Saved by the Music (Saints & Sinners Book 2)
Read Saved by the Music (Saints & Sinners Book 2) Online
Authors: Kaithlin Shepherd
Tags: #music, #erotic, #Contemporary, #rock star romance, #passion, #series
Saved by the Music
© 2016 by Kaithlin Shepherd
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any written, electronic, recorded, or photocopied format without the express permission from the author or publisher as allowed under the terms and conditions with which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution, circulation or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. Thank you for respecting the work of this author.
Saved by the Music
is a work of fiction. All names, characters, events and places found therein are either from the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to persons alive or dead, actual events, locations, or organizations is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.
For information, contact the publisher, Hot Tree Publishing.
www.
hottreepublishing
.com
Editing:
Hot Tree Editing
Cover Designer: Claire Smith
ISBN-10: 1-925448-28-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-925448-28-3
Contents
Dedication
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” ― Søren Kierkegaard
Chapter One
SAM
There were moments in life that stayed with you forever, which defined you as a person, and showed you what you were made of. For Sam, that moment came when he was twelve years old and he made a choice that no child should ever be faced with. With the glow of the moon reflecting on his sleepless body, he relived the instance when everything changed.
The bright image of a twelve-year-old little boy, scared out of his mind and watching his father’s fist collide with his crying mother’s face, felt so real his body shook with fear. The noise of his father’s punches and the high-pitched sound of his mother’s screams echoing in the small kitchen of their run-down house was all he could hear. His small body was immobilized by the dread that it might be the night his father put his mother in a grave. The bent-up form of his mother’s body was clear as tears rolled down Sam’s face. The woman he loved more than life told him to run, but he couldn’t move a bone; his body glued to the floor as he watched his father throw punch after punch.
His whole body jerked as the vivid memories from that night draped over him like a constant reminder of what he’d done. The replica of the events seemed so real he couldn’t help but be drawn back to that night. He could see his younger self walking toward the bedroom, forcing his small body to keep moving. Reaching for that drawer in the nightstand, the one his father forbade him to ever open. He grabbed the loaded gun stored inside at the same moment his mother screamed, begging for mercy. He ran to the kitchen just in time to witness his father stab his mother, and that was when he aimed the gun straight at his father and shot him twice in the chest.
At the sound of the gun firing, Sam’s body bounced straight up in his bed. His heavy breathing filled the air, his body covered in a coat of sweat, and he couldn’t hold back the tears from rolling down his face as he relived the day he’d almost killed a man. The day that would haunt him until he died. Putting his head in his hands, he took in his surroundings, slowly beginning to regain control over his body and his mind.
Nightmares weren’t uncommon for him, but they’d been happening more and more as the date of his dad’s parole hearing drew closer. He pushed off the dark blue comforter, making it slide to the floor, and threw his legs over the bed, welcoming the chill of the wooden floors. He dipped his head and ran his hands through his hair. Years of therapy had given him the power to control his body’s reactions to that night’s memories most of the time, but there were still those stolen moments where everything he’d worked so hard to overcome came back to the surface, making him feel like he was drowning.
Sam glanced over at the clock on his bedside table, groaning when he saw the red numbers flashing 5:00 a.m. Another night of restless sleep was not what he needed, but he’d learned early on that life was about playing the cards you were dealt. He pushed himself off the bed and headed for the bathroom, his eyes slowly adjusting as he turned on the light.
He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and winced at the sight before him. Dark circles under his eyes gave away his lack of sleep, and hell, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d shaved. Trish was going to have a field day with him the second he walked through her and Jarrod’s front door.
The last year had been completely crazy for the band, having postponed a world tour when Trish went into labor, and pushing back the release date of their new album to allow their front man to enjoy being a husband and a father. But with the dust settled on all the changes, playtime was over; in a few days, they would be back on the road and in the studio.
When your life was music and you were forced to take time off, you were bound to start re-evaluating everything, especially when your two best friends preached the benefits of a happy relationship. Sam wasn’t stupid enough to think he deserved even an inch of the happiness that Jarrod and Trish had found with one another, but he still longed to find that connection. To find the one person who made him feel complete.
Sam stripped off his pajama bottoms and climbed into the shower, thinking about how lucky he was to have the life he had. With every day and every success he celebrated, he forced himself to remain humble and grateful for the things he thought he would never have.
After shooting his dad and going through the motions of a messy trial, he was a lost soul. When his dad was sent to prison for assault, attempted murder, child neglect, and child abuse, the relief he thought he would feel never came. Instead, he’d hung out with the wrong crowd, and before he knew it, he was knee-deep in drugs and heading straight for jail—until he met Jackson, the man who saved him.
Jackson took him off the streets, helped him get clean and away from the lifestyle that would’ve landed him in the morgue. The man saved his life and introduced him to music, and since Sam had more money than he knew what to do with, giving other kids the same chance was the least he could do.
His eyes wandered down his chest to the scar on his left pectoral, the constant reminder of what his father was capable of. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he turned on the cold water, hoping to drown the memories away. In that instance, a melody came to him. He never quite understood his creative process—most people didn’t—but he never stopped long enough to question it. Not when it produced hit after hit, and sold millions of albums.
He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Grabbing a towel from the rack, he wrapped it around his waist and headed for his home studio. It was the one place that made him serene, no matter what was happening in his life. He picked up his old guitar and got lost in the music filling his head.
He lost track of time working on the new song. The next thing he knew, he was rushing to get ready; if he showed up late to the meeting, Trish was going to have his ass on a silver platter.
For years, she had been their publicist, and more than that, she had been their rock. But last year, she had started to lose the passion for her work. When she and Jarrod finally got together, it was clear that her heart wasn’t in her work anymore. Now, she was designing her first fashion line between feedings of her new baby girl, and he’d never seen her so happy. She might not be their publicist anymore, but she could still bring the hammer down when she needed to.
Sam was half an hour late when he pulled up to Jarrod’s house. He grabbed his phone from the dashboard before rushing inside and, exactly as he thought, they were all over his ass the minute they saw him.
“Well, shit, look who decided to grace us with his presence after all.” Austin was sitting at the kitchen table holding baby Emma, who smiled and laughed at the man who broke more hearts in a week than most men did in a year.
“I know, I know. I was in the studio and lost track of time.” The guys would understand, but they weren’t the ones he was scared of. Looking around the room, he didn’t see Trish anywhere, so maybe he was safe after all. It always made him laugh how he could face millions of fans and rooms full of reporters, yet the opinion of one woman made him as nervous as a recent college graduate on his first day of work.
“We’re just messing with you, man. Mike just got here, so you didn’t miss anything,” Nick told him, handing Sam a cup of coffee. He groaned when the liquid hit his throat. At that point, he would’ve taken anything that would give him enough energy to feel alive and awake.
Looking around the room at the four men who had become his brothers over the years, he was overwhelmed with the need to get back on stage, to feel that high they all shared when the roar of a crowd filled their ears. Nothing else compared to it.
“Sam Brooks, you are late. You better have a good explanation.” When he turned around, Trish was in the doorway, hands on her hips, looking as beautiful as ever. Even in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, the woman was gorgeous, but there was something more alluring now. Maybe it was becoming a mother, or maybe it was becoming a wife, but she had an extra confidence about her. He adored seeing the change.
“I lost track of time. I was in the studio working on a new song. You know how it goes.” He walked over and kissed her cheeks before bringing her in closer for a hug. At one point, he had been scared that their friendship would change with her getting married, or having kids, but luckily it hadn’t. Sure, they didn’t get to see each other as often, but their relationship was stronger than ever.