I reach across and take his big hand in mine, my stomach rolling at what Aunty Dee must have gone through.
“Then you were born, and when I saw that same fire in you, it put the fear of God in my heart.” His gaze returns to mine, his expression grave and eyes glassy. “And I tried to smother it.”
“Fucking Dick Head school,” I mutter.
Dad shakes his head, huffing. “Yes, Fucking Dick Head school. I knew you called it that, by the way. But I convinced myself it could do what I couldn’t. I convinced myself it would douse that fire and keep you safe.”
“Dad,” I whisper.
“That was wrong and I’m sorry.”
My eyes burn. “I always thought I was the daughter you never wanted.”
“No.” His voice is appalled. “God, no. I love who you are. You have a beautiful spirit, and I’m so damn proud of you. You champion your friends and your family. You fight for them and would do anything for them. You went to war for them. You work tirelessly to give them a life you believe they deserve, but it’s time to start living the life you deserve now.” Dad lets go of my hand and stands. He walks to the bedside table where my bouquet of roses rests. He picks them up and turns, a smile slowly forming until happiness lines his face. “Time for you to get yourself hitched.”
“You have to help me up first.”
He chuckles and my belly cramps again. I’m getting good at hiding it because it kept happening the whole time he and Travis were talking and neither noticed. He takes my hand and helps me upright. Then his eyes crinkle. “Hurry up, love. That baby is going to come out at any moment. Best get that ring on your finger first.”
I gasp. “Dad! How did you know?”
“That you’ve gone into labour? Sweetheart, I may be old, but I’m not stupid. Your mother birthed four of my children. I recognise the signs.”
I tuck my arm in his and we leave the room. I descend the stairs and step outside, my father by my side. Henry is on his acoustic guitar by the arbour, and Evie is standing in front of a microphone. They begin my chosen song when they see me—“When I Look At You” by Miley Cyrus—and all our guests stand en masse, turning to watch.
I begin the walk down the aisle, my eyes burning. Jake is standing by the arbour in a navy suit with a red rose boutonniere. He wears a crisp white shirt beneath the jacket, open at the collar. He looks glorious and I remember back to when I broke my arm and likened him to Tim Riggins straight out of Friday Night Lights. We have so much shared history. Who knew that one day the boy who lost his family would marry the girl who smeared spaghetti all over his shirt?
A tear slips out and rolls down my cheek.
Shit. The last thing I need is to ruin my makeup!
Then I pause. Dad stops with me. I hear the slightest falter in Evie’s voice and Jake’s brow furrows.
“Dad,” I whisper through gritted teeth.
“What?” he whispers back.
“We have to go back inside.”
“What? Why?”
My voice is a hiss. “Because I think I’ve just wet myself.”
“Holy Jesus,” he booms in front of all and sundry. “Your waters have broken.”
The music comes to a crashing halt and everyone stands frozen, looking at me. Jake’s eyes drop to my belly and back up again, widening with panic. He doesn’t yell, but his shocked voice carries down the aisle. “You’re in labour?”
I grit my teeth. Didn’t you hear me before, Satan? I said not today.
“No!” I call back, feeling a sticky trickle of fluid run down the insides of my thighs. I wave reassuringly. “False alarm.”
Jake’s face settles into an expression of relief.
“Bitch, you are in labour.”
I turn a hard glare on Tim. He’s in the aisle seat right where we’ve paused, and his eyes are on the pool at my feet. A contraction hits me hard and I gasp. My fingers tighten on Dad’s arm until I’m sure I’ve cut his circulation off.
“Dad,” I whimper.
Mum comes tearing down the aisle, the elegant fascinator atop her head flying off behind her. “Where’s your hospital bag?” she shouts as if I’m deaf.
Travis is right behind her. Jared is right behind him. They start to crowd me. I think my brothers are discussing one of them grabbing my ankles and the other my arms and hauling me out to the car between them. Everyone is yelling. It’s goddamn pandemonium.
I rise on my tiptoes, my eyes finding Jake. He’s still standing by the arbour, apparently frozen.
“Help me,” I mouth.
My plea spurs him into action. His bulky muscle shoves through the throng of friends and family until he’s standing in front of me. “Satan’s coming?”
I nod, unable to hide the hard evidence. “She’s coming.”
He exhales, having a holy fuck moment. I know how he feels. This thing has to come out of my freaking vagina.
“Right.” In a single smooth motion, he puts an arm under my shoulders and behind my knees and lifts me. My lace dress trails to the ground, no doubt ruined. He gives me a single look before he carries me out, his eyes crinkling. “Let’s do this, Princess.”
My labour suite is crammed with hospital staff and family. Mum and Dad. Travis and Jared. Evie and Henry. “Everyone out!” I shriek. “Get the fuck out!”
I turn my head to Jake, my hair damp with sweat and our baby crowning. He’s by my side, pale and wobbly. It appears as if a light breeze will knock him over. I grab the collar of his shirt and drag him close so he can see the rage in my eyes.
“Get them all the fuck out of here before I burn this motherfucking hospital to the ground!”
Jake doesn’t leave my side but the midwife manages to herd them all out the door. Each of them are calling out various words of encouragement as they leave, but I pay no attention. I have a baby half out of my vagina. Their platitudes can go suck a bag of dicks.
“The head is out,” my obstetrician announces. “Come look,” he says to Jake.
Jake squeezes my hand and prepares to stand, but I hold on for dear life. “If you go down there to see my mangled vagina I will end you.”
He sinks back down.
“One more push,” the midwife cries.
I slump back in my bed. “I can’t.”
“Yes you can.”
Nope. Fuck you all. I am done. I’ve changed my mind about having a baby. It’s too soon. I’m not ready.
Jake squeezes my hand again. “You’ve never failed at anything you set out to do. Search inside. You’ve got to find that inner strength and pull it out of you. Don’t give up, no matter how much you want to collapse.”
“Arrrrghhhhhhhh!!!” I push hard, rising up on my elbows. “Fuck you! My labour is not a goddamn Eminem song!” I yell on long, pained moan.
“Sorry,” he mutters. “That sounded so much better in my head.”
The wails of a baby render the air. It sounds like the bleating of a little lamb. “Oh my god,” I cry and crumple.
“Congratulations,” our obstetrician says with a big grin. He rises from his seated perch between my legs, our baby held up in his hands. “You have a little girl.”
Jake stands so abruptly his seat clatters back and hits the wall. His eyes are wide with wonder. “Mac, we have daughter.”
Tears are pouring down my cheeks. “And she’s perfect.”
I watch like a hawk from my pillow as Jake cuts the cord. Then they check her vitals, weigh her tiny body, and measure her length. When we’re assured that she’s fine, they fold her in a blanket and hand her to Jake.
His cheeks are flushed and his eyes are beaming. He looks to me. “She’s so small.”
He walks to me and passes her. We’ve been practising our baby passing already with Evie and Jared’s baby, using our nephew as a guinea pig. So his pass is done with relative ease.
I hold my daughter in my arms as the midwife takes photos. Jake puts his arm around me as I look up at her, my smile bright enough to crack the camera lens.
Our first family photo.
“I’ll go share the news,” Jake says, eager like a little kid. “Be right back, okay?”
I spend the ten minutes he’s gone staring down at my daughter. “Little Satan, you are early and ambushed my wedding day,” I whisper. “I guess this is going to set the tone for the rest of your life, hmm?”
Jake returns. “Look who I found in the waiting room.”
He walks in and steps aside. Mitch hobbles through on a cane.
My vision blurs. “Stitch.”
A smile forces its way to his lips, but his eyes remain lifeless. “I hear I have a little niece.”
“You do.” I hold up the little bundle for his inspection as he shuffles forward. His rehabilitation includes physical therapy to help him walk again, but his lack of improvement is heartbreaking.
Jake reaches my side and takes our little bundle so Mitch can get a closer look. “Sit down so you can hold her,” he urges.
“No.” He shakes his head, staring down at my daughter. “I’m good.”
“Please,” I murmur.
Mitch huffs and stumbles into the seat by my bed. His cane clatters noisily to the floor, and my brother grunts with irritation. Jake plonks little Satan in his arms.
“We’ve named her Gabriella,” I say quietly. “Gabriella Mary.”
Mitch’s eyes close. Jake takes advantage and leaves the room, giving us a moment. “You don’t blame yourself for her … death, do you?”
“No,” I reply, but it’s a lie. I do. My mind understands that it’s Elijah Rossiter who killed her, but my heart feels differently. It’s something I’ll live with, but I’ll live with it knowing she died doing something she believed in. “Eli killed her.” And now he’s locked away, awaiting trial. “He was the one who pulled the trigger.”
Mitch opens his eyes. There’s a spark of something in them. Something I haven’t seen for a very long time. It’s resolve. The kind of resolve that sets the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.
When my brother speaks, his voice chills me to the bone. “And he’s going to pay for that with his life.”
THE END
Fighting Redemption
The End Game
The Give Me Series
Give Me Love (Book 1)
Give Me Strength (Book 2)
Give Me Grace (Book 3)
Give Me Hell (Book 4)
FIGHTING REDEMPTION
Ryan Kendall is broken. He understands pain. He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world, and from himself.
At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard he fights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.
Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.
This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.
THE END GAME
“Professional athletes are pillars of their respective communities. They are heroes in the eyes of boys and girls and are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that positively represents their community.”
The public loves a good scandal. Seeing someone fall from the pinnacle of success makes a great headline. No one knows that better than I do. What started out as a promising career in college football, spiraled into scandal and shame. But being a hero is easier said than done. Especially when there are those who expected to see the great Brody Madden fail. I craved nothing except being the best—willing to do anything to prove them wrong. But I went too far, and I tried too hard, and it broke me.
“At the time of going to print, Jordan Elliott was unavailable for comment.”I met Brody Madden in my senior year of college. An Australian native on an international scholarship, I was the female soccer sensation with stars in her eyes and no room for a hotshot wide receiver with a chip on his shoulder.But a heart bursting with ambition and a driving fire to succeed isn’t made of stone. I became his strength, his obsession, and the greatest love of his life. Only I wasn’t there when he needed me most.
This is a story about love and a game that takes everything. Where the path to glory is paved with sacrifice. Where pressure makes you, or breaks you, and triumph is born in the ashes of failure. Where two people’s end game will change everything.
GIVE ME LOVE
Evie Jamieson, a former wild child, is not only a headstrong, smart-mouthed trouble magnet, she is also a lead singer with a plan. That plan involves relocating her band, including her two best friends guitarist Henry and band manager Mac, to Sydney to kick off their dreams of hitting the big time.
Jared Valentine is the older brother of Evie’s best friend Mac and also the man determined to make Evie his. They strike up a long distance friendship which suits Evie because she’s determined to avoid the distraction of love, not only because it doesn’t fit in with her plan but because twice in the past it has left her for dead. Moving to Sydney however, has put her directly in Jared’s path and he has decided it’s the perfect opportunity to make his play.
Unfortunately Jared, co-owner in a business that ‘consults’ in dangerous hostage and kidnapping situations, makes an enemy who’s determined to enact revenge. When this enemy puts Evie in his sights, Jared not only has a fight on his hands to make her his own, but also to keep her alive.
Is accepting the love he’s so desperate to give worth the risk to both her heart...and her life?
GIVE ME STRENGTH
Quinn Salisbury doesn’t think she’s cut out for this whole living thing. Even as a young girl she struggled. Just when she thinks she’s found a way to leave her violent past behind her, the only thing that’s kept her going is ripped away, leaving her damaged and heartbroken.
Four years later, she is slowly rebuilding her life and lands a job as an assistant band manager to Jamieson, the hot new Australian act climbing their way to the top of the charts. There she meets Travis Valentine, the charismatic older brother of her boss, Mac.
From his commanding charm to his confidence and passion, Travis is everything Quinn believes is too good for her, and despite her apprehension, she finds their attraction undeniable and intense.
When her past resurfaces, it complicates their relationship. Instead of reaching out for help, Quinn pushes Travis away, until a staggering secret is revealed that leaves her fighting for her very life.
Torn between running and opening her heart to the man determined to have her, can Quinn find the strength within herself to fight for her future?
GIVE ME GRACE
Casey Daniels has a past forged in Hell. Despite the friends, the endless supply of women, and the muscle car he spent years restoring, it still eats away at him.
Grace Paterson is in Sydney as a temporary bassist for Jamieson, the band Casey handles security for. She’s also infuriating, off-limits, and complete irresistible.
A deal is struck, and despite their intense and powerful connection, both think it will be easy to walk away. But life can be more ruthless than either of them imagined. Not only does Grace have a secret she’s desperate to keep, Casey has questions from his past that he’s willing to do anything to get answers for.
It’s not until someone wants one of them dead that Casey realises his love for Grace is the one thing he could never walk awa
y from.
In a story of revenge, betrayal, secrets, and love, Casey will need to reconcile his past with his present, before the future he never knew he wanted is snatched away.
GIVE ME HELL
Mackenzie Valentine is wilful, fiery, and determined to prove she doesn’t need anyone. Desperate to break free from the over-protective parents and three older brothers who dictate her every move, she runs away at the age of seventeen to hunt down the only boy who makes her feel alive.
Jake Romero has no choice but to leave the best thing that ever happened to him, taking him down a path that leads to notorious gang, the King Street Boys. When fate throws Mackenzie back in his life, he turns her away in her time of need, knowing he now lives a life in which she doesn’t belong. Except his decision has shattering consequences, leading to secrets, lies, and the ultimate betrayal.
Years later, their lives continue to entwine, and when his past returns demanding retribution, Mackenzie intervenes and gets caught in the crossfire, leaving behind a devastation that no one sees coming. Can their relationship withstand the hell it’s endured, or is it too late for love?
Give Me Hell Page 43
