Goodbye is a Second Chance (Sons of Sin Book 1)

by Nola Marie

  I stop the recording with a grin.

  I have plans for that song. Big ones.

  It may seem like I’m letting history repeat itself, but I’ve had a plan since that cold lonely morning. I’m giving her this time to work through the shit in her head. But when I get back to New York, her time will be up.

  I’ve made sure to stay fresh in her mind. I don’t want her to think for a minute that she’s not on mine. Every day I send messages. Some days a simple ‘I love you’. Other days a depiction of how my day went and how much I wish she were here. How much I miss her. I have no illusions that she is seeing any of them, but just in case, you know.

  Words. Words flow from my heart and soul. I have no idea if they’re any good. I’ve written things my entire life, but I don’t pretend to be a wordsmith. It doesn’t stop my hand from flying across the journal I’ve been using for years. So full, that it will barely close now, but I just keep adding more pages instead of replacing it.

  My ringing phone stops my hand. Cami’s name flashes across the screen. I start to ignore it, but a niggling in my gut forms. A sense of urgency fills me. A feeling that something is wrong.

  I set the guitar aside and pick up the phone. “What’s wrong?”

  “Have you seen the news?” she says with ragged breaths.

  “No. Why?” My spine goes rigid as I place her on speaker so I can look at my phone. “Fuck,” I hiss as I scroll through the latest news feed.

  Timothy A. Byers, CEO of Byers Development, was found guilty today of tax fraud, tax evasion, mortgage fraud, and investment fraud. His sentencing will begin in two weeks where he faces thirty plus years.

  While Byers' wife, Kristine Byers, nee Harrison, was present for the jury’s decision, his daughter, Josephine Byers was noticeably absent, as she has been for the entirety of her father and former fiancé’s, Robert Stevens’, trials.

  Stephens’ trial is expected to conclude this week.

  I run my hand though my hair with a huff. “How is she?”

  “This, she was prepared for. It’s the rest that has her in a mess.” Anxiety filters through the line as Cami’s voice cracks.

  “What do you mean ‘the rest’?” My stomach twists and my heart races as my mind goes to so many places not knowing where to stop. I find myself climbing from the bunk and pacing back and forth.

  “Just look up Josephine, Angel.”

  Her ominous tone does little to settle the unease – no, panic is what it is – racing through me. I type her name into the search engine. I feel my entire body ripple. Every muscle goes taut as rage and anger flow and swirl, filling the entire space.

  The doors open and the guys come in looking pissed and worried all at once.

  “I’m coming home,” I state with a low, threatening tone.

  “No!” she shouts brusquely, catching me more than a little off-guard.

  “Something else I need to know?” I charge suspiciously.

  “No, but you have a plan. You’ll be here in a couple of days. Stick to your plan.”

  “Fuck the plan,” I spit. “She fucking needs me.” My friends all nod in agreement.

  “Just stick to the plan, Angel,” she commands in frustration.

  I let out a growl and end the call.

  “You saw?” Maddox inquires.

  “Yeah. I fucking saw.”

  Ryder bounces on the balls of his feet. Dane’s shoulders are at his ears full of tension. The muscles in Maddox’s jaw flex.

  These guys, the band I joined but kept at arm’s length until only recently, I finally realize are my family. They are as much my family as Lily, Jeff, and Max. And they are every bit as angry as I am. They love Josie. They embraced her before my stubborn ass acknowledged my real issue with her. Like older brothers she never had. Not even in me, no matter what she though because I never saw her that way.

  “We’re going back, right?” Ryder asks.

  “Cami says we should stick to the plan.” Even as I say it, I feel sick.

  Frustration and surprise line each of their features. They look at me like I’m committing some sort of betrayal. Kind of feel it myself but I’m going to do what Cami says. She’s there with Josie. If she thought it would be better for me to come back now, she’d tell me.

  “Dude, did you seriously put your dick in this Erica bitch?” Dane looks at me like I must’ve been crazy.

  Crazy would be putting it mildly. Fucking high off my ass the entire time. Desperate to stop the ache of missing Josie. Which is exactly what I tell them. “Fucking drugs,” I shake my head in disgust. I don’t miss the way Ryder and Maddox both wince. “Maybe if I’d quit that shit a long time ago, I’d been more concerned with who she really was. I just didn’t know how to deal with missing Josie sober.”

  “You sure you don’t want to go to her?” This comes from Maddox.

  “No. But right now, I’m trusting Camilla’s judgement because I’m pretty sure mine is fucked.”

  Sweat pours down my face as I thrum out the steady beat to Never Enough. The lights are hot and the crowd louder than ever. Maddox and Ryder are playing out their guitar duel while I focus on doing my part.

  I’m not smiling or anything. I can get away with it, though, since I’m known as the broody one. The George to the others’ John, Paul, and Ringo. So, I’m channeling all my anger into this performance. Every ounce of my anxious energy and fueling rage pour through me as I slap the bass and move across the stage. Full of aggression and anger that I am sure the audience can feel.

  I notice from the corner of my eye Maddox and Ryder’s heads together. They’re trying to talk to each other, but I have no idea why they even bother. Hearing anything except the screaming of the crowd and the music in our earpieces is next to impossible.

  Ryder nods his head toward the audience. I assume they’re checking out their next conquest until I noticed Maddox’s eyes jump my way for a second then move back to the audience with a wide smile forming on his lips.

  I move my eyes to the audience, trying to see what has put that smile on his face, knowing it’s not a prospective hookup. Especially since the guys have been as on edge as me. I can’t tell a thing from my position on the stage though.

  The song ends, but Maddox begins talking instead of moving into the next song as planned. “Damn, you guys look amazing tonight.” The crowd goes wild like they do every time. And as each show gets better. “I think we’re going to do something a little different tonight.”

  I see Blaze Erikson look like he’s going to blow a gasket from the side stage. Can’t say I don’t find pleasure from that, but as I look back to Dane, he looks as confused as I do.

  Ryder walks to him behind his kit to tell him something. He nods with a grin. As Ryder begins to make his way back to his spot on the stage, Dane begins a slow rhythmic tapping that I instantly recognize.

  I walk toward Maddox who has taken a step back.

  “You see, our buddy, Angel, has written a brand-new song,” Ryder tells them. The crowd erupts.

  “What are you doing?” I ask Maddox loudly in his ear as we stand away from the microphones.

  “She’s here, man,” he tells me looking out to the audience.

  My heart nearly stops as I follow where his eyes focus. It only takes me a second to spot her among the crowd of faces. Dark glasses cover those lagoon-colored eyes, and a ball cap is pulled low over her face. She is wearing an oversized hoodie and jeans, but I have no doubt it’s her.

  I know the exact moment she realizes that I’ve spotted her. The electricity in the air crackles making the hair on my neck stand on end.

  “Go, man. Go sing her that song,” Maddox tells me as he begins to strum the intro to my song.

  Ryder follows with the melodic rhythm as I come in on the bass. With a deep breath and my eyes only on her, I step up to the mic and start with the low tones of the first line.

  I can’t see straight

  Don’t know how to be

  How to carry thi
s weight

  Without you next to me

  I know it’s my fault

  I didn’t tell you how I feel

  The wounds filled with salt

  Wounds that won’t heal

  My heart is broken

  Yours torn into

  By words left unspoken

  I never said I love you

  I let you runaway

  Didn’t put up a fight

  I should’ve begged you to stay

  Begged to bathe in your light

  I need you in my life

  Can’t do this anymore

  So tired of this strife

  Time to show it’s you I adore

  Days turn to night

  Night into day

  I can’t carry on this fight

  I can’t carry on this way

  My heart is broken

  Yours torn into

  By words left unspoken

  I never said I love you

  But these lessons I’ve learned

  They will guide me back to you

  To the heart I will earn

  And your love too

  Days turn to night

  Night into day

  I’m going to fight

  I know I’ve got to say

  My heart was broken

  Yours torn into

  But the words I now have spoken

  I love you

  I love you

  On the last word, I become security’s worst nightmare as I jump off the stage. My eyes are on her and her alone as I push my way through the screaming fans.

  She does the same with much more difficulty, but she muscles her way through anyway. The seconds that beat in staccato with my heart feel like an eternity.

  When we are finally close enough to touch, security tries to block her. Without a word, I grab her by the arm, pulling her from their grasp. I remove the hat and glasses and throw them into the audience.

  Tears fall from those beautiful eyes. I have a thousand questions, but there is only one thing in that moment I want to do.

  I wrap my arms around her, lifting her until her legs wrap around my waist and kiss her like the world may end if I don’t. I kiss her for the world – or at least this arena – to see. When I pull back, I keep my hold tight. “What are you doing here?”

  She shakes her head on a sob. “Everything has been wrong without you.”

  “I know, Baby. Believe me I know. I’m sorry about Erica,” I tell her needing her to know again, that’s it’s only ever been her.

  A watery laugh falls from those sexy lips and it’s the best music this place has to offer. “I’m not. That psychotic bitch has kept us apart for too damn long. Her stupid interview about me made me see that and helped me realize the only one I wanted with me through all this crap is you.”

  “Took you fucking long enough,” I laugh as the crowd cheers and breaks into applause.

  The guys begin to play Never the Same by Red instead of one of our songs. It’s fitting. I go back to kissing the girl in my arms.

  Josephine

  Two Weeks Later

  Song

  Second Chance

  I roll over, running my fingers over the ridges of those firm abs I love so much. I run my finger over each defined bump and smooth divot like I can commit them to memory. (Who am I kidding? I had them memorized a long damn time ago.) I travel lower and lower. Almost to my destination.

  His hand shoots out to grab mine, making me jump. “Do you want something?” His voice, rough with sleep, is tinted with humor. I look to his face to see his eyes closed and face so still you’d think he was sleeping.

  “I want what I always want,” I tell him as I lower my lips to his chest while crawling to straddle his hips.

  “Are you saying you only want me for my body?” His mouth twitches and gooseflesh appears beneath my lips.

  “No. I am saying I want you for your dick,” I tease as I circle my tongue around his nipple.

  His body ripples as a shudder makes its way through him while he chuckles. “I’m feeling a little objectified here.”

  “You should,” I drop my voice to a low, sultry tone. “I am totally objectifying you.”

  He wraps his hand around my hair, pulling a little. “When did our roles reverse?”

  “When I woke up to your hot body teasing me,” I tease some more. “Or maybe it was because I was dreaming about your hands on my body and buried deep inside me.”

  In a blink, I am flipped to my back with a predator looking down on me. His gray eyes flash like a storm over the ocean. He licks his lips as if he’s imagining the taste of my flesh. My entire body vibrates at the thought.

  In typical Angel fashion, he doesn’t say a word as he drops his lips to mine sending a current of electricity all the way to my toes. His hand moves over my body, kneading the flesh of my breast then gently rolling the taut nipples between his fingers.

  Never one to leave the right jealous of the left, he moves his mouth to the other nipple, sucking it into his mouth, tugging with his teeth. He watches me as I watch him and the throbbing between us grows.

  “I said I need you inside of me,” I remind him, my voice full of rough need.

  He gives me a cocky smirk as he reaches into the nightstand. He rips open the tiny foil package with his teeth. Quickly, he sheathes himself in the smooth latex then slides his thick erection through my wet folds, spreading the moisture and eliciting a moan from me.

  “Stop teasing me,” I demand.

  Another chuckle slips from him. He nudges himself into my opening slowly. So, so torturously slow that I try to force him there quicker. As usual, however, he remains in control making me squirm beneath him.

  He grips each of my knees, pushing them wider as he watches himself sink in those last few inches. “Always so goddamned tight and wet,” he groans as he retreats just as painfully slow. “Fucking love watching your pussy swallow my cock,” he groans again.

  He may not be one for a lot of words when we fuck, but the ones he chooses practically have me coming already. He picks up the pace but continues to watch. My back arches as each thrust becomes harder.

  He pushes my knees closer to my shoulders while keeping them wide. He angles himself over my body, the new position allowing him to go deeper while applying delicious friction to my clit. Each pump of his hips hits so deep I swear I can feel him in my lungs as I struggle to breathe. I am completely at his mercy, unable to move even a fraction of an inch from this position as he pins me firmly to the bed with my body folded in two. All I can do is enjoy the pleasure as I near closer and closer to the edge of bliss.

  “Open your eyes, Josie,” he commands.

  They snap open involuntarily. In obedience. Looking deep into his. My ocean blue meeting his stormy gray. “I love you so fucking much,” he declares like an edict written as law between the two of us.

  Those words. That tone. That completely devoted look sends me right over the edge. Not falling but soaring higher and higher as I chant his name in total reverence.

  I feel him swell and pulse inside of me as he chases his own euphoria. Watching him chase his own release causes mine to intensify, sending me so high I may never come down.

  “I can’t believe you’d rather be here than in bed with me,” I grumble as we walk into Lucky’s.

  With the exception of his last show, I’ve spent the last two weeks holed up in my apartment mostly wrapped around Angel. If I thought the media was bad when my dad was first arrested, it is nothing compared to now.

  Erica blasting me to the tabloids. Whatever her purposes were definitely escalated the situation. Calling me attention seeking and desperate, however, helped me realize how stupid I’d been. How much I’d let her control my life for too long. I decided the moment I saw the video I wasn’t letting her make me insecure ever again. I also realized no matter how much I claimed not to run from my problems, that’s exactly what I did every time. I was tired of it all. And most of all, tired
of not being happy because of her. I took the first flight to Chicago. I was not going to continue to wallow in my misery or continue to hurt Angel.

  I absolutely did not expect him to be able to spot me in the audience. I definitely didn’t expect the very public declaration of love or him to leave the stage and come to me in the middle of the crowded audience.

  It was sweet and romantic. It also put a few more logs to the paparazzi fire because videos of the entire thing soon went viral. The new, up and coming band suddenly had more attention than they could ever hope for, but so did Timothy Byers' daughter.

  The proverbial icing on the cake came a few days later. First came Robert. He gave an exclusive interview to every major new channel in the country alluding to not just my involvement in the illegal activities at Byer Development but insinuated that he was only following my father’s and my orders.

  I panicked all day. I waited and waited on someone to show up and arrest me. Finally, Angel got his dad involved and was told the FBI and all other agencies were finished investigating me and I should not worry.

  A few days later, more evidence appeared against Robert. It implicated him in far more than the original charges. His sentence will be far harsher than my dad, and he is also facing another trial, which will only add onto his sentence, if found guilty.

  Next came Erica again. Angel told me about her throwing out them having a child together at his dad’s. Neither of us were too surprised when she tried to pull that stunt again. This time she went to the tabloids again, calling me a homewrecker and Angel a deadbeat dad. She even alluded to provocative pictures to prove I’d always been unstable where Angel was concerned.

  Angel, like he told her the first time, sent out a public statement through the label that if he did have a son, Erica had purposely withheld the information all this time and that he was more than willing to have a paternity test performed to prove the validity of her statement. He also stated that I had not wrecked anyone’s relationship because he and Erica had been over for years.