JD’s Redemption
Lauren Firminger
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
Copyright © 2018 Lauren Firminger
All rights reserved.
Published by Lauren Firminger
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including photo copying, recording, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places, and incident are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Formatting by Formatting the Affordable Way
To my Ellie. I wouldn’t be on this crazy ride without you. Hope you’ll always be by my side!
Blurb
JD’s Redemption
I’m an asshole. I never sleep with the same woman twice. I don’t do strings and always leave a trail of broken hearts behind me. I let few people close to me and those that I did, are my brothers. Except for one.
There was something different about her but I still couldn’t change my ways.
There comes a time though where even the strongest of people need to walk away. I never thought I would see the day where I lost what mattered to me most.
It was that cliche saying, “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”, but when your past rules your present, are you really capable of change?
I’d been holding on to something for so long when I should have been letting it go.
Now, I had to try and stop her from closing that door for good.
CHAPTER ONE
JD
I sit back some nights and wonder how my life turned out the way it did. I grew up in a semi normal household. My mom and dad were happily married and despite him being part of the club, he had always been loyal to her. She knew what went on, but didn’t care. I grew up learning how women should be treated and to show them respect. When I was old enough, I said goodbye to my parents and moved out on my own. Well almost, I moved in with Chaos when his mom killed herself. I checked in on my parents from time to time, but I can count on one hand the amount of times I had seen them over the years. Truth was, I didn’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes when my mom asked me when I was going to settle down and stop my partying ways. I knew they weren’t happy that I had taken what my father instilled on me and thrown it out of the window. The way I treated women was a slap in the face to them. I preferred to keep myself closed off though. I thought I had met the one that I was supposed to end up with, but fate had other ideas. “Fate”, or as he was more commonly known as, Jai, got her addicted to everything she could get her hands on. I tried to get her to quit but he would get into her ear when my back was turned.
One night, I went to pick her up from work. Paige worked as a stripper in one of the clubs in town. Jai owned it, so they were able to overlook the fact she was well underage. He didn’t care how old the girls were as long as their body was hot and they did as he said. I took her to her own home and had to go. Chaos and I were doing something early the next day and I didn’t want to chance waking her when I left. When I knew she was inside, asleep and safe, I left. The next morning, I woke up to my door being beaten down by the cops and my ass in cuffs with a murder charge hanging over my head. It took a lot of money and some good lawyers to get those charges dropped. I found out later though that Jai had come over after I left and gave her something that reacted badly. When he realized what was happening, the sick bastard fucked her while she lay there dying and made it look like rape before splitting and telling the cops I was the last one with her. It took years of court dates and money that had almost left my parents bankrupt before Ellie along with Chaos and Raven helped to clear my name and got me out of jail.
After that, it was a slippery slope for me. I started taking drugs and sleeping with anyone who’d have me. I was doing jobs for drug dealers to try and keep the roof over my mom and dad’s head and pay them back everything they lost. I built my walls up high and tried to push everyone out of my life. I was hoping to make a cocktail bad enough that I would OD and go on to join Paige, but the fuckers kept saving my life. I straightened up a little when Chaos’s brother was killed, and he was put in jail, but it wasn’t much better. When I finally let my walls down and let someone other than my brothers in, I saw Ellie for what she was really worth. She had been by my side through some of the toughest points in my life and still stayed despite me giving her every reason not to. More surprising though was she felt the same. Like the idiot I was though, I went and fucked it all up. We started dating but one night after too many drinks, I ended up fucking one of the club whores. I tried to convince Ellie that it was just a mistake and that it wouldn’t happen again, and I meant every word of that. Ellie however didn’t want to be burned again and thought it best that we just stay friends. She didn’t think me capable of changing and that little voice inside my head told me she was right. So, once again, I turned to the two things that never let me down. Alcohol and sex.
I honestly thought, after that, Chaos and Raven would kill me. They wanted too but someone stopped them. Maybe Ellie but I couldn’t be sure. She would always be my saving grace but even the strongest of people needed to walk away. Seeing my brothers settling down, it made me stop and think about my life. I took a good hard look at myself and realized that my playboy act was only going to last so long and then what? No, I needed my girl back. I needed to let go of Paige and my past and leave it where it belonged. I had to stop Ellie closing that door on us once and for all. Now I just needed help and I knew exactly who I was going to enlist. God was she going to have my balls for this.
CHAPTER TWO
Ellie
Taking a deep breath, I got out of my car and put my keys into my clutch. Straightening out my dress, that had creased on the drive over here, I ran a thumb around my lips to make sure that none of my trademark pink lipstick had moved and re-fluffed my hair. I took another deep breath and closed my eyes, taking just a minute to center myself before I headed inside. I had no idea just what had possessed me to accept the invitation to Thomas and Ka
ty’s wedding, but I had a feeling that Thomas would have been very persuasive if I had of sent back a ‘sorry, can’t make it but here is a little something from me’ gift.
I had known these two most of my life and they couldn’t have been more perfect for each other. When Katy moved away for university, I saw Thomas from time to time and I knew he wasn’t coping without her. He had grown up a little over the years, but I knew, without a doubt, they would find their way back to each other. Maybe that was what had me here today. Although, it might not happen for me, I was happy to see someone getting their happy ending. Well it wasn’t really an ending, their lives were just getting started. They had just given birth to the most beautiful baby girl you had ever seen, and Katy was handling motherhood like a boss.
Thomas was doing a fantastic job of taking care of both Katy and Amelia. He would do the middle of the night feeds just so Katy could get some rest. I went and saw them a little while after Amelia was born and he confessed to me that he did it just so that he knew she was okay. There had been a few close calls during Katy’s pregnancy and they almost had to deliver early, but they hung in there and made it full term. Seeing the relief on his face once she was here and he could actually hold her and know that everything was going to be okay was almost like he was a new man. Now was the day where Katy would finally get to make an honest man out of him. Listening to the sound of my heels, I walked down the path to where the ceremony would be.
I had to give it to them though, they had done an amazing job with the planning. Thomas had brought a house a while back and had given Katy her dream garden. She of course, chose that as the location for the wedding. They would get married in amongst hers and her moms favorite flowers before they moved to where the guys had set up the reception. As I reached the garden entrance, I saw a very suave looking Corey standing there. He saw me and grinned. Motioning up and down his body with my hand, I grinned back. “Well don’t you scrub up nicely.” He chuckled softly.
“I’m a smart man, El. I know not to piss off the bride when it’s her wedding day.”
“That and your sister would kill you if you didn’t.”
“Well, there is that too. I have to say though, you are looking pretty amazing yourself.” He reached out and took my hand, twirling me around. I couldn’t help but laugh softly.
“Aw shucks, well don’t you know how to make a girl feel special.”
“He’s telling the truth.” I swallowed at the sound of that voice. I gave Corey a small smile as he excused himself, leaving me and JD alone. “Then again, you always look gorgeous to me, Goddess.” As he came closer, he leant over and pressed his lips against my cheek. His usual greeting but it meant I was suddenly consumed by him. The closer he got, the more I could smell his aftershave and fuck me if he wasn’t wearing the one that made me weak at the knees. Lord help me, this was going to be harder than I thought it would be.
“You always were biased though, Jason.”
“I just call it how I see it.”
“Mmmhm.” He moved to place his hand on the bottom of my back and stepped to my side.
“Come on, let me show you to your seat. Make sure you get there safely.” I raised a brow and looked up at him. He was about a head taller than me and that was with my heels on.
“How very gentlemanly of you.”
“I try. Sometimes.” He gave me his wicked grin and I had to shake it off. There was just no shaking off the connection between us, but I had to try. I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t let him hurt me again and no amount of time could make up for the fact that the one time I let my guard down, he broke my heart. I wasn’t about to make that mistake again. Before either of us could speak again, he led me into a seat toward the front and leant in over my shoulder and whispered. “Please, save me a dance. You’ll break my heart if you don’t.”
His lips brushed lightly over my shoulder causing my body to shiver slightly before he straightened up and moved to find the others. It gave me time to compose myself because I could feel myself slipping. In an attempt to regain my composure, I looked around the garden. I noticed though, instead of having the chairs set up in the usual bride’s side and grooms side and there was no aisle for Katy to walk down. There were a few rows of seats and they were all positioned in the middle. I looked over to where JD had led me in from and saw a sign that I hadn’t noticed before. “There are no sides, just seats. Thank you for making our big day complete.” As I was settling back in my seat, I saw Thomas come through the gate holding a very adorably dressed Mia. He saw me, gave me a little wave and started to make his way over to me. I waved back and as he reached me, I held my hands out.
“Oh, my God! She looks so adorable!” He passed Mia to me and chuckled.
“She does! She is her mama’s girl through and through. All about the pretty dresses.” I looked down at Mia and cuddled her close to me. This was just what I needed after JD had rattled me before.
“How is Mama doing?”
“Just as amazing as ever. She has this parenting thing down to a fine art. That woman is constantly amazing me.” He grinned wide as he spoke about Katy and I couldn’t help but smile. That was the look of love I had always seen on his face. Even through the hardest of times recently, whenever he thought of her, his eyes would glaze over and he would relax.
“She has done an amazing job with everything. Even got JD in a suit, that in itself is impressive.”
“You’ve seen him?” I nodded softly and looked down at Mia. “Good. Might do the asshole some good to see how gorgeous you look and how fucked up he is.” I chewed on my lip and looked back up.
“Thanks, I’m not sure he is ever going to see that though.” I saw Cameron and JD come in the same gate that Thomas had just come through and looked back to him.
“Almost show time?” He nodded.
“I am really sorry to ask this but as both of her God Parents are up with us, would you mind looking after Mia during the ceremony?”
“Of course not! It would be my pleasure. Good luck getting her back off me though.” I grinned up at him.
“The mom look suits you.” Before I could speak, he moved away. Just as I glared at him, JD looked over this way. I watched him ask Thomas something and he shrugged. I could see the smirk threatening to break out on his face though. He was going to pay for that soon enough.
CHAPTER THREE
JD
It was my best friend’s wedding and I was standing up next him with our brother from another mother as he said the vows, I knew he would mean it when he said, “until the day I die, to the love of my life and the mother of my first child.” I knew it wouldn’t be their last because if I knew Chaos like I did, they would be going until they got a boy. They just wouldn’t have some psychotic cuntosaurus trying to kill her. I was proud and honored to be standing up there with him, I was. My mind though was on Ellie. Seeing her today, dressed in that pink dress that hugged every curve of her body like it was made for her, was driving me crazy. This whole being sober shit fucking sucked and wasn’t helping, but Katy had threatened to remove my brain through my nose if I fucked up her day, so I was on my best behavior. I couldn’t wait for the reception though because there was a scotch on the rocks calling my name and by God was I gonna show that shit a good time. I swear to God though, if any of my brothers went near Ellie, they were dead. I didn’t care that we would need to replace them, they could look but that body and her heart, belonged to me. I had already lost her once to one of them. I wasn’t about to let it happen again.
Once we were done with the photos, we were finally given the okay to remove the suit jackets and ties. Thank fuck for that because that shit was starting to suffocate me. We made our way to the tent that had been set up for the reception. I had snuck in earlier to see where Katy had put Ellie and all my groveling had paid off. She’d put her on the table with Raven, Hailee, Tucker, Abby, Corey, Chaos, Katy and I. I hadn’t told her exactly why I needed the favor, but she knew something was
up and didn’t question it. She liked Ellie so it was a win win. When it was time to make our entrance, Abby and I walked in first, followed by Raven and Hailee. When Abby saw who was sitting at our table, she looked over at me.
“You do know that Ellie isn’t the hit it and quit it type, don’t you?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Don’t play stupid, JD. You know what I am talking about. If you hurt her, I swear you won’t know what hit you.”
“Noted.” We took our seats at the table. Shrugging off my jacket, I let it hang over the back of the chair before rolling up my shirt sleeves. Once I was comfortable, I let my arm rest over the back of Ellie’s chair. I could feel Abby glaring daggers at me and tried to ignore it. When Ellie shifted beside me, she lent in to whisper in my ear.
“What have you done now?” I shook my head and kept my voice low.
“Nothing, Abby is just assuming things again. Her imagination is running away from her again.”
“Why do I not believe that?”
“Probably because you know me so well?”
“That may have something to do with it. You haven’t screwed her over have you?”
“Abby? No, she is like a little sister to everyone in the club. That and Corey would have buried me six feet under if I had.” She nodded and picked up the glass of champagne that had just been delivered to the table.
“Can I get you a drink, Sir?” Before I could answer, Ellie chimed in.
“Scotch on the rocks.” I chuckled and nodded when the bartender looked down at me.
“The lady knows my drink order. Keep them coming too please?” He nodded and grabbed the orders for the rest of the bridal party and left to get the drinks. Feeling an elbow in my side, I looked over to Chaos.
“Can you please take your niece? She is trying to get your attention.” I chuckled and moved my arm from around Ellie and took Mia from Chaos.
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