Three…two…one. I laid out like Superman hitting him square in the shoulder sending our bodies flying across the grass.
I could hear Ava scream.
I quickly wrestled him to the ground and patted him down for weapons. A concealed knife.
“Jack!” Ava shouted.
“I’ve got him. Go inside and call the police. I’ll keep him contained.”
I watched as Ava ran back inside the house. I wanted to make sure this piece of garbage was working alone. I didn’t want a second, surprise attack on my woman.
“That’s the last time you’re ever going to attack a woman. I’ll make sure of it.”
As much as I wanted to pummel him, I didn’t. I’d leave justice up to law enforcement. They’d have the first chance to process him through their systems. I was happy to play by the rules, but if he ever thought of bothering another woman again I was more than happy to break them.
No one messes with my woman. And no one harms any woman when I’m around. I make sure of that.
EPILOGUE
Ava
Three years later
The nurse reached out, handing me my baby.
“Congratulations. You have a healthy little baby boy.”
A tear rolled down my cheek as I held him. He had Jack’s eyes.
“He’s so…beautiful. So…perfect.”
“Just like you,” I said.
We had waited until I finished college to start a family. My grades had actually improved just a touch since meeting Jack. He stayed up with me night after night, helping me study for exams. He was the perfect boyfriend, and was now going to be the perfect father.
He’d also been the perfect husband.
A year earlier he took me on a holiday to Thailand to celebrate the end of the semester. He knew a few of the kickboxers in Bangkok. He had trained with them when he served with Marine Force Recon. They were so nice and had helped us arrange a private tour of the islands. We had sailed around the islands, experiencing all the beauty the country had to offer. The sights, the people, the food. I quickly found out why Thailand is called The Land of a Thousand Smiles. It really was true. Pure bliss and pure tranquility.
And thankfully my dad had turned himself around. After the night Jack saved me there really wasn’t much he could say. He felt guilty for angering me enough to run out of the house, which in some ways caused the entire mess.
He apologized to Jack and thanked him for saving me.
The boy from my past, Terry, got the help he needed. He was in therapy and on medication. He had also offered an apology and had turned his life around. At first I was a bit skeptical, but as the months passed by and he continued his treatment I grew proud of him. He had an obstacle in his life and he was doing everything he could to conquer it. I’m just glad no one was hurt.
And my dad was doing better as well. As Jack’s gym expanded he needed more help. My dad was strong from working construction, but hardly in shape enough to teach martial arts, at least at first.
With all his free time, he had started hanging around at the gym. Over the last three years he’d added a lot of strength and newfound knowledge about self-defense. After training him Jack had employed him as a teacher for one of the entry level classes. My dad had a steady job, and a sense of purpose.
I couldn’t have been more happy for everything that had happened since I met Jack.
He was just so calm and always thinking of others. I wasn’t sure if it was because of his experience or just who he was.
In the end it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was he was mine, and I was his.
And this little bundle of joy in our arms was ours.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too,” I said.
“Correction,” he smiled. “I love us.”
He leaned in and the three of us hugged. We had our own little family now. Our little boy, me, and the man who had made it all possible.
The End
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EXCERPT: BUILT
CHAPTER 1
Cora
“And you are?” Dominic Rossi said as he stepped out of his Lamborghini Centenario and surveyed the construction site.
I walked quickly, struggling to keep up. How could I get my boss’s attention if I couldn’t even keep pace with him? Blowing my savings on Manolo Blahnik’s in an effort to impress had turned out to be the wrong choice.
“Do you at least know the name of this project?” He said it loud enough that he didn’t even have to turn around to face me. A man came scurrying forward, presenting him with the blueprints which he quickly pointed to and then up to the ongoing work. “Fix it!”
“Cora Reed, sir. Eagle Rock is the project name.”
“Is your last name accurate, Ms. Reed?”
My gaze froze straight ahead as my mind processed his question. “Yes, Mr. Rossi.”
“So you can read?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you please tell me what the sign at the northeast corner of the lot says?”
I quickly scanned the lot. Looking for the sign.
“You do know the direction of the lot, Ms. Reed?”
“Yes, Sir. The sign says no hard hat, no safety shoes, no hi-vis vest, no job.”
“And how do you plan on rectifying this situation, Ms. Reed?”
“My car is just around the corner, sir. I have a pair of safety boots in the trunk.”
Mr. Rossi continued studying the blueprints. At a chiseled six foot six and with a form fitting Italian suit he was a site to behold. The intensity with which he stared at the plans for his latest masterpiece of metals and glass was even more breathtaking. He didn’t waste time, or words, in any aspect of his life. His focus was laser sharp. His decision making ability instant and on target.
Mr. Rossi turned to face me for the first time. With a dismissive backhanded motion he shooed me away.
Mr. Rossi’s buildings were famous for attention to detail and elegant lines. I had emptied my checking account to buy this outfit. I wanted to make sure I presented myself as buttoned-up and classy as possible for our first meeting. He had barely even glanced at me.
The clock was ticking, and precious seconds were being wasted. I walked purposefully and quickly along the makeshift walkway of two-by-ten boards back to the sidewalk. The last thing I needed was to literally fall flat on my face after I had metaphorically already done so. I was never so nervous in my entire life. Not just from the balancing act of heels on lumber, but from the intimidating presence of the man that was Mr. Rossi.
The magazines articles I had read in preparation for our first meeting were true. Forbes had called him the ‘Armani Assassin’ for his ability to quickly, quietly, and accurately take out his foes. Fortune had dubbed him the ‘Construction Kingpin’ for similar reasons.
Not stumbling head over heels walking back to my car was going to be difficult enough. Falling head over heels for a man who reeked of power and purpose was going to be utterly impossible.
Dominic
This girl will be mine.
From the first moment I saw her I knew. She thinks I wasn’t looking. Oh, I was looking alright. Looking at every single inch of her. And I liked what I saw. I wanted what I saw. I needed what I saw. And I’m going to get exactly what I saw. All of it. All of her.
I’ve never felt the instant burning desire to own a woman. To possess a woman. To consume her just as she has already consumed me. My mind. My body. My desires.
Nothing will stand in my way. It’s my company. I make the rules. And not just for this company. For this entire fucking planet. Nobody is stupid enough to step up and challenge me. An
d if anyone on my team even looks at her with puppy dog eyes, I will ruin them. She is entirely off-limits. Strictly mine and mine alone.
God, the way those heels accentuated her perfectly sculpted bubble butt. The way the muscles in her calves flexed. It took everything in my power not to follow her back to her car right now and do things to her in the backseat that she couldn’t even dream of. Better yet, we could take my car. Life starts at one hundred fifty miles per hour. Red line the Lambo while her tight pink pussy lips clench around my dick as she rides my cock.
I could clear out the track and see if I could make it a whole lap around before I blew my load. I doubt it. My cock’s already as hard as the steel trusses in the masterpieces I build.
And that turns me the fuck on. But I don’t like it.
She’s the one who’s supposed to be nervous. And is she ever. But she’s making me feel. Making me feel alive. I’m the one who’s in control. Always. That she’s throwing me off my game is pissing me the fuck off.
But it’s not me that’s going to be distracted. I made sure of that. Her head’s spinning so hard right now she probably doesn’t even know a blueprint from a bluebird. And I sent that little bluebird off singing anything but Zip-a-dee-fuckin-doo-dah. She’s off-balance and that’s how I’m going to keep her.
But she handled it well. First day on the job, and I’m already toughening her up. Lesser hires cracked instantly, and under less duress. Pussies. I’ve made them cry before. Men and women. This is a cut throat business. Can’t be having weak people on my team. They’ll get eaten alive, and it will fuck up everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve built. And that’s not going to happen.
She was smart to be early. I pulled up ten minutes early and she was already waiting for me. Looking so damn good I wanted to lick her from head to toe. Eat her up. Every last inch of her. And that perfume. Damn. What was that? She smelled like summer and sex fucked and she bottled the scent. She didn’t just smell amazing. She smelled like emotions.
But I expected nothing less when we hired her. I hand picked her. We started with over ten thousand applicants. My team whittled it down to the top fifty. I had forty-five of those resumes in my trash can in less than three minutes. Of the five that remained she was clearly the choice. Damn, I knew she was hot from the background check our team did, but fucking a…she wasn’t just hot. She was beautiful. Beyond beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. Looking all sexy but still professional at the same time.
And the background check had painted a picture of a rising star. Volunteer work, always professional, no social media mistakes…she had mastered the game at the minor league level. But that’s just the audition. You’re in the big leagues now, baby.
And when she marched back to her car. Damn. It was power and precision the way she pulled off that balancing act on those shitty boards. Her beauty amplified even more, if that’s even possible, by this rough, gritty construction site. The contrast was almost unbearable as evident by the rock hard dick that’s doing everything in its power to break out of my pants.
And the uneven gravel underneath those boards did even more to accentuate the curve in her hip as she walked. The shake of her ass. The elegance with which she handled the brutality.
And her white blouse. As pure and innocent as those eyes. As her demeanor and mannerism. And so fucking annoying too, because it was just that thin layer of fabric that stood between me and her bra. A bra I wanted to grab with both hands and rip off, plunging my face in between her amazing tits.
And her hair. Her brunette locks up and held together with what looked like two chopsticks. Her swan like neck perfectly accentuated and exposed. I wanted to brush my lips along its length while I whispered my dirty fantasies in her ear. Feeling her flesh against my lips and taking in her scent. God, how I wanted to just grab her and take her then and there.
But never in front of my men. Impossible. But how much I wanted to. But I could never cheapen my work, and make her look cheap in the process. Cheap and her were two thoughts that would never come together. She was all class. Holding herself together expertly under my verbal assault.
And the things I wanted to say to her. We could start with ‘bend over, against the hood,’ and from there it would only get worse. Or better depending on her tastes.
And that’s what I couldn’t wait to discover. To see her open up like a little flower. To learn all about what she liked and didn’t, and show her things she never even knew existed. A side of herself she probably didn’t even know she had. And that’s exactly what I would fucking do. In my bed, on the floor, against the wall, in the shower, in my car, in the woods, on the beach. I would take her and own her. Everywhere and in every way, before this was said and done.
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Veteran: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants #2) Page 5
