by T A. McKay
“Gabe Ryan?” I nod my head and look down.
“Gabe Ryan, you are under arrest for assault. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.” I can see the handcuffs out of the corner of my eye and my head falls in further. I look down at the blood dripping from my hands and have a sudden moment of realisation, that moment of madness, that loss of control has just cost me everything.
I have fucked it all up.
The end…
Keep reading for the prologue of the next part of the series
Leaving Her Mark
Prologue
It’s been twelve days and sixteen hours since I last saw Rhys. The last image I have of her is when I was driven away in the police car. She was weeping and trying to get to the car but Clay was holding her back, making sure she would get seen by a paramedic. Her face looked even puffier with her crying but I could tell that those bruises would take a long time to heal. What that fucker did to her can never be forgiven. The way he abused her body when I was only a room away, fuck. I will never get that thought out of my head.
Walking into that room and finding her lying broken on the floor nearly ended my life, it actually nearly ended Paul’s as well. I couldn’t get the rage out of my head when I was on top of him, using my fists to try and get some revenge for my beautiful but hurt girl. I wish I hadn’t stopped, I wish I hadn’t been pulled from his broken body until he had stopped breathing.
Now I'm sitting in a six by eight cell all on my own. Most people would use this time by themselves to wish they could change the past, wish that they could take back what they did to get them here but I don’t. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. My only change would be that I would make sure he did stop breathing. I would make sure that Rhys was finally safe from him. Forever. That’s the only reason I hate being in here, the fact that he is out on bail and I can’t protect her from him. She is staying with Clay just now so at least I know that she has him looking after her.
To be truthful its probably best that I'm in here, when my lawyer listed the injuries that Rhys had suffered at the hand of Paul I had wanted to kill him all over again. A fractured jaw, broken wrist, several broken ribs and too many bruises to count. Clay told me that there is a boot print on her back and you can clearly make out the design of the sole. Even now sitting here I can feel my anger rising, my fists clenching. I take a deep breath and count.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
I let out the breath I was holding and try to calm the rage that seems to be a permanent fixture for me. I just can’t seem to shake the feeling of needing to hurt someone. I'm in my own cell because I’ve already been in a few fights. I didn’t start any of them but I finished them, yet the anger is still there, screaming to get out.
Clay thinks I might feel better if I let Rhys visit, see with my own eyes that she’s fine but I can’t. To have her come and not be able to touch her, to taste her beautiful lips would kill me. She needs to move on from me, I'm no good for her. I can’t control my anger and the last thing she needs is another guy in her life that could hurt her. Clay thinks I'm a stupid fucker but I own it. This is all my fault. I fell for an Angel and I should have walked away. If I hadn’t shown an interest in her then Paul wouldn’t have lost it with her, he would have just pursued her until she told him no. And even if I couldn’t resist touching her I should have spent more time trying to find out who was sending her things. The fact that he broke in to her house and destroyed things in anger was because of me. I should have spent all my time helping Clay find out who the fucker was but I got distracted. Rhys distracts me. She needs a man who can look after her, protect her from all the dangers in the world, not a guy who thinks sex is more important that her safety.
So I don’t let her come, I won’t let her waste her life waiting on me. I have been charged with attempted manslaughter, even though Paul walked from hospital a week after he was rushed there in an ambulance. He pressed charges and I know he's doing it because he still wants Rhys, this is the perfect way to keep me out of the picture so he can go after her. It’s why I made Clay move her out of my house, made her move in with him. I can’t face the fact that he is out there walking around even though he is being charged with attacking Rhys. Apparently attacking a woman isn’t as bad as injuring a woman beater.
So here I sit, staring at the four walls that surround me for twenty-three hours a day. My lawyer says I should be taking notes of what I want to say when I go to court, that I need to find a defence to explain why I attacked Paul but all I can think of is the truth. I attacked him because he hurt the woman I loved and I wanted to rid the world of another weak fucker who doesn’t deserve to take up space. She’s told me it might not be my best defence. She wants me to use trauma, post traumatic stress disorder, that seeing Rhys after she was attacked brought back childhood trauma of my own life and I snapped. I think it’s a load of shit and I’ve told her that but she tells me it’s my only chance to walk out of here. She doesn’t get that I don’t care if I leave, I don’t care if I’m here for the rest of my life. My only concern is the woman I love, the woman I won’t be able to spend the rest of my life with.
Fate must be having a good laugh at me right now. I spent my entire life looking for love, looking for someone who I could trust with everything. After a childhood that taught me that love is for idiots I stopped looking, only to find it in the eyes of a beautiful blonde who was hiding right under my nose. Just when I was ready to share my life, admit that I finally found someone to love it was all torn away from me. Now I know what its like to love, I know what it’s like to hold the love of your life in your arms. It feels like heaven.
Now I just need to remember the important things in life, why I'm doing all this.
I must protect Rhys.
I must keep her safe.
I need to see her happy.
Acknowledgements
This book was a different feel to my last series and there were a few people who made sure that I worked hard to make sure that I wrote this book to its full potential.
My husband Stuart: The times you listened to me go on about a plot you knew nothing about, debated with me about arrests and jail terms even though I probably scared you a little. You are always there to support me and for that I say a HUGE thank you….and I love you!
Ellie: You are more than just my editor, you’re my friend and my sounding board. When I scrapped 30K worth of words you didn’t panic…well not out loud anyway! You are there literally night and day to talk me from the edge. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Laura: Who loves Gabe more than you do? No one that's who! I know you worried when I changed his plot but you stuck with me and read everything I sent, he wouldn’t be the man he is today without you! Bless your little black heart!
My betas: Claire, Jane, Alissa, Nicole, Fiona and Caragh. Thank you ladies for reading my words even when they didn’t always make sense! Also thank you fro not lynching me for the ending…it will be worth it I promise!
To everyone who has read this book, who has pimped me or just simply shared a photo. Thank you for everything you do.
Other information
The Into The series:
Into the Deep ~ Rocco and Makenzie’s story is available now
Into the Dark ~ Mason and Niamh’s story is available now
Into The Fire ~ Noah and Madison’s story out now
Leaving Marks series:
Leaving His Mark ~ Out now
Leaving Her Mark ~ Coming Summer 2015
Standalone Novels:
Trying To Find Home ~ Coming Late Summer 2015
Falling For Joe ~ Coming late 2015
Keep up to date with all my news:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ta-Mckay-Author/1462902633937350
Twitter: https://twitter.
com/tamckayauthor
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/T.a.-McKay/e/B00JFF1R80/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1411487268&sr=8-1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7750967.T_A_McKay
