The Maxwell Series Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Alexander, S. B.

  His eyebrows rose as he sucked in air, and he grinned. I reached up and traced one of his dimples.

  “Put your fingers back where they were,” he protested.

  “Later.” I lifted up on my tiptoes and brushed my lips over his. “I’ll show you how magical my hands can be.”

  He growled as he bit my lower lip. “You’re mine. You know that.” Then he threaded his fingers through my hair, kissed me hard, wet, and fast, leaving me breathless before he stalked away. I rubbed my lips as I jumped into my car and headed home. I felt his anger and jealousy in that kiss, but I didn’t have time to soothe his doubts. I was going to see him tonight anyway. We’d planned to meet for dinner to celebrate. Actually, Becca, the triplets, Kade, and I were supposed to go to Wiley’s Bar and Grill.

  When I got home, I shoved aside any lingering signs of bad mojo before I walked into the house.

  “Dad? Dad? Where are you?” I headed straight to his office first.

  “I gotta run.” His voice spilled out into the hall.

  I poked my head around his office door, smiling.

  “Sweet Pea, you look happy. Did you make the team?” He circled around to the front of his desk. His eyes were wide, his smile wider.

  I ran in and jumped in his arms like I was six years old again. “I can’t believe it,” I said, locking my hands around his neck.

  “I’m so proud of you, Sweet Pea. So, so proud.” He hugged me back.

  Tears flowed. I didn’t care either. We’d been through so much, and the tightness of his hug told me he was just as relieved as I was. I never wanted to disappoint my father. He was a great man and a great father.

  “I have some news for you.” He set me down, searching my face with his watery eyes. “You and I have an appointment with Dr. Davis this afternoon.”

  My mouth opened.

  “I want us to work together to heal, Lacey. I love you, and I don’t want my pain to hurt you. I’m not promising this will be easy for you or me. But we have to move on with our lives. And we’re stuck in a place that isn’t healthy for us.”

  I threw my arms around him again. This time I cried harder than I had a few minutes ago.

  “We’ll leave in ten minutes,” he said.

  I peeled away my wet face, kissed him on the cheek, and went up to my room. This day had been filled with so much emotion, and while making the baseball team was one of the best things to happen to me, my dad getting help bested that.

  I freshened up and changed into one of my new miniskirts. I chose the black-layered lace one with black tights and my simple black flats. For a top I went with a soft pink fitted knit one with a shirred bodice. If my dad could seek help, then I could wear a skirt. He’d wanted me to dress up like a girl once in a while. What better day than today to show him?

  When I met him at the car he smiled again. I loved to see him happy.

  “My beautiful Lacey,” he said as we got into the car. “It’s been years since I’ve seen you in a skirt.”

  The last time anyone had addressed me like that was Mom. I’d been “Sweet Pea” to Dad. Maybe he was opening his heart to heal.

  “You’ve seen me in ball gowns, Dad,” I reminded him.

  “Not the same. Julie would fall off her chair too.”

  I swallowed, putting my fingers over my mouth. Did he just say my sister’s name?

  “You can breathe, Sweet Pea.”

  Every ounce of adrenaline drained from me as we drove to Dr. Davis’ office. I thought about where I started, close to a year ago. Actually, the funeral had been in early January. Immediately afterward, the nightmares began along with anxiety attacks, panic attacks, and blackouts. Now nine months later I still had all those symptoms of PTSD, but I knew with Dad getting help, my new friends, and Kade, I could handle life a little better. Would I ever overcome PTSD? Maybe with time. Maybe if I had closure with Julie and Mom’s deaths.

  For now, I had a guy who loved me and opened my heart to love again. I was going to play baseball again, and Dad was on the road to recovery. I couldn’t ask for much more out of life.

  Dare to Kiss Playlist

  Music tells a story, defines a mood, makes you laugh, cry, dance, scream at the top of your lungs and most of all it grabs your soul. When I write, music does all that to me. It helps to define my characters and their moods.

  “We Don’t have to Look Back” by Puddle of Mud.

  “All of me” by John Legend

  “Bound to You” by Christina Aguilera

  “Gone to Soon” by Daughtry

  “Broken Ones” by Jacquie Lee

  “Drops of Jupiter” by Train

  “Say Something” by A Great Big World

  “Not Ready to Make Nice” by The Dixie Chicks

  “Life in the Pain” by SafetySuit

  “Demons” by Imagine Dragons

  Who are you?

  By Wendy Kupinewicz

  Who are you? Wait, do you know?

  Are you defined by where you go?

  Or what you say, or wear, or be?

  Or where you live or what you see?

  Or what you drive or what you need?

  Or what you want or what you read?

  If you changed what’s at your core,

  Would those who love you, love you more?

  Would you love you differently?

  Would you see the you they see?

  Maybe not and maybe so.

  Perhaps less is more, you know?

  So…

  Love those we love for love alone.

  Increase our kindness, soften tone.

  Be ourselves, and soldier on.

  Keep living ‘til the life is gone.

  Be proud of all you are and do.

  I love you all for being YOU!

  Wendy, thank you for allowing me to use this poem. There’s so much meaning to every word and every line. You’re an inspiration, a poet and a great friend.

  Dare to Dream

  Dedication

  To all my readers and fans, thank you for taking this journey with me.

  Chapter 1

  Kade

  Kelton, Hunt, and I sat in the bleachers in Gary’s Gym, waiting for Kross’s boxing match to begin. My gut twisted into a big knot as though someone had pried open my stomach, stuck in their hand, and squeezed like a motherfucker. Lacey had flown to California for the weekend with her old man. Something about her trip had me on edge. The apprehension was almost as strong as the feeling that had rolled through me when I’d come home to the blue-and-red flashing lights of a cop car and an ambulance parked in the driveway and two medics wheeling away my younger sister’s dead body. I gripped my phone hard as I tried to conjure up images of life rather than death.

  Lacey.

  She was the only one who could take me to a place where the world was perfect, where nothing else mattered. A place where there was no pain, no hate, no nightmares—just her and me and the sanctity of our world. I pictured her naked with my fingers tangled in her long wavy brown hair, her legs wrapped around me, our bodies pressed together in a heated passion, getting lost in each other. Yeah, that image usually erased the bad. God, I loved that girl. I needed her. She was sunshine. She was my future.

  People started to fill the gym, a spacious facility in Boston that hosted amateur night on Fridays. The place reminded me of a high school gym with bleachers, hoops, and mats stacked neatly in a corner. Even the air had a hint of sweat.

  “You alive?” My brother Kelton nudged me in the ribs. “Is your dick hard thinking of Lacey? She’s only been gone a day, man. That’s one of the reasons why I won’t do love. I hate seeing the pain on your ugly mug when you’re away from her.”

  One day was far too long. Even when I couldn’t see
her on weekends for one reason or another, it drove me crazy. She was like a drug for me. The image of her naked body fell away, and with it the high I usually got when I thought of her.

  Lacey hadn’t been back to California since she buried her sister and her mom, and I was worried about how she was going to react when she visited their gravesite. I was afraid her PTSD would relapse. Her symptoms had diminished over the last six months, thanks to her psychiatrist. But more importantly, the cops still hadn’t found the perp who murdered her family.

  I eyed Kelton, who sat on my left. “Fuck off, man.”

  He was shaking his shaggy black head of hair back and forth, and I wanted to slap the disgusting expression off his face. He was the cockiest of the triplets with a strong infallibility complex. I worried constantly that he’d be the first of us to die. Fear never resonated in him. At times I envied him. He approached situations with strength and purpose—something I tried to do, except with a little more caution.

  I checked my phone again, waiting for Lacey to return my calls. I’d gotten a text from her when she landed early this morning, but that was it.

  “She’ll call, dude,” Hunt said from my right. “She’s probably catching up on sleep after her red-eye.”

  I rubbed my temple with my free hand. A headache was beginning to make an ugly appearance.

  “Your headaches back?” Hunt asked in a voice so low I barely heard him.

  I checked on Kelton to make sure he hadn’t heard the question. Thankfully, he was fiddling with his phone. I didn’t want any of my brothers or my father to know my migraines were back. They’d worry, and then I’d be in the hospital getting my brain scanned again.

  “Later.” I narrowed my eyes as I zeroed in on the scar over his left eye. The one he’d gotten sparring with Kross. Maybe he wanted another one to match.

  Kelton cocked his head toward Hunt and me. “What are you two talking about?”

  “Hunt is making predictions. He thinks you’re going to break your vow of not falling in love.” I was quick on the draw.

  “I’ll be in the pits of hell before I say those three words,” Kelton said with a serious expression. “And even then I’ll be telling the devil I love him before some chick.”

  “Man, I’d pay big money to see that.” Hunt chuckled, his deep voice breaking through the soft hum of voices around us.

  “Is your heart still broken from Lizzie leaving?” I couldn’t resist. At thirteen years old, the boy had pouted for weeks that one summer in Texas when Lizzie Reardon moved away.

  “Blow me. Both of you.” He shifted his gaze forward as he growled.

  Hunt and I cracked up. It felt good to release some of my anxiety.

  “Laugh it up, big bro. And when that sexy girl of yours drives a stake through your heart, I’ll—”

  I slapped the back of his head. “Don’t use Lacey and ‘stake’ in the same sentence.” Could we break up? Sure. Would we? Hell, no.

  “What the fuck are they doing here?” Kelton snarled.

  I followed his line of sight to the bleachers on the other side of the ring and saw Sullivan and Seever. My body immediately tensed again. I couldn’t catch a fucking break. I almost jumped off the top row of the bleachers, stalked across the gym, plucked Greg Sullivan down from his high horse, and rammed my fist into his face to end the feud we had going on. But I had two problems. One, Hunt had a tight grip on my arm, holding me back, and two, if I did end it, that meant someone would get hurt or die. I couldn’t handle any more death, not even my enemy’s.

  “Easy, man. In due time,” Hunt said then released his hold.

  Sullivan nodded at me as he sat down. The harsh gym lights made his dark hair look even greasier than normal. Next to him, his psychologically unstable cousin, Aaron Seever, narrowed his green eyes as he rested his back against the empty row behind him. What were they doing here?

  “I’m beginning to believe that fucker is all talk,” Kelton mumbled.

  “How soon you forget.” I bit the inside of my mouth. “Just because he hasn’t followed through on his revenge against us doesn’t mean he’s given up.” Sullivan’s MO was to threaten then walk away, only to surprise us months later. When he thought we’d gotten complacent, he’d hit us with the element of surprise. I had to give it to him. It did work the first time when he and his buddies put Kody in the hospital. However, Kody was ready the second time around when Sullivan had shown up after one of the football games back in September. He and Sullivan fought then, and even though Kody ended up in the emergency room with a broken nose, that was all that had broken. Plus, he wasn’t ambushed. My brother had help from Tyler Langley, the quarterback of our high school team.

  Whatever he was scheming, we were all on full alert. Where ever we went, we always checked our surroundings. Before we got in our vehicles, we checked the area. When we got out, we checked the area. We always kept our senses open, just like our old man taught us. We also sparred a lot with Kross, which helped keep all of us in shape.

  “It’s not Sullivan we should be worried about,” Hunt said as he rested booted feet on the empty row in front of him. “Seever is the crazy one.”

  He was right. Seever got off on getting into people’s heads and fucking with them. It still pissed me off how he tried to worm his way into Lacey’s head, hoping he would scare her enough so she wouldn’t try out for the baseball team. There’d been some bad feelings about the idea of a girl on the team, and he’d had his girl, Tammy Reese, break into Lacey’s locker and steal her gear right before one of the tryouts then stick it back when Lacey reported the incident to Coach Dean so Lacey would come off as crazy. My girl pushed through all her demons and made the team despite Aaron’s threats and games. Still, baseball season was ramping up, and I was holding my breath to see what Aaron had up his sleeve.

  “Let’s just get this over with and put them in the hospital,” Kelton said. “I’m tired of waiting to see if Sullivan will follow through on his revenge.”

  The triplets, Hunt, and I had a pact. We wouldn’t initiate the first punch. But we would damn sure protect ourselves if the moment presented itself.

  “We put them in the hospital. Then what? The vicious cycle continues. Do you want to go back to the academy with only three months till graduation?” I leaned back against the wall. I sure didn’t want to go back to jail, but every fiber in me wanted to wipe that smug grin off Sullivan’s face.

  “Fuck no.” Kelton rested against the wall. “But by the time I got done with him he wouldn’t be able to rat us out again.”

  “Kel, use that Mensa brain of yours before you let your ego get in the way.” I ground my teeth together.

  Our conversation died when the doors creaked open and all heads turned to watch a beautiful blond girl, who appeared to be eighteen or nineteen, sway in, her ass wiggling in skinny jeans, her hair flowing down her back, and her heeled ankle boots clicking against the hardwood floor. Behind her, a middle-aged man with black hair and graying sideburns strutted in with two large muscled men who appeared they’d taken a year’s supply of steroids in one shot. Both were bald, same build, although one had a scar that traveled from his temple to his right ear.

  Kelton said, “Well, damn me to hell.”

  Hunt said, “I can’t believe Pitt is here.”

  I smirked at Kelton’s remark. The blonde had long legs, perfect breasts, and a smile that would render any guy speechless. Not that I was one of those men. No way. I had my girl. But I wasn’t blind.

  Everyone seemed to be staring at the girl as she sashayed over to the opposite side of the gym and sat directly in front of Sullivan and Seever. Pitt and the steroid twins settled next to her.

  “Maybe he owns this gym.” I braced my elbows on my knees while still holding onto my phone.

  Pitt owned several businesses in Boston. I knew he’d
built a gym for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. Maybe this was the place. Or maybe he liked boxing. Whatever the case, it wasn’t any of my business. What I had to do was reel in my horny brother. Normally, I wouldn’t get involved, but he wasn’t getting anywhere near that blonde. Not when the media speculated that all the businesses Pitt owned were just cover-ups for his ties to the Russian mafia.

  I angled my head to find Kelton’s blue eyes. They were filled with lust. “Stay away from her,” I said firmly. “Or you may be declaring your dying love to the devil sooner rather than later.”

  “I can eye fuck her if I want. The devil would be proud of me. Besides, she seems to be doing the same to me.”

  I shot a quick glance over that way as Hunt cracked up. Sure enough, blondie was leering at Kelton. Then she waved, and my idiot brother waved back. Pitt leaned into her and said something. Then he glared our way. I wanted to bang my head against the wall, but not before I knocked that lusty grin off Kelton’s face. We were either going to end up in jail for fighting with Sullivan or we were going to end up dead in some alley.

  That knot in my stomach had tightened as my brain pounded against my skull. It was going to be a long night.

  Chapter 2

  Lacey

  Colorful artwork hung on the walls around me as I sat in a chair in a tattoo parlor in

  California. I had this crazy idea to get the tattoo I’d always wanted. At first, I’d hesitated when Dad asked me if I wanted to fly to California for the weekend with him. He had some business to take care of at his label, Eko Records. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see my brother, Rob, or spend time with Dad. If I went, I would miss baseball practice. The season started up mid-March, which was just around the corner. I would also miss Kross’s first boxing match. I really wanted to see him crush his opponent. Most of all, I was reluctant to spend time away from Kade. We’d spent weekends apart before, but he seemed on edge when we said goodbye. When I asked what was wrong, he said nothing. Maybe since baseball season was starting up, he was worried that Aaron Seever would follow through on his threats that he’d made to me during tryouts last fall. His words had carved a home in my brain: “If you do make the team, I’ll make it so you never pitch again.”