Stitched Up Heart (Combat Hearts Book 1)
Read Stitched Up Heart (Combat Hearts Book 1) Online
Authors: Tarina Deaton
Tags: #Combat Hearts, #Book One
Stitched Up Heart
Copyright © 2016 Tarina Deaton LLC
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.
All rights reserved. With the exception of limited quotes used for the purpose of reviews, no part of this book, whether in print or ebook format, may be reproduced, scanned, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author. Please do not participate or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
Editor:
Denise Gates
Cover Photo:
R plus M Photograpy
Model:
Conner Smith
Cover Design:
Imagination UnCovered
Formatting:
Champagne Formats
Copyright: 2016 Tarina Deaton LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9978856-1-3
Table of Contents
Note from the Author
This novel contains mature adult situations and is only suitable for ages 18+ due to language, violence, and sexual situations.
Stitched Up Heart
explores veteran PTSD and suicide and may contain possible triggers.
To the women who have served and still serve today.
Because not every G.I. is a Joe.
U
gh. How many times had she asked him not to park in the carport? Her house. Her spot. How hard was that to understand?
Bree stopped her SUV next to the walkway, giving Chad plenty of room to back out. She dropped her head to the steering wheel and banged it a couple times. One good thing about him showing up unannounced - now she didn’t have to call him to say
we need to talk
.
Only she could go from planning on breaking up with a guy a month ago to being engaged to him. She lifted her head and sighed. “Time to put your big girl panties on, Marks.”
Turning off the ignition, she grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and got out. She detoured into the yard to pick up the circular before trudging up the porch steps. Odd - the front door was unlocked. Why did he unlock the front door if he parked on the side of the house? Why wouldn’t he just use the side door?
Bree stumbled and slammed her hip into the edge of the foyer table. “Ow! Shit.” She looked to see what she had tripped over.
Those were not her stripper shoes. Even if she owned a pair of six-inch platform stilettos, those were about three sizes too small. What the hell?
“Chad?” She dropped her bag on the foyer table and walked through the foyer into the open concept living room, kitchen, and breakfast nook. His sports coat hung on the back of one of the kitchen stools. She turned left and walked down the short hall to the bedrooms. Just outside her room she heard his voice, “Oh, baby,” followed by a high-pitched moan.
I swear, if he is fucking some bitch in my bed, I’m going to cut off his cock.
Bree closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to tamp down her anger as it rose up through her chest. Her fists clenched and unclenched in rhythm to the grunts and groans coming through the cracked door. She shook her hands to loosen the tension when she realized what she was doing.
“Orange is not your color. Orange is not your color,” she muttered.
Bree pushed the door open to the sight of Chad thrusting into a pair of legs. She leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb and crossed her arms, drawing on the stillness.
“Hey, Chad, sweetie. Are you busy?”
Chad scrambled to a kneeling position, his eyes wide. He whipped the sheet around his lower body and exposed the girl under him. “Bree! Shit! What are you doing home? You’re early. This isn’t what it looks like.”
“One, I live here, seeing as how it’s my house and all. And two, you’re really going to go with ‘this isn’t what it looks like’? Did you slip and fall and this lovely woman was nice enough to catch you with her vagina?”
The girl came up on her elbows and pushed her white-blonde hair out of her face. “You said you weren’t married.”
“Oh, we’re not,” Brianna said. “You’ve got about two seconds to get out of my house before I get my gun.”
“What!? Me or him?” the blonde asked as she sat up fully.
“Uh, both of you. I sure as hell don’t want you sticking around to chit chat after I just found you banging my boyfriend.” Her piercing gaze shifted back to Chad. “Oh, wait. We’re engaged now.”
“Bree, honey.” The asshat hopped on one foot, scrambling to pull his pants up. “This doesn’t mean anything. She’s just some chick I met at the bar last week. She’s no one.”
“You asshole!” Blondie slid out of the bed and grabbed her patterned leggings from the floor. “Don’t believe a word he says. We’ve been screwing for months. Although now I understand why we always had to go to my place.”
She finished dressing and stomped toward Bree. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was engaged. I wouldn’t have…” Her eyes glittered as she looked up at Bree and she swiped a hand roughly across her cheek. “I’m not that kind of girl.”
Yeah, right.
Shit. That wasn’t fair. There’s no telling what lies Chad told this girl. She seemed contrite. Ashamed even. It would be easy to blame her for Chad’s fuck up. Bree ran a hand over her face and struggled against the urge to lash out at her. “Don’t worry about it. I know whose fault it is.”
Blondie gave her a little nod and brushed passed. Bree turned her attention back to Chad. “Get. Out.”
His white button-up hung open and a sock tuck out of one of his pockets. “Bree, please. I’m sorry. It really didn’t mean anything. It’s just been stressful with some stuff at work and you won’t set a date for the wedding.”
She came away from the door frame, fighting to control her reaction as anger seethed inside. “Are you kidding me? Don’t you fucking dare blame this on stress—” she emphasized with air quotes “—or me because I’m not in a rush to get married. This is all you.”
“You’re right. I know, you’re right.” Chad moved closer to Bree. “I love you so much, Bree. I see you pulling away and—”
“And you decide to fuck some chick in my bed to get my attention? What the hell are you even doing here? What would even possess you to bring someone here?”
“Sweetie, it wasn’t like that. I came by to make you dinner and surprise you. She followed me and I couldn’t get her to leave.”
She gestured toward her bed. “And
this
was the best way you could think of to get her to leave?”
“That was what she wanted and I figured it’d be easier to get her out the door before you came home, but you got off work early.” He tried to pull Brianna into his embrace.
She stepped back. “Do not touch me. You don’t get that right anymore. I wasn’t kidding when I told you to get out. I’ll send any shit you have here to your place. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to hear from you. We. Are. Done!”
Chad sighed. “Gran is going to be very disappointed.”
It took everything in her not to throat punch him. “You are such a fucking asshole. Seriously? You’re throwing my eighty-five-year-old grandmother in my face? Believe me, she’ll be okay with me kicking your ass to the curb when she knows why.”
“You’re going to tell her?” Chad’s voice rose in panic along with the flush that crept up his face.
Had he always been this stupid and she had just ignored it, or was this a new development? How had she gotten to this point? Why had she let it go on for so long?
She spoke slowly. “Yes, Chad. I’m going to tell my family why I’m breaking off the engagement. We’re done here.” Bree stormed out of the room and down the short hall to the kitchen, where she tore his suit jacket off the back of the kitchen stool. Grabbing his shoes by the heels, she opened the door, then stepped onto the wide porch that ran the entire front of her house and threw all his things onto the walkway.
“Bree! That coat cost eight hundred dollars!” Chad jogged down the steps to pick up his things.
“Well, that’s just ridiculous.” Bree stormed back into her house, slammed, then locked the door behind her.
She leaned against the door and took several calming breaths. “Stupid fucking asshole.” She snatched her purse off the table and dug around for her phone. Still muttering curses, she dialed as she walked into the dining room.
Denise answered on the second ring. “What up, chica?”