Broken (Broken Trilogy Book 1)

by Drake, J. L.

“Guess I was right,” he states.

  “When did you guys get in?” I ask watching Cole’s back he still hasn’t spotted me.

  “Thirty minutes ago.” He shakes his head. “It was a rough trip. Glad we were able to come home early.”

  “Rough?”

  “Honestly, you don’t want to know.”

  I nod. I probably don’t.

  “Come on.” He tugs on my arm, making me flinch as he walks me over to Dell, Quinn and Cole my eyes scan the room for York.

  Cole looks tired but when he catches sight of me the smile that runs across his face makes my stomach warm. “Hey.” His eyes dance over me.

  “Welcome back.”

  “As promised,” he whispers so only I can hear him. I can’t help the smile that sneaks out as I take a drink.

  “You.” Keith points at me rushing up to our group. “You want to explain how you dropped off the radar this morning?”

  Fuck! I shake my head, looking around. Luckily no one is paying attention. Abigail has turned some music on and it drowns out his voice.

  Cole looks at me then at him.

  “I-I got up early went for a walk by the lake.”

  “You’re a shitty liar, Savi.”

  “Look, can we not do this now?” My eyes plead with him to drop it. I feel my goddamn eyes starting to water. Really, can someone throw me a fucking bone here?

  “Just be thankful Dell said he saw you, or there would have been a search party looking for your ass.” He suddenly steps forward giving me an unexpected hug.

  “Don’t do that again, or I’ll put a tracking chip in your arm.” I let out a long breath, then he pulls away eyeing me, then huffs and walks off.

  “Seems we missed some action while we were away,” Mark chimes in. I look up at Cole who is watching me carefully.

  “You don’t even know the half of it,” Quinn mutters. I shake my head at him. God, why won’t people talk about something else?

  “Hey, boys,” Abigail calls out, “could you help me?”

  Cole doesn’t leave; instead he moves a little closer he bends down and his mouth hovers at my ear.

  His hot breath makes me shiver.

  “There wasn’t a moment when I was gone that I didn’t think of you, Savannah. You’re like a goddamn drug that’s making me weak at the knees.” My breathing catches as my heart beats away doing a happy strum. “It’s taking every ounce of my self-control not to kiss you right now.”

  “I wouldn’t stop you,” I say before I can even think about it.

  He steps away shaking his head smiling.

  “Umm, Cole I need to—”

  “Heard you were MIA, Savi,” York’s voice makes my blood run cold. “You want to explain where you were?” My entire body is locked in place all I could do is stare at my drink.

  “What happened to you?” Cole asks, moving the attention off me.

  “Tripped, fucking cat.”

  Ha! I want to knee him again for blaming poor Scoot but my body betrays me and I stand immobile listening to his lies.

  “How’d everything go while we were away?”

  “Same shit, different day, right, Savi?” He wraps his arm around me pulling me painfully to his side grinning. “We had one of our little spats, but we made up didn’t we, pretty lady?” He makes my skin crawl.

  “Well, good,” Cole says, taking a drink of his brandy, but I see him look at York strangely. “Glad to hear it.” I try to move away but York’s fingers dig into my hip.

  “Cole,” Mike calls out, “a minute?”

  “Be right back.” Cole replies heading off to join Mike.

  No! I don’t want to be here. I want to go back to my little safe spot in the library.

  York leans in. “You speak a word of what happened last night and I’ll personally hand you over to The Cartels myself.” He kisses my temple and walks away.

  I wrap my arms around my stomach, downing the rest of my drink.

  Mark shows up handing me another, he just watches as I finish half of it in one swallow. “Mark,” I whisper, “do you have any idea when you’re going away next?”

  “Possibly next week but it’s not set in stone.”

  I feel the blood drain from my face.

  “I don’t think I can stay here.”

  Mark drops down to my eye level. “What? How can you say that? What are you talking about?” His eyes are searching mine, but I feel numb. I’m shutting down.

  “Dinner is ready,” Abigail announces.

  I turn walking toward the table.

  ***

  Everyone is deep in conversation. Paul is talking about the men they encountered at a house they cleared out.

  I, on the other hand, am very aware of York sitting directly across from me.

  Cole finally joins us sitting on my right Abigail was on my left as normal.

  Mark replaces my empty glass with another.

  My head is swimming; no food and two martinis is quite the head trip.

  “What number is that?” York asks, pointing to my martini glass.

  I lick my dry lips, picking up my glass and taking a long sip, keeping my gaze on his as I give him a silent 'fuck you.'

  Cole looks between the two of us trying to understand what is going on. Cole’s smart enough not to ask me in public.

  “So, Abigail, what time does Aunt June arrive tomorrow?” Mark asks.

  “Seven.” Her face perks up. “You’re picking her up at the bus stop right?”

  He nods.

  I want to ask if I can go along but I decide not to push my luck considering later on that evening we’ll be heading into town for Thanksgiving dinner anyway. I’m excited to see some of the town; hell, I just want to see past the first set of gates.

  “Aren’t you feeling well?” Cole is leaning over when I look up. “You haven’t touched your plate.”

  I glance down. “Just tired,” I fib, picking up my fork and popping a green bean in my mouth.

  After the table is cleared everyone moves out to the living room for drinks. I spot Dell by himself pouring a drink and I want to make my move and corner him for more details about the possible blackmail comment he let slip when Mark steps in my path.

  “You care to explain yourself?”

  “Not really.”

  “Okay, what happened while we were gone?” He waits but I can’t find the words I can’t even think up a good lie. He grabs my arm and pulls me to Cole’s office closing the door behind us then he stands crossing his arms. “I’ve got all night.”

  Ouch! “I don’t want to be here anymore,” I blurt out.

  “Bullshit,” he tosses back.

  “I don’t feel safe.”

  “Yes, you do.” His eyes narrow in on mine. “At least you did right up till we left. So what happened while we were gone?”

  I shake my head. I don’t know what to do.

  “Savannah, did someone hurt you?”

  I let out a sob and put my hand over my mouth, wanting to spill everything but scared to.

  He stands in front of me holding my arms.

  I flinch, looking away.

  “The men in this house are part of a tight group. We all have to be able to trust one another. If there is something we need to know you have to tell us before we bring any more people to this safe house.”

  Oh God. I start to cry harder.

  “He told me he’d hand me to The Cartels if I tell anyone.” The words are out before I can stop them.

  “Do you think Cole would ever let that happen? He’s my brother, and I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve seen him head over heels for a woman.”

  I feel myself blush.

  “He is one scary guy and knows a lot of dangerous people. No one in their right mind would cross him.”

  I nod but can’t help thinking, York did.

  “Okay, so that being said—” his voice suddenly changes, “who hurt you?”

  I breathe in a sharp breath. “I’ll tell you, but yo
u need to help me erase the tape. I don’t want Cole to see it.”

  “No deal, Savi, I’d get fired for that.”

  My anger rises. “Then show me where they are and I’ll do it.”

  “I can’t let you on his computer, besides Cole has the tightest security system you can buy and he has a ridiculous number of passwords.”

  Well, that I believe. “I don’t want Cole to see me like that. He may not want me—” I stop myself, shaking my head.

  “Savannah.” He grips my arms.

  This time I cry out.

  He lets go as he eyes narrow in on me. He quickly tugs at my sweater but I step back. “Savannah,” he says again and reaches over, yanking it off my shoulders.

  I try to cover up the marks, but he bats my hands away.

  “Holy fucking shit!” he snaps. He turns me to the side getting a better look at the perfect handprints then steps back running his hands through his hair and covering his mouth as he thinks. Suddenly he moves to Cole’s computer and starts typing away.

  “Please, Mark,” I beg him, “don’t.” I pull my sweater back on as I race up to the front of the desk. I knew he knew the passwords! “Mark!” He isn’t listening. “Please, please, please, stop.” Then I see his face drop. I watch in horror. It’s like watching a train heading for a car full of people who can’t get out. I know when he gets to the part where York throws me up against the wall, the color drains from his face. He slowly stands and walks toward the door I throw myself in front of it.

  “Mark, please, I promise I’ll tell Cole, just wait until after tomorrow.”

  “Savannah, please move.” His tone is eerie.

  I stare up at this 6’2” man who could easily pick me up and move me aside in the blink of an eye but he doesn’t. He’s asking me to move. I place my hands on his shoulders just as he did mine.

  “Mark, Abigail is so excited to see her sister, this will ruin the mood in the house and I’m so tired of the attention being on me. Please do nothing till after Thanksgiving dinner, do it for Abigail and the rest of the house. They deserve a break.”

  His eyes squeeze shut while he thinks.

  I think he’s going to say no but his eyes flicker open showing me he understands.

  “You have until tomorrow night. If you don’t tell him by then, I will.”

  Oh thank God. I drop my head. “Okay, yes. Thank you.”

  “Are you hurt anywhere else? Anywhere at all?” He looks so upset that I want to hug him.

  “No, I promise.” I wipe my cheeks dry wanting to reassure him. “It’s just my arms. He was drunk.”

  “So he didn’t trip over Scoot and bite his lip,” he mutters more to himself than to me.

  “No. Do you believe that he would hand me over to The Cartels?” He runs his hand over the back of his neck.

  “Fifteen minutes ago I would have said ‘Hell no’ but now after seeing that tape, I don’t know.”

  “Oh God,” I feel sick.

  “York knows all the ins and outs of this job. He knows which lines you don’t ever cross. I don’t care if he was drunk; he wasn’t too drunk to throw you against the wall or to form a complete sentence.”

  “Wait? Could you hear us?”

  “There’s no audio yet but we all lip read. I could make it out some of it.” Oh God.

  I try to let all of this sink in. “What’s going to happen to him?”

  Mark moves back to sit on the couch while I stand not knowing if I’m coming or going. Fuck, I’m so scattered!

  “Well, if Cole doesn’t kill him, which I suspect he will, he’ll be sent back to army headquarters for a psych check. They’ll want to review the tape to see if you want to press charges.”

  I feel a chill race up my spine. That is the last thing I want to do, I just want him gone.

  “This is going to be a big blow to the house, although I always knew there was something wrong with that son of a bitch.”

  “I don’t understand why he’d risk his career? He knows the cameras are all throughout the house.”

  “Cole has been upgrading the entire security system, and right before we left they were working on the cameras downstairs. They were having trouble getting them to connect to the server so they were offline for six hours. He probably thought they were still down. Fuck, I want to rip his head off right now.”

  A knock at the door had us both jumping. Keith pops his head in.

  “Is there a party I don’t about?” When he sees my face he comes in shutting the door behind him. “Okay, what’s going on?” I shoot a look at Mark who is standing up.

  “Nothing that can’t wait for a day,” he says, walking me to the door.

  Keith doesn’t buy it but doesn’t push it either and the three of us walk back to the living room where only a few people were left.

  Cole’s face relaxes into a smile when he saw us walking over to him. “Hey, where did you two run off to?”

  “Just got chatting and lost track of time,” Mark says, looking around the room. Oh God, there was York a few feet away.

  I could practically feel the rage building in Mark’s body as I see him watching York. I begin to feel even more nervous when I notice Cole watching him too, I need to think fast.

  “I’m really happy you’re all back.” And that’s what I come up with? Smooth, Savi. Cole looks down at me smiling. Well that was worth the dorky line. My stomach flutters. “I bet you’re all beat?”

  “Very.” He downs the rest of his drink.

  “Me too.”

  “Come on, I’ll walk you upstairs.” We say goodnight to everyone.

  Mark gives me an extra-long, soft hug.

  ***

  The walk up the stairs is quiet it isn’t until we are alone that he put his hand on my back such a simple act makes me feel so much better. He checks my room, like he always does, and turns on my fireplace. I close the door quietly and then join him at the fire and he stares down at me with that smile that reminds me that I’m a woman with needs.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he whispers, tucking my hair behind my ear.

  “Thank you for keeping your promise.” I close my eyes, feeling his hand running up my neck.

  He cups the back of my head, tilting it to the side so my neck is exposed. “If I get to come home to this,” his hot lips kiss me just under my ear, “I’ll promise you every time.”

  My body goes limp as his words sink in.

  He presses his lips back down as his tongue twirls in circles, chuckling between his kisses. “You have a wild heartbeat.”

  “I can’t imagine why,” I breathe. My hands move under his shirt running along his stomach. I no longer register the pain in my arms.

  His breathing changes, giving me some much needed courage.

  I let my fingers explore, Jesus this man had zero body fat! I run my fingernails around to his back making him pull back with a hiss.

  “You’re testing my self-control here.”

  I grin, happy that he’s feeling as weak around me as I am him.

  He wraps his arms around my waist pulling me to him. “I don’t want to screw this up with you. I’ve already crossed a line I should never have crossed. Call me weak, but I’m drawn to you and I’ve never felt this way before.”

  I feel like I might burst but for a good reason this time. “I haven’t either,” I whisper and pull back slightly. “The way I felt when you left and again when I saw you downstairs, well it isn’t something I’ve ever…I mean, I understand that you’re risking your reputation being here right now and I respect, well, not going public with it.”

  “Problem is,” he reaches down, lifting me into the air, pulling me against him as I wrap my legs around his waist, “I want everyone to know you’re mine.”

  I grin raising an eyebrow. “Am I now?”

  He nips at my neck playfully.

  He leans in giving me a long deep kiss.

  My legs tighten around him as my body coils with lust, then he pulls away leaving me
breathless.

  “I want you to be,” he whispers looking up at me with his deep dark eyes.

  “I want to be too,” I confess, feeling lightheaded. I lean my head back against the wall as he licks the length of neck. I moan, tilting my head to the side and squeezing his erection harder between my legs.

  He slams his hips into me growling as he sucks where my collar meets my shoulder.

  “Fuck me, Savi.” He groans as he slowly lowers me to the ground taking my hand to his mouth kissing it softly. “Get some sleep, baby.”

  My insides melt into a pool in my stomach. This man positively has me wrapped around that smile of his. God am I really ready to start a relationship with someone? Maybe I just need to stop overthinking things and let myself live a little.

  Chapter Eleven

  I change, then begin to pace the room, suddenly feeling terribly guilty for not telling Cole what happened with York. I just need one more day. God, I hope Mark keeps his word. Hearing footsteps outside my door makes me stop pacing and I can see a shadow on the floor. A soft knock makes me shiver, what if it was Cole maybe he can’t sleep either, am I ready for this? I slowly make my way over and open the door.

  Two glossy eyes stare down at me. Shit! His eyes rake over my nightgown.

  “Evening,” he purrs as I try to slam the door but he puts his foot in to stop it.

  “Move your foot, York!” I hiss, swallowing down a lump of fear. Footsteps coming up the stairs makes him look away and I shove him backward, slamming the door and locking it. Screw this! I grab a blanket off my chair and slip into the back hallway.

  ***

  Cole wakes to banging on his door, then it bursts open.

  Abigail is madly running around his room, he squints trying to catch up.

  “Where is she? Tell me she’s with you!” She’s talking a mile a minute racing into his bathroom.

  “Who?”

  “Savannah! She didn’t sleep in her bed again last night and I can’t find her anywhere?”

  That wakes him up. He jumps to his dresser, pulling on jeans and a black T-shirt.

  They both run to her room to confirm it is empty. Hearing voices coming from downstairs Cole runs out the door. With Abigail on his heels he flies down the stairs and races into the kitchen.