Unbroken (The Disclosure Series Book 2) (45 page)

First and foremost… My readers. There aren’t words to express how grateful I am for each and every one of you. You took a chance on me, took the time to read my words and fall in love with my characters and my story. Thank you for the reviews, the messages, the encouragement, and for helping spread the word and showing your love and enthusiasm for a story that is so incredibly close to my heart. You’ll never know how much it means to me!

To my husband.
My
southern sexy ;) You’re my everything, my more. Thank you for believing in me, for loving and encouraging me and always pushing me to be better. Thank you for sharing me with my characters and this story, putting up with the crazy amount of cancelled plans and dates because I had to write instead, the late nights, the early mornings, for giving me inspiration and for being my best friend and my world. I love you more.

Lisa, Jose, QBB, Princess Obvious… the list of names goes on – I started on this journey looking for a beta and wound up with a best friend. You are the beans to my rice, the macaroni to my cheese, the salt to my margarita, the fruit to my sangria… I could keep going but I’ll spare everyone else. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you. You know me and my characters inside out and aren’t afraid to tell me when my ideas suck, or when they’re awesome ;) You’ve been there from the very beginning, cheering me on, kicking my ass into shape and supporting me however you could—whether it was reading, pushing me harder, or buying me insane amounts of sweet tarts to fuel my writing. You’ve never once faltered; you’ve put up with my complaining, listened to me cry, laughed with me and been there for me through anything and everything. I’m sure I could fill an entire book with our inside jokes and stories, but I’ll just leave it at this: You’re my favorite Mexican and my life would not be the same without you. I wouldn’t smile or laugh as much on a daily basis, I wouldn’t be as inspired to continue writing, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have gotten through this book. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Jennifer Wolfel – My wolfie, my whip girl. I’ve never loved and wanted to kill someone so much at the same time ;) You pushed me past my comfort zone and made me better, while never wavering in your encouragement or support. You helped mold this story into something bigger and better than what it was when you first got a hold of it and I can never thank you enough for that.

Andrea Kelleher – I know I’ve said it before but I will always be thankful for the hours we spent freezing our asses off waiting for the Boston signing almost two years ago, because it brought me to you. You’ve helped me in ways unimaginable, always believing in me and being there with me through Undone and now Unbroken. Your unending support and encouragement means everything to me and I’m so lucky to call you a friend.

SFAB: Melissa & Sharon – You ladies are amazing. No one works harder than you. Melissa, thank you for being a constant, for your amazing ideas, your unwavering support and encouragement and for just working your ass off for me every single day to help in any and every way possible. I will be forever thankful that I found you both!

Laura Dunaway – Thank you for being a true friend, for always believing in me, always caring, for being a shoulder to cry on, someone I can always talk to and bounce ideas of off, and for your constant support and encouragement. You’ll never know how much it truly means to me. We live closer now, but not close enough, so prepare for a writing weekend this coming year, it’s happening!

Nadine Winningham – I adore you. Thank you for the thoughtful gifts, for your friendship, for believing in my characters, my story, and most importantly, in me. I don’t think I could’ve kept going without your daily texts sending me every pumpkin spice product known to man, although I’m still disappointed we haven’t found the condoms ;)

Missy Swain – I’m so glad I found you! My first new friend in Texas ;) Thank you for making me beautiful swag, for eyelashes, for girl talk and long lunches and for coming in to read at the last minute and giving me that little boost of confidence I so needed.

Linda Russell – Thank you, thank you, thank you. For your honesty, your amazing and insightful feedback and your encouragement. You’re amazing!

To my early readers: Jenn Diaz, Krista Forristall, Tara Marie Barton and Kelly Adamo—this book would not have been published without you. Thank you for dropping everything to read, for loving this story and my characters and for being so supportive and encouraging. I could not have done this without you!

FYW – There are just no words. I feel honored to be part of such an incredibly talented, supportive, amazing group of women.

Bloggers – I’d be nowhere without you. To every single one of you who took a chance on me, who took the time to read, to review, to promo, to share a post or a teaser or tell your readers about
Undone
and
Unbroken
, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Megan Hand – My editor. Thank you for bringing out every last drop of emotion in my words, for pushing me to be better and making this story what it is. You moved mountains for me, changing your schedule, making it work to help me meet my deadline even when it added more stress, all the while still encouraging and being so incredibly supportive. Thank you just isn’t enough.

Angela McLaurin from Fictional Formats – Girl, there are no words. Thank you for always coming through from me, even when I’m pushing us back until the last possible second. You make my words look beautiful on the page and I can’t thank you enough for being so wonderful and amazing!

Regina Wamba (Mae I Design and Photography) and Tomasz Zienkiewicz –Thank you both for making my vision come to life. With Tomasz’s beautiful photography and Regina’s amazing intuition and design, you’ve made my covers everything I could’ve wanted. You are both so incredibly talented and wonderful to work with. I can’t wait to see what we do next!

To my amazing, incredible and supportive parents (especially my mom, my amazing last minute plot partner and sometimes beta), my grandparents, aunt, and all my friends and extended family – I will never be able to thank you enough for your support. For believing in me and pushing me to follow my dreams, whatever they may be. Thank you for putting up with all of the unreturned calls and texts, and for loving me through all of this craziness. I love you ALL!

R.E. Hunter is a native New Yorker currently living in Austin, Texas with her husband and their crazy kitten. Surviving solely on Iced Chai and KIND bars, she spends her days writing angsty romance and chasing happily ever afters. When she’s not writing, you can find her on the beach with a glass of wine and a book in her hand.

Connect with R.E. Hunter:

Website:
http://rehunterbooks.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/rehunterauthor

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/author_rehunter

Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7046339.R_E_Hunter

Instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/rose.hunter

Read on for a preview of
Addictive
by Jessica Prince, book two in
The Deadly Love Trilogy
, and the conclusion of Gabriel and Marley’s story.

“Daddy!”

I’ve barely had time to get through the door before being plowed into like a freight train. With a laugh, I drop my briefcase to the ground and scoop up my little ball of energy. “Did you miss me today, bud?” I ask, staring into eyes a carbon copy of my own.

“Yup,” he answers with a big dimpled grin. No matter how strained my day is, coming home to this makes all the tension melt away. I look into the eyes of my boy and in that moment, nothing else matters. “Momma made me take a bath and eat vegables,” he says in disgust, his tiny lisp making his words sound so adorable it’s hard not to laugh. “And I got in trouble when I sneaked outside and peed in the dribeway.”

At that, I lose it. I can’t hold back the laughter that comes with the image of my four-year-old son dropping trow in the driveway to take a leak. There may be a strong possibility that I’m responsible for this new obsession he has for peeing outdoors, but I’ll be damned if I fess up to it. I appreciate getting laid on the regular. Pissing Camilla off is something I readily try to avoid.

“You know you aren’t allowed to potty outside, Robert Bertozzi,” we hear coming from the kitchen. Seconds later, my beautiful wife comes around the corner, hands planted on her hips and a stern expression marring her brow. “How many times do you have to be reminded that we don’t pull our pants down when we’re outside?”

“Sorry, Momma,” Robert says with a cute, little pout, sticking out his bottom lip in a way I know my sweet Camilla can’t resist.

One corner of her mouth twitches as she obviously tries to contain her smile, but as usual, she fails. “It’s okay, baby, just no more peeing outside.”

“But Daddy said real mans pee wherever they want.”

When Camilla’s eyes cut to me, it’s my turn to stifle a laugh. “Is that so?” she says with a glare in my direction before turning back to our son. “Well, Daddy and I will be having a little talk of our own then. Go put on your socks and grab your cleats. We need to head out soon.”

“Okay, Mommy!” And just like that, I’m dismissed. He struggles to get out of my arms and bolts up the stairs to his bedroom once his feet are on the ground. All thoughts of missing Daddy gone at the reminder he gets to go to t-ball practice today.

“How was your day, baby?” Camilla asks as she wraps her arms around my neck and stretches to place a kiss on my lips. Even after all our years of marriage, I still can’t get enough of her. Running my hands through her light brown hair, I tangle it around my fingers and deepen the kiss, pulling back with a groan several seconds later.

“Exhausting, as always,” I finally respond after getting my taste of her.

“Still dealing with blowback from the changes you’re making?”

This woman knows me better than anyone does. Keeping secrets from her has never been an option. She manages to see through me with every attempt to lie. When our relationship first began, I was terrified of what would happen when I had to admit that before my father passed away, Bertozzi Enterprises was a front for a much larger operation. I knew long before I took the company over that my end goal was to make Bertozzi Enterprises completely legit and get out of the drug game all together, but it was easier said than done. I started taking the steps to move away from distribution the second I took over at nineteen years old, and now, at twenty-six, I’m still dealing with the backlash from people unhappy with the changes I’ve made. Money always manages to turn regular people into greedy bastards. And those who were already greedy turn downright evil. The company is finally one hundred percent legal; and despite some major bumps in the road I’m
still
dealing with, I’ve managed to maintain profitability. Keeping the vultures at bay for the time being, at least.

By the grace of God, my Camilla turned out to be stronger than I ever gave her credit for. She’s stood by me through thick and thin, being my rock when times got hard. I count my blessings every single day I wake up next to her. There have been times I didn’t think I could pull my plans off, but she has supported me every step of the way.