Leave Me Breathless: The Ivy Collection
Page 36
First and foremost, thank you to my husband Jim. Whenever I’m on a deadline, you always step in, handling the cooking and cleaning while I work. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.
To Lydia from HEA Book Tours, thanks for always helping me spread the word for my stories and getting ARCs into the hands of readers.
Kaylee, thank you for always answering my many questions and for just being an amazing person and author.
Diane, thanks for getting ARCs into the hot little hands of my ARC team and for keeping everything there organized and running efficiently.
Amanda, thank you for always being willing to read pages and helping me see things that sometimes I miss that first time around.
Evan’s Entourage, my most excellent readers group. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your never ending support and enthusiasm, I love you all.
To Silla thank you for helping make my story the best it could be and for making it look pretty for my readers.
Ben my amazing cover designer, thank you for making me the most perfect and most beautiful cover ever. It was like you crawled in my head and knew exactly what I wanted
About Evan Grace
About the Author:
A Midwesterner and a readaholic most of her life until one day an idea came into Evan’s head and a writing career was born. She's a sucker for happily ever afters and loves creating fictional worlds that others can get lost in. She loves putting her characters through the ringer, but loves when they get to that satisfying, swoony ending.
When the voices in her head give it a rest, which isn’t often, she can always be found with her e-reader in her hand. Some of her favorites include, Aurora Rose Reynolds, (the queen) Kristen Ashley, Kaylee Ryan, Natasha Madison, and Harper Sloan. Evan finds a lot of her inspiration in music, movies, TV shows and life.
She's a wife to Jim and a mom to Ethan and (the real)Evan, a weightlifter, a home healthcare scheduler, and a full-time author. How does she do it? She'll never tell.
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Also by Evan Grace
Realism: Sugar and Spice, Ink # 1
"A single parent, opposites attract romance that will captivate you from the very first page"- New York Times bestselling author, Kaylee Ryan
Ordinary, typical, conformed, are words never used to describe me. I've never been one to play by the rules. It's my world, my life and I do things my way.
I see the way they stare at my body covered in tattoos and my lavender hair, I just don't give a damn. There is only one thing in this world that can get me fired up, that's screwing with my daughter. As a single mom, it's my job to protect her, fight for her. She is and will always be my top priority.
So, when I get a call that she's in trouble at school, with a boy- no less, my claws are out and ready to strike. And the boy's father, some high society stockbroker, isn't about to deter me. I don't care how sexy, smart and rugged he is.
Opposites may attract, and I've been down that road before, it's one I never plan to travel again. A man like that would never be interested in a woman like me. That I know for certain, after all I'm a realist.
Free on Kindle Unlimited
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2HR6zTU
Amazon Universal: https://mybook.to/RealismBuy
Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2Crt6mb
After We Met
Gorgeous. Sweet. Funny. He made me feel things that I’ve never felt before. In just one short week over Spring Break, I began to fall in love. That is until it all fell apart. Now, here I am, three years later and I’ve moved on, at least that’s what I told myself until he came crashing back into my life. Things have changed. I’ve changed, and there’s something he doesn’t know.
He wants me to give us another chance. I try to fight it, but it’s not long before all of those same old feelings come rushing back. I know he feels it too. I can see it every time he looks at me. I can feel it every time he touches me.
It feels like I’m missing something though, like there’s something that he’s not telling me. Something that has the potential to tear it all apart. After all, it’s not easy when you fall in love with your best friends’ father. I didn’t stand a chance after we met.
Free on Kindle Unlimited
Amazon: mybook.to/AfterWeMet
Add to your Goodreads TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46130978-after-we-met
Command
A Novella by KL Donn
Command
by KL Donn
A picture says a thousand words. Hers gives me a lifetime of peace. I am Viktor Vashchenko.
Copyright © 2019 by KL Donn
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Prologue
Viktor
Crisp white dress, a gorgeous mane of dark midnight’s sky hair, a brilliant smile on her happy face. Emmy walks towards me, love in her heart and heat in her eyes.
Emmy Taylor is the light in my life. The only purity I have ever known. She shouldn’t be here. She deserves to flourish in a castle, but I can’t let her go. From the moment her father offered her up to be mine, I knew this was where we would end up.
Emmaline Vashchenko.
Sounds like perfection to me.
I remain stoic as she walks to me, my enemies are watching. If they know she means more to me than a debt being paid, she’ll be tortured, and if anyone touches her, they’re dead. I’ll slay them where they stand before another breath can be taken.
And so, I watch, and I wait as she takes measured steps closer, my right-hand man at her side. Nikolai and Emmy have grown close these past few weeks. I assigned him to be her guard from the moment I learned of her existence.
When she asked Niko to walk her down the aisle, no one was more surprised and honored than he. But he’s doing it in the guise of her protector, not her friend and confidant.
Emmy reaches for me, and I’m finally able to draw breath again as she steps closer. Her soft hand in my rough grasp.
“Viktor,” she sighs with a dreamy smile.
I see the Haggen family—the German’s that have been at war with my family for generations—shift in their seats, and I know before the first gun is drawn what their plan is.
The wedding invitation was supposed to bring peace between the families.
What they don’t know is that we’ve prepared for this very betrayal.
They don’t want the Vashchenko name to live on through Emmy.
What they also don’t know is that this wedding is all for show. Emmy already bears my name.
And soon, my child.
1
Viktor
“Nyet,” I bark at the man begging for his life in front of me. He is weak. Corrupt in ways I am not. “Be a man. A man, Marshall. Be a fucking man!” It’s not often I revert to my Russian roots, but Marshall Taylor boils my blood.
“She’s all I’ve got.” The pitiful excuse of skin blubbers on his knees as Nikolai stands behind him, hands crossed across his waist, waiting for my command.
“You’re telling me that instead of paying your debt, acting like a man, you’d sell your daughter for an in to the next game?” I run a gambling underworld, but I don’t ordinarily get my hands dirty. Nikolai and K
odiak enjoy the seedier side of the business. While they may not be Vashchenko by blood, they are considered so by their loyalty to me since childhood.
“Yes,” Marshall mumbles, losing eye contact with me.
Like I said, he’s a weak excuse for a male. And I am a ruthless one.
One who is looking for a bride, an heir.
“Fotografiya.” I wave my hand in front of me. The rube stares with a dumb look on his face.
“English, boss.” Niko smirks. He finds it amusing when I turn to my native tongue because it ramps up my anger even more.
“A photograph, you have one, da?” Marshall fumbles in his pocket for his wallet, dropping it twice before locating the item.
Handing it to me, I’m struck straight to the gut by the girl’s beauty. “Yeye imya?” The photo is small, just large enough for me to stroke the surface with my thumb. His daughter’s bright smile, midnight hair, and eyes so green they look like emeralds transport me into her world. Wondering about who or what has made her so happy in this moment drags a growl from my throat.
With no sound from Marshall, I glance up to see a stupid look plastered on his face once again. Rolling my eyes, Niko kicks his back and commands, “Her name!” Translating for me.
“Emmy. Emmaline Taylor.” Sweat lines the man’s brow, betraying his nerves.
Sitting behind my desk, I lean back, implying that I’m relaxed when, in reality, I’m coiled and ready to strike. Cut the snake’s head off, so to speak. “Tell me about her.”
His face blanks as he thinks, and I’m left to speculate if his gambling hasn’t consumed his life so completely that he doesn’t know anything personal about his own flesh and blood. “She’d be graduating high school this year, I suppose. I don’t know too much about her.” And that’s why it’s so easy for him to hand her over.
If I were a respectable man, I’d care.
If I weren’t ruthless, I’d leave her be.
If I weren’t hooked by her soft looks and stunning smile, I’d kill him and let her live her life.
But I’m none of those, and I make no apologies for it either.
Ona budet moyey.
She’ll be mine.
2
Emmy
“Emmy!” Little Sadie Williams—my neighbors’ daughter that I’ve been babysitting every Friday night for six months—calls and comes running, which looks more like a fast penguin waddle to me. Her dad, Ben, is waiting on the front grass with a huge grin as he watches.
“Hi, sweet girl.” I can’t help smiling when I’m with her. Sadie is everything light in this world. Her short red curls, just like her mom’s, bounce as she runs. “Are you wrestling with Daddy again?” Ben isn’t home as often as he’d like, and this little angel loves to jump all over him as often as she can.
“Dada got me a ike!” She claps as she skids to a stop in front of me.
“Daddy bought you a tricycle?” She nods with a sparkling grin.
“Do you wanna show me?” With not a word spoken, she grabs my hand and drags me along behind her. Dropping my backpack on the path up to my house, I laugh while she chatters as we pass Ben, who shakes his head at her antics.
“How you doing, Em?” My startled gaze meets his briefly, and my words stutter out.
“I’m good.”
“Finals are finished?”
Talking to my handsome neighbor has never been easy for me. “Just Biology left.” My eyes keep darting back and forth between him and his daughter. I won’t lie, I’ve been crushing on Ben since they moved to Atlanta last year.
“Any college plans?” By this time, we’re in their garage, and Sadie is on her new bike, pushing it in circles with her feet as we watch. Happy as can be, she makes my dark world just a little bit brighter.
“Not yet.” I shrug, unwilling to admit there’s no money for college.
He doesn’t say anything, just views me out of the corner of his eye while watching Sadie shuffle around the garage. I know what he’s thinking, anyway. I can see it every time someone learns about me, my life, my mom. Pity. I think it’s why he and his wife find an excuse to go out every Friday. To get me out of the house, give me even the smallest sense of purpose.
“Emmaline!” I hear my mom and spin around, almost falling.
Strong hands grip my biceps, halting my momentum. “Careful now.” Ben laughs. Butterflies flutter in my belly from his growly chuckle.
“Hey, Sadie-girl, I’ve gotta go. Maybe we’ll go for a bike ride later this week?” I smile, trying to hide my anxiety.
“You don’t have to do that,” her dad says with a frown. I know he wonders why I’m never out with friends or boys. Truth is, I’m kind of a loner. I don’t have the desire to be around immature people who can’t seem to act their age.
“See you Friday, Mr. Williams.” His frown deepens as I ignore his previous statement.
“Bye, Emmy!” Sadie waves so hard she almost falls over.
With a wave back, I’m quickly jogging across the lawn to my home. Mom is…sick…but not sick-sick. More like lovesick, maybe? When my dad left, a part of her died. She was so in love with him, or at least I thought so, but lately, I’ve been thinking it was more dependency.
Dad took care of everything. Mom was a stay-at-home parent from the time I was born and had no idea how to take care of the house, bills, me. She’s barely held herself together over the years, and I’m afraid that now that it’s almost time where I could be leaving as well, discovering my own life, she’s going to fall apart completely.
When my father left, we never were able to find out his whereabouts. And, for me, that hurts more than anything else.
“Hey, Mom.” I smile as I pick up my backpack and head up the walkway. I pause when I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Turning, I look up and down the street.
We live in a quiet neighborhood, and after Ben takes Sadie back inside, there’s not much noise. There is, however, a white SUV parked across the street and two doors down. I can see someone sitting in the front seat behind the tinted windows. When the door opens, the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and a sense of dread washes through me.
Slowly backing up the sidewalk, I watch the man as he closes his door and reaches behind to open the back. An older woman steps out. I sag with relief for a moment until I see him bend down to whisper in her ear and point towards us.
Shit. “Go inside, Mom.”
“What’s wrong, Emmy?” Mom’s oblivious to everything around us.
“Just go inside, please.” I turn to look at her and recognize the worry etched in her withered face. “Maybe you could make me some of your cornbread?”
Her face lights up. “Of course!” Clapping her hands, she goes inside, and when I turn back around, the couple from the SUV is already on my sidewalk.
Backing up the porch steps, I stand stiff, waiting for them to make their intentions known. The woman is old enough to be my grandma and seems harmless enough, but the man is large, intimidating, and he doesn’t hesitate to impose his presence.
“Miss Taylor?” There’s a touch of an accent I can’t place. In his crisp black suit, shiny dress shoes, and dark eyes, I don’t know what to make of him.
“Depends on which one you’re looking for,” I bite out. My defenses are heightened with him.
The woman smacks his chest. “Easy Nikolai, you intimidate her. She doesn’t need your intensity.” I watch and wait for whatever it is they want. “Excuse him, he doesn’t know how to be anything but medved. Such a bear of a man.” I frown at her use of what I think is Russian mixed with English.
“What is it you want?” I don’t want to be rude, but he’s terrifying.
“Forgive me, dear. I am Theodora Vashchenko, and this gigant is Nikolai. He is here to collect you.” Stunned doesn’t cover how I feel.
“Collect?” I repeat.
“Perhaps we should go inside and discuss this?” The woman phrases it like a question, but it’s more of a command.
Theodora smiles fondly at my mother while the big brute smirks as he closes the door behind him. “Emmaline, who’s this?” I see some nervousness enter her cobalt gaze even though she puts on a smile.
Straightening my spine, I swallow the lump in my throat. “Mom, this is Theodora and Nikolai Vashchenko.”
Setting the mixing bowl in her hand down on the counter, Mom wipes her hands on the towel across her shoulder. “It’s a pleasure.” She holds her hand out to Theodora. “I’m Kelsey.”
“Is that cornbread you’re making?” Theodora asks, guiding my mother back into the kitchen and leaving me with the beast of a man who has yet to say anything else.
As the two older women become immersed in cooking, I stand awkwardly by the staircase leading from the living room. A sincere desire to run hits me when Nikolai snares me with his cold gaze.
“Viktor Vashchenko has requested your presence at his home in Newark.” I can’t read this man, and I hate that.
“You want me to go to New Jersey? With you?” I shake my head and let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t think so. Whoever this Viktor is, he can take a hike.”
Nikolai chuckles and not in a he finds me funny kind of way, more like my refusal is laughable. Which for him, it probably is since he could easily take me anywhere he wants.