Unforgivable Sin

by Isabel Lucero

  A few minutes later we arrive at Troy’s and once we get inside, we strip off our clothes and fall into bed.

  The morning after Emilie’s birthday, I wake up early and get breakfast made for us both. I take the food back to the room and set the plates on the end tables. With one more trip, I get the coffee and orange juice brought back as well, and then I climb into the bed and start waking her up.

  “Emilie, wake up. Come on, baby. I have food waiting,” I say as I nudge on her arm.

  She groans and rolls over. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to sleep in after a night of drinking?”

  “It’s already eleven,” I say with a laugh.

  She groans again. “Too early.”

  I smack her ass. “Get up.”

  “Ahh!” she shrieks. “You’re lucky I love you, or I’d punch you in the face.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  She rolls out of bed, her hair all over the place, and stumbles into the bathroom.

  “Oh God,” I hear her exclaim.

  She peaks her head out of the bathroom. “Why didn’t you tell me I look like a crazed zombie?” She slams the door closed when I start laughing.

  After ten minutes she finally emerges from the bathroom, but her hair is combed, her makeup washed off, and her teeth probably brushed.

  “Zombie?” I ask with a smirk.

  “Yes! My hair was like a rat’s nest and my makeup was smeared all over the place. Geez. I’m surprised I didn’t scare you.”

  I laugh. “Not possible. You’re too adorable.”

  “Yeah right,” she scoffs, reaching for her plate. “Thanks for breakfast.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  After we eat as much as we can, we fall into the middle of the bed, our limbs tangled in each other’s.

  “Emilie?”

  “Hmm?” she responds, her eyes closed and her face buried in my chest.

  “Will you move in with me?”

  She jumps back and looks at me with wide eyes. “What? For real?”

  I can’t help but smile at her surprise. “Yes, for real. You practically do anyway, we might as well make it official, and I like having you here with me.”

  Emilie tackles me, pushing me onto my back; she climbs on top and kisses me.

  “Of course I will!”

  I wrap my arms around her and we kiss fervently for several minutes.

  “Emilie,” I say, as we separate. “I love you so much. I never thought I’d give my heart to anyone, and then you came along and you took it. You didn’t ask for it, you took it like you knew it belonged to you.” She giggles while her eyes start to glisten. “But you’re meant to have it. It’s yours. I’m yours. You took my heart when it was broken and unable to love and trust completely. You took it and you fixed it. I know what it is now to love and trust somebody, and I’m not afraid of it anymore.”

  She crumbles back onto my chest, tears falling onto my skin. “Oh, Troy. I don’t know how I got so lucky. I love you so much.”

  “I love you more,” I say, kissing the top of her head.

  I hear her sniffle. “Debatable.”

  “This is amazing!” I squeal as Adrienne and I walk through the suite in the hotel we’re staying at. “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

  “I know! This is spectacular,” she says as she walks onto one of the eight balconies that overlook Beverly Hills.

  “I don’t even wanna know how much this cost. I’m just glad we were able to talk them into getting just this one suite instead of two.”

  “Well, yeah. I mean, this is a fucking house! Look at all the rooms and space. We may never see each other while we’re here,” she laughs.

  Adrienne, Jace, Troy, and I are all in California for a week. Almost a month after I moved in with Troy, we all planned to take some time off and go on that trip that Jace had organized for Adrienne a while back. So after snorkeling, we set out to do some sightseeing through southern California.

  Marc, Kade, and Nico were all invited to come along and were told they could bring girlfriends, but Kade and Nico had clients already scheduled, and Marc informed us that he may meet us here later. He didn’t mention whether he’d bring someone or not, and I haven’t told anybody about Thalia, the raven haired beauty I met in his house that one night.

  Next month marks Jace and Adrienne’s one year anniversary, but they aren’t planning on getting married for at least another year. Adrienne is making sure she has everything planned perfectly for their special day, and I wouldn’t expect anything less than remarkable.

  Troy and I couldn’t be happier. We’ve moved forward together, leaving the past where it belongs, and our bond has been strengthened with everything we’ve already had to go through. When he asked me to move in with him, I knew there wasn’t anywhere else I’d rather be.

  “Hey, ladies,” Troy greets as he and Jace walk onto the balcony with us.

  “Hey,” I respond, pulling him close to me. “This view is incredible.”

  “I agree,” he responds with a chuckle.

  He’s probably amused at my excitement. I’ve been gushing over everything. I’ve never been to California before, so Adrienne and I are overly excited about almost everything we’ve seen so far.

  “They have one of the best Italian restaurants adjacent to the hotel if you guys are hungry,” Jace suggests.

  “Sounds good to me,” I chirp. “I probably need to change though,” I say, looking down at my jean shorts and flip flops.

  “We all do,” Adrienne laughs. “Meet you all in the living room!” she calls as she makes her way to her and Jace’s room.

  An hour and a half later, we’re all cleaned up and walking down to the restaurant. As we’re escorted to our table which is set underneath a glass chandelier, I think I see someone I recognize. I shake my head. Who would I know in California?

  “I’m starving to death,” Adrienne states, looking through the menu already.

  I glance behind me, trying to find the familiar face, but I don’t see it anymore. I shrug it off, and start looking at the appetizers.

  “What the hell? Is this in French?” I exclaim.

  Everybody laughs at me. “Em, this is an Italian restaurant. It’s probably Italian,” Jace replies with a smirk.

  “Oh whatever. I can’t read either language.”

  “Gli Antipasti,” he says, the Italian sounding perfect when he speaks. “Are the appetizers. Le insalate are the salads, I secondi are the main courses and I contorni are the side dishes.”

  “Stop showing off,” Troy jokes.

  “I didn’t know you speak Italian,” I say.

  Jace shrugs. “Just a little.”

  I glance over at Adrienne who’s looking at Jace like he’s a god. Well… that was our name for him. She leans over and kisses his cheek.

  “Have I told you how much I love you?” she asks with a smile.

  “Once or twice,” he responds, kissing her forehead.

  “Are we that sickening?” Troy asks in a not so hushed whisper.

  “Yes,” both Jace and Adrienne answer simultaneously.

  I laugh. “I guess so.”

  As we’re eating our Gli Antipasti which I don’t pronounce nowhere near as good as Jace, Troy’s phone vibrates loudly from within his pocket.

  “Hello?” he answers quietly.

  “Hey, man.”

  Pause.

  “Yeah, we’re having dinner now. The Four…”

  Pause.

  “Yeah. Oh really? Okay, see you soon.”

  He places the phone on the table. “Marc’s here.”

  “Here in California, or here at the hotel?” I ask.

  “On his way to the hotel. We’ll probably see him tomorrow.”

  “I wasn’t expecting him to show up,” Jace says.

  “Me either,” Troy replies. “He said he has business here.”

  “What kind of business?” Jace asks with a furrowed brow.

  “No idea.”

>   “Client?” I muse.

  “Maybe,” is Troy’s only response.

  We finish our meal, and before the bill arrives, I excuse myself to go to the bathroom. As I pass several tables, I see the same familiar face I saw earlier.

  Thalia.

  I do a double take, and as soon as I get closer, she looks up and gives me a friendly smile before looking away. It’s the same smile you give to a stranger that you make eye contact with, just to be polite. I notice a man sitting across from her, but his back is to me and I don’t see his face. When I return from the bathroom is when I’ll get a good look at him.

  When I’m returning to my table, I’m sure to walk next to their table again, but as I approach, they are just leaving. Once again, the man’s back is to me.

  I wonder if that’s her husband.

  Marc is on his way here. Does he know that she’s here? Does he know that she’s involved with someone else? Is this the business he was referring to?

  I walk behind them as they make their way to the exit and overhear bits of their conversation.

  “I’m just not sure why you felt it necessary to do that,” the man says in a stern but hushed tone.

  “Maybe because it needed to be done,” Thalia responds confidently.

  The man sighs. “You know what’s going to happen.”

  “You don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’ll find out soon enough,” she says and I can hear the amusement in her voice.

  “Only because you decided to take it upon yourself to call him,” the man says before striding off ahead of her.

  Thalia turns her head and smiles at me. “Men,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “Nice to see you again, Emilie.”

  “You too,” I say, caught off guard that she knew I was behind her for one, and that she doesn’t seem to care that I saw her with another man. “Good luck,” I say, gesturing with my head to the man who has yet to stop walking away.

  She laughs. “Thanks.”

  And then she’s gone, following behind the mysterious man in a suit.

  “Ready to go, baby?” Troy asks as soon as I get to the table.

  “I’m ready to go anywhere with you,” I say with a smile.

  He raises an eyebrow. “Even if it’s just to the room?” he asks as he stands from the table.

  “Especially if it’s to the room,” I respond with a smile.

  Jace and Adrienne pass us by. “Sickening,” she whispers playfully.

  “See you two later,” Jace calls out. “We’re heading to the lounge for a while.”

  “I have you all to myself now,” Troy says huskily as we leave the restaurant.

  “I’m all yours. Always and forever.”

  Dear Readers,

  I appreciate you taking the time to buy my book and read it. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please take a moment to leave a short review. They are very appreciated and helpful! I am currently working on book three in The Escort Series, which will be Marc’s story. I am going to work my hardest, fastest, and best on making sure his book doesn’t take forever to come out. I’m really excited to tell Marc’s story! The rest of the gang will make appearances in book three as well.

  Thank you for your support,

  xoxo – Isabel

  I’m always nervous when I write these, because I’m terribly afraid I’m going to miss someone important. The one person I will thank first, because he’s most important, is my husband.

  Thanks, baby! I’m so grateful to have you to talk to when the time comes that I’m freaking out over a scene or how the story is going to go. Talking to you about scenes or the storyline itself helps me so much. When you let me ramble on and on as I freak out over not knowing what to do, just know that’s helpful too. You are brilliant and I love you more than anything. Thank you for being you. Muah!

  Thanks to my street team members. I’m lucky to have you on my team and appreciative of all of you. Thank you so much for sharing my teasers, cover, links, page, and anything else there might have been. You ladies are awesome, funny, and I hope one day to meet you in person!

  Thank you to my beta readers, Dana Leah, Tonya Nichols, Beverly Cindy, Kizeeta Williams, Iris Rodriguez, and Nancy Godinez. I don’t know what I would have done without you. I appreciate the feedback, opinions, and help! I loved reading your messages as you were reading. I’m so glad you all loved the book. You all have been instrumental in getting me and my books out to new people. You have no idea what your dedication means to me. Beverly, I enjoyed reading your reaction to the story as you read it, and you are a superb error finder!

  To Robin Harper from Wicked by Design, I don’t know what else to say besides thank you. Thank you for being so cool to work with, for reading my crazy, ramble-filled emails and somehow figuring out what it is that I want and then making it better. You are talented, you are amazing at what you do, and you are a great person. I look forward to seeing what else we can come up with.

  Tonya, where do I start? You are amazing. When I first started this journey in the book world, I never would have imagined making a friend like you. You are always supportive and so very helpful. You are generous, kind, and selfless. In you, I have a friend I know I can be myself with, who gets my humor, and who I hope stays in my life for a long time. Thanks for being so very awesome! Thanks for your honest opinions and suggestions. Love ya, chick!

  To every single blogger who I’ve talked to, who has shared anything of mine, who has allowed me to take over you page, thank you! You all are so important to us authors and I have no idea where I’d be without your help. After Living in Sin came out, I was so lucky to have the lovely women from TotallyBooked and The Rock Stars of Romance get wind of my book and like it. Not only that, they reviewed it, they promoted it, and I give them tons of credit to earning me new readers. So, thank you, ladies! I’m forever grateful to you.

  Also, Aestas and Natasha is a Book Junkie posted about my book and presented it to all of their followers, and I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I had all four of those blogs talking about my book around the same time. Thank you!

  I have to mention a few other ladies who have been by my side for a while, who have become great friends, and wonderful people to talk to. Christina the Book B. Our conversations are always fun! Alisha May, you are so sweet and so enthusiastic over mine and my husband’s books. I love it! Lyndsey Wharton, I just love you! You’re so nice, so funny, and I love talking with you. Jo Webb, Francesca Caddell, Krystle Lane, Natalie Gilbert; the ladies who make up Four Brits And A Book, thank you! So glad you all enjoyed Living in Sin, and super happy to have gotten to know you a bit better. I appreciate all of your support.

  I can’t forget my awesome editor. Thank you so much for being so easy to work with. I love reading your notes and getting your feedback. You’re helpful and encouraging. I appreciate you so much.

  Angela, my brilliant formatter; you are amazing. I never have to worry about how the book will turn out, because I know once you are finished, it will be completely perfect on the inside. Thank you!

  If I’ve forgotten you, please forgive me! I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for buying my books, thank you for reading, spreading the word, and reaching out to me.

  Isabel Lucero is the author of The Secrets That We Keep and the Amazon bestseller, Living in Sin. She was born in a small town in New Mexico and was lucky enough to escape and travel the world thanks to her husband’s career in the Air Force. She’s been married for ten years to the love of her life and Jr. High School sweetheart. Her husband is Author W.S. Greer and together they have two of the best and most beautiful kids in the world.

  Isabel’s love for reading is anything but new, she’s been reading since before she was a teenager. She started reading books by Mary Higgins Clark and James Patterson before being catapulted into the indie author world thanks to a little somebody named E.L. James.

  She currently lives overseas and is working on book three of The Esco
rt Series. Isabel loves connecting with her readers and fans of books in general. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

  For more information about this author, you can find her at:

  https://www.facebook.com/authorisabellucero

  https://twitter.com/AuthorIsabel

  http://authorisabellucero.blogspot.com/

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7152948.Isabel_Lucero

  http://authorisabellucero.wix.com/authorisabellucero

  http://instagram.com/authorisabel

  Other books by this author:

  The Secrets That We Keep

  Living in Sin (The Escort Series #1)