, it wasn’t as though I didn’t know this area like the back of my hand now. I’d made it my number one priority, just like I’d made knowing his schedule my priority.
When I wasn’t more than fifty feet away, his eyes honed in on me. I held his gaze and did my best not to appear menacing. Or, as menacing as someone like me could appear.
I might have wanted to shove my fist down this guy’s throat, but that wasn’t the mission.
Information.
I was here for information.
I didn’t need him to be alarmed by my presence. But as the distance between us closed, I started to wonder if perhaps I shouldn’t have just stopped at self-defense and tactical training skills. Maybe I should have taken acting classes, too. What if I needed to improvise?
Stop it, Hendrix, I thought to myself.
This wasn’t the time to start second guessing.
The moment I came to a stop in front of him, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I hadn’t even spoken a word to him, and it already felt bad. I didn’t have enough real-world experience to know for sure, but something told me we weren’t alone.
“You need something?” he sneered.
“Are you Marcus?” I asked even though I already knew the answer.
“That depends on who wants to know,” he answered.
I offered a half-hearted smile. “Just a girl looking for her next fix,” I told him.
Marcus’ eyes ran over the length of me. When they settled on my face again, he stepped closer until we were mere inches apart. “You got money?”
“Of course. But that’s not all I need,” I shared as I reached into my pocket.
His head tipped to the side. I could tell by the look on his face that I’d caught him off guard. I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing or not.
“What else you looking for?” he pressed.
The strange feeling I felt the moment I stepped close to Marcus ratcheted up a few notches, and a shiver ran down my spine. I looked up and down the street, but there was not a single person in sight.
I returned my attention to the man in front of me as I held the money tightly between my fingers. “I’ve got a friend who has a need for a different fix,” I said as I leaned closer to him.
Nerves of steel.
Or overwhelming dedication to the cause.
That was the only explanation I could come up with for how I was even managing to pull this off. I no longer felt the twinge of anxiety I’d felt when I was still sitting in the car.
This was necessary. And I would do whatever was necessary to bring this whole operation down.
Marcus cocked an eyebrow. “A different fix?” he repeated, curiosity in his tone.
I nodded. “Yeah. He’s a bit shy around girls and is looking for some help,” I explained.
There was a moment of silence as Marcus processed my words. Then, he stepped back and suddenly declared, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I can’t help you out.”
I reached back into my pocket, pulled out more money, and held it up to him. “Not even if I pay three times the asking price.”
For a second I thought I had him. I mean, his eyes immediately went to the cash, and there was no denying he wanted to put the extra money in his own pocket.
But I quickly learned this wasn’t going to be as easy as I had hoped.
“Who sent you? Who are you working for?” he interrogated me.
“Myself,” I insisted. “What? You don’t sell to women? I guess I could just go the guy you get it all from. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to take my money.”
I started to pu
t the money back in my pocket as Marcus stepped close again. I braced myself, knowing my body was going to do what it had been taught if it came down to it.
Marcus reached for my wrist, yanked my hand with the money toward him, and used his other hand to grip me around my throat. Immediately, I knew this was going to be different than anything I had trained for. He let go of my wrist, brought his second hand to my throat, and started to choke me.
Just as I brought one arm up and clamped my hand around his opposite wrist, preparing to knee him, his hold on my throat loosened, and he dropped to the ground.
My eyes widened in surprise, and with the exception of my jaw dropping open, my body froze on the spot.
Marcus was knocked out cold on the ground, and in his place stood another man.
Royce Blackstone.
The owner of Harper Security Ops.
He was the man who was responsible for all of the training I’d received over the last two years.
And suffice it to say, he looked positively livid.
Royce took me by the hand and clipped, “You’re coming with me.”
I was still in such shock at what had happened and the fact that Royce was there that I didn’t put up a fight.
Get Broken here.
Also by A.K. Evans
The Everything Series
Everything I Need
Everything I Have
Everything I Want
Everything I Love
Everything I Give
Cunningham Security Series
Obsessed
Overcome
Desperate
Solitude
Burned
Unworthy
Surrender
Betrayed
Revived
Hearts & Horsepower
Control the Burn
Behind the Wheel
Far Beyond Repair
How to Rebuild
Out of Alignment
Archer Tactical
Line of Fire
Collateral Damage
Silent Target
Rock Stars & Romance
Fragile
Wish
Closer
Underneath It All
Terrible Lie
Complication
Harper Security Ops
Broken
Tempted
Road Trip Romance
Tip the Scales
Play the Part
One Wrong Turn
Just a Fling
Meant to Be
Take the Plunge
Miss the Shot
In the Cards
Only in Dreams
Break the Ice
About the Author
A.K. Evans is a contemporary romance author of over thirty published novels. While she enjoys writing a good romantic suspense novel, Andrea’s favorite books to write have been her extreme sports romances. That might have something to do with the fact that she, along with her husband and two sons, can’t get enough of extreme sports.
Before becoming a writer, Andrea did a brief stint in the insurance and financial services industry and managed her husband’s performance automotive business. That love of extreme sports? She used to drive race cars!
When Andrea isn’t writing, she can be found homeschooling her two sons, doing yoga, snowboarding, reading, or traveling with her family. She and her husband are currently taking road trips throughout the country to visit all 50 states with their boys.
For new release updates, sign up here and follow me:
