by Gabrielle G.
Mended
Gabrielle G.
Contents
Letter to the reader
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
Epilogue
The Salvation Society
Acknowledgments
Books by Gabrielle G.
About the Author
This book was inspired by the Salvation Series written by Corinne Michaels. It is an original work that is published through The Salvation Society.
Copyright@2020 by Gabrielle G.
Cover Design:
Devoted Pages Design – www.devotedpages.com
Editor:
Darlene Palma & Athena D. Lexis - Sisters Get Lit(erary) Author Services
Proofreading:
Darlene Palma & Athena D. Lexis - Sisters Get Lit(erary) Author Services
Dedication : To those who lost a loved one and are desperate to love again.
Letter to the reader
Dear Readers,
When I started writing romance, I thought I would write RomCom. I’m pretty funny in real life, so I believed it would show in my writing. And then I read Beloved by Corinne Michaels, and I discovered I could make people cry…
That was a revelation in my writing. It changed everything.
So, when I saw Corinne’s world was open for submission, I was excited and fearful at the same time. Could I? Would I? What if?
Then I sent my submission… And here we are.
If you’ve read me before, you know what to expect: the unexpected.
If you’ve read the Darling Devils series, this is the story of our Oliver.
This little asshole was quiet for so long, but the day I received the acceptance email for the world, he talked to me.
Let me tell you his voice is deep and swoony. But I was faced with my first problem… Ol had to be tied in. He was presented as a consultant in the first book of the rock star series and got beaten up by a singer in the second.
So, of course, I made him a former SEAL. A lost one. A grieving one. One who consulted for the beloved characters of the Salvation World. Makes sense right?
I still needed a heroine. Reading Corinne’s World, I always wondered what happened to Tessa, the fiancée of King, who died in mission with Quinn.
That was my entry. They had both lost someone and would be perfect for each other.
If Oliver was a friend of Mark and Jackson but had not talked to them for a while, Tessa was under Quinn’s protection, as a promise made to King.
Two grieving souls.
Two people who lost the love of their life.
Two people from different worlds who would collide.
You will meet Mark, Jackson, and Quinn from Corinne’s world and Lars, Naomi, Anna, and Dan from mine (Darling Devils.) And of course, Dex… Because what would one of my books be without Dex Crawford's appearance?
Enjoy the ride,
Hakuna Namaste,
Gabrielle G.
Chapter One
OLIVER
“Mark called,” my sister says, assessing me above the cup of coffee she’s drinking. I rinse the glass I’m washing and ignore her.
“Oliver, did you hear me? Mark called.”
I raise an eyebrow, “Dixon?” I ask while grabbing the towel on my shoulder and start the process of drying the glass until it squeaks. I haven’t talked to the guy for years but knowing what anniversary is coming up, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was calling to check up on me.
“Do you know a lot of Marks?” No. I don’t.
Even if her red bangs fall into her eyes, I can still see the worry in them.
I liked it better when I was the one worrying about her. When she didn’t have her shit together, and she didn’t have time to pay so much attention to me.
Of course, every year on the anniversary of the passing of my fiancée and unborn child, I’m a little needy, and she’s more attuned to me than herself, but this year she’s more concerned than usual.
I guess me having a child with her assistant wasn’t the best move to prove I was all patched up together. Mainly because said assistant is in love with one of her husband’s bandmates.
But my son is so cute and perfect, I don’t regret a thing.
How could I?
I look at him sleeping in his baby carrier at the end of the bar.
Aito is beautifully innocent.
A perfect soul.
He looks a lot like his mother.
I look at the clock on the wall, still trying to avoid Anna. The new nanny is late, and from what I’ve heard, she’s ugly. Not that it ever stopped me before.
“Ol,” Anna demands my attention, “Mark called me,” she insists. He tried to call me several times in five years, but I never picked up. What is there to say? I left Virginia and didn’t keep in touch with my old SEAL buddies or anyone at Cole Security Forces.
Not after the catastrophe.
Not after falling apart.
Not after lying to them about whose fault it was Elaine died.
When it happened, I said it was an accident.
I didn’t elaborate.
I didn’t explain it.
I was so in shock.
One minute we were engaged, discovering we would become parents and the next I was alone, frantic, my girl dead before my eyes.
I had seen shit during missions and lived a life of danger, but I was never prepared to see the love of my life die instantly on impact and while I couldn’t do anything.
I couldn’t save her.
And it wasn’t an accident.
I’d killed her.
I’d been the reckless one.
I’d been the one at fault.
I packed my life up in Virginia and left. I was done chasing phonies saying they were SEALs. I was done helping Mark and Jackson in their mission to uncover the truth about some of those guys who claimed to be who they weren’t. I was done being part of something that didn’t prepare me to see the love of my life die before my eyes.
“Oliver!”
“I heard you. Mark Dixon called. So what?” I snarl at my sister.
“Elaine’s parents reached out, and they would like you to be there for the memorial they’re having for the five-year anniversary.”
There it is. I knew what Mark calling was all about.
Elaine’s parents reached out…
Dear Pat and Sue. They accepted me as one of their own. They loved me like a son. And I disappeared on them, cut all communication, didn’t even say Elaine was pregnant or that she died because of me.
“They couldn’t call themselves?” So, I could ignore them. Anna sends me one of her unimpressed looks. The one that tells me she knows I’m deflecting.
“You know they don’t have your new number. Don’t play the dumbass
with me.”
Yet, Mark had it.
Now that I was part of the entourage of the biggest band on the planet—Dan Darling being my brother-in-law and Lars Trouble, the stepfather of Aito—I had to follow a strict security protocol to ensure the safety of my son and the band. So I had to change my number, again. I did so when moving to New York, five years ago to cut ties. I did it now to protect my son. You could never be too careful. Elaine’s death had taught me so.
“I’m not going back to Virginia, Anna! I’ve avoided that state for five years, and I’ll continue to do so for the rest of my life.”
I couldn’t go back, but I wasn’t ready to tell her so.
She had pestered me about grief counseling and therapy since she’d fallen in love with Dan and decided I needed help.
I didn’t.
I had everything under control.
Mostly.
I wasn’t engaging in any relationship. I was raising my son as a single father, fortnightly. I was working the job of my dreams, having opened my own bar, Absinthe, a few years back and having it become the hangout of Dan and all his friends. I was holding on, making grief my bitch, and for that to continue, I wasn’t setting foot in Virginia.
“Funny, you would say that Le Pew,” I cringe, hearing my call sign and the voice attached to it. “Twilight was very clear that I might need to drag you by the balls, but my sole mission right now is to bring you back to the Old Dominion.”
“Muffin,” I roll my eyes. “What are you doing in New York? Don’t you live in California now?” Muffin, aka Jackson Cole, handsome asshole, CEO of Cole Security Forces, former SEAL stands before me. I could be glad to see him if it wasn’t for the reason he announced. “Traitor,” I tell my sister, who’s smiling at me.
“You know I could never resist Mark,” she shrugs.
“Who can?” Jackson laughs before jumping over the bar and coming to hug me. Jackson and I were never as close as Mark and I used to be, but we were still friends, I guess. Mark was my swim buddy, and even if we never went on a mission together, we hung out quite a bit and were happy to work together once we both left the U.S Navy. My injury didn’t allow me to continue doing what I loved the most, but I became a consultant and stayed in Virginia to still be at the heart of the action.
It was a good life until it became a nightmare.
“So… you’re a dad now, I hear?” Jackson says, his chin pointing toward the carrier while clapping me on the shoulder.
“Yep. I’m terrified.” I laugh, but it falls flat. Jackson and Anna both look at me with worry, and I curse myself for using the wrong term. After what I went through, I can never say I’m scared or feeling any emotions of fear. It creeps people out. “What I mean is that I never thought I would become a father, a single father, and raise a child with someone as opinionated as Naomi.”
“How much can I extort from you so I don’t repeat your words?” Anna smirks, trying to diffuse the tension and care that fills the room.
Anna and I are thick as thieves. Always there for each other. She knows more than anyone. She’s the only one that knew Elaine was pregnant when she died. My sister has saved my ass a number of times even when she’s mad at me because I’ve slept with one of her friends. To be fair, I’ve slept with them all but one. Not my fault, she has surrounded herself with beautiful girls since high school.
“Don’t you have enough money? You have to extort the poor bar owner that I am?”
“Well, that’s the other reason Mark needs you in Virginia, and I’m here to drag your ass down there. You’re the best at what you do, and we need your help with a high profile personality who doesn’t seem to be what he claims. We’ll pay you, of course…”
“Of course… But not enough money can make me go back to Virginia. You know it. Mark knows it. And Elaine’s parents should know better than throwing a memorial for their daughter. She would have hated the idea.” I finally put the glass down on the bar and walk away, to my office. Going to Virginia means talking about her, seeing our friends, visiting her parents, shaking the hands of people who loved her, loved us, and I can’t.
I can’t be the Oliver they knew. I can’t be the Oliver I used to be. I killed him the same day I killed my fiancée. I destroyed him the same way I ruined my life.
“Ol,” my sister knocks quickly and appears before me with my son in her arms. I already know what she’s going to tell me, and I don’t like it, but I also know I have no counterargument to it.
“Go ahead, give me your lecture,” I sigh.
“You keep saying you’re healed and all good to go, but by refusing to set foot in Virginia, you show me that you aren’t. So I’m going to put my foot down and be extremely clear with you. If you’re as good as you claim, then you’re going to Virginia because Pat and Sue need you there. Also, Mark and Jackson have a job for you. Or, I’m dragging you to therapy once and for all. Because if you think I’m going to let you pretend everything is fine now that you’re responsible for my perfect nephew, you’re wrong. He deserves the best version of you, and I want my brother back. Not the washed up version of this scaredy-cat who lets my husband, a rock star, beat him up. For a former SEAL, you’ve become a shadow of yourself. Go hang out with Mark and get high on adrenaline again. Jump from buildings like you used to, drive fast, accept the risks you could control so well all but that one time. I’m sure your employees can manage the bar while you’re away. Just go. Find yourself again and leave Aito here. You’ll catch up with him later.”
“I’m not leaving Aito here.” I snap.
“You’re certainly not taking him with you. Lars and Naomi won’t allow you to travel with the nanny after you’ve fucked the last ones. No way. And you can’t take him with you and work at the same time.”
“But it’s my two weeks. I don’t want to miss a thing.”
“Stop using him as an excuse, Ol. He should be what gives you the force to heal, not what anchors you in the superficial life you have.” Always wanting to prove her wrong, I swallow my fears of leaving Aito behind and going back to Virginia and nod.
“Good,” Jackson says from the threshold of my office. “I have a few things to do in town and some friends to see, but we’ll leave tomorrow. 0800. Be ready.”
He tilts his head toward me and takes his phone—certainly to call Mark and tell him his mission accomplished.
Anna gives me Aito and tells me to call Naomi to arrange everything before leaving, as if I don’t know I need to tell the mother of my son that I can’t take care of him for the next two weeks.
Or longer?
Jackson didn’t say how long Mark needed me for. And in a way, I know they did it on purpose, so I’ll call my old buddy. Mark knows how to get me out of my comfort zone and hand me the parachute I need to land better.
I shiver at the idea and bring the head of my son to my nose. Breathing in the baby smell, I find the peace I need to get ready for a trip to my former life, to see Mark again, to face Elaine’s parents and all of our friends.
Nestling him against my chest, I close my eyes and dream of a different life where Elaine is here with me, raising Aito.
Because it’s a dream, I don’t have to figure out why my kid is half Japanese and if I cheated on her. Musing over a life that can’t be, I shut my brain down and try not to think about what is expected of me tomorrow, the day after that, and in the coming weeks.
Slowly Elaine disappears from my thoughts, and the faces of our Virginia entourage come to haunt me, and with them all the explanations I never gave and the blame I never shared.
Maybe this trip is not a way to finally grieve, but a way to expose the fraud I am. By running after phonies for years, I never thought I would become one. But maybe it’s time to show the world I’m not who they thought I was.
After all, I’m only a coward, a quitter, a deserter.
Someone who couldn’t face the death of the woman he loved.
Chapter Two
TESSA
�
�No!”
“Tessa, be reasonable for once. You need to stop all the crazy and calm the fuck down. I would hate to have to call your mother.” Quinn says, towering over me as if he was responsible for me. I guess that’s what he believes. That’s what happens when your fiancé asks his buddy to look after you if anything happens to him and then dies.
“Look at you, all mighty and happy, daddy Quinn. You’d better not dare! Tell me... Don’t you miss the rush of doing something dangerous? Don’t you miss jumping off planes and running through fires? I won’t stop. I won’t quit. I won’t rest. You only live once, Quinn. You, more than the others, should know that.” I cross my arms on the sofa and raise an eyebrow at him to calm down. Of course, he doesn’t.
“Listen, Murdock,” I growl, hearing the stupid nickname Quinn and Mark gave me since King died, and I decided to live my life fully. “Ashton and I are worried —”
“More than worried,” Ashton pipes in behind her husband. We’ve become close in the past few years, but not enough for her to lecture me. I won’t let anyone stop me.
“More than worried,” Quinn picks up where he left off. “We said nothing when you quit your well-paid job and went to travel the world to heal.” He quotes the word “heal” as if it isn’t what I did. I roll my eyes at him. He’s such an idiot. “We still said nothing when you came home, didn’t go back to be a mechanical engineer, and decided to be a bartender, a receptionist, a nanny, or whatever keeps you busy. When you started your daredevil way of life, we shut up as well. I said nothing when you tried parachuting and bull riding. I said fuck all when you said you cliff-dived in Thailand and water rafted in Canada. I get it. The adrenaline, the desire to feel alive after what happened to you. I. Get. It. But racing cars? What the fuck, Tessa?”