by Jo Raven
Undone
Kaden and Hailey
Jo Raven
Contents
Blurb
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part II
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Part III
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Part IV
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Part V
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
TROUBLEMAKER
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Acknowledgments
Jo Says
Author Bio
Have you read the Inked Brotherhood series?
Blurb
Kaden Hansen was my whole world. I fell head over heels.
And then he cheated on me.
Or so I thought. I’m pretty sure, okay?
Anyway, I ran away and refused to talk to him again.
But what if I was wrong?
I don’t trust men.
My ex cheated on me with my cousin. In our bed.
And Kaden, my boyfriend, well… I think he cheated on me, too.
Confidence is a fragile thing, and mine is already shattered. So I flew back to Chicago, putting distance between us before Kaden could hurt me more.
I’ve sworn off men for good, focusing on my work and waiting for the pain to fade.
I’m over Kaden. Really, I swear. I don’t love him anymore.
It’s over.
Only a miracle could throw us back together at this point… and who believes in those, right?
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Jo Raven
Copyright © Jo Raven 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, events, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Cover art: RBA Designs | Romantic Book Affairs (http://www.rbadesigns.com)
Photographer: Eric Battershell
Model: Eric Ten Brink
Part One
UNSENT
Chapter One
Kaden
Hey, girl. Haven’t heard from you in a while. Are you all right? Can you drop me a line, just one fucking line to tell me if you’re okay? Just…
[unsent text message]
“Touch me,” she says, her voice husky, looking at me over her shoulder as she pulls down the zipper of her dress.
“I will,” I reply, leaning back on my sofa, the bottle of vodka half-empty, dangling from my fingers.
Eventually.
Although she’s not Hailey.
And it shouldn’t matter.
The girl is not bad looking. She has something… sweet about her. Something about the bouncy bob of honey-blond hair and the fullness of her curves…
Something of Hailey – and dammit, when will I stop comparing every single woman to her? It’s over between us, has been over for months now, and damn if I’m gonna turn into a monk just because…
Shaking my head, I lift the bottle and take another deep gulp, feeling the heat traveling down my throat, spreading in my chest.
“Hey.” She’s glaring at me, her dress off, dressed in a black lacy bra and a matching set of panties. “Am I boring you?”
I blink. Kinda lost track of time there. Time, and place, and girl. I try to get my head back in the game. “Look, Stacy…”
“Macy,” she snaps, and grabs her dress from the floor, giving me a full view of her ample rack. “Jesus, what am I doing here with you?”
“What? Hold on a sec.” In sudden panic, I shove myself off the sofa and to my feet. The room spins lazily and I rub a hand over my face. “Not so fast.”
“Why? You’re clearly not interested.” She waves a hand at me, or at my crotch, maybe – and my very evident lack of interest in her little striptease. Her eyes lift to my face, anger lighting them up, although I couldn’t tell you their color, or even if they’re pretty. “Why am I here, Kaden? Who are you trying to get over, huh?”
“I’m not fucking trying anything.” Anger heats up my neck, and I don’t even know why the hell I’m so incensed at the suggestion I might be trying to get over…
Her.
“Come here.” I tamp down on my rising fury – at myself, rather at this girl – and reach for her, even if my dick isn’t even half-hard. “Come on. We’re just having a good time. We’re only just starting.”
“Not sure about this,” she says, and draws away, brows drawing together. “This isn’t what I signed up for.”
Goddammit.
I shove my hair out of my eyes and groan deep in my throat. “Then go. Get the hell out.”
Her eyes widen, and her fear annoys me even more – isn’t this what she wanted? What she all but forced me to say? I knew it was a fucking bad idea bringing her here. I never bring girls to my pad.
Won’t be happening again.
Then her eyes narrow, sparking with anger of her own. “Screw you, Kaden. The rumors were right about you. You’re a rude asshole.”
Yeah, obviously.
Gathering her things, yanking up the zipper of her dress, she throws me one last venomous look and departs, slamming the door behind her.
She has no right to feel used. I’ve never met her before in my life, and if she was looking at me, waiting for a chance to jump my bones, well that’s not on me, is it? I wasn’t stringing her along.
Fuck, it’s a good thing we didn’t get down and dirty before this happened. Last thing I need is another round of tongues wagging about my “deviant sex practices” – a rumor I owe to a girl I slept with a couple of times before meeting Hailey—
Why in the fucking hell am I thinking of her again?
Jesus. Can’t keep going around with her on my mind day after day, night after night, just because…
No way. It’s been long enough, and it’s not my fucking fault she up and left, without a proper explanation.
Hailey with her bright laughter and sexy curves, who tried to help me reconnect with my brother. Who accepted me was I am.
Or so I thought.
But the hell who cares now, right?
Grabbing my trusted bottle from where I let it drop to the floor as I got up, I glare at what is left in it.
Not nearly enough. What I need is something to knock me out, knock the thoughts out of my head until it’s blessedly empty. I’d hoped sex would be the solution, that it could cure of me this goddamn funk.
But it didn’t work out last night, or the night before. Not that I managed to get it up to even try, and fuck if that didn’t piss me off more.
In fact, nothing works.
Cursing, I throw the bottle back down where it rolls over the carpet, leaving a trail of Vodka and alcohol fumes. I stalk to the window, stare outside at the dark sky. My pad is in the suburbs, the backside facing out into nothingness. Or so it feels. There’s a back yard with a fence and a shed. And a couple trees, their shadows black against the clouds.
I slip the elastic band I
often wear around my wrist over my hair, tie it back, and press my hot forehead to the cool glass, drawing in a long breath, holding it. Feeling it in my chest.
What the fuck am I doing?
Why the fuck do I feel like shit?
I can fuck any chick I like. They line up to get into my pants, at the Garage, at the bars at night. Throwing themselves at me. They say I look cute, I look hot, that they want to suck my dick, that they want me to take them against the wall.
And I let them. Take them. Fuck them, sometimes, but all I feel is anger. It won’t let me focus, won’t let me relax.
This can’t go on. She was the one that left for no good reason.
Oh sure, she threw some wild accusations at me about sleeping around, and I told her that was bullshit, but she didn’t stick around after that. Didn’t seem to even hear me.
Yeah, it annoys me how much that fucking hurt. But it’s over now. Forgotten. Not like I feel something about her anymore. Or felt, ever. Right? I can’t stop living just because…
Just because I miss Hailey, goddammit.
I close my eyes and breathe out. Jesus Christ, what’s wrong with me? Fuck. No, all right? I don’t. I don’t miss her.
Not at all.
Chapter Two
Hailey
Yesterday I found a photo of us and I couldn’t… Why did you do it, Kaden? I trusted you, you stupid son of…
[unsent text message]
I’m waiting for my bestie, Maggie, at the street corner Starbucks – chosen because it’s near my apartment and I was in no mood to really get out until she threatened me with bodily harm – when my phone buzzes.
Trent has sent me another text message. I scan it quickly, frowning.
Call me? he writes. I tried calling you several times but you didn’t pick up. I need to see you.
I have five missed calls from him.I missed two while in a shower, trying to tame my overlong bob into something resembling an actual hairdo, and the other three while walking here.
I bite my lip, staring at the phone.
Should I call him back?
Text him back?
Nah. I hate that I hesitate, wonder if… If maybe I should. If Trent changed. If we can go back to how we were.
He has been texting me for weeks now – or is it months? Since I returned to Chicago, he hasn’t stopped calling and asking to see me.
I never reply.
Maybe it’s because he cheated on me? With my favorite cousin of all people? How do you forgive something like that? I can’t forget how he hurt me.
Just like I can’t forget another man who cheated on my trust. Oh, he denied it all, but the clues were there. I’d been blind not to see them, yet again. You’d think I’d learned something from my experience with Trent.
But no, I had to go and fall for another guy who thinks with his dick, who didn’t respect me, didn’t love me, and I…
I couldn’t do this again.
Still can’t. Can’t put my heart through the wringer again, and that’s why I ran away as fast and as far as I dared. Back to where I started, where I grew up and almost got married.
What does that say about me? I came back to the start. Didn’t move a step. Not forward, anyway.
“Hailey!” Maggie hurries through the café, splitting the crowd waiting in line like Moses, minus the beard and staff. “So sorry I’m late. I’ll make it up to you. Come on, I’m inviting.”
“So magnanimous of you.” I’m a grouch. Then again, I didn’t want to get out of the apartment today.
Or out of bed, to be honest. Finding clean clothes to wear, washing my hair, locating my favorite pair of boots in the chaos that is my room was a struggle.
All this should be scaring me, all these hints that I’m sinking into a frigging low unlike any I’ve ever experienced, but I’m numb. Cold. I can’t seem to be able to get warm these days. Not even in bed, under my super-eiderdown quilt my mom gave me.
Weird, right?
“Earth to Hailey.” Maggie is waving a hand in front of me, her face scrunched up in a frown. “We’re hailing Hail—”
“Don’t.” I push her hand away. “No puns. Please.”
“But it’s funny!” She pouts. “Hailing Hailey is—”
“Maggie.”
“You’re no fun.”
She keeps up the pout as we choose our drinks, wagging her brows and crossing her eyes at me until I crack a smile.
“Stop it! They’ll think you’re crazy.” I elbow her, struggling to keep a straight face.
“Like it’s a secret?” She grins, her eyes sparkling. “And hey, I made you smile. Score for Mags. Haven’t seen your smile since you came back. For shame, girl.”
I ponder her words as we search for a table, an impossible mission until Maggie locates two chairs and we sit with a group of unfamiliar faces.
“You don’t mind guys?” she chirps, grinning at them manically, and they shake their heads. They’re teenagers, probably half my age, too busy bitching about school than pay much attention to us.
God, I feel old with my twenty-five years of experience. Old and sad.
“And there it is again: that long face you’ve been wearing for the past months.” Maggie leans over the table, mashing her boobs against the top, and stares me dead in the eye. “What’s going on, Hail? I thought you were getting better.”
“Better?” I scoff. “I’m fine.”
“Uh-huh.” She leans back, digs her spoon into her unicorn rainbow sugary drink. I’m getting a toothache just looking at it.
Okay, maybe I am more grouchy than usual. And there’s a reason.
“It’s Trent,” I say, opening a sachet and pouring sugar into my cappuccino because why look after your waistline when you don’t care who sees you? “He’s been texting, and calling.”
“Trent the Douche? Seriously, again?”
I told her he texted me a couple of times. “He’s very…insistent.”
“What does he want?”
“To talk to me.”
She shoots me a dubious look. “You believe that?”
I shrug. No idea what I believe anymore.
“I guess everyone deserves to tell his story,” Μaggie mutters thoughtfully. “Right?”
I frown. Do they? “If you’re talking about Kaden—”
“I’m not. I’m not! Okay!” She lifts her hands and arches her brows in a show of innocence I’m not buying for a minute. “Trent. Tell me about Trent.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I hedge, still upset, and not sure why.
Maybe because my bestie seems to think I should call Kaden, talk to him.
Which is out of the question.
Nope.
No way. Not going there again. Because…
Because no matter how I tried to protect my heart, it hurts regardless. It frigging aches. It feels as if it’s been bleeding in my chest ever since I left Kansas City.
As if I’m slowly bleeding out, bleeding out dreams.
Chapter Three
Kaden
Look, you left a blouse in my drawer, you know that red one I gave you on your birthday? I’m gonna send it to you because it gets me hard every time I smell your scent on it, and I fucking can’t…I can’t… Dammit.
[unsent text message]
My neighbor likes to listen to loud rock music. His name is Jared and he’s a big fan of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Black Sabbath. Not that you’d guess it by looking at him. He’s a neat and proper little freak, an accountant in some big firm or other, always in a suit and a tie, clean-shaven and his hair combed back.
The exact opposite of me in fact, with me rocking the street bum style, complete with a beard and hair long enough to braid in the back. Longer than I’ve ever had it, and it’s not even a fucking statement of style. I just… don’t fucking care.
Anyway, I honestly don’t have a fucking clue why we like each other, but we do. He borrows sugar and coffee from me so often I wonder if he ever buys any, and sometimes
he drives me to work when I’m too wasted to drive in the morning.
Like today.
“Partied too hard again, huh?” he mumbles between his teeth, as he often does, watching me climb into his sleek Ford Focus, dark and clean and immaculate like his slicked back dark hair with the neat parting on the side.
Too Clark Kent-ish for this early in the morning.
He starts the car, not waiting for an answer, which is a good thing. I guess he knows my moods by now. The bitter dark coffee I had is churning in my stomach alarmingly.
His fault for using up all my sugar, so I am justified in glaring at him as he slips into morning traffic, heading to the city.
He ignores me, mostly, fiddling with the MP3 Player, thankfully not blasting any hard rock at my aching head but a podcast about…something. Not even sure what. Some financial report or other. The male voice droning on about numbers and markets and fuck knows what is lulling me to sleep.
“Hey.” Jared’s voice and his elbow in my ribs jostle me wide awake.
What the fuck, right? Can’t a guy catch a wink around here?
“What?” I mutter irritably, redoubling my glare. “Eyes on the street, buddy. Lemme sleep.”
