Tired of waiting, I lift the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and walk towards the grave with my head down. I didn’t see anyone while waiting around but that doesn’t mean that there’s no one out there. Getting closer to the tombstone, my steps slow down as my chest begins to tighten. My heart is beating so fast, the pounding against my chest feels like my heart is about to rip out. Stopping and taking a deep breath, I tell myself I can do this; that I have to do this.
I had to watch at a distance as Joe, Ali and Mema cried over the casket of their lost family member, it completely gutted me. It should be me there with them. I wanted nothing more than to be a part of the family, hugging each other tight and never letting go, keeping each other strong. I couldn’t be there for them and I’ve never felt more alone. The family I’ve grown to love and will be connected to for the rest of my life seemed like they didn’t even realize I was missing.
Lifting my head to the sky, I look up to the stars like they are going to give me some kind of guidance. The noise of footsteps hitting puddles alerts me that someone is behind me. I look back down towards the ground, not wanting my face to be seen. For a brief moment, I consider leaving just to be sure, but I’ve come this far and waited this long, nothing will stop me. Right now I don’t care if I’d end up next to the love of my life. Forcing my legs to move forward, I walk the remaining distance to the grave.
Dropping to my knees, the minute his name comes into view, I feel the walls crumble down around me. Placing my hand on the cold, wet tombstone, the dam breaks as my eyes flood with tears and stream down my face. It’s in this moment all denial fades away and I accept the fact that he’s dead. As much as I want to, I can’t hold it back anymore and my cries take over the silence that previously filled the night air.
“You shouldn’t be here.” A familiar voice says from behind. The man dressed in black walks around to my side, kneels beside me, placing his umbrella over me. Bringing his thumb to my cheek, he wipes away the freshly fallen tears.
Tilting my head in his hand, I look up into Joe’s eyes that are filled with grief. My lower lip is quivering and I throw myself at him, sobbing into his chest. Dropping the umbrella, he wraps his arms around me, rubbing my back trying to calm me.
“Oh God. He’s gone, Joe! He’s really gone! For God sakes, I watched him die! He is…was… my fiancé and I should have been here today.” My words come out in between sobs and I’m on the verge of hyperventilating.
“I know, Ava.” Joe stutters and chokes on his words. I can tell he’s holding himself back from crying. I wanted to be strong for Joe and everyone but right now, in this moment, I just can’t do it, it’s my turn to grieve.
After a few moments, I’m able to get my bearings. I pull back, I wipe under my swollen eyes. “It should have been Michael! That asshole knew what he was getting into when he decided to turn on his father!” My voice is carrying throughout the cemetery as the anger rages out from me.
“Ava, you can’t talk like that here. If someone hears you--”
“If someone hears me then what? They will kill him? Let them.” Standing up, I fold my arms across my cold, wet sweatshirt, shivering. My wet hair is sticking to the sides of my face making it cold. Standing up, Joe sighs, I know he feels the same way I do right now. He grabs the umbrella and holds it over us again.
“Come on, let’s get you out of here. If you get sick, Mema will have my head on a platter.” Putting his arm through mine, he takes a step but stops when he sees I’m glued to my spot. Looking at me, I turn my head away and look to Dante’s grave placing my hand over my stomach. “Ava?” Joe’s voice is filled with compassion as I struggle to leave.
“It’s not right, Joe. Our baby is going to grow up without a father while those shitbags sit back without a worry in the world.”
“I’m not going to let that happen. I will make damn sure that they all get arrested, even if it costs me my life doing it. His death won’t be in vain, I promise you that.”
“No, it won’t.” Removing my arm from Joe’s, I walk back over to Dante’s grave. Kissing my hand, I place it on the top. I make him my last and final promise. “I will make them pay. Each and every one of them. I will get revenge on every last one of them and make them wish they were never born. And when I’m done, and I won’t be done until they suffer, I will leave the job like you wanted and raise our child. I love you, Dante, and I will avenge your death.” The lightning strikes, lighting up the evening sky. I stand straight and smile, taking that as Dante’s answer to my promise. I turn around and walk over to Joe. “Now we can go.”
Ava,
If you’re reading this then, everything went wrong and I’m dead. I’m so sorry, Pop Tart. I know that you are broken right now and it may seem impossible to put the pieces back together, but I’m writing you this letter because I know how strong you are and I know you won’t be shattered forever. You need to stay strong, not only for yourself but for our precious mini pop tart. You need to stay healthy so that our baby will grow strong just like her mommy. I learned my lesson on telling you what to do so I’m only going to make one suggestion. Please consider leaving your job and settle for a life dedicated to our daughter. Yes, I said daughter. I already know it’s going to be a little girl who is going to be just as beautiful as you and just as stubborn. Baby, Joe, Ali, and Mema will help you with whatever you need all you have to do is ask. I know you won’t want to but they are now your family too. Also, please promise me, once all this is over, let Michael and Nicole in. Don’t punish them for their father’s mistakes. Put aside the anger and resentment and just allow yourself to live your life and be happy. Please don’t be sad. Take joy in knowing that you made my life better. I would have never opened up to anyone and found what love really is if you didn’t break down my walls. You saved me, Ava. Know that I will always be with you, watching over you and our child. You never left me, even in my final moments, and you never will.
I love you with all of my heart,
Dante
Ava’s Revenge
Coming May 2015
Other Books By Jaime Whitley
Twist of Fate
To my biggest supporter Scott, I don’t even know where to begin. Every day you continue to amaze me and I’m so lucky to have you by my side. The time you put in to helping out so I can get books written is much appreciated. Not every husband would say, ‘go write and I’ll take care of the kids.’ Your dedication to my love for writing inspires me everyday and I wouldn’t be able to do this without your support. You’re an amazing husband and father and I’m proud to stand by yourside and incredibly lucky to have the honor of being your wife. Thank you for always being the sun peeking through the clouds. I love you to the moon and back.
F.L. Jacob, my sister from another mister. I don’t even know where to begin. You have helped me in so many ways I feel like thank you isnt enough to let you know how greatful I am. I’m so blessed to have met someone like you and have the pleasure of calling you a best friend. You’re an amazing writer but an even better friend and I will always cherish our friendship. Our sprinting dates are the best and I couldn’t ask for a better sprinting partner. I wish we lived closer to eachother but I guess our daily texts will have to do for now. We really need to work on something so we can be insepratable…Just saying! I think Jake should get a special thanks too for putting up with my daily texts, so thanks Jake!
T.H. Snyder, what else more do I need to say other than I punch love you! You remind me to never stop reaching for my dreams with everything you do. You continue to inspire me everyday with how you chase after yours. Thank you for always supporting me and having my back. But most of all, thank you for the beauitful image displayed on the back of my cover. No matter how many cliffhangers you torture me through, I will always love you!
Lance Jones, thank you for being you and bringing my cover alive! You never let me down when I’m looking for something specific and I can’t thank you enough. Your support is much appreciated and I’
m glad to have you as a friend.
Michael Meadows, with Michael Meadows Studio. Thank you for taking my vision of what I wanted my cover to be and making it a reality. You’re a truly talented photgrapher.
Kellie Dennis, with Book Cover by Design. It’s no secret that I love your work. The covers you design and add your personal touch to just shine above all the rest. Thank you for making my cover what it is, perfection.
Esperanza Duarte, with Second Gaze Editing. Thank you for once again making sure my work is nothing but perfect. I can always count on you to do an outstanding job fixing my horrible grammer. You’re a rockstar and I can’t wait to work with you again.
Brenda Wright, I’m so happy I found you. You are the best formatter I’ve had the pleasure of working with and am excited to continue working with you down the road.
To my author friends. F.L. Jacob, Magan Vernon, T.H. Snyder, Skye Turner, Kathy Coopmans, Stacey Bentley, AJ Warner, Michelle Iannarelli, J.M. Witt, HJ Bellus and JA Hensley. I love being able to come to all of you and bounce ideas off you and to have the support of you all is the biggest blessing. Each and everyone of you are so special in your own way and I’m so thankful the book world brought you into my life.
Christie Stanley, with The Hyper PR. Thank you for putting my tour together and gathering the amazing responses you did. It truly was a pleasure working with you.
To all the blogs and facebook pages who helped me promote Dante’s Redemption. Thank you so much for taking the time to help get the word out. You play such a huge role in the book world and I’m greatful for your love of reading. You all are such a pleasure to work with and your support has been amazing and much appreciated.
To my beta girls. Ferris, Tiffany, Lheanne, Ashley, Caroline, Robin, Val, and Debbie. The time you took away from your everyday tasks to help me means the world to me. Your constructive feedback is what helped make this book be the best it could be. I love each and every one of you!
To Elizabeth and Freddie. Thank you for taking the time to do a final read through. You both did a fantsastic job.
To my Gems, I couldn’t ask for a better street team. You guys pimp hard and are awesome at getting my name out there. I love sharing my work with you before everyone else gets to. Stick around because theres more to come.
To my followers. Your kind words and excitement over Twist of Fate are so heart warming. I hope this book lives up to your expectations and leaves you wanting more. Without you I wouldn’t have anyone to read my books so thank you so much.
To my two beautiful children. Your laughter and smiles make the world a brighter place. You make me incredibly proud to be your mommy and I love you to the moon and back.
Teaser from Give Me All of You by FL Jacob
Chapter 1
JAKE
The key clicks the lock open on my simple two-bedroom apartment. It’s a simple place. I’m not a fancy guy. Closing the door behind me with my foot, I go through the mail, placing Beth’s stuff in her basket, and proceed to open mine as I walk into the main room that encompasses the living and dining room. Bills, always bills . . . who said adulthood was fun? I throw the paperwork down on the table and walk through the small archway into the apartment sized kitchen. Grabbing the handle of the 1970’s colored refrigerator, I pull it open causing all the bottles on the door to clink with the motion. I reach in and grab a cold one, twisting the top off. I throw the cap in the trash as I walk back out into the living room.
I manage to undo and remove my tie as I absentmindedly make my way to the couch. Plopping down on the brown leather, the material squeaks under my weight. Reaching my hand over the side, I pull the lever, popping the recliner out and take a pull of my beer. The cold liquid slides down my throat. I close my eyes and soak in the silence. Today was extremely busy and loud, very loud. I’m just happy that I could come home and put my feet up at a decent time. I kick my shoes off letting them fall to the floor with a loud echo.
I’m American but grew up in Australia. My accent is still pretty thick when I’m tired, in a hurry, or horny. I admit, I was brought up an innocent Catholic boy. Church every Sunday, never in trouble, listened to my parents. I was naïve and clueless, and once I got to high school, I got my ass kicked. Seriously, every damn day. I was a scrawny twig with a comb over and braces. What did I do? Nothing. I made friends and joined the chess team. Oh, go ahead and laugh . . . yes, I was a nerd. That was my life until junior year. The only thing that fit into my AP classes was athletic gym, and surprisingly I found comfort in the weight room, being able to get out some aggression that I didn’t even know I had. Having something to turn to that wasn’t academic was a breath of fresh air.
Eventually, the braces came off, my hair grew out and, most importantly, I filled out. The coach saw something in me and took me under his wing. Senior year was the best. He encouraged me to join the football team and I really came into my own. It was a natural fit and I found it funny how many more people started to pay attention to me when I filled out with muscles and joined the team. I tentatively made new friends, but stayed true to the people who were my friends when I was getting my ass handed to me. They were true friends.
Senior year was also when I met the beautiful Katie Jane. Katie and I were together until summer. She stayed in town for college and I went away. Katie didn’t want me to go. She begged me to stay. I needed to get away, though. I felt trapped. I tried to convince her we could make it work. Long distance relationships can make the heart grow fonder, but she didn’t even want to try. She took my heart out that day and stomped it into a hundred pieces.
I’ll admit it took me a while to get over her. The guys on my college team told me I needed to get over her and get laid. They said that I was too depressing. I shrugged it off and spent my time in the gym while they were partying.
I’m not saying I never partied. Oh no, I could get fucked up with the rest of them and I was not opposed to the occasional one night stand. I liked sex, a lot. I was a handful in bed and, fuck, I never had any complaints, but even though the women never complained and I got my rocks off, there was always something missing, that connection that you want to feel when you are with someone you really care about. I had that connection with Katie and all these floozies just didn’t stand up to her. No one filled that void in my heart.
After college, I went home and heard that Katie got married. I was truly happy for her but my soul was crushed. I swore we were soul mates. Since our town was so small I would run into her almost every day. I was beginning to feel suffocated. I needed something new; a few of my college team mates were flying to the United States—some for pleasure, a few to continue schooling—and I figured I would go to see what the U.S. had to offer me, after all I was actually American.
After a few months of playing around and seeing the sites, my money started to run low. I decided to get a job and stay stateside. Being a regular at a small dive bar in town, the owner took pity on me and hired me as a security guard for Friday and Saturday nights. He said he could use the muscle and it kept me busy, as well as put a few bucks in my pocket.
Living with a buddy, Steve, we embraced the life of bachelors. Parties, girls, sex, and the ultimate bachelor pad. Then Steve found Angela. She moved in and everything changed. I knew my time with Steve was coming to an end. He went off and got engaged and I needed to find my own place. It was the first time since coming to the United States that I truly missed Katie.
I thought maybe it was time to head back down under, but I was in the right place at the right time and an apartment opened up that was too good to pass up. I knew I didn’t want another roommate so I needed to grow up and find a real job. As my luck would have it, a job, just like the apartment, seemed to just fall into my lap.
One night there was a small fight at the bar that I had to break up. Nothing big that I couldn’t handle. I’ve seen worse. Just two guys going at it. I couldn’t believe the way this dude was wailing on the unsuspecting guy though. When I finally broke them u
p I pinned the antagonist’s arm behind his back and manhandled him out the door with his girl hot on our heels pleading with me to let him go. Once outside, I shoved him away from me to prep myself if he decided to turn around and come back at me. Unlike anyone else, he just shook it off and gathered his girl in his arms, apologizing to her. I told them they weren’t welcome back and turned to walk to the building but stopped dead in my tracks. It’s not every day you see a blacked out Jeep come to a screeching halt in front of this bar. Considering the neighborhood we were in, I figured it was a drive-by. Reacting immediately, I screamed for the couple I had just been escorting out to get down. A huge, dark, brooding man ran out, shoving me to the side to collect the patrons I was just about to risk my life for, and ushered them into the vehicle. Dumbfounded, I stared at the vehicle trying to figure out what the fuck just happened. When the man returned holding out a card to me, I grabbed it without looking. His expression non-existent, he said, “Mr. Black would like to apologize for his behavior and he requests a meeting with you tomorrow at noon.”
Speechless, I tucked the card into my pocket and nodded.
The next day, I had no idea where I was going. The card was white with an embossed simple black text. It only had an address on it. No name, no phone number. If I wasn’t so curious, I would have said fuck it and threw it into the trash.
I climbed into my truck about a quarter after eleven the next day so I wouldn’t be late. I knew the area of the address but not the exact location. Upon arriving, I was surprised to be pulling up at the Black Hollywood Corporate Offices. I started scanning my brain for pictures of Caston Black. Did I manhandle the top dog of the men’s entertainment industry last night? Feeling sick, I could barely make my feet move. At ten minutes before noon, I finally entered the building. I felt underdressed even though I was dressed in my nicer khakis and button down shirt. I was ushered quickly up to the fortieth floor and into Mr. Black’s office by a busty blond. He dismissed her without a sideways glance and gestured for me to sit. Once he was seated, he repeated his apologies for his actions the night before. I dismissed it saying I was just doing my job to protect the patrons. Mr. Black was no nonsense. He told me he had never seen anyone react so fast to protect. It was then that he informed me that he had a security position open and he would like me fill it. Was this guy for real? Even if he wasn’t, I figured what was there to lose? The pay would be better and, at the time, I thought I could still keep the bar gig as a back-up.
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