Suddenly Broken: Book 5 in the Dirty Texas Series
Page 1
Suddenly Broken
Book 5 in the Dirty Texas Series
JA Low
Contents
Book 5 in the Dirty Texas Series
Prologue
1. Stacey
2. Stacey
3. Stacey
4. Stacey
5. Oscar
6. Oscar
7. Stacey
8. Stacey
9. Stacey
10. Oscar
11. Stacey
12. Stacey
13. Stacey
14. Oscar
15. Oscar
16. Oscar
17. Oscar
18. Stacey
19. Stacey
20. Oscar
21. Stacey
22. Oscar
23. Stacey
24. Oscar
25. Stacey
26. Oscar
27. Stacey
28. Stacey
29. Stacey
30. Oscar
31. Oscar
32. Stacey
The End
33. Stacey
34. Stacey
35. Oscar
36. Stacey
37. Oscar
38. Stacey
39. Oscar
40. Stacey
41. Oscar
42. Stacey
43. Oscar
44. Sienna and Evan
45. Vanessa and Christian
46. Olivia and Axel
47. Isla and Finn
48. Stacey and Oscar
49. Derrick
THE END
Big thanks to ….
About the Author
Also by JA Low
Also by JA Low
Also by JA Low
Also by JA Low
Also by JA Low
Also by JA Low
Book 5 in the Dirty Texas Series
Copyright
Copyright @ 2019 JA Low
All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. JA low is in no way affiliated with any brands, songs, musicians, or artists mentioned in this book.
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 eBook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy.
Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Cover Design by Book Nerd Fan Girl
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Editor by Trish Bacher
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Created with Vellum
Dedication
Thank you for loving these characters.
This maybe the end of Dirty Texas but it is only the beginning of more to come.
Prologue
Stacey
“Babe, your phone’s ringing.” Oscar nudges me.
“It’s four in the morning.” Squinting, I look at the bedside clock that is glowing right in front of me. “Who the hell is calling?” I groggily ask Oscar
“It’s Amelia.”
That wakes me up quickly. I sit up in my bed trying to get my bearings. Why is my niece calling at this time?
“Amelia, is everything okay?” There’s silence on the other end of the phone. “Amelia,” I say her name again. Maybe she pocket dialed me. Then I hear sniffling. “Amelia. I’m here. Is everything okay?”
“They’re dead.”
1
Stacey
Three years earlier
“You’re engaged!” Sienna waves her glistening rock at me through the computer screen.
“Evan proposed atop of the Eiffel Tower,” Derrick yells in the background.
“That’s so romantic.” I stare at a radiant Sienna.
“I know. I wasn't expecting it.” She smiles. “I thought we were starting over again, slowly.” She chews her lip. “You know, for the sake of Bean.”
Evan and Sienna have been through a lot recently. After a huge misunderstanding with her ex-husband, and the media putting their spin on the story, it tore them apart. Sienna fled to Paris trying to put Evan behind her, but the universe had other plans. She was involved in a car crash which landed her in hospital. Of course Evan realized that he couldn’t spend another moment without the love of his life and rushed to her side. That’s when they found out she was expecting, which was a surprise to them both, especially when they weren’t in a good place with each other. But as they say, love conquers all.
“But Evan had other plans,” Derrick pipes in.
“Yes, he did, but don’t think he’s gotten off lightly for the way he treated me. I’m a woman. My mind does not forget.” This makes me smile. I’m so happy for Sienna; she’s finally getting her happily ever after. “But there’s more.” Sienna claps excitedly.
“You’re not having twins are you?”
“What the hell, Stacey!” Derrick hisses. “Don’t wish that on the poor woman’s vagina. One baby is going to ruin her vagina, imagine what two would do. It would be a Grand Canyon of vaginas.
“Derrick!” Sienna squeals. “Stop it. My vagina is not going to be ruined from pushing out a baby.” Derrick gives her the side eye.
“Don’t worry, you can always get you vagina tightened through plastic surgery. They can make it like you’re a virgin again. Oh my God, that would be the best birthday present for Evan. Virgin snatch.”
“Derrick!” Sienna and I yell at him. That man literally has no filter.
“Anyway…” Sienna moves the computer over to her, pushing Derrick out of the frame. “I wanted to talk to you about a job.” Since Sienna’s departure from Australia I’ve been looking after all of her affairs here and tying them up for her in preparation for her return. Although I’m guessing now that she’s pregnant and engaged, she’ll be living in Hollywood with Evan. “You’ve been working so hard for me back in Australia and I can’t express enough how much I appreciate everything you have done for me while I’ve been away.” I shrug because it’s what friends do for each other. “I know I’m pregnant and now is so not the right time to be starting a new business, but I also know that I can’t stay home and do nothing when I have this baby.” She lets out a sigh. “I’m so used to working that I…I can’t just stop.” Sienna gives me a smile. “This break has been great but I need to get back to what I love…fashion.”
“And you know the three of us make a great team,” Derrick adds, jumping back into frame.
“The best team,” Sienna agrees.
“I know. I’ve miss you guys.” For years I’ve spent every day with both of them. It’s like I’m missing a limb.
“Good. We miss you too.” Sienna smiles. “And that’s why I want to open another boutique. This time in LA.” Sounds like a good idea. It’s going to be her new home.
“What a great idea. Hollywood is full of fashionistas and all those celebrities that need styling. It makes sense.”
“Glad you think so. We want you to be a part of it,” Derrick squeals.
“Me?” I’m a little taken aback that they want me to be a part of it all.
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“Yes, you!” Sienna laughs.
“In LA?” I ask, just to be sure I am hearing this right.
“Yes,” Derrick and Sienna answer.
“Doing what I’m doing now?”
“Yes and so much more,” Sienna tells me. “You’re the best at what you do, Stace. I can’t start this new business without the old gang being together. We were the best team…and I want that again.”
Wow. I’m not sure what to say. I’m flattered that Sienna and Derrick think so highly of me and that they want me to help them start over again in LA, but my life is here in Sydney. I love my friends, my family. Could I leave that all behind and move half way across the world? I do miss the camaraderie the three of us had together over the years.
“What do you say?” Sienna presses.
“Would I lose my job here if I say no?”
“What? No. God no, Stace. I would never do that to you,” Sienna quickly assures me. “We miss you and we know we are asking a lot of you to pack up and move half way across the world.”
“We can be roomies,” Derrick adds. “Let’s be honest, this one here is shacking up with a rock star, she’s not going to be a very good wing woman.” This makes me smile.
“That’s the real reason you want me there, isn’t it, D. To be your wing woman?”
“You know me so well, my little possum.” Derrick grins.
“There are a lot of hot single rock stars that I can introduce you to,” Sienna tries to sway me.
“And boy, are they hot. Smoking hot.” Derrick winks.
“And I bet they have big egos too.”
“Oh sweetie, their egos may be big but their dicks are bigger,” Derrick tells me.
“Well now, that sounds like an incentive.” I giggle.
“Will you think about it, Stacey?” Sienna asks me.
“You will get a fifty percent pay rise,” Derrick adds. Well now that kind of changes things. Sienna was always a very generous boss, but fifty percent more than what I’m on now is a real nice carrot to dangle in front of me.
“So you’re telling me I’ll get to hang out with rock stars with big dicks, and be Derrick’s ultimate wing woman? All while doing a job I love, with a huge pay rise, in Los Angeles?” Derrick and Sienna nod their heads furiously. “Where the hell do I sign up?” They both scream down the computer screen.
“Are you serious?” Sienna asks once we all settle down.
“Hell yeah, I am.”
“Next time, Sisi, lead with the big dicks when trying to convince someone to move half way across the world. That’s a huge incentive,” Derrick teases her.
* * *
A month later
“You’re really here,” Derrick squeals as he pulls me into his arms, swinging me around at the airport. It’s so good to see him again. He places me back down and it takes a couple of moments for my head to stop spinning. “Sisi couldn’t make it. She feels really bad but the paparazzi have been hounding her since arriving back from Paris. Someone caught a glimpse of her engagement ring and boom, it’s everywhere.” I bet the paparazzi are more intense over here than back home. It seems like it would be more cutthroat over here. I’m sure she is holding herself with extreme grace like she did when she went through all that bullshit with Beau. I don’t think dating a celebrity is for me. All that attention, your every move being watched and scrutinized. No way.
“Come on, let’s get going. Sienna is dying to see you.”
We jump into Derrick’s car and make our way into Los Angeles, driving along the huge winding freeways, across the busy streets where palm trees stick up out of concrete suburbs. I can’t believe I’m actually here. Derrick points out the sights as we make our way to the apartment. Unfortunately, it’s the Derrick Jones tour of LA. This includes the glory hole he once used, where he swears he got the best blow job of his life. That is probably one bit of LA I didn’t need to know.
“You’re going to love the apartment. It’s right in the heart of everything here in West Hollywood or WeHo as the locals call it.”
“As long as it has a hot shower that’s all I’m worried about at the moment.”
“Lucky we have two of those.” He gives me a wink. “You’re going to love it here, Stace. I promise.”
Eventually, after what feels like hours, we arrive at a set of luxury apartments along a busy street. The electric parking gate opens for us and we drive into the basement to park. Derrick grabs my bags and we take the lift up to his floor.
“Now, it’s not very big,” he warns me as we make our way up. It can’t be as small as my studio apartment in Coogee Beach. I sacrificed space for ocean views. Growing up in the outback, I never got to go to the beach. So I promised myself that when I earnt enough money that I would live by the ocean. “You know I’m saving up for my own place, so this is only temporary.” The place looks pretty nice to me so far. “It’s only a short walk to the shop and Dirty Texas Records, so that’s a bonus.” We step out of the lift. “It has a gym and a pool too. Best bit, some of the residents are models, so you may get a glimpse of them working out or laying by the pool. It always brings a smile to my dial.” Derrick gives me a cheeky wink. He unlocks the front door, holding it open for me as I step across the threshold. The first thing I notice is the wall of glass that looks directly out over the city. The lights and buildings a stark difference to the turquoise ocean I’m used to seeing from apartment back home. You enter via a small hallway, which opens out into a bright white modern kitchen, equipped with all the designer modern conveniences, which I know haven’t been used because Derrick, the social butterfly that he is, is probably out most nights sampling the delights the city has to offer. There’s a living room with a navy sofa, and two navy and white striped arm chairs, a large TV that dominates the space and a coffee table with a large vase of fresh white roses.
“This is your room.” Derrick points to the left of the entry. “It’s a bigger bedroom, but that’s because I have the walk-in wardrobe in mine. We both have en suites so no fighting over the bathroom.” Thank goodness because I know I wouldn’t win against him. That man takes forever to get ready. He likes to say ‘all this beauty takes time’. Derrick heads toward my bedroom, rolling my bags into the room. There is a gorgeous dusty pink queen bed set up in the middle of the room, two white bedside tables on either side, one has a reading lamp. There’s a desk and chair that is set against the large window which looks out to the same view I saw when I entered the apartment.
“This is so perfect.” Tears begin too well in my eyes. Fatigue must be setting in.
“No. Don’t you dare start,” Derrick warns me. I can see his eyes are becoming glassy too. I rush toward him wrapping my arms around him giving him a hug. He hugs me tightly right back. “Bitch, I’m so happy you’re here.” After we have our moment we straighten ourselves up again. “We’re going to have the time of our lives here, Stacey.” Derrick looks at me seriously. “Sienna’s met her Prince Charming. Now it’s our turn.” He wiggles his brows at me.
“I’m not looking for Prince Charming. I’d be happy with Prince Fuck Me Good.” This makes us both burst out laughing.
“Oh, how I’ve missed you. Go. Get freshened up because you know Sienna is dying to see you. She keeps messaging me telling me to hurry up and bring you to the store.”
“Okay. Shower first. Coffee second. Sienna third.”
* * *
“It really is in walking distance.” I sip on one of the biggest coffees I’ve ever seen. I’m probably going to be bouncing off the walls later on tonight. We’ve walked maybe a block or two and we are here. Then I see the sign.
“Wyld Jones.” Derrick smiles, catching my reaction.
“Pretty catchy, isn’t it?” I nod. This is real. She’s doing it. She’s really starting all over again. I remember the day Sienna opened her first store all those years ago, and now here we are standing in West Hollywood, a million miles from where she began. I feel nothing but pride for my friend. “Come on
, put her out of her misery.” Derrick pushes me through the front doors. I can hear people inside and then silence. Sienna turns around and realizes we have arrived.
“Oh my God.” She rushes over to me; tears are already falling down her cheeks. I notice a larger belly on her petite frame as she crashes into me. “I’ve missed you so much.” Tears hit my shoulder as she hugs me tight. “Thank you, thank you so much for coming.” We embrace each other for what feels like hours, until we eventually pull apart, both of us red eyed from tears.
“You must be Stacey,” a deep voice states behind Sienna, and I am struck by the gorgeous man behind her. Holy shit, it’s Evan Wyld. He’s holding out a tattooed hand to me and I’m just staring at him like some kind of star struck groupie. I quickly snap myself out of it and take his hand. “I’ve heard so much about you, feels like I know you already.” My cheeks begin to burn as a blush forms across my face. Get it together, Stacey.