by Rowena
I stand outside the door listening, waiting for the right moment.
“…Are you sure, boss?... No, of course, I’m not questioning you; I’ll get her back right away.”
And there it is—my cue.
I smile in eager anticipation—it’s been a long time since I’ve been involved in any sort of hand-to-hand.
But a few unexpected sounds explode into the air—some sort of crash, a groan, and a few sounds I can’t make sense of.
I smash the door open, almost frantic with worry that the lowly goon decided to go rogue and harm the girl. I promised Candace she’d be fine!
It takes only a moment to register the scene—the crumpled rope, skinny Victoria standing over the armed goon, still holding the chair she apparently knocked him down with, her expression wild, her long, curly dark hair all about her.
The back of the guy’s head is bleeding, and he’s not moving, not even responding to Victoria’s kick to his balls.
She starts scrambling for her captor’s gun once she sees me.
“Vicky, no!” I say, but she grabs it and points it at me.
“Easy,” I say, my hands up. “I’m here on behalf of your sister, Candace. I came here to... rescue you.”
“I didn’t need any goddamned rescuing.”
“I can see that,” I say, unable to hold back a slight grin. “I’m here nonetheless. I promised her I’d deliver you home safely.”
“What the hell does she have to do with this? And how do you know my name? How do I know you’re not with these guys?” She kicks the large, crumpled form again, her foot briefly sinking into his soft side this time.
“It’s a long story, Vic. These guys were just using you to get her to cough up a lot of cash.”
Her eyes narrow. “That makes zero sense. She’s broke, and she also doesn’t give a damn about me. I haven’t heard from her in years.”
“You’re so wrong, Vicky. She loves you. Which is why I’m here. Because I... I love her.”
She studies me, frowning, the silent moments stretching long while I wish she’d point that damned gun away; the safety’s not on.
“You look familiar,” she says, tilting her head a bit.
Then her face stretches into something more pleasant.
“Wait a minute—Jaxson? Jaxson Pace?”
Tension starts melting away, despite the loaded gun still pointed at me.
She recognizes me, so she’ll probably believe me now.
She heaves a huge sigh then shakes her head as she lowers her arm to her side, the gun finally no longer a threat to my physical being.
“Are you serious, dude? You’re still in love with my sister?”
“Like I said, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you some of it on the way back to your parents. Now hand me the damned gun so I can put the safety on and get you home.”
I can’t exactly tell Victoria everything, but I give her the gist, leaving a lot of the details up to Candace to share if she wants to someday.
I think her sister is interested in catching up and would probably be happy to do it behind her parents’ backs if they have a problem with it.
“That’s so crazy,” she says. “Everything that happened led her right back to you. I can’t believe she works for you now.”
“I imagine that won’t be for much longer. I don’t mix business and…”
I see Victoria’s sharp, lifted eyebrow without even turning to her.
“We didn’t really plan to... get serious again,” I begin, knowing I was being presumptuous with the next part, but I say it anyway, “but now that we’re in it for the long haul, she must be relocated; we can’t work together anymore. But at least her previous ties are all cut for good; she owes no one nothing.”
“Except you,” she says quickly.
I turn her words over in my head for a moment then shake my head. “Nope, not even me.”
“Well, I owe you. A ‘thank you’ at least, for trying to save me.”
I laugh as I pull up to the familiar residence.
Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve been here.
Steep highs and lows are connected to this place, bringing on an assault of emotions that leaves me silent for a few moments, the air heavy.
“Bad memories, huh?” Victoria says.
“And good ones,” I say quickly. “Very good ones.”
It’s where my first love once lived, where I even snuck in a few times before getting caught. Where I almost got shot by their dad. It’s where their parents chewed me out for not only being there but daring to pursue their princess.
This place reminds me of a time where I had far less but everything because I had her—the love of my life.
Truthfully, I might have been on my way to being a statistic; Candace’s family’s rejection of me could be the very reason I am where I am today. Who knows?
“Are you coming inside?” Victoria says as her hand grabs the door handle. “Say hi?”
I don’t know if she’s being cruel or if she thinks she’s being funny, but the answer is yes.
“Yes, but give me a sec.”
I text Candace to tell her mom Victoria’s about to show up; I know she’s been eagerly awaiting messages from me and can act immediately.
“Is that Candace?” Victoria says, warily looking at my phone screen.
“You want to talk to her?” I say as I tilt the phone in her direction.
She shakes her head. “Not yet. Let me get this dramatic reunion with the parental units over with first.” She rolls her eyes, looking very much like the teenager she is. Then her face softens. “But yeah, uh... if she wants to see me or whatever, that’s fine.” She shrugs carelessly but transparently. “I still live here so she knows where to find me.” Then she quickly turns to me. “You have a pen? And paper?”
I retrieve both from the glove compartment and she scribbles down a number.
“She can reach me here if she wants. That’s the cell my parents don’t know about. Texts only unless otherwise directed.”
I squint at her in curiosity but don’t bother to pry.
“All right, kiddo. Let’s get this over with.”
“Mommy!”
Victoria’s long curly hair streams behind her as she runs to her mother, her mom enveloping her in a tight hug.
“I was so scared,” Victoria says against her chest in a wavering voice, her eyes shut tight.
I hang out at the door frame, trying my best not to look at Victoria like she just morphed into an alien. Which she kind of has.
The snarky, hard-assed teenager has completely disappeared, and in her place is a gentle, vulnerable looking girl.
What an act.
Victoria opens her eyes and points at me.
“He saved me!” she says.
I hadn’t exactly been unsure of my summation before, but it’s cemented now—this girl expertly plays the hell out of her clueless older parents.
They have no idea the little monster that resides inside, and I’m happy to keep that secret for her.
I step fully into the room as Mrs. Brown regards me warily.
“Who are you?” she says.
Of course she wouldn’t remember.
I remember hearing my mother bitch about it—about how the upper class never really register details about you—an insignificant gnat, if you’re lower class. Even if you dated their progeny.
“I’m the man who rescued your daughter.”
Victoria grins briefly, presumably catching the double meaning.
Her mother misses the quick change, and by the time she turns back to Victoria, her daughter’s face is back to looking childlike.
“What do you mean, ‘rescue?’ Did someone hurt you, baby?” Mrs. Brown says, stroking her daughter’s hair.
Victoria shakes her head then looks back at me.
Mrs. Brown takes her daughter’s cue.
I realize Candace probably kept the message simple, telling her mom ‘Victoria’s on the way
’ or something.
“Someone picked her up, thinking she was someone else, but it was all a misunderstanding. I wouldn’t bother alerting the cops if I were you; it’s over.”
“Well, thank you for bringing her back to us,” she says stiffly. “Do we owe you anything?”
Victoria lowers her head and shakes it in silent disapproval, not even bothering to hide her reaction this time. She is clearly disappointed in her mother’s response, maybe even embarrassed.
I let out a short, frustrated breath.
“You owe me nothing,” I say in a tighter voice.
Mrs. Brown’s gaze swerves to the side of me and I turn to see Mr. Brown has joined us.
“I got here as soon as I could,” he says as he sizes me up, looking unsure whether he should confront me or go to his family and hug his little girl first.
Victoria peels herself from her mother and runs to her dad, solving the dilemma.
His arms wrap around her, but he is still keenly aware of my presence.
“I’m glad we’re all here,” I begin, my voice resounding loud and deep.
The room stills.
“Mr. and Mrs. Brown—it’s been a while. Not long enough, some might say. Before I leave here, I just wanted you to know that your daughter—your other daughter—is safe. Candace is in my care now, and I have more than enough resources—of all types—to look after her. So in the off chance you still wonder about her welfare, worry no longer—Candace is with me, where she should be and should have been all along. You can’t get in our way this time, not now, not ever again.”
I nod to Victoria then turn to leave.
“Jaxson,” Mr. Brown’s voice rings out, making me halt my steps and turn my ear toward him.
I bet he knew who I was immediately, having once pointed a rifle between my eyes.
“Thank you,” he says quietly.
I give him a silent nod of acknowledgment then take off.
Epilogue
Candace
6 months later…
“You’re even more beautiful with a belly,” Jaxson says as he slides his arms around me while I’m trying to make eggs.
“Liar,” I say immediately, constantly aware of the way my belly pokes out of everything I wear these days.
Luckily, I wasn’t showing when we got married, so no one can tell from our wedding photos I was knocked up.
I also still haven’t gotten over the huge, sparkling diamond sitting heavy on my ring finger. A diamond like that is hard to miss and hard to forget—especially when it’s there because the person you love most in the world gave it to you as a symbol of his love and commitment.
Sometimes, it still feels like a dream that we ultimately ended up here—that I’m now Mrs. Pace, and I’m carrying my first child for my first love as I imagined so long ago. We had some twists and turns along the way, but we’re finally here and everything is perfect.
Jaxson kisses my neck before pulling away to seat himself at the breakfast table and wait for me since I’m almost done.
I like making breakfast for us, and I’ve decided I’m fine with his personal cook making us dinners.
Jaxson was used to having all meals made for him anyway, and though I know he still prefers the way his cook made his eggs, he’s ecstatic I’m doing it for him, and I’ll learn to do it the way he likes eventually.
His house feels like it was made for me, and when I first entered it, Jaxson told me that it was—that he couldn’t get my ideas about what our future abode would be like out of his head, even after all those years.
I made only a few adjustments since moving in, but beyond our home, I made a lot more.
I’m no longer working under Jaxson at the office, but I help him and his company out in other ways, particularly now that Jaxson is more inclined toward philanthropy these days.
I also work for a nonprofit, volunteer at the local library, and though I no longer have lunch with Jaxson every day, we definitely make sure to have breakfast and dinner together, the time spent apart in between making us more eager to see each other again.
Sometimes, I even show up at his office building during the day to surprise him with lunch, and the atmosphere is different—no one thinks I’m a raging slut now; more details about our relationship have made it out there, and Tamara assures me everyone is endeared by our hard-won love story.
Melody got canned once Jaxson found out what she did to me months back, and his new assistant has been approved by me.
I might go back to school eventually to study law, but not while I’m expecting, and not in the precious beginning of our baby’s life. Being away from Jaxson for almost a decade made it clear how important time spent with loved ones is, and I don’t want to spend a lot of time away from our child; I don’t need another regret like that.
My sister and I even keep up with each other now, and I can tell my parents couldn’t stop her from doing anything she wanted if they tried. Which they don’t.
She was even allowed to come to our island destination wedding, serving as one of our two witnesses—the other witness a friend of Jaxson’s I decided I didn’t need to ask too many questions about; he wasn’t the type one got straight answers about anyway.
All Jaxson said was that they knew each other a long time, and that was enough for me.
I trust Jaxson in every way—to protect me and care for me. To look out for me in every way and make sure I want for nothing.
There’s no doubt whatsoever that he loves me deeply—even more than when we were younger, it seems, and I totally get it—I feel the same.
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UP NEXT: an excerpt from Fated (a BWWM billionaire romance).
SYNOPSIS: Sweet, curvy Nina has been in love with her best friend, Brent, for years. She accepts being friend-zoned until one steamy impulsive night changes everything between them. But then Brent completely vanishes from her life, leaving her alone, confused, and carrying around a huge secret.
When she runs into Brent again, both of their lives have changed drastically, and now that her old best friend is a billionaire, she’s convinced he’ll never want her now that he can have any woman he wants, and especially once he finds out what she’s been hiding.
But will Brent surprise her after all? Or will he toss her aside again, leaving her alone and broken once more? Grab it here or keep reading for a sample!
EXCERPT
Fated
CHAPTER ONE - NINA
The first time I ran into Brent Colton I was five years old.
I was rushing back to my kindergarten class, late from having wandered farther than usual over the course of the break, and I came across a tumble of action—obvious among the deserted grounds.
I realized three boys were beating the hell out of a smaller one crumpled on the ground, who was trying to fend off the blows with his tiny arms as he covered his head, his body curled in defense against the vicious attack.
The boys were older than me, and although I was a little chubby (a characteristic that stuck with me for a while), I was still much smaller than any one of them, yet I charged toward that group like I had hidden judo skills and guardian angels, and yelled for them to leave him alone.
I didn’t know anything about the situation—whether their victim was guilty of anything or not—but what I saw didn’t look right, and it sure as hell didn’t look fair.
If it had been two guys fighting each other, I might not have intervened, but three against one?
I must’ve looked a sight, or maybe they didn’t like having a witness—in any case, one boy got in one last kick before another
tugged at his shirt and the three of them sped off.
I ran over and knelt by the crumpled boy.
“Are you okay?” I asked, despite the obvious.
I only got a grunt in return.
My eyes scanned him and the space around him.
His thick dark hair was ruffled, his otherwise smooth, creamy face blotchy, his glasses askew, and the contents of his lunch box all over the place.
I started gathering them together while he slowly raised himself to a sitting position.
“Thanks,” he said, looking sort of adorable with his glasses all slanted, leaving one blue eye free and the other trapped behind cracked glass.
He adjusted his spectacles as best as he could to sit properly on his face.
“I’m Brent,” he said.
“I’m Nina,” I said with a smile, trying to cheer him up. “Why were those guys beating on you?”
He shrugged. “Because they can,” he said.
I helped him the rest of the way up.
Not surprisingly, we became fast friends and we stayed that way for two years—until my family moved from the area and I had to go to another school.
I later realized our move was due to my father losing his job and our lifestyle as a whole being downgraded.
I also learned later what a competitive private school I’d been enrolled in; my parents had tried to get me on the path to Ivy League and thought attending that special school would help, but I ended up in public school for the rest of elementary through high school, which brings me to the second time I ran into Brent.
The first week of freshman year of college I felt a little scared and a lot alone.
Brent and I hadn’t stayed in touch or anything, so I had no idea he’d be attending the same university as me until I saw him strolling toward me as I headed to the cafeteria.
