by DL Gallie
Nothing is as it seems
A Falling novel
by DL Gallie
Contents
Also by DL Gallie
Prologue
1. Charli
2. Charli
3. Dominic
4. Charli
5. Dominic
6. Charli
7. Dominic
8. Charli
9. Dominic
10. Charli
11. Dominic
12. Charli
13. Dominic
14. Charli
15. Dominic
16. Charli
17. Charli
18. Dominic
19. Charli
20. Dominic
21. Charli
22. Dominic
23. Charli
24. Dominic
25. Charli
26. Dominic
27. Charli
28. Dominic
29. Darren Chikatilo
30. Charli
31. Charli
32. Dean Chikatilo
33. Dominic
34. Charli
35. Dominic
36. Charli
37. Dominic
38. Charli
39. Dominic
40. Charli
Epilogue
Bonus Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Also by DL Gallie
Contact for DL Gallie
About the Author
There’s no rhyme or reason when it comes to happily ever afters.
Falling in love happens when you least expect it.
CHARLI
I was betrayed, now I don’t trust easily.
One night I let loose and do something crazy.
When my new partner is assigned, I’m shocked to find we’ve already met.
From the moment my eyes land on him, again, I know I’m screwed.
Dominic Cruz crashes through my fortress and I start to trust again.
Until I don’t.
Things happen that will once again change me, and everything I thought I knew.
DOMINIC
This new assignment fell into my lap.
I was reluctant but then I met my new partner—Charli Davis.
The one who rocked my world and left in the morning.
Our connection was instant and it’s still as intense.
My future is finally looking bright.
Then the past reappears.
Now everything is uncertain, but nothing is as it seems.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents 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. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
Published by DL Gallie Author
First published 3rd February 2021
Cover designed by Kristy, Vanilla Lilly Designs
Edited by Karen Hrdlicka, Barren Acres Editing
Proofread by Gemma, Gem’s Precise Proofreading and Margaret Neal
Formatting and interior design by DL Gallie
Also by DL Gallie
STAND ALONES
Out of Nowhere
Antecedent
Seven Nights
Doc Steel
Christmas Treats
Oops
Fractured:A driven world novel - coming mid 2021
IPHTILY - coming late 2021
In the Dark of Night anthology**
Secrets anthology**
**only available in paperback direct from me
FALLING NOVELS
Falling for Dr. Kelly
Falling for Dr. Knight
Falling for Agent Cox
Falling for Agent Cruz
THE UNEXPECTED SERIES
When it comes to love, expect the unexpected
The Unexpected Gift
The Unexpected Letter
The Unexpected Package
The Unexpected Connection
THE CASTAWAY GROVE COLLECTION
Love has arrived in the Grove
Oasis
Unequivocal Love
Five Words
Broken Rules
…and a few more to come.
The Castaway Grove Collection, books 1- 4
THE LIQUOR CABINET SERIES
Liquor has never been so disturbingly saucy
Malt Me (Book 1)
Tequila Healing (Book 2)
Wine Not (Book 3)
The Final Shot (Book 4)
The Liquor Cabinet: Series boxset
To my Henchwench, Tara
Thank you for being my wench XoXoX
There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.
~ Sarah Dessen
Prologue
Betrayal.
Verb.
To fail or desert especially in time of need…and for the second time in as many months, I’ve been betrayed. Once again, someone close has let me down. This time it hurts so much more because the person who betrayed me is also the man who stole my heart.
I knew he was too good to be true and rather than listening to my head, I listened to my traitorous vagina and heart. Assholes. Now, my life is in the toilet—like my head currently—but this time, I have more than myself to think about. All I want to do is crawl into a ball, drink myself into oblivion, and eat my weight in Doritos, but I can’t. I have to be strong because people are relying on me, but just once, I’d love for someone to look after me.
Sitting up, I rest my back against the tub and stare into nothing. “Stronger” by Britney Spears starts playing from the living room and as I listen to the words, they hit me hard.
Standing up, I stare at my reflection in the guest room’s mirror and decide that yes, I am strong. I can do this, alone. No more wallowing. I will not let a penis ruin my life. I’m Charli fucking Davis, kick-ass agent…and soon-to-be mom.
1
Charli
…ten weeks earlier
“…he’s dirty, Charli,” Amanda, the boss, tells me.
“Come again?” I question, but I’m already processing what she just told me and deep down I know everything she said is in fact one-hundred-percent correct.
“Dean is working for Vlahos. He was responsible for the explosion that took out Corey’s car. Bomb making pieces, similar to what forensics retrieved, were found in his apartment.”
“That’s pretty dumb of him.”
“I’d guess that when he failed to take Corey out, he was rocked and skittish. From memory, you guys moved to the cabin straight after the attempt. He clearly didn’t have time to clean up his mess.”
Shaking my head in disbelief, I rub my forehead. “So what do we do now?”
“A team will return with you now and try to catch him in the act.”
“He’ll be suspicious if I return with backup.”
“Which is why we will have a cover story stating that another threat has been made against Cox and since he’s a fellow agent, everything is being done to keep him safe.”
“That will work. Will they return with me? Or come up later?”
“Both. Agent Barber will return with you now to have an extra set of eyes and ears inside. Agents Isaac, Jenkins, Drake, and Thorpe will be on stakeout, they are all set to go once we’ve formulated e
verything. Charli, it’s imperative that Dean doesn’t know about this.”
“I won’t be letting anything on. I want to take him down as much as you do. I’m just pissed I didn’t put two and two together. I knew something was amiss with him, but I just thought it was his hatred toward Cox affecting him.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over this.”
“Easier said than done,” I tell her. Some agent I am, I didn’t even realize that my partner is dirty.
“Davis,” Amanda snaps, “I need your head in the game.”
“I’ll be fine, Boss.”
“Good,” she says and she leaves my office.
Leaning back in my chair, I stare at the ceiling, frustrated with myself. I’m an agent, a federal fucking agent, and I missed all the signs pointing to my partner being a corrupt asshole. I should’ve known something was up with Dean, but he played me like a fool. However, I will have the last laugh. I will do everything in my power to bring him and Vlahos to justice.
Grabbing the file Amanda left, I go over all that she has and I add my suggestions and notes for how to proceed from here. By the time I have the plan amended, it's early in the morning. I should be sleeping but I’m running on adrenalin, caffeine—a lot of caffeine—and anger right now.
A knock on my door, startles me. I was so lost in my head, I didn’t hear my name being called. “Davis, we are ready to finalize the plan,” Agent Barber tells me.
“Thanks, Bec,” I respond.
Standing up, I follow her down to the conference room. Everyone falls silent when we walk in. I pause at the entrance to the room and they all stare at me. I hate the look of pity reflecting in their eyes. “Okay, yep, this sucks. I don’t want to hear ‘sorry’ or anything along those lines. All I want to do is bring him to justice and put Vlahos back where he belongs. If you have a problem with that, there’s the door.” I point behind me. No one moves or utters a word. You could hear a pin drop in here. “I’ll take the silence as we are good.”
Stepping into the room, I close the door behind me and take a seat. “Okay, here’s the plan.”
Exactly thirty minutes later, Bec and I are in my car and on our way back to the cabin. The others will follow and get to their tasks while we get to ours.
“I know you said to not say anything, but since I’ll be living with you for the foreseeable future, I feel I have like a roommate privilege.” I laugh at this. “How are you doing with all this?”
“I feel like a fool. I’m a federal fucking agent and I didn’t see what was happening right under my nose.”
“He had everyone fooled, Charli.”
“Yeah, but I’m his partner. I’ve been living with him for the last few weeks and I didn’t suspect a thing. He was doing all of this right under my nose. He and Vlahos must be laughing at me and my ignorance.”
“And that will play perfectly into this. His cocky ass won’t see us coming.”
“I hope you’re right, Bec.”
The sun has been up for about an hour when we reach the cabin. As we approach, I notice a car in the driveway and my senses tell me something is up. Immediately, I’m on high alert and pull to the side of the road. Without saying a word, Bec grabs her phone and calls the office for a plate check. It comes back registered to a Dr. Monica Quinn.
“Fuck,” I scoff. “He’s here.” Looking to Bec, I order her, “Call the other team and tell them to get here ASAP, I’m going to go in.”
“Alone?” she questions.
“Yep, I’m meant to be there so they won’t suspect anything if I’m caught walking in. They won’t expect me to have backup so we have an element of surprise, even if I’m discovered.”
“Be careful,” she reminds me.
Nodding my head, I reach over to the glove compartment and grab my gun. Climbing out of the car, I slip the weapon into the waistband of my jeans. Once it's secured, I make my way over to the cabin.
Ducking by Monica’s car, I hear voices coming from around the back. Sneaking onto the property, I press myself to the side of the cabin and slink around the side. Ducking below the deck, I move farther into the yard. Peeking under the railing, my eyes widen at the scene before me.
Corey and Avery Evans are bound and on opposite sides of the deck. Monica Quinn, Dean, and Vlahos are standing around. Dean startles and trips on his deceptive fat feet and knocks over the trash can on the deck. The loud noise echoes in the quiet of the morning, “You alright there, heffalump?” Vlahos spits at Dean.
“There was a bug,” he whines, this causes Corey to laugh and it pisses Dean off. He storms and punches Corey a few times, pushing him to the deck. “You’re a dead man, Cox,” he snarls at a beaten and bloody Corey.
“Enough,” Vlahos bellows. Then from inside we hear Baylor yell for Cox. A sinister smile appears on Vlahos’s face, “It’s go time.”
“Shit,” I mumble, I was hoping backup would be here before this happened. Kye grabs and roughly manhandles a quivering, and visibly shaken, Avery inside. Cox spots me and I mouth, ‘Backup is on the way’ but before he can acknowledge me, the kitchen door swings open again.
Dropping down out of sight, I sneak another look and see Kye step back out onto the deck, pushing Avery and Baylor in front of him. I shake my head when I realize that he’s using them as a shield. He really is a piece of work.
Cox laughs and everyone turns their heads to face him. “What the fuck are you laughing at, asshole?” Dean growls.
“Big bad Kye Vlahos is using two women as a shield. He’s a fucking pansy.” You dickhead, I think to myself, typical macho man trying to show off in front of his woman. From the corner of my eye, I see Bec and backup on the street about to enter the property. I nod at her and raise my hand in a stop position. She and the team stop and duck down out of sight since we don’t know if Kye has any men inside and watching the house. I’m presuming not since I made it here undetected.
Looking back to the deck, my eyes widen. In the few moments I was watching the street, Kye has pulled out his gun and the barrel is currently pressed into Corey’s temple. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I whisper, just as Baylor begins walking over to them.
“If you love me at all, Kye, you will not pull that trigger.” Her voice is strong but I can tell from the shaking of her body, she’s shit scared right now.
“What makes you think I still love you?” Kye sneers at her.
Baylor, reaches up and cups his cheek. “I’m Baylor fucking Evans, everyone fucking loves me.”
A grin appears on my face, only Baylor could, and would, say that. Kye slides his arm around her and slams his lips to hers. I see the moment Cox’s heart breaks. He’s fallen hard for her but right now, he feels betrayed by her. Her acting is on point but then again, fear causes people to do crazy things. I hope he knows she’s acting. Well, I hope she is, otherwise this situation has just taken another turn I never saw coming.
“Fuck I’ve missed those lips,” Kye croons, and I see Corey’s face once again shatter at Baylor’s betrayal, but I’m positive she’s playing Kye’s game. I’ve lived with the two of them these past few weeks and their connection is strong.
She takes his hand in hers. “Let’s get out of here,” she tells him, trying to pull him away from Corey and Avery, that slight movement shows me this is all a ruse to save Corey and her sister, who is a blubbering mess.
I miss exactly what Baylor says next but it’s enough for Avery to plead with her. “Bay, what are you doing?”
Bay ignores her and tugs on Vlahos’s hand again, but he pulls and stops her in her tracks. “Not so fast, Sugar. Before we go, you have a choice to make.”
“And what choice might that be?” she sasses.
“Her or him?”
“Excuse me?” she huffs. I don’t think she was prepared for this. Seems she has underestimated Kye Vlahos once again.
“In order for us to leave, someone needs to die. You, as my queen, get to choose who lives and who dies.”
Dean grabs Ave and m
arches her over to Corey. He pushes her to her knees and roughly squeezes her shoulder.
Nearby a woman laughs; it’s Monica. She walks, well saunters, toward Kye and Baylor. “She can’t choose, Kye, because she loves him.” She points to Cox. “It's written all over her face. She’s never loved you, not like I do. I’m your true queen, Kye. Give me that gun and I will prove how much I’m yours. I’ll kill—”
A gunshot rings out and Monica’s body falls to the deck in a heap. Everyone is open mouthed and in shock. “No one threatens my queen or tells me what to do.” He looks back to Baylor and cups her cheek again. Ignoring the fact he just killed a woman. Sure, she was a bitch but no one deserves to die like that. “Now, who do you choose?”
“I…I…” Baylor is in shock and is mumbling.
“Time’s up, bitch,” he snarls. “Time to choose who lives…and who dies.”
Shocking us all, Baylor whispers, “Me!”
Dropping his hand from her face, he growls. “Sorry, I didn’t hear that.”
“I. Choose. Me,” she confidently says, stepping toward him. Each word uttered with force and emotion. Turning her head, she tells Corey she loves him before repeating the same endearment to her sister.
