© 2019 Sheridan Anne.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
All Rights Reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
Cover Design by: Sheridan Anne
Photograph: Arturkurjan
Editing and Formatting by: Sheridan Anne
Introduction
Tully
If he thinks he can just show up on my doorstep after four long years of radio silence, then he’s got another thing coming.
Tully Cage does not bow down for anyone; especially ghosts from the past who insist on crashing back into my life and causing all sorts of havoc.
My heart can’t take it. That boy put me through hell and back, and to be honest, I don’t think I ever fully recovered. But now…he’s no longer a boy and that hold he used to have over me? Damn it, it’s stronger than ever.
Being with Rivers is like climbing aboard the Titanic; a sure-fire way of things ending in tragedy. I won’t put myself through it again even if my heart is screaming at me to give it one last shot.
Samuel Rivers…he never should have come back.
Rivers
I’m back and this time, I’m not letting her go.
She better prepare herself because this man has been starved of her love for way too long and now that I’ve seen her, there’s no going back.
Tully Cage is mine. Always has been and always will be.
I’ve been at war and come face to face with my enemy, but convincing Tully that I’m not going to hurt her and somehow earn her forgiveness is going to be the hardest thing I’ll ever do.
Failing is not an option. Not when it comes to her.
No matter how long it takes or how many times she shoots me down; I’m going to marry that girl.
WARNING: The Haven Falls Series is a Young Adult / New Adult Romance filled with LOL moments, teenage angst, and of course, all the swoon worthy moments I know you’re all dying for. This series is recommended for mature readers due to cursing and sexual content. If this offends you, then steer clear of this bad boy romance!
For everyone else, dive in and have fun!
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Author Biography
Other Series by Sheridan Anne
Chapter 1
Rivers
I stand before the house that I grew up in, staring up at it and hoping that what I’m about to do isn’t going to cause any problems.
Shit. Who am I kidding? Of course it’s going to cause problems. Big fucking problems.
It’s Noah and Henley’s wedding day, and me showing up out of the blue after four years of radio silence is bound to cause a stir. I just hope it’s going to be the good kind. Noah is going to have something to say, Henley will be more shocked than anything, and Tully…fuck. I’m in for a world of hurt.
Tully is a fucking mystery. I don’t know how she’s going to react. It’s been four long years since I saw her, and not one minute of that time has passed without me thinking about her. Thinking about what she’s doing with her life, if she ended up going to college and opening that flower store that she always wanted, or if she met someone and moved on.
Fuck, why am I so sweaty?
I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s with someone else. She’s the kind of girl who would have guys lining up for her attention, and in high school, I loved being the one who had hers. She was always mine, and not knowing if she still is has weighed on me every single day.
I’d be a fool to assume she sat back and waited for me, and she’d be a fool if she actually did. I was the idiot who told her to move on, I was the one who told her that I wouldn’t be coming back, and I was the one who told her goodbye.
I never came home, and that decision haunts me every moment of every fucking day.
That wasn’t part of the deal, and I know that must have cut her, but Haven Falls…this place is full of darkness, a darkness that I’ve worked my ass off over the past four years to forget about.
But how could I not come home for this? It’s Noah and Henley’s wedding day, for fuck’s sake.
I knew this day would come right from the very start. My best friend fell for her hard and welcomed her into our lives with open arms, but not me. I made her work for it and prove to me that she deserved my loyalty. Naturally, it didn’t take long. Henley Bronx is a force to be reckoned with. She was a fucking machine, and I don’t doubt that she still is.
But what was better was finding out that the little she-devil is my sister. And not just my half-sister like we had thought or my pack sister, but my full on, blood-sharing, irritating little sister. Well…OK, maybe she’s not irritating, but she’s had some shining moments.
I walk toward the house. I can’t put this off any longer.
Man the fuck up, Rivers. You’ve got this.
I don’t know what I was thinking coming here, but I’ve got nowhere else to go. I don’t know what to expect or who’s inside the house. It could be Noah and his boys or Henley with the girls. All I know is that there’s a shiny black limousine waiting out front telling me that no matter what, there’s going to be someone on the other side of that door that’s been dreaming about kicking my ass.
As desperately as I need it to be the girls in there, I’m kind of hoping it’s Noah. I need to handle shit with him before anything else, but the black limo has a sinking feeling settling in my gut. I should be running for the fucking hills. I’m not ready to face her, not yet at least.
What the fuck am I supposed to say? “Hey, Babe. Sorry for leaving you high and dry for the past four years, but I’m here now. Want to be my date?”
There are no words that I could say to her that would make any of this OK. She’s going to need time, and unfortunately for her, I’m not a very patient man.
Shit. Tully’s going to tear me a new asshole, and she’s going to enjoy doing it. Maybe I’m lucky and she’s already at the wedding. Yeah…that’s wishful thinking.
With Noah, he’d knock me out, wait until I regain consciousness, and then repeat it over and over again until he gets it all out of his system, but Tully…she’s a mystery. You never know what you’re going to get. All I know is that the outcome of this one is not going to be good. I deserve the fucking worst from her, and that’s if I’m lucky. There’s a good chance she won’t even give me the time of day.
Why the fuck am I being such a pussy? Knock on the door already. It’s not that fucking hard.
I let out a tortured sigh and drop my bag beside me. I got off the plane and came straight here. If I had gone back to my place, that would have just brought up a shitload of memories that I’m not ready to begin dealing with, and besides, it’s not as though I had the time. I’m cutting it pretty fucking close. I’m surprised the limo is even still here. They must be late themselves.
The thought has a grin spreading across my face. I guess some things never change.
I step forward and raise my hand to the door, sucking it up an
d realizing that putting this off is pointless. The sooner I get in there, the sooner I can make things right.
I hear people rushing around on the other side, and I cringe. Now probably isn’t the best time to spring a visit on them. After all, there’s a wedding that needs to be had. My knuckles barely brush the door before it’s ripped open from the inside and a fucking angel appears before me.
My heart stops.
She’s radiant.
Tully stands before me, and as her eyes rise and lock on mine, everything stands still. Tully Cage. My beautiful Tully. Over the past four years there have been many times where I thought I’d never see her again, and the fact that she’s standing right here before me, tells me there really is a God up there because right now, all my prayers have been answered.
My heart kicks into overdrive. I’ve been in the middle of a war zone, and my heart has never beat this damn fast. I’m desperate to take her in, have my eyes travel up and down her body, but I’m locked in the moment with her wide jade eyes on mine, neither of us physically able to break the hold.
Her breathing picks up, her chest rising and falling with erratic movements and it’s then I can no longer go on without taking her in.
I roam my eyes over her face and take in every little line, every little curve, every tiny detail that sets her apart from the girl I used to know. She’s not the same nineteen-year-old girl I left; she’s a fucking woman, and damn, it looks good on her.
Her long brunette hair is swept to the side with beautiful thick curls cascading down her back. I follow the curve of her face, down past her jaw and neck and over her body. She wears a strapless gold dress, and I’m fucking breathless.
How is it possible for one person to have such pure beauty?
The door has been open for less than ten seconds, but that time is enough to tell me exactly what I need to know: she’s not happy to see me.
I don’t doubt she’s been waiting for this moment and in her head, she probably has a speech already rehearsed. Seeing as though not a word has come from her mouth, I’d bet that she’s kicking herself right about now. Though I’m one to talk. I’ve been so caught up that I haven’t even said hello.
A gasp sounds behind her, and my eyes flick back. I hadn’t even realized someone else was there.
I take in the silk white gown that sits perfectly over the bride’s frame and the soft vale that covers her face and I can’t help the smile that rips across my own. I’ve never seen such a beautiful bride. Henley is stunning. This is exactly what Noah’s dreams are made of.
A voice to the left has my gaze shooting across the room to take in two guys, both dressed to impress in their best suits. I don’t think I’ve met these guys before, or maybe I have. I don’t know, it’s been a while.
A strange familiarity pulls at me. One of them looks oddly like a dude I used to go to school with, though too much is going on inside my brain to try and work out who I’m actually referring to. Say, the piercing stare coming from the goddess standing right in front of me, the heat of her intense gaze making me want nothing more than to drown in her eyes.
“Who’s this tall drink of water?” the guy on the right questions, looking me up and down as though I’m his next meal.
His question is ignored as my sister’s crumbled voice cuts through the room in a pained whisper, filled with all sorts of desperation. “What are you doing here?”
I put my need to drop to my knees before Tully aside and focus on my sister. It’s her big day, and I don’t want to ruin it, so if she asks me to leave right now, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
I give her a warm smile. “You didn’t think I was going to miss my best friend and little sister’s wedding, did you?"
At the sound of my voice, Violet’s head whips up from the mountain of dress she’s been focused on in her hands and a gasp comes flying out. The need to throw myself into her arms sails through me, especially as a softness creeps into her features and tears spring to her eyes.
At least someone is happy to see me. I’d give anything for Tully to find her nineteen-year-old self and slap that hand of hers across my face. At least that way I’d have her burning touch on my skin once again.
Tully’s brows furrow as Henley watches me, speechless. How is it possible that only a few seconds have passed?
I don’t know how it happened, but one minute I’m focused on Tully and the next, Henley has a phone to her ear, still gaping at me as though she can hardly believe what she’s seeing.
“Noah, it’s me,” she says into the phone in a strange tone. She pauses for the slightest moment. “I think you should get over here. He’s here. Rivers has come home.”
Home.
There’s that word that has traveled through my mind over and over again until it started feeling like a place that no longer existed, but standing in this very doorway, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Now that I’m here, I don’t want to leave.
But seeing as Noah’s now on his way over here, I guess I won’t be going anywhere as I’ll be spending the rest of my day unconscious. Crap. I knew I should have just shown up to the ceremony and watched from the back. Now their wedding is going to be delayed because of me. That’s the last thing I wanted.
Tully’s gaze drops to the ground before traveling in a wide arc as it makes its way back up to Henley. “I um…” Shit. That voice of an angel has me dying a million deaths. I had nearly forgotten what she sounded like, but it’s pure heaven. Always has been and always will be. “I should get to the wedding and let them know things are going to be running a little late.”
No, no, no, no, no, baby. Don’t you dare go.
Henley nods as a sympathetic, broken sigh pulls from Violet, and before I know it, Tully reaches for the hallway table, grabs a set of keys, and hurries through the door. She gives me a wide berth and absolutely refuses to look back up at me.
The smell of her perfume lingers in the air and I just about die. That’s the smell I’ve been missing, the smell that reminds me of having her in my arms and burying my face into her neck. It reminds me of what could have been and what I fucked up and lost.
I can’t help but follow her movements as she drops down into a black car and takes off like a bat out of hell. My brows pull down. What happened to her Jeep? Though that reminds me; my Firebird is no longer sitting out on the lawn. It used to sit right outside Tully’s bedroom window, but all that’s there is the greenest grass Haven Falls has ever seen.
A longing instantly settles into my chest. She was so close but so far away and just the sight of me had her running.
Barely a moment has passed before Violet is dropping the train of Henley’s dress and is flying into me. Her arms are thrown wide and she collects me as though she was welcoming home her son. “Oh, Rivers,” she cries. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
“And you have no idea how happy I am to be home.”
Henley catches my attention over Violet’s shoulder and I watch as she demands one of the boys to lift the vale over her head so she can focus a little better. They snap to it, basically fighting over who gets to do it and I have to laugh at the way that she’s still capable of ruling the people around her.
Henley was the queen of Haven Falls Private and I don’t doubt that she’s still the queen now.
Violet pulls back and steps out of my way. “How rude of me. Come in.”
I step over the threshold and get two steps past Violet when Henley crashes into me like a freight train. The wind is knocked out of me, but I suck it up and take it like a man because the sister I’ve hardly had the time to get to know is here with her arms wrapped around me and I couldn’t be happier.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” she demands, pulling back to look up at me.
“Because I had no idea,” I tell her. “I was on a mission until two days ago…and well, shit never really goes how you think it will. I thought we were going to be out there for another month, but the second
I knew we were done; I was on the first flight home. The rest of my unit are waiting at our base until tomorrow to fly home, but I knew if I left then and there, I could make it. I didn’t want to miss this, Henley. Not for the world.”
Her features soften and she smacks me across the chest. “Don’t make me cry. I don’t want to ruin my makeup.”
A voice clears in the room and we all look across to the two guys who I still can’t seem to place. “We’re going to head down to the ceremony and give you guys a little privacy.”
“Thanks,” Henley says with a grateful smile. “We’ll try not to be too long, but if you need to, start handing out glasses of champagne to keep everyone happy then do it.”
The two boys walk out, each of them giving me a quick nod before disappearing out the door. The second it closes behind them, I look to Violet before focusing my gaze on Henley. “I hope it’s alright that I came. I know I was invited but…”
“Tully,” Violet sighs.
“I’m not going to lie,” Henley says, giving me a warm smile. “It was definitely a shock seeing you standing at the door, but I’m happy you’re here. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. And you’re right; Tully is most likely going to be a mess today and I have no doubt that this is screwing with her head and is going to be hard on her, but she’s strong. She’ll make it through to the end of the night with a smile on her face, but don’t get me wrong, just because she’s smiling doesn’t mean things are ok. You hurt her, Rivers.”
I nod my head. Everything she just said are the thoughts that have worked their way through my head time and time again. “I promise, I’m going to make this ok.”
“I think you’re underestimating just how impossible that task is going to be.”
“Whatever it takes,” I tell her, letting her know just how damn serious I am.
“Ok, but don’t think you’re off the hook with me. You’re just lucky you caught me on a good day. I still plan on reigning down hell on you, but it’s going to have to wait until tomorrow because today I’m getting married and not even you can ruin it.”
Unstoppable: Haven Falls (Book 7) Page 1
