Sinner (Shelter Harbor #1)

by Aubrey Irons

  Standing in a dive bar with an angel in my arms.

  Epilogue

  Evangeline

  Faith is a funny thing. It’s not always right in front of you, or obvious, and it’s not really ever a tangible thing. It’s not always written in the pages of a holy book, or spoken from a pulpit, or preached in a sermon.

  Sometimes, faith is just whatever we choose to hold onto inside our hearts.

  Belief is another funny one. Because what is belief, if not what we choose to put our, well, our faith into?

  And then the whole thing comes back around — one big wheel of “too big to really think about.” But I guess that’s the point — belief, faith, a higher power? The point of the whole thing is that you don’t have to think at all.

  You just have to feel it.

  It’s faith and belief, and just knowing those things that brought my mother around to finally seeing through my father’s zealotry that day at the house. It’s not thinking, but just knowing, and finally feeling that the life she’d been cornered into was not her own that made her act.

  Or maybe it’s just that her love for me finally outweighed the fear my father had put into her all those years.

  Leonard did not go quietly into that good night. While Rowan was still at the airport looking for me, and before I went over to O’Donnell’s, he came to the Hammond house, a gun in one hand and a Bible in the other. He screamed scripture, called down the smiting hand of God, and demanded that his “traitorous wife” and “Babylonian whore of a daughter” come out, until Rowan’s father finally stepped outside and quietly filled him in on Massachusetts’s fairly strict policies on non-licensed gun possession.

  He left soon after that, and neither my mother or I have heard from him since.

  It’s been two years.

  My mother was a wreck, for a long time, actually. There were times she went into panic mode, where she was convinced she’d made a horrible mistake and that she had to find a flight back to Georgia to beg my father’s forgiveness.

  Slowly though, she’s stopped thinking that way.

  She stayed in Shelter Harbor, and she splits her time now between an administrative position at Jacob’s Congregationalist church, and as a baker at Mrs. Wilshire’s shop downtown.

  I’ve honestly never seen her happier.

  She smiles now — truly smiles, and I think that alone is worth whatever crap she had to go through to finally get away from my father.

  Leonard did go back to Christ Redeemer Township, and back to his precious Grace Church of Salvation and Divine Retribution. So did Chastity.

  There’s a rumor I’ve heard through a very convoluted grapevine that they’re romantically attached now.

  The Lord works in very mysterious ways.

  In case it wasn’t ridiculously obvious, I also stayed in Shelter Harbor. I mean, it’d be strange if I hadn’t, seeing as my husband lives here, right?

  Rowan and I were married nine months after the night it all shattered and then came back together, in a small ceremony on the beach with family and friends. Kyle took a ministries course online and performed the ceremony, with his father grinning over his shoulder.

  No churches. That was actually my request.

  But I don’t want that to suggest I somehow lost my faith or turned from religion, because that’s not the case. I think it’s just that I’d spent so long seeing the worst aspects of faith — the blind kind of faith.

  The kind of faith that’s a penance rather than a celebration, and I guess that’s just not the sort of faith I choose to believe in anymore.

  Jade took over the apartment above the bar, and Rowan and I moved into a small house near the beach, just outside town. I enrolled in a part-time graduate program in social work at the University of Massachusetts, and Rowan continues to steer the ever-divey, ever more and more popular O’Donnell’s on its steady course.

  Gus continues to come to Thursday night trivia.

  “Pass the garlic, won’t you, honey?”

  I smile as I turn in the kitchen of the Hammond house, reaching for the minced garlic and passing it to Irene, who’s manning her stove like a captain at a ship.

  We’re all here for Sunday dinner — Rowan, Kyle, Silas and Stella’s son Carter are setting the big wooden table outside in the backyard. Sierra, Ivy, and Vivian are gabbing about something or another out on the porch. I’m in the kitchen with my mother, Irene, Jacob, and Stella.

  “Oh, did you want a glass, Eva?”

  I look up and quickly smile and shake my head at Stella’s offer for wine. “Oh, no thanks. I’ll wait for dinner.”

  I go back to slicing tomatoes before I stop and do my best to hide the grin as I glance up out the kitchen window at my husband outside — laughing as he hoists his nephew Carter up in the air.

  I am waiting for dinner, but it’s not for wine.

  …It’s so we can tell the whole family about the brand new little Hammond that’ll be arriving in a few months’ time.

  We’re naming her Faith.

  Irene announces dinner being ready, and the whole lot of us smile, laugh, and help as we all move out to the dinner table in the backyard. Wine is poured, food is passed, jokes are told, and announcements are made that bring the whole table to its feet in cheers, hugs, and congratulations.

  We’re all here, and if there’s one thing I know just sitting at that table that we can all believe in, it’s love. Because as long as you believe in love, everything else will sort itself out.

  And that’s all I need, a belief in love.

  Well, and a little Faith, of course.

  The End.

  Additional Content

  Thanks for picking up Sinner, and I hope you enjoyed! As a thank you, I’ve included some extra goodies on the following pages!

  If you scroll on, first, you’ll find a four chapter preview of Thief: A Second Chance Romance, which is getting a re-release on January 9th, 2017 with a brand new cover and previously deleted content.

  Thief - Ivy and Silas’s story - is the technical “book 1” of the Shelter Harbor series, and takes place before the events of Sinner. But again, just so you’re not worried, the books in this series are totally stand alone stories, and are absolutely meant to be read in any order!

  After the sneak peak of Thief in the follow pages, you’ll find two completely full-length previous books of mine - again, as a thank you for picking up this new release! Rivals: An Enemies To Lovers Romance, as well as Heat: A Second Chance Romance both follow the special teaser of Thief.

  Thanks again for reading!

  -Aubrey Irons

  Also by Aubrey Irons

  Sports Romance:

  Score: A Stepbrother Sports Romance

  Player: A Secret Baby Sports Romance

  Jock: A Secret Baby Sports Romance

  Rivals: An Enemies To Lovers Romance

  Shelter Harbor Series:

  Thief: A Second Chance Romance

  Sinner: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance

  Saint: A Second Chance Mob Romance (coming February 2017)

  Standalone Stepbrother Romance:

  Secret: A Military Stepbrother Romance

  Cockney: A British Stepbrother Romance

  Crude: A Stepbrother Romance

  Soldiers of Fortune Series:

  Heat

  Burn

  Scorch

  Roar

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  About the Author

  Aubrey Irons enjoys writing about bold, sassy, and intelligent women and the dominant, cocky, and quite typically forbidden alpha males who love and lust for them; gripping stories, happy endings, and enough heat to keep things extra steamy!

  In the real wor
ld, Aubrey is kept plenty entertained by her own tattooed Marine husband, their precocious and adorable three year old, and one very ill-behaved puppy.

  To find more of Aubrey’s books on Amazon,

  Click here!

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  www.aubreyirons.com

  AubreyIronsAuthor@gmail.com

  Four Chapter Preview - Thief: A Second Chance Romance

  A Shelter Harbor Novel

  Silas Hart has always taken what he wants. Now he wants me. Again.

  He’s a thief. Always has been, always will be. When we were kids, he taught me how to pick locks and pockets.

  And then we got older, and we learned to open doors to places we never should have gone.

  Eight years ago, he stole the kisses from my lips, and I gave him everything. And then my thief stole my heart.

  But he also stole a lot of money for some very bad people, and then the boy I knew disappeared.

  Now we’re both back in Shelter Harbor, but Silas is no boy.

  He’s a man. A hardened, cocky, demanding, very grown-up man.

  A man who looks at me like he wants to steal me away again. Like he wants to take me, like he wants to make me lose my mind and scream his name. Just like I used to.

  But I’m not that wide-eyed girl anymore. He left nearly a decade ago, and I don’t give a damn what Silas Hart thinks.

  There’s just one problem...

  Did I mention we’re still married?

  Copyright © 2016 Aubrey Irons

  Editor: Ellie McLove, Love N Books

  Formatting: Vellum

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, organizations, actual events or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademark status of products referred to in this book and acknowledges that trademarks have been used without permission.

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used for review purposes.

  This book is intended for mature, adult audiences only. It contains sexually explicit and graphic scenes and language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please do not continue reading this book of you are under the age of 18 or are offended by content of this nature.

  All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older and are in no way blood relations. All acts of a sexual nature are completely consensual.

  To my daughter. We can’t wait to meet you…

  Prologue

  Silas

  There’s blood on my hands.

  They’re twisting in my lap as I sit there breathing heavily in the dark of my uncle’s truck. Rain drums like bullets across the roof, pouring in sheets across the windshield.

  “Fuck,” Declan mutters in the driver’s seat, dropping his phone into his lap. “They’re onto the hit, kid. It’s all over the police scanners.”

  Shit.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  My heart’s hammering, the pain throbbing in my side from the crash.

  “Don’t worry, kid, I’m gonna help you outta this.”

  I look up through the rainy windshield, through the glass front doors of the hospital. I can see her crying, her family around her. Huddled, hurt, and broken.

  Because of me.

  Because of the job gone wrong - the one her brother never should’ve been on. I can still feel the sting of her words from twenty minutes ago, slicing right through me. Slicing me in half.

  “Why did you go?” Her eyes are pleading as she looks up into my face, tears running down hers. “Why’d you do the job?”

  I have no real answer, because I don’t know. Maybe because I’m young and stupid, and I wanted to be able to give her the kind of life she’d want - that kind of life she deserves.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I asked you not to, Silas,” she’s crying now. “I begged you not to do it.”

  It doesn’t matter that I was there to stop her brother - my best friend - from making the mistake of his life. Because he was only there because of me in the first place.

  This is my fault.

  “Ivy-”

  Jacob steps forward, moving between me and his daughter. “You need to get away from her, right now.”

  “Sir-”

  The reverend’s jaw tightens beneath his thick beard, his eyes twitching with rage. “You aren’t welcome here, Silas.”

  Irene steps forward, her hand on her husband’s arm as she dabs tears from her face. “Jacob-”

  “No.” He shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “Get out.”

  I’m reeling, the world rocking beneath my feet. I’m face-to-face with the only family I’ve ever really known, and I can see the pain and the hurt I’ve caused across every single one of their faces.

  I turn to Ivy, but she shakes her head.

  “You should go,” she says softly.

  It’s the last words we speak to each other.

  And now I’m watching the aftermath of paths taken and choices made. I’m living with the outcome of going on the fucking job for Declan I never should’ve gone on - the job I only did go on because I found out Rowan had taken my place when I’d backed out the first time.

  I couldn’t have that.

  I’m already lost, but my best friend has his whole life ahead of him.

  Or did, until I just wrapped our car around a guardrail fleeing the scene of a crime I helped commit. Until I dragged him out of that wreck and carried him on my back to the hospital, his leg bloodied and raw, mumbling that he was sorry.

  Declan pats my shoulder. “Uncle Declan’s got your back, kid.” He shoves an envelope into my hands.

  It’s an Irish passport.

  I look up at him, my face caving. “What?”

  “All expense paid trip to the old country, kid. Ireland.” He chuckles as he pulls a cigarette from the pack on the dash.

  “Well, not all expenses.” He grins at me as he lights the smoke. “Nothing in this world is free unless you take it, ain’t that right, nephew?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Got some people we’re friendly with over in Dublin.” He gives me a hard look. “You’re going to be working for them now.”

  “I’m leaving?” I shake my head, my eyes narrowing at him. “No. No fucking way.”

  Declan cocks his head. “Kid, you robbed an armored truck.”

  “You set up the job!”

  He shrugs. “Yeah, well nobody told you to pop a bullet in the driver’s arm, did they?”

  I can feel my blood pumping like fire, my breath coming raw. “I told you, that was Sean.” I swallow. “Dec, I was just the getaway driver.”

  “Just the driver.” Declan snorts. “Oh, yeah, they’ll love that.” He gives me a hard look. “Sean just got picked up, by the way.”

  Oh, fuck.

  “You shot a guard, kid.” He holds his hand up. “Doesn’t matter who pulled the trigger, you were there, and every fucking cop in the state’s going to be out for your balls.”

  His eyes narrow at me. “You got one chance to dodge the heat, Silas. You get to Dublin, you sit tight with my people, and you let this simmer down.”

  Holy shit. I’m going to Ireland. I’m leaving Shelter Harbor.

  “What about-” I look at the front door of the hospital. She’s still crying inside, rocking in her older sister Stella’s arms.

  “You stick ‘round, you’re going to jail for a very long time my friend.”

  “I didn’t shoot that guard,” I say quietly, still staring straight ahead through the rain at the one good thing in this world that I’ve ever known.

  “Don’t matter. Leave town, go t
o Dublin, and we’ll put those talents of yours to good use until this dies down.”

  “When.”

  “Tonight.”

  My head jerks around, my jaw dropping.

  “There’s a ship of mine leaving from the Dorchester docks down in Boston in about five hours.” He cracks the window an inch and flicks his cigarette out.

  “You gotta go now. I’ll get one of my guys to drive you.”

  I turn back, my heart shattering in my chest as I lock eyes on her - the only thing that’s ever mattered.

  The thing I’m about to walk away from.

  “But what about-”

  “Forget her, forget that family.”

  Declan turns the truck on.

  “Believe me kid, they’re already forgetting you.”

  Chapter One

  Ivy

  The boat rocks with the motion of the waves, heaving slightly in the current as we motor around the breakers at the mouth of the harbor.

  I smile as I breathe in the sea air - the smell of salt brine and the cool edge of the Atlantic breezing across the bow of the ferry where I stand. You don’t get this kind air in New York City, which is fine in a way, because there’s a reason I left all this years ago.

  There’s a reason I left Shelter Harbor.

  I take another big lungful of New England air as I crack open the little nip of vodka I picked up at Logan International. I dump it into the tiny plastic cup of ice I got from the booze-free snack bar below deck and bring it to my lips, regardless of the late-morning hour.

  Sometimes going home requires a little fortification.