Our Broken Love

by Terri Anne Browning

  I bowed my head, ashamed of myself. I should have talked to Keith, should have told him what was going on with Christian. If I had, none of this ever would have happened…

  My head snapped up, and I met his tormented green gaze. “What do you mean, the ring was already in your pocket?” The one and only time I had ever seen it was when my mother had shown me some of the Winthrop jewelry in their safe.

  My heart started pounding. Why would the ring be in his pocket instead of secure in the safe?

  “I had made reservations at La Tessa.” He was playing with my fingers now, not looking at me. “The night you canceled.”

  La Tessa was the first place we had ever had dinner together as a couple. I didn’t know what to think about that or where he was going with his explanation about the ring, so I just sat there, heart pounding so hard that my chest was shaking, and gave him the time he needed to tell me.

  “You see, there was something wrong about what you said a little while ago. You said you knew I wasn’t ready. But I was. I was so ready. But then you canceled, and I thought, ‘Okay, I will find another way to ask her.’ Something just as romantic. And I was just deciding that the Christmas gala would be perfect when Bianca stormed her way into my office.”

  My heart stopped; it completely stopped beating, and I realized I’d also stopped breathing. But I had to know. “What… What where you going to ask me?” I whispered so low it was a wonder he even heard me.

  He sat there for the longest time, continuing to play with my fingers. Minutes passed, maybe even hours, I had no idea. All I was focused on was this man and what was going to come out of that sinful mouth of his. Finally, he blew out a long, drawn-out breath and lifted his eyes to meet mine in the dim light. “I was going to ask you to marry me.”

  Tears gathered and slipped from my eyes without my even realizing it, and I reached for him. His kiss was the most tender thing I had ever experienced in my life as his lips brushed across mine as if he were afraid to break me. I held on to him as my tears continued to fall. His lips moved to my hair, and he started whispering sweet nothings. The same sweet nothings I had heard in my dreams at the hospital.

  I pulled back just a little to look into his still-wet eyes. “You were there,” I breathed. “You kept talking to me, even when I was in the coma.”

  “Of course I was there. I sat there for days at a time without ever leaving that room. Your father and Hunter would drag me away long enough to shower and eat from time to time, but I couldn’t handle being away for long. I was terrified that you would wake up and I wouldn’t be there.” He wiped away one of my tears with his thumb. “And then when you finally did wake up, you didn’t even remember me.”

  I kissed his cheek, sipping at his salty tears. “Dr. Hayes explained that. He said I was in so much emotional pain that my mind shut it down so my body could focus on other things. I went back to a time before I had met you to hide from it, before I fell in love with you.”

  He grimaced. “The doctors wouldn’t let me in to see you at all during the time you couldn’t remember. I hated being in the waiting room, which seemed so far away, when all I wanted was to hold you and tell you how much I love you.”

  For the second time, my heart stopped. I couldn’t even blink as I looked up at him. That was the first time Keith had been able to say those words to me. There had been times in the past when he had tried to say them, but right then, they had spilled so easily from his lips. He brushed another tender kiss across my lips. “I love you, Kari.”

  A whimper escaped me, and I threw my arms around him. I never wanted this moment to end. Those three little words from his lips were the most amazingly beautiful sounds I had ever heard. “I love you too,” I breathed against his ear, and his arms tightened around me.

  “God, I thought I would never hear you say that again.” He kissed my neck, my ear, my jaw. “I thought I had killed your love for me.”

  “Hush,” I whispered. “You could never do that. I told you before. The only way you can lose me is if you want to lose me.” And for a little while, I had thought he did want to lose me and have Bianca instead. But now I could see the truth.

  We held each other for a few minutes in complete silence. I felt at peace for the first time in weeks, and it was so restful and perfect being in his arms that I started to drift off.

  Until I heard him whisper words almost as beautiful as “I love you.”

  “Will you marry me, Kari?”

  “Only if you get that ring cleaned,” I teased. “No way am I going to wear it with Bianca’s germs still all over it.”

  “Kari!” He pulled me down on top of him, chuckling. “Kari, I love you so damn much.”

  Eve

  All Rights Reserved © Anna Henson 2013/Terri Anne Browning 2017

  This is a work of fiction. Any characters, names, places or incidents are used solely as a fictitious nature based on the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to or mention of persons, places, organizations, or other incidents is completely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any other means without permission from the Publisher.

  A note from the author…

  This was one of the first books I wrote under my original pen name. I wrote it long before KDP was even an idea, thinking I would send it to Harlequin one day. But life got in the way, and I forgot it even existed for a few years. Then I found it in one of my journals, and I cleaned it up a little and put it on KDP just so I could say I finally did something with one of the many books I wrote. I didn’t expect it to go anywhere, and under that old pen name, it didn’t. But then I changed my pen name, decided to write in a style that was more ME, and kind of abandoned the other books under that name. So if this book doesn’t seem like something you’re used to reading from Terri Anne Browning, it’s because it was written for a trope, not from my soul.

  Table of Contents

  Eve: One

  Eve: Two

  Eve: Three

  Eve: Four

  Eve: Five

  Eve: Six

  Eve: Seven

  Eve: Eight

  Eve: Nine

  Eve: Ten

  Eve: Eleven

  Eve: Twelve

  Eve: Thirteen

  Eve: Fourteen

  Eve: Fifteen

  Eve: Sixteen

  one

  Snow covered the ground like a huge white blanket. Christmas lights reflecting off it made beautiful, multicolor patterns. Normally, this was Eve Patel’s favorite time of year, but after the day she had just lived through, she was seriously rethinking it.

  The day had started out so well. She had woken early to do the last of her Christmas shopping. The day before she had called around to countless places looking for the right gift for her oldest stepbrother and finally found exactly what she was looking for. So she had gone there first and then walked all over town the rest of the day in an attempt to cross the last of her shopping off her list.

  After a small lunch of an apple and bottled water at a little deli, she had stopped by the bank. She had been patiently waiting in line, smiling at the woman in front of her and the chubby little baby in her arms. It was the last Friday before the big holiday, and the place was even more crowded than normal. What happened next was enough to make anyone and everyone wish they had not even gotten out of bed that day.

  Eve had been at the front of the line when three large men with masks over their faces and the kind of guns she had only ever seen in the action movies her stepbrothers enjoyed had stormed into the bank. She knew zero about automatic weapons, but even she was aware that the ones being waved around at her and thirty-plus other people were not toys.

  The masked men started screaming for everyone to get on the ground and keep quiet. Just as Eve started to lie facedown on the cold, dirty tiled floor, she saw the only male teller pull out a handgun and wave it at his coworkers. He started yelling at them to load up the large gym bags that the masked men had b
rought with them.

  Eve had never been so terrified in her life, but she tried to stay calm. After all, they only wanted the money… Didn’t they?

  Eve watched as a man in the line directly across from her jumped up from his position on the floor and identified himself as NYPD. He was dressed in street clothes, and Eve could only guess that he was off duty. Before she could even suck in a deep breath, hope and happiness that this ordeal would soon be over now making her weak with relief, the masked man behind Eve fired twice. Both shots hit the cop in the chest, and he went down.

  Before the cop fell to his knees, he fired two shots of his own, both bullets moving past her almost as if in slow motion. The masked man behind her gasped in pain before there was a sickening sound, as if the man was drowning. He fell beside her, blood spreading across the floor around him. She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from screaming as his eyes seemed to fade with the light of life.

  The lady who had been in front of Eve in line was trying to hush her crying baby. Someone close to Eve began screaming hysterically. The cop was still making gasping noises, and Eve prayed help would arrive soon. The scent of blood and gunpowder along with the fear pumping through her veins was enough to cause her stomach to roll, and she was glad she’d had such a small lunch. But she swallowed her nausea, frightened to give these madmen a reason to shoot at her next should she suddenly vomit.

  Outside, sirens blared, causing the two remaining masked men to curse violently. Obviously, they had planned to be long gone before the cops arrived. The male teller was still busy bagging up the cash, ignoring his partners.

  “Gotta find a way out of here, man!” the masked man who was the farthest away from her and closest to the door called out.

  “Relax, Frank,” the teller called back, sounding perfectly calm. Even with the fear coursing through her and her heartbeat pounding in her ears, Eve wondered if this was his first time doing something like this.

  “Relax?” Frank’s gaze was on the activity going on outside. “There are ten cop cars out there, Zach. SWAT is pulling up!”

  Eve recognized Zach’s name and gritted her teeth. She prayed that he didn’t look too closely should they need a hostage to take with them. If he should happen to spot her…well, that meant huge trouble.

  She was the stepdaughter of one of the most powerful men in New York City. This bank was only one of many that housed his money. That fact, which she was positive Zach was aware of, on top of her own sizeable bank account left to her by her mother when she died eighteen months earlier made her an ideal candidate for additional ransom money later. A ransom that could keep him set for six lifetimes.

  But even as those thoughts floated through her mind, a sniper had taken aim and dispatched Frank. No one screamed this time, but there were several gasps. Eve bit harder into her lip, tasting the metallic flavor of blood on her tongue. She was trembling with fear, and the bile was rising in the back of her throat.

  “Fuck!” the last masked man yelled. “Zach, hurry the fuck up. I want to live to enjoy that money, man.”

  “Grab a hostage,” Zack told him, still as calm as before despite the new situation. He slung the gym bags over his shoulders. “Female. We might need some company.”

  A whimper nearly escaped Eve. She was the closest female to the last masked man. He bent and grabbed a handful of her long hair, forcing her to her feet. But before she could completely straighten, the masked man gasped. She raised her head to look at him.

  He coughed, and blood splattered across her face. Eve blinked, both surprised and disgusted, and everything around her became a blur. People around her started screaming again. Most of them jumped up and started running toward the exits now that the biggest threat of being shot was eliminated. Cops quickly entered the bank and took Zach down, an easy feat as he was weighed down by the heavy, money-filled gym bags.

  Meanwhile, Eve just stood there with blood covering her face and shirt. She gazed in horror down at the dead man at her feet. She had never seen anyone die before, had never personally experienced violence of any kind in her life. But now, she was in a room with three dead men who had died in such a violent way right in front of her.

  Someone placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump. A police officer stood beside her, a concerned expression on his weathered face. “Miss? Are you hurt?”

  She swallowed down the bile once more and shook her head mutely. Shock, she guessed, was setting in. She felt cold and numb, was shaking uncontrollably, but she could only look down at the dead man again in an oddly detached sort of way.

  “Do you think you can walk?” he asked in a gentler tone than before. She met his eyes and thought that they were kind. Funny how that was the one thing she noticed out of everything else going on around her. Not the paramedics rushing to treat the fallen off-duty cop. Not the SWAT team rushing through the bank or the additional officers assisting others outside. Just this man’s kind eyes. “Miss?”

  With effort, she cleared her throat. “I…I’m okay,” she whispered. “I-I may need your help, though. I seem to be a little shaky.”

  The cop gave her a small smile in understanding. “Of course.”

  He led her from the bank with a steadying hand on her arm. She gratefully leaned on his strength for the next several hours, during which he took her statement and called her stepfather.

  “Eve?”

  She blinked, coming back to the here and now. She was home, standing in the family room, gazing out at the Christmas lights reflecting on the snow. Her stepfather was now standing behind her. She hadn’t even heard him enter the room.

  She turned her head, wondering if he knew how much she loved him. When she had moved here with her mother five years ago, she had been an angry, bitter young teenager. She had been content to continue on at the boarding school in Paris where she had spent most of her childhood. Then her mother, Giselle, had married Garth Savage and brought her back to the States to live in a monstrous-sized mansion with a stepfather and three older stepsiblings.

  Despite her coldness toward them, Garth and his children had quickly won her over. He had treated her like he treated his own daughter, Quinn, from day one. Eve had never known her father because he had died when she was just a few weeks old. So Garth’s love and affection had been welcome—reluctantly. When her mother was killed by a drunk driver eighteen months ago, Garth had become her legal guardian, even if she had been just a few weeks shy of turning eighteen.

  “Are you all right, sweetheart?” he asked, concerned that she hadn’t responded to him yet.

  Eve blew out a long, shaky sigh. “Yes, I’m fine,” she murmured, letting him pull her into his arms to comfort her. Although she thought it was to comfort himself just as much as her.

  “Quinn’s plane landed a while ago. She should be here soon,” he informed her in a quiet tone.

  As Christmas was so close, her stepsister and stepbrothers had planned on coming home this weekend. Since they were scattered across the globe for work at the moment, their flights had already been in the air before the news of the day’s events had gotten to them. Eve would much rather not burden them with the story of her brush with death, but Garth had already spoken to Quinn and Cameron. Sebastian, the eldest of the Savage siblings, was still in the air. His flight wouldn’t land until the early hours of the morning.

  Cameron had already arrived, having been the closest—Mexico on a photo shoot. He had heard the news on the radio in the cab on his way from the airport. Because of who she was, and the severity of the crime, her name had been all over the news. When he opened the front door, he had started shouting.

  “Eve? Dad? Are you here?”

  She had been hugged within an inch of her life by the big man for nearly an hour. Then, true to Cameron form, he had gone in search of something to eat. That had been half an hour ago.

  Quinn was on her way home from London. She was an advertising executive in the UK branch of the Savage Corporations. When she had talked
to her father on the plane, she was upset about what had happened. Quinn thought of Eve as a little sister as well as her closest friend despite the six years’ age difference that separated them.

  “Where is everyone?” a voice called out suddenly, but not the voice they had been expecting. This one was deeper, masculine.

  Sebastian.

  Eve tensed in Garth’s arms, almost nervous to face the eldest of her stepsiblings.

  The door to the family room opened, and there he stood in the doorway. Sebastian looked like a Viking warrior, something she had always teasingly called him. His extensive height and blond hair, combined with the aura of power and danger exuding from him had intimidated her at first. He stood well over six feet five inches, his dark blond hair in need a trim and his blue as a clear summer day eyes gazing at her, but she felt anything but intimidated these days.

  Seeing her leaning against his father, he raised a brow in that arrogant way that always made her want to slap his beautifully masculine face. “Having a snuggle before the kid goes up for night-night?” he teased.

  “Having a snuggle so I can reassure myself that Eve is actually here and unharmed,” Garth shot back, in no mood for his son’s humor.

  The slight quiver in the older man’s voice caught his son’s attention. He dropped his satchel on the floor and crossed to them. “What happened?” he demanded, noticing just how pale Eve was and how gray his father was under his normally healthy, slightly tanned complexion.

  “It’s a long story,” she tried to deflect, not wanting him to know just yet.

  But Garth jumped in and filled him on the day’s events. She watched as Sebastian paled. He swallowed hard twice before reaching for her. She went willingly, melting against his hard body. And for the first time that day, the tears burned the backs of her eyes. Her throat grew tight, and a sob escaped her. He held her close, and she felt his lips caress her forehead. The first tear spilled from her eyes, and the dam was open.