by A. m Madden
Destined, A Lair Novel
Published by A. M. Madden
Copyright ©2021 by A. M. Madden
First edition e-book-published 2021
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The use of artist and song titles, locations, and products throughout this book is done for storytelling purposes and should in no way be seen as advertisement. Trademark names are used in an editorial fashion, with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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A.M. Madden
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @ammadden1
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ammadden
Website: www.ammadden.com
To my three kings, you rule my world.
The Back-Up Series
Back-Up ~ Book 1
Front & Center ~ Book 2
Encore ~ Book 3
Backstage ~ Book 4
The Devil’s Lair ~ Book 4.5
Backstage Pass ~ A Back-Up Quickie
Sold Out ~ Book 5
Shock Jock, A Lair Novel
Liner Notes, A Lair Novel
Trey, A Lair Novel
Destined, A Lair Novel
Table of Contents
Dedication
The Back-Up Series
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Destined Playlist
More by A. M. Madden
About A. M. Madden
Prologue
The party was winding down. The kids were in bed, except for Shane and Alivia. Being the oldest meant they were allowed to stay up a bit later than the younger ones. They looked so grown up compared to the others. Shane was now ten, Alivia nine, and they were both going on twenty.
Too mature for their own good… or mine.
They were best friends. Hey, I loved the kid… as long as he kept my daughter in the friend zone. While watching them sitting on the side of the pool, chatting about something, Jack and I sipped our beers with our women on our laps.
Alivia’s giggling loudly at something Shane had said drew my attention. Leila and Camilla exchanged wide smiles while watching enthralled. Meanwhile, Jack and I panicked. With each year that went by, his son and my daughter grew closer and closer.
In a flash, visions of their teenage versions kissing in the back of a car, or sneaking off down the beach to do worse, knocked around my brain like a bullet in a barrel.
And then, as if my subconscious willed it to happen, I watched in slow motion while Shane leaned closer and planted a big wet kiss on my daughter’s lips.
What in the serious fuck?
“Lair!” I jumped up so fast Camilla had to stumble to gain her balance. “Get your kid away from my daughter!”
Chapter One
Shane
I ran a finger beneath the stiff cotton circling my neck in a pathetic attempt to provide some give—although I doubted the collar or bow tie had anything to do with my nerves right now. They most definitely had to do with the steel-blue eyes drilling holes into my skull.
I’d known the man behind them since the age of five… thirteen years to be exact. It had been my obsession with his bass-playing skills that had set forth the chain of events leading me to this moment.
Devil’s Lair were megastars in the rock music genre, and Trey Taylor was their bass player. After seeing one music video at the age of four, I wanted to be him.
From what I was told, I’d stand in front of the screen, mimicking everything Trey did on my toy plastic guitar. My obsession only grew when my biological mother, Paula, encouraged me with guitar lessons and by recording every Devil Lair’s concert she could find on TV.
Apparently, my mom had reached out to an old friend who happened to have ties to him and his band. Her motive had been to get her young son a signed photo from his hero… but that call led to so much more.
Because of her friend, Mom and I had been invited to join their European tour, where we met the entire band. I was just a kid thinking how great my life was, meeting my idol. At the time, I had no idea that my mother had been dying of cancer. Jack Lair, the lead singer, and his wife, Leila, the backup singer, took to our situation.
I later found out the short weeks we’d spent with the band and their families had laid a foundation that led to Jack and Leila adopting me once Mom had passed. Even with twin toddlers of their own, they’d taken me into their family without hesitation. I’d been lucky to have found two people who loved me unconditionally. Instantly, I became a son, a big brother to Madden and Siarra.
But losing my mom at the age of five affected me to the core, and I retreated into myself. It broke my new parents’ hearts. The only thing that I would respond to was music, and over time, combined with love and understanding, it was what had helped me to drop the shield I hid behind. Trey played a big part in that by mentoring me, using music to connect us. The world saw a bad boy rock star. To me, he was my dad’s best friend, and the man I grew up calling Uncle. He was a brilliant musician who had passed his skills to me, and a mentor who had influenced my life in more ways than just with the instrument he played. And it’d been like that between us until I’d started kissing his daughter.
When he folded his arms in an attempt to intimidate me, it worked. Meanwhile, it only caused my dad to chuckle. Traitor. The entire situation amused my father. Sure… it wasn’t his dick on the line.
I still shudder, remembering Trey’s claim to cut it off after he first discovered his daughter and I were kind of a thing. Like, didn’t he see it coming the day we shared our first kiss when I was ten and Alivia was nine?
“You remembered the condoms I gave you?” Dad asked, tipping the green bottle to his lips but failing to hide his smirk.
; “Jeez, Dad!” I barked as Trey’s face twisted in fury. I wasn’t sure if Trey’s anger was because his son Trestan was a few feet away, playing a game on his tablet, or because Trey had it in for my dick.
“What’s a condom?” Trestan asked, proving he most definitely had been listening to every word. The kid was always getting his father in trouble by repeating a certain f-word to his mom, only for Trey to deny it. The funny thing was, every other word out of Trey’s mouth was fuck.
If at all possible, Trey’s angry glare toward my father increased in intensity, growing laser beams. “Nice.”
Dad’s response to him was a shrug before mumbling, “He’s heard worse from you.”
One thing you needed to know… my father and Trey had a very ball-busting-at-any-cost kind of relationship. This had gone on for almost twenty-five years, and now that they had matured, in age only, it had worsened.
Second, when it came to Alivia and me, Dad had a practical approach to the situation. His best friend, on the other hand, preferred to stick his head in the sand while reminding me to keep my dick in my pants.
“Ignore him, Unk. He’s just trying to get to you.”
Trey didn’t look convinced as the staredown continued. “Really?” he continued to challenge. “Maybe you should empty your pockets, Shane?”
While thinking a huge box of condoms wouldn’t fit in a tux pocket, and knowing they were safely packed in my overnight bag, I said, “They’re empty.” I sounded like a smart-ass, and along with my smirk, this caused him to scowl harder.
Fuck… is it hot in here?
From where we sat, muffled voices drifted out with a few giggles interspersed. How long did it take to get a girl ready for prom?
“You should be thrilled my son is who caught your daughter’s attention,” Dad busted further. “She could do a fuck ton worse.” Another dirty look forced Dad to add, “Ignore that, Tres.”
With a quick glance at his son, Trey leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I agree, so long as he keeps it in his pants.”
Was he serious?
That caused a spontaneous laugh to erupt from my father before he said just what I was thinking: “Says the walking dildo.”
“That’s a funny word… dildo.” I couldn’t help but laugh along with my father, and if my girlfriend’s father had had a gun on him, he’d no doubt have used it on both of us.
Trey Taylor had quite the reputation in the rock world. Some of the stories I’d heard made him a legend among guys my age.
“Former walking dildo, asshole,” Trey deadpanned in a harsh whisper. “These are our kids you’re talking about.”
“Which is why I want them to be careful. I’m not ready to be a grandfather… are you?” Dad countered, and Trey visibly shuddered. “Wake up, man. It’s prom fu—udging weekend.”
“That veer off course was impressive.”
“Thank you,” Dad said to me with a dimpled grin.
“But, Dad, you seriously need to shut up.” My words were in vain when he continued praising me. He meant well. Jack Lair had a heart of gold, encased in a perfect male package. Funny, people who didn’t know I was adopted would always say how much I looked like my dad. As a kid, it was probably our similar dark hair. Now that I was grown, the same height and body type made us even more alike.
My adopted father could be a male model, even at the age of forty-whatever. And as good looking as he was, my adopted mother was stunning. But she was always sweet and kind, where my father had this cockiness about him. Dad’s female fans went wild over him. There was an entire army of them who called themselves Lair Lovers. Years ago, until my mom won them over, they’d made her life very difficult with their opinionated posts. Because of that history, my parents went to great lengths to protect our privacy.
“Tres, can you go check to see what’s taking them so long?”
Trestan glanced up from his game. “I know you want me to leave because you’re cursing.” The kid was nine going on twenty-nine.
“Okay, then spare your old man your mom’s fury and make me happy, please?”
When the kid huffed his way out of the room, my dad continued: “My point is… my son and your daughter are in love. You need to get over it.” I glared at my dad until he briefly met my eye and winked before continuing. “No punk will take care of or look out for Alivia like Shane will.”
That was true. To be clear, though, my dad hadn’t always felt that way. When Alivia and I had gone through puberty, it had been hard to hide that we’d stepped from the “friend zone” to the “shit-I’m-into-you zone.” The change in attitudes had sent our fathers into panic mode. Everything they had feared would happen happened. My mom had most definitely gotten to Dad. In fact, most of the words he’d just recited like a hotshot were actually repeated verbatim from the things she’d said.
Trey stared at me, his scowl softening just a tad. “You know I love you, kid, and this has nothing to do with you.” He thought about that for a pause. “That’s a lie. It has to do with you being a horny teenager. You can’t help it. It’s kind of your job.”
“Pot meet kettle,” my dad mumbled.
“Fuck you,” Trey barked back, causing my dad to laugh harder. Beneath that hard, heavily tattooed exterior was also a man with a heart of gold. You’d never pick up on it by watching the way they bickered, but Trey adored my dad, and even more so my mom. They had a special bond, and Mom would defend or protect Trey as fiercely as she would my dad, siblings, and me. His ice-blue eyes settled on me. “You know where I’m coming from, right, kid?”
Throwing my dad, a “dude, chill” look, I tried to placate Trey by saying, “I know, Uncle Trey. I get it.” I wanted to add that I loved her, but that would only add fuel to his fire. The man had a rough history with love.
Despite that, I knew he loved me like a son. I had a special connection to him. Besides my parents, it was Trey who’d made it a point to keep me engaged. That influence had ebbed and flowed over the last thirteen years—and not always in a positive sense. Sometimes I’d learned by example what not to do with my life.
Trey had had a damn rough time of things after a tragic motorcycle accident. I barely remembered the details except for how it had affected me. I had come to depend on him being around, and then he wasn’t. To a seven-year-old, when the man I admired and loved as much as I did had gone off the grid, it had messed me up almost as much as losing my mom had. Stupidly, I had taken it all personally, until I later learned the scope of what had happened.
Those days had led to so much heartbreak for Trey. Then again, things happened for a reason. With time, he’d met Camilla and a daughter he never knew he had. The man he was today was miles away from the man he used to be. And that man had watched me grow from an obsessed kid to the man I was today… a man he loved, even though he hated that I was dating his daughter.
Before I could say anything else to negate the need to cut my dick off, Aunt Camilla and my mom walked into the living room. The sight of them had me bolting off the couch and reaching for the clear plastic container holding a pale-pink corsage.
One look at her husband had Camilla fisting her hips. “Trey Taylor,” she hissed in a harsh whisper. “Lose the attitude right now.”
In a flash, his expression smoothed just as Alivia hesitantly walked in, instantly making me stupid, with her beloved Miss Kitty following right behind her. That big white puff of fur hated my guts. Alivia claimed she was just old and cranky, but I believed her father had brainwashed the thing somehow.
Whatever awkwardness had hung heavily a few moments before literally dissipated. My mouth gaped at how gorgeous my girl was. The silky fabric hugged her everywhere, and its pale-pink color enhanced her beauty. Unlike most girls who fussed over prom with fancy hairdos, Alivia wore her hair naturally, just the way I loved it. She looked so much like her mom, with thick brown curly waves, bronzed skin, and curves that made her a knockout. But whenever she graced me with ice-blue eyes inherited from her dad, it never
failed to steal my breath.
“Hi,” she said once the distance between us had been closed. The move forced Miss Kitty to hiss at me. “Mom, can you grab her? I don’t want Shane getting fur all over his pants.”
Camilla snatched her up as I ignored the feline psychopath and stared into my girl’s eyes in awe. “Liv, you look beautiful.” The apples of her cheeks tinged a shade darker as the smile on her face widened.
“You do too.” In a typical Alivia move, she raised on her tiptoes and kissed me hard.
“Shit,” I said under my breath. “Are you trying to get me killed?” What was it that had those who claimed they loved me needing to put a bounty on my head?
My panic forced a giggle as she smoothed her hands down my lapels before adjusting the pink pocket square that matched her dress. This was a big difference from the leather jacket and jeans that I favored. Also gone was the scruff I usually kept peppering my jaw, and instead I had shaved smooth for the occasion.
Aware of the three sets of eyes admiring us, and the one set monitoring me, I tamped down the urge to pull her into my arms and kiss her back the way I really wanted to.
She twisted toward her parents and smiled. “Dad?”
“Livi…” It looked like the badass was about to cry. This was his baby girl… his squirt. He had called her that her entire childhood until Alivia had put an end to it. Trey then began calling her Livi. I tried once… that ended quickly. “You’re fucking breathtaking.”
“Trey,” Camilla scolded, again forgetting that every other word from her husband’s mouth involved fuck in one form or another.
He waved an impatient hand. “I am what I am.”
I took the moment to slip the corsage on Alivia’s slim wrist as our moms captured the moment. She then pinned a matching pale pink rose to my lapel. We were then positioned in an endless range of other poses for picture after picture, all while I couldn’t keep my eyes off Alivia. I’d crushed on Alivia from the moment we’d met and hadn’t stopped for the last dozen or so years.