The Predator [1]

by Brooke May

  I shrug. “You should have seen the look in his eyes when he saw me.” I shake my head and look at my hands. “It was like a weight was lifted off him as he focused on me. Like a missing piece was found …” I frown. “I don’t get it.”

  “Men.” Karmin puffs and walks back over to the couch.

  Beth joins us, and we head up to my room. “It was the condoms that Lizzy wanted to use with Scott, right?”

  “What do you mean?” I pull my dress off and change into my pajamas.

  “Well, you said you heard her and Amber talking about trapping Scott with damaged condoms. You and Chamberlain must have ended up with them.”

  I never thought about it. I tried not to think about it. I have my precious little girl and that’s all that matters now. “Pool day tomorrow? I think we could use some relaxing.”

  “I completely agree.” Every emotion finally catches up to me, draining my body. Beth offers to stay the night to which I agree. She steals some of my clothes and heads to the guest bedroom while I finish changing.

  After I’m done, I walk over to the door that joins my room to a room completely pink and fluffy. I walk quietly over to my little princess, who is sound asleep, hugging an old stuffed panda. The only thing in this room that isn’t pink.

  I kiss her forehead and pick her up to carry her back to my room. She doesn’t move or wake. I cuddle us under the covers. Her light blond hair fans out on my pillow, blending with mine where you can’t tell where my hair stops and hers begins. Under her beautiful long lashes hold two deep blue eyes that gutted me the first time I saw them. They are her daddy’s eyes, and I cherish them every day. She’s my perfection. My heart. My love. My life.

  “Mommy loves you so very much, Marissa.” I pull her into my arms and kiss her warm cheek. “I will always love you, baby doll, no matter what.”

  THE END … FOR NOW

  Stay tune for The Predator Part Two.

  Note to From the Author

  Dear Reader,

  I wanted to personally thank you for taking the time to read The Predator Part One. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. This books was meant from the very beginning to be in two parts. Be looking for news on Part Two real soon.

  If you have enjoyed this book, please consider writing a spoiler-free review on the site where you purchased your copy through. Reviews are beneficial for both future readers and for me to grow and improve as an indie author.

  Thank you so much for downloading and reading.

  With love,

  Brooke May

  Acknowledgements

  God; because with Him all things are possible. He has helped me heal when I was sick and He has gifted me with my imagination and growing courage to put myself out into the world. He has helped me through so much by giving me this talent. I thank him daily.

  My family; Thank you for teaching me love and showing me your support and love on a daily basis. Thank you for standing beside me and putting up with my strange and bizarre ideas.

  To the Warden; thank you for putting up with my random questions, my odd behavior, and encouraging to reach for my dreams.

  To my pups; thank you my wonderful little disasters for being everything and more to me. I do this not just for me but for you two, to teach you that no matter what your dreams are you can reach them with a little hard work.

  To my beta babe, Manda; thank you for taking every chapter I send you to read and giving me your full, honest option on my words. You drive me to write every day (mainly because I don’t want to be hunted down by your redheaded fiery) and give me that boost I need to know my words are getting stronger.

  Breny, Ashley, Laura, Becca, and Rebecca; thank you for being the final eyes on this book baby of mine.

  Jen; thank you once more for doing such a wonderful job combing through my words and helping me make it the best story it possibly can be. I would be so lost without you. I’ve learned so much from you, but I have no plans of ever giving you up!

  Tracie; thank you so much for putting this cover together and making it look not only hot but completely kick ass as well.

  Katie; thank you for all your wisdom. I would be lost without you; from posting sales to helping figure out book related things, I’m glad you’re in my corner.

  Becca; thank you for everything you do; cheerleading to helping me figure things out. I’m glad you’re the other B.

  Allie; oh woman, thank you for making me laugh. Our humor is far too similar to be safe. God help anyone who gets in our way.

  Thank you Give Me Books for the amazing cover reveal, helping organize my release day and getting ARCs out. Your service is so greatly appreciated and I look forward to working with you in the future.

  To all the bloggers and fellow authors out there thank you for doing what you love. Thank you for inspiring me with your own written words and for the bloggers who love to read and spread their love to everyone.

  And to you, my readers; Thank you for finding my books and reading them. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you for your support, your reviews, wonderful words, and your encouragement.

  About the Author

  Born and raised in Northern Wyoming. Brooke spent a great deal of her childhood and even well into her adulthood in her imagination and creating different stories. With an overactive imagination life has been truly entertaining.

  A mother of two wild and reckless boys and a wife; Brooke keeps busy year round doing things with her pups and family. When she isn’t writing, can usually be spotted walking somewhere in town, at the library with her youngest, or up in the mountains four-wheeling, hiking, fishing, and some hunting. A notebook and camera are never far from her side when she is out on her adventures with her family.

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorbrookemay

  Twitter: @B_May88

  Instagram: BrookeMay_Author

  To keep up with new releases, teasers, and other fun Brooke may have in store feel free to join her newsletter listing here.

  Books by Brooke

  My Cowboy Series:

  My Cowboy

  Faith in My Cowboy

  Loved by My Cowboy

  Coming soon:

  The Predator Part Two

  The Predator Novella: Wildfire Knockout

  A Special look at Part Two

  The Predator Series

  Part Two

  By: Brooke May

  Chapter One

  Chamberlain

  Holy fucking shit!

  I dig the heels of my hands into my eyes, but it does nothing to erase the image of ice blue eyes from my mind.

  She’s here. In Denver.

  “Fuck.” My back hits the locker behind the bench I slammed my ass onto after I made my way back here after my fight. My Katie is here and she came to see me fight. Where the hell has she been for the last, what, four years? “Fuck.” I mutter once more and close my eyes, letting the cold temperature of the locker cool my head.

  Never in a million and one years would have I thought that coming to Denver, two thousand miles away from home, I would find my girl. My missing piece. My panda. And most importantly, the only woman I want for the rest of my life.

  Denver is one of my last stops on the whole tour deal before the championship in Vegas. Then it would be home to Boston to my giant warehouse home, by myself. Well, not completely. If you include Scott and my cook living on the floor below, but still, I’m alone.

  Always alone.

  Scott has never understood why I bought the warehouse and turned it into my home slash gym and I don’t care explaining to him. The thought of someday having Katie come back to me, drove me to buy it. It isn’t a huge warehouse, but big enough to house a full gym with a fighting ring on the ground floor and an underground garage that houses my cars and bikes. The second floor is divided into two apartments; one is Scott’s and the other belongs to my cook. They pay nothing to live there. I won’t ever accept money from them for it.
<
br />   The whole third floor is mine; an open plan for my living room, dining room, and kitchen with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. So much more than what I ever had in my life.

  When I bought it, I had a family in mind to live there. A family with Katie and for the longest time that dream seemed to just be what it was, a dream. But now, I plan on making it come true. My house is scarcely decorated, only a few pictures around the whole place. Pictures of my parents and grandparents, and then there are the pictures I had taken of Katie when we were together. My favorite one sits on my bedside table; it’s of her and me at Bash Bish Falls. That was an amazing week in more ways than one.

  Fuck!

  I was so pumped for this fight. I knew I would take my opponent with no problems. I’ve fought him before. He hasn’t gotten any better. That drives me crazy. Some of the boxers I’ve come to know work their asses off, like me, to stay on the top of their game while others just get by and soaked up the attention instead. That was this opponent, he has settled into his role, keeping up his strength just enough to get fights, but too busy otherwise with partying and women.

  My moves and technique was flawless; I wore him down and went in and took him down before he knew what hit him. He was easy, almost too easy. I really wish Scott could take them into giving me tougher opponents. Ever since I became the champ last season, they’ve only handed me the easy guys to show that I’m still on top of my game. I want a challenge. I want to actually fight for it.

  And just as the ref was declaring me the winner a buzz, a feeling that I hadn’t felt in forever and never thought I would again, took hold of my body. I turned my gaze from the fans cheering for me to the front, center row where she sat.

  Katie.

  No matter how much time has passed since I last saw her, I will always be able to find her in a crowd. She was standing before me, barely clapping while she stared up at me with wide ice blue eyes, the eyes that used to hold so much love for me. I could tell the moment she realized I was watching her. For the first time in nearly four years, my dick jumped to life. I’m still straining in my shorts.

  “Glad to see you’re still alive.” I grumble down to my tented shorts.

  Her sun blond hair is now longer than it used to be and her sexy little body was incased in my fight colors; black and white. She’s still very much my little panda. She never knew this, but I never had any set colors until I met her. The first day I saw her; I went out and blew my whole paycheck on everything I needed in black and white. After she had disappeared, black and white haunted my whole life just like her memory has.

  Never once did I think to change any of it though. Even if I did it would be too much now. My kitchen; black and white, my cars and bikes; black and white, hell even most of my clothes are black and white.

  Not only did she change my choice of colors, but she changed my world. I never thought I would care so much about one person or love something I did, still do, her after I lost my mom. I shared more with Katie than I ever did with anyone else, besides Scott. But that fucker has known me forever.

  I couldn’t break the trance she had me under. It was ripped away when she quickly grabbed the little redhead who was standing and cheering next to her. As much as I wanted to stop her right there, I couldn’t. I had too many people around me and fans would have stopped me.

  I did get a good look at that body of hers. I had checked her out before she got the chance to retreat; the back and front are both incredible sights. I knew that body well and I know when I see a change to it. She has more distinguished curve to her waist and hips now, where there used to only be subtle curves.

  Damn.

  And her tits looked fucking amazing. She was around a ‘B’ cup when we dated, just little things that I loved to play with. But now, boy have those babies grown. It makes me wonder if she is even dancing anymore. My head tilted and watched her perfectly round ass move under the black material of her dress. Her legs were tanned and toned beauties that I want wrapped around me again. I loved see her with some color, Katie used to be pale. Now, she isn’t, she is tan, sun-kissed, reminding me of honey and that makes my mouth water for a simple taste of her.

  There was something different about her, but still the same. When she looked at me, I could see the same Katie in there who I loved. Hell, I still love her. Yet, her eyes held a stronger resolve that was never there before. In truth, it was slowly growing there but now, now it is there in full force, like she is protecting something.

  Possibly her heart.

  I kick myself all the fucking time for never telling her that I loved her when I had the chance. She said it to me and that changed my whole world. That night, in my grandparents’ cottage, my heart started beating only for her. It killed me that she couldn’t remember saying it to me, but it still brought light to my life. She left with my heart and I want nothing more than to own hers like she does mine.

  With my song, “Animals” by Maroon 5, playing through the whole room it gets my blood pumping even more. I felt possessive, if I didn’t have so many fucking people in my way I would have been down there in front of her, devouring her lips with a kiss that would remind her that she is mine and that what we had together was once in a lifetime love and would always be there.

  When she ran out of the arena while dragging her friend, I quickly looked to Scott, who was watching the whole thing. He had a shocked look on his face; his mouth hung open along with a glint in his eyes. He looked up to me and I nodded to her. He gave me a shit-eating grin as he talked to Christopher, my assigned concierge, who then took off in a run to try and catch the girls.

  Katie and I need to talk and it’s going to be a long one. And after everything is said, I’m never letting her go again.

  I was on my way back to the locker room when he came back empty handed, causing my temper to rise. Why would she come to watch me fight and not want to talk to me? I mean, fuck, I went through hell trying to find her and nothing was ever found. Private investigators couldn’t dig anything up on where she ran to or where her parents possibly shipped her off to. The fucking Cunningham’s know how to cover their tracks too well.

  For a while, I thought that maybe she had an accident, but nothing was ever released on it and deep in my broken heart I knew she was out there somewhere, safe. I just had to find her. I don’t know how many days I actually drove to her parents’ house and stood at the gates yelling her name through them, hoping, and praying she would come walking out one day. I would leave, defeated, every day hoarse, tired, and broken. It was like she just dropped off the face of the planet. Her phone had been shut off and I felt stupid for never having her email address. She didn’t have any social media accounts and over the years, I have checked from time to time by entering every name I could think of that she would use and never once did I find her.

  The night that I won my first fight, I went to the hotel room right away to call her and tried a million times. I was so pissed and upset she couldn’t be there with me. I wanted my beauty with me while I won and I couldn’t have it. I knew when I tried to call her the first time she would answer and it shocked me that she never did. I lost track of how many times I tried calling her that night, forgoing the party my friends wanted to have for me and try to reach her. I couldn’t wait to tell her and get back to her. I left Scott Sunday morning to get back to Boston and Katie.

  Boy was I surprised to come home and find in the days that followed from a reliable source that she was gone.

  Vanished.

  Without a single word Katie was gone from my life.

  “She said she never wanted to speak to you again, Mr. Lawrence.” Christopher had explained to me as we walked to the locker room.

  Why?

  “She seemed pretty upset, sir.” He offered weakly. My nostrils flared as my temper rose to an all-time high.

  Like that makes me feel better.

  She is upset about something, but what could she possibly be upset about?

  Scott snorted
with disgust next to me. “He should be the only one upset here. If she…”

  “Enough, Scott.” I had cut him off. NO one and I mean no one outside of myself, him, and Katie should know what I went through and continue to torture myself daily with trying to figure out where she went. I thought for sure now that her dad announced his plans for the presidency, she would resurface, but she hadn’t yet.

  Hell, I made a point to read and watch every single one of his interviews and anything of him on the news in the hope of seeing or hearing about her. Not a single reporter ever asked about his oldest daughter; only her mom and sister. That smug, asshole face of Douglas Cunningham is burned into my mind. I knew her parents were a piece of work once I met them, but I never thought they would actually do away with their oldest daughter. Katie was sweet, innocent, and full of so much love, I could never figure out how they didn’t love her.

  And she’s here, in Denver, Colorado. This is one of the last places I would have ever thought of.

  But why here?

  What’s out here that would bring her here?

  When I was searching for her, I managed to track down her sister and that Tim douche, but they either knew nothing or weren’t going to say.

  Fuck, Zoey was a real piece of work, talking about how useless her sister was right in front of me. I can’t help, but smile now. I lost my temper on the both of them and yelled before security at the restaurant they were at escorted me out.

  “She was perfect and fucking everything to me! You are nothing compared to her!” I yelled as they hauled me out.