Broken In Pieces: Billionaire Stepbrother Romance (Wounded Hearts Book 1) (25 page)

Then I pushed just a bit too hard and you let me have it. The fire in you that day aroused me in every way. When I backed you against the wall, I had every intention of fucking the hell out of you. If you hadn’t slid down to get away, you would have been mine then. You left my office and I felt like such a prick…an absolute asshole for the way I had treated you. I was so confused. I’d never felt anything like this before and I didn’t know how to handle it.

I decided I had to relax. Lay back and give you some room. Pushing you away wasn’t working and I was scared to death of pushing toward you. For the next several weeks, I tried to avoid you as much as possible. Keeping my emotions in check every minute. I did a pretty good job during the day but at night, you consumed my dreams.

You have no idea how surprised I was when I arrived at Carter’s for the Fourth of July and there you were….my step sister. That weekend allowed me to see even more of your beauty. A leisurely beauty. A vulnerable beauty. I felt the tension between you and your mother but I could see you loved her. When the blow up happened, all I wanted to do was stop your tears from ever falling again.

The kiss by the road side showed me how broken you were and I couldn’t figure out why. At first, I thought it may be the step sibling thing but your trembles uttered that it was so much more. I look back now and wish you could have told me that day, I wish I could have torn down your walls. I knew you were going to have to have time to learn to trust me but I knew you were worth that wait.

Once we were back in New York, I was absolutely ecstatic that you let me into another part of your life. You’re so fucking talented and it’s easy to see how important music is to you. I got the opportunity to really watch you express yourself. I remember watching you on stage and in practice, thinking….this woman is phenomenal in every fucking way. I have to make her mine.

Then I hire that fucking slime, Jarrod Davis. I’ve beaten myself up, over and over again, for this. If I’d only known then I could have saved you from any more pain where he was concerned. Still to this day, I wish I had gotten my hands on him before those two brothers. I desperately feel the need to stamp out anything and anyone that has ever harmed you.

Watching you finally revealing what had happened. Hearing you refer to yourself as the dirty little secret. Seeing you crumble beneath it all. These things drove me crazy. I ached for you. I wanted to fix everything, take it all away. All I could do was be there for you and hope that you would let me help you hold the pieces together.

All these feelings were so new to me. Yes, I’d felt empathy for people before, even pity but this was different. I had no idea what it was but it was all consuming. My head was telling me to cut my losses and stay away while my heart was telling me to dig in and make it count. My heart was winning but I wasn’t sure why. When you told me you loved me, it terrified me because it made me realize what I had been feeling. It was pure, unadulterated love. I didn’t want to love you. Everyone I had ever cared about had died.

The next morning when I got the call that you’d been kidnapped, my world stopped spinning. I had brought the curse to you now. Watching your life trying to devour you had devastated me but my life trying to claim you was unbearable. I was lost, consumed with guilt and hatred for myself. How could I have let this happen? How could I have allowed anyone to harm you? I had to find you before it was too late, before death took you too.

I had everyone at my disposal looking for you. I called Torres who had every cop searching and even put helicopters in the air. I even remember praying and I hadn’t prayed since I was a child. Caroline had written ‘BACK TO THE BEGINNING’ in the red lipstick but it still didn’t shake my mind loose. It was the call from Oscar that did it. The hair that my team found in your apartment was Caroline’s. She was sitting right in front of me when I got the call, I could have fucking killed her. I knew I had to contain myself or she would know something was up.

As soon as she cleared the driveway, I jumped in my car and called Torres as I headed out to you. It all made since now. The red lipstick. The ‘BACK TO THE BEGINNING’. She had you and she was keeping you were we first met. It only took a couple of miles before I realized she was headed back there too. I had to lay back, give her time so that she didn’t see me.

When we busted into the building, the very sight of you was breath taking. You were alive, I wasn’t too late. Then when you pushed me out of the way, taking the bullet in my place, darkness filled my life. I was sure the grim reaper had won again. At that point, I stopped praying and started begging God to save you. This was all my fault and you damn sure didn’t deserve any of it. If I had told you about my past, you might have seen something in Caroline that I didn’t and this might not have happened.

For days, I watched you, just waiting for any sign that you were still there. I wanted to tell you how much I love you, how you had become my everything and I belonged to you. Everything I loved, you and our child, was lying in that hospital bed. It should have been me. I should have been lying there. When you finally came back, you didn’t want me anymore and it broke me. Death hadn’t taken you but I’d lost you still.

You were so pissed at me, hell everyone was. I couldn’t blame you, I deserved it. I just kept thinking that if I could get you to talk to me, I could fix things. We couldn’t have made it through all this just so you could walk away from me. I couldn’t accept that, I wasn’t going to accept it. You had been through hell and fought your way back. It was time for me to do some fighting, fighting to save us.

I didn’t think it was possible to love you anymore than I already did but I find something new to love about you every day. I know you still need time and I’m willing to wait. I can’t live without you. I don’t want to live without you. I need you like I need the very air that I breathe. I want you with my heart and soul. I will always belong to you.

This journal is just the beginning. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you who I am and how much I love you. You and our little bambino are my forever. Loving you both for eternity is at the top of my bucket list.

Oh, I forgot to tell you, me and the bambino talk while you’re asleep at night. I think I’ve won him over to my side so we both have a question for you:

Sheridan Paige Stollings, will you marry me? I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and our little family.

With all my love,

Blade

Sweet baby Jesus!
Holy fuck, I’m astounded. I never in a million years expected this.
Marry him?
All the reasons for not marrying Blade begin to run through my mind. We’re just starting to get to know each other. We’re step siblings. We’ve been through hell since we’ve met. With each thought, there’s one prevailing fact that stands out above everything….I love him. And now, I believe he loves me too.

My mind is running rampant. Not even sleep can still it this time. I know I want him. I want his love. I want our family to be together. I want our forever. I don’t feel broken any more. I feel whole, no more broken pieces. He’s the reason, he’s the glue that holds me together. I wonder if he can handle this.
He ran before, will he run again? Can he handle forever?

When Blade gets home, I’m sitting on the bed, clutching the journal. I don’t go running out to greet him. I’m paralyzed by all ramifications. He eventually comes into the room, “You okay, baby girl?” The sound of his voice, the feel of his touch as he tucks my hair behind my ear brings an instant peace and confirmation. “Your silence scares me.” Tears begin streaming down my face, only this time, they’re tears of joy. “Please don’t say no. Please take some time to think about it. I know I have to earn back your trust and I’m wil…..”

I stop his rambling with a deep kiss. When I release him, our eyes lock, “My answer is yes. Yes, I will marry you.”

There’s an instant look of relief on his face. He scoops me up and spins around the room with me. He puts me down and wipes the tears from my face, “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me. I know I still have work to do, things I have to prove to you but I promise to spend the rest of my life doing that.” He kisses me with such passion that it takes me over and I begin to grope him. “None of that right now,” he laughs as he picks me up again and puts me in bed.

My disappointment is evident, “Why not?”

He climbs in beside me, pulling me into my special spot. “You’re going to need your rest. We’ll be leaving in an hour,” he kisses my forehead.

“Leaving?”
What the hell is he talking about?

“Yes, we’re flying to Paris for breakfast.”

The End.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the story of Sheridan and Blade. Their story is full of secrets, because I feel like there are so many of us who hide ourselves. We only show the parts that we feel like people can accept. But as I’ve gotten older, I realize our family and friends just may be stronger than we think they are.

Broken in Pieces
is the first book in the Wounded Hearts Series. While the book can be read as a standalone, I hope it grab your heart enough to make you want to read Shattered in Pieces. My goal is to have the story of Jax and Jade to you sometime at the end of this year or the beginning of 2016.

Thank you for reading my story. Please check out links and come along with me on my next journey. I love meeting and befriending readers. Let’s face it, you guys are the reason I’m here and I couldn’t do this without you.

Sierra Rayne

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