The Battlefield Series 1: Let It Go (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
Page 1
The Battlefield Series 1: Let It Go
Winding up in Repose, Texas is the best wrong turn Brooklyn ever made in her life. She’s had it tough and never could rely on any man after a tragic childhood and nearly ending up in jail from lies her ex created to make her take the fall for his crimes. She fought to survive yet another man’s desire to hurt her and pursues her own dreams far, far away. Brooklyn’s new business venture, the Filling Station, is becoming a gold mine in Repose. She’s ready to expand to accommodate her adoring customers, but one of the head board members in town won’t give his approval. That is, until he and his brothers meet her in person and realize she could be the woman to fill their empty hearts. Only thing is, Brooklyn isn’t accepting the town rules, nor has she learned to let go of the past or the harm she thinks all men are capable of. The Cartwright brothers just might have to prove to her how different they really are and how the power of a ménage can heal old wounds, even the deep ones.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Romantic Suspense
Length: 49,546 words
THE BATTLEFIELD SERIES 1: LET IT GO
Dixie Lynn Dwyer
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
THE BATTLEFIELD SERIES 1: LET IT GO
Copyright © 2016 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer
E-book ISBN: 978-1-68295-307-5
First E-book Publication: June 2016
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2016 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
If you have purchased this copy of The Battlefield Series 1: Let It Go by Dixie Lynn Dwyer from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.
The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is Dixie Lynn Dwyer’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Dixie Lynn Dwyer’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
Dear readers,
Thank you for purchasing this legal copy of The Battlefield Series 1: Let It Go. Everyone has a story to tell. A troubled past, scars that run deep, secrets that could get anyone close to them killed. Some have survived the unthinkable, and the lasting effects make them close up their hearts, throw up their shields and swear to never trust, forget ever love again. Brooklyn is one of these people. By freak chance she finds a place, a new start in Repose Texas. She’s determined to put the bad done to her behind her and focus on her new life, a new endeavor and be the best person she can be. She learns to give to others, to help those down and out, or who just need a helping hand. Those bonds she makes will last forever. The last thing she ever thought could happen was that this place Repose, and a group of people, plus four amazing men, would help her heal, learn to trust again, and even learn to give love and receive love without fear or intimidation.
Life is a battlefield and surviving it is an adventure all its own. May you enjoy Brooklyn’s story and the first book in my new series.
Happy Reading.
Hugs!
~Dixie~
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
About the Author
THE BATTLEFIELD
SERIES 1:
LET IT GO
DIXIE LYNN DWYER
Copyright © 2016
Prologue
“He was a no-show again?” Amber asked Brooklyn.
Brooklyn exhaled and tossed her purse and the small leather briefcase onto the bar. She pushed her long brown hair behind her shoulder and shook her head.
“I don’t get it. I’ve done everything by the book. The Filling Station has been open for the better part of a year and business is booming. It’s been an asset to this community, which I’m always looking out for, so why can’t this guy Finnian Cartwright just show up at the damn meeting? I mean, come on. Who the hell is this guy anyway?” she asked.
Amber placed a club soda with lime down in front of her boss. Brooklyn gave her a small smile in appreciation. She was a good employee. All her employees were, and they were all local. When she got to Repose, Texas, after taking a wrong turn off the highway, she never expected to find it as her final destination after a long, hard journey of soul-searching and commitment to making a new life, a better life than she’d had for the past twenty-seven years.
She took a sip from her drink and glanced around the bar. It was slowly getting busy with the lunch crowd. The bar had its regulars. Johnny O’Shay, Tucker Lawrence, and old Coon Dog, as his friends liked to refer to him. She chuckled. Never in a million years would she have thought she would end up in Texas, and surely not a town like Repose. She should have been turned off by the dominant males and the constant idea that women need men to watch over them. Any man who ever watched over her wanted up her skirt. Been there, done that, and got the scars to prove it. She exhaled as her chest tightened just thinking about Kevin Perkins. Asshole.
“So what are you going to do now? I mean, what did the rest of the committee say?” Amber asked.
�
�The same shit like always. He’s away on business but we’ll reschedule.” She rolled her eyes.
“How about the rest of the committee? Anyone backing him and not wanting to approve the addition to the place?”
“As far as I can tell, they all seem on board, and all of them except Finnian Cartwright have been in here. So they know the place needs more room. I heard all about how Mrs. Weathers waited over an hour for a table for two with her husband Chuck,” she said sarcastically and Amber laughed.
“Well, thanks to your recipes, a super great menu, and your friend Dominick, this place will continue to be jam-packed all the time.”
Brooklyn gave her a smile.
She ran her finger along the rim of the glass as she sat there in her dress skirt and blouse. She made sure she looked professional and classy every time they scheduled a committee meeting. If this continued, she was going to have to talk to the mayor of Repose, Charlie Bennett. Now that man was a good-looking guy, and apparently good friends with this Finnian character.
“I just don’t get it. He’s a Cartwright. His grandparents are the ones that sold me the old gas station and store. It was run-down and falling apart. I saved so much of the materials and memorabilia from the place, and not only because I thought it added character. I wanted to preserve history. This town is filled with it.”
Amber gave her a sympathetic smile as Brooklyn looked around the bar and at the area within view. She had old pictures on the walls of the Cartwright family and other members who had established the town and maintained the gas station that she’d turned into a successful restaurant and bar. She’d incorporated the old tin advertising signs from the 1920s and even incorporated materials into the walls left from the old place. Like the heavy-duty tool chests that now held utensils, condiments, and other items customers might need while eating. She exhaled and then looked toward the doorway that led to the dining area. Carina was standing there and waving her over.
“Dominick needs you a minute,” she said.
Brooklyn waved back and then stood up.
“Want me to take these things into the office for you?” Ledger, one of her main bartenders, asked her. She smiled.
“If you have a minute. I’ll be in the kitchen,” she said and nodded her head that way. Ledger was an attractive young guy, a soldier she hired before the place was even up and running. He knew a lot of other soldiers who needed work and was able to grab some extra hands when the construction was going on. Maybe that was another reason why Cartwright was avoiding her. Maybe he was pissed off because she didn’t use his family’s construction company. Then again, they did high-end construction and she was on the low end of a budget she went over and was still making up for. She walked through the small hallway and into the kitchen.
“Brooklyn!” a couple of the chefs called out, making her chuckle. She supposed it was that kind of name and people always liked calling it out. It sounded tough from what they explained. She raised her hand up and laughed.
“What’s up, guys? All set for the lunch crowd?” she asked them, and they gave waves and smiles and, of course, a few of them whistled at her outfit and flirted.
“Cool it. She’s the boss,” Dominick stated seriously and they all stopped and went back to work. Dominick was a great guy. In his thirties, a talented chef and short-order cook who served in the Army for twelve years. He’d kind of taken on the role of protector of her, along with Ledger, who felt like he owed her his life for giving him a job when no one else would. They were trustworthy men.
She swallowed hard. Her gut clenched at the thought in her head. Maybe they weren’t, maybe they were? She just wasn’t certain.
That’s how badly Kevin had fucked with her head. That was two years ago. She hoped she was over it and the idea that she needed a man in her life to make life perfect.
“Was Finnian there?” Dominick asked her as he prepared the baby back ribs.
She shook her head and reached for a carrot and popped it into her mouth. She crossed her arms in front of her chest as Dominick exhaled.
“I don’t get him. I’ve known Finnian and his brothers for years. I know they’ve been away a lot, but they got home two days ago. He should have been there this morning. Did they give another date?”
“The end of the week, and it better not be another waste of time or I’m going to go see Charlie Bennett.”
He raised his eyebrow up at her. “You don’t want to go pissing off a Cartwright. They can be pretty mean sons of bitches when someone messes with them. They have a lot of pull in this town, for obvious reasons, but they’re also protective of it and its residents.”
“I’m a resident. I got the whole ‘welcome to Repose, you’re a single woman and we got rules’ spiel. I got it all. So what’s with the cold shoulder? I don’t understand.”
“You haven’t been playing by the town rules fully, either.” He raised one of his eyebrows up at her again and gave her an expression like it was her fault.
“I don’t need a guardian or guardians watching over me, directing me, or advising me.”
“Why are you so adamant about it?”
“I don’t need a man or men trying to weasel their way into my life, into my pockets, or into my bed.”
He stared at her. “Someone hurt you real good. I get that, and if you ever confided in me about who he is and if he is still alive, I’d go mess his shit up good for hurting you.”
She gave a soft smile.
“No need for that. I was replaced before my feet were out the door. I just know what I want in life, that’s all. It took me many years to get my shit together and my patience for men who have no respect for women and who use their name, their power, and their authority to get what they want and play the system get no respect in my book. Met too many men like that in my life. If this Finnian guy doesn’t show up at the next meeting, I’m going above him. He’s given me no real choice.”
“Your bark is bigger than your bite. You’re just pissed off right now and I don’t blame you. Take it from me and don’t let this get under your skin or deter you from getting what you want and what you deserve. Maybe he will show at the end of the week. Besides, you’ve got time. You haven’t even scheduled any companies to come give estimates for work or met with any engineers to design what you want to do. Take your time and don’t let what that dick from your past did to you make you be someone you’re not.”
She smiled at Dominick. He was a big guy who played football in high school and chose to enter the military instead of going semi-pro. She always got the feeling that he’d been through hard times and had his own battles. One thing she was learning about the people she’d met so far in Repose was that a lot of them were or had been through the battlefield in different ways—some through active combat and others through life—and it seemed they all had scars to show from it.
Chapter 1
“Zeke, you going out tonight? We’re heading to the Filling Station. Going to order some burgers and wings, have a few beers, and then hit the bar.”
Zeke stared at Coaster a moment and then shook his head. He really did want to go but his damn brother was being an idiot about not setting foot in Grandpa’s old gas station. It wasn’t even the same place anymore. Hell, it looked fantastic and his curiosity was getting the better of him. He knew the second he walked into that place his brother would find out and Finnian would be all over him.
“Your brother needs to give up his protest against that place. It isn’t, and never was, his place. Besides, he didn’t do a thing with it in how many years?” Coaster said and shook his head.
The Chief of Police, Cesar, stood by his door.
“Your brother duff out on the meeting with Brooklyn the other day?” he asked.
“What do you think?” Zeke replied and rested his hand on his holster.
“He doesn’t know what he’s missing. The place is awesome, and the food incredible,” Coaster told them.
“The owner is hot, don’t forget that,�
�� one of the other officers called out. They chuckled. Zeke had heard all about the hot chick from New York named Brooklyn. He’d caught a glimpse of her only a handful of times when she came into town. She usually wore dark sunglasses, but there was no mistaking she had a sexy figure on her. Most of the guys hung out there because they said she was so sweet and really friendly. It just pissed Finnian off even more to know how much people loved the Filling Station—and the owner, to boot.
“Your parents even go there, so I don’t understand what Finnian’s problem is. He needs to get over the loss of the place and just be happy Brooklyn kept a lot of the memorabilia and really held on to the town’s history. That says a lot when it comes from a stranger with no real ties to Repose, don’t ya think?” Cesar asked and then turned around and headed into his office.
Coaster and the other guys went back to work and Zeke did the same. He wondered if his brother could just realize and admit that he was never going to renovate the old gas station and surely wouldn’t have turned it into the establishment this woman did. He would also need to stop saying the woman was an outsider leeching off the history and the likability of deep family bloodlines of Repose and the nice folk who couldn’t see through her scam to make money off of them. God, Finnian was paranoid, and he was so hung up on being on top and in control of everything in this town, and keeping Repose a nice, quiet family town that protected their own, that he couldn’t accept progress. He was used to getting things done his way and when he wanted them done. Brooklyn basically came in here, talked their grandparents into selling the old dump of a gas station, and turned it into a gold mine. Truth was, Zeke couldn’t wait to meet her for real.