by Amity Cross
“I’m listening.”
“Once I get a job, which doesn’t involve The Underground, we split everything fifty-fifty. It’s the only way I’ll do it. I don’t want a free ride.”
“Is it that important to you?” I asked, watching him as he reversed the car out of the space.
“I want to look after you, Sparks. In every way I can.”
Smiling for the first time in what felt like forever, I said, “Then, I agree.”
“Thank fuck.”
“Hey,” I said as we drove through the city toward home. “Have you ever thought about becoming a police officer? Or a firefighter? Or a paramedic? You have emergency services written all over you.”
“You reckon?” he asked. “Charlie said the same thing.”
“Did she?” I mused, my eyes beginning to droop, the smooth rhythm of the car beginning to lull me to sleep.
“A cop, huh?” he murmured, but I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or just voicing his thoughts.
“Yeah,” I muttered as sleep took me. “You should do it.”
It might’ve been a dream, or it might’ve been the last thing I heard as I fell asleep, but I was pretty sure he said, I think I just might.
30
Josh
One year later…
* * *
Things had really gone through the wringer after the night I saved Sparks. A lot of changes happened in both our lives, some for the worse but more for the better.
I never went back to The Underground, but I was still a regular at Pulse.
Holly was still an orthopedic surgeon at St. Vincent’s but had a much better handle on her working hours than when we first met.
And we never heard from Archer again.
He was charged with her attempted kidnapping, and during Charlie and Frommer’s investigation, it was found he’d had three other victims, none of which were as lucky as Sparks. Dr. Desmond Archer was put away for a combined sentence of forty years without parole. His whole life was still being pulled apart, his time as a surgeon scrutinized to make sure there was no evidence of malpractice. Anyway, it was the end of the line for the guy. He’d never be free again.
It took Sparks a little while to readjust to working at the hospital after Archer was thrown in the slammer. Dark corners worried her for a bit, but I helped her work through it, and therapy really had things happening for her.
The other thing that had happened to me was I finally found the place I belonged.
Leaning against the nurses’ station as I waited for Sparks to finish her shift, I blew a kiss at Nurse Judy, who just raised her eyebrow.
“Good to see you’re finally making something of yourself,” she drawled, looking me up and down.
Glancing down at my uniform, I had to agree with her, which was a first.
“Constable Caplin.”
I turned at the sound of Sparks’s voice and smiled. “What’s up, Sarge?”
“I like your ass in that uniform,” she declared, making Nurse Judy groan out loud.
Laughing, I slung my arm around Sparks’s waist and tugged her close.
“I’ve got an hour before I have to get back to it,” I said, kissing her neck.
“It sucks when you work nights,” she complained.
“Tell me about it. Mopping up drunken dickheads out the front of nightclubs on a Saturday night isn’t my favorite thing to do.”
“It isn’t?” she asked, taking the piss.
“You’re lucky I love you, Sparks.” I planted a kiss on her lips. “The beat isn’t forever. One day, I’ll be a badass member of the Special Ops team. You’ll see.”
“You’ve already got the cop slang down pat, so I reckon you’re well on your way.”
Year one as a rookie was already down, but I still had another year of on-the-job-training before I was a fully-fledged member of the Victorian Police. My back had improved a great deal and hadn’t hindered my application at all, though I still had to be mindful of it. Now it was onward and upward. It helped that I was blitzing all the training and exams…with a little study help from the experts. Sparks, with her fancy flashcard system she used to power through Columbia, and Charlie, with her years of experience in the force.
I took Sparks to our favorite Chinese restaurant in the city. It was a block from the station and a short tram ride home for her. Her independence and fearlessness had returned brighter than before, and I frequently took a moment to marvel at her strength. Sometimes, Sparks wasn’t the right word to describe the woman I loved. She was more like an explosion or a supernova. Something that encompassed the entire universe.
Holly Walsh was the Big Bang.
“I went to see my mum today,” I said, sitting across from her at our usual table by the window.
“Yeah?” She tilted her head to the side as the city bustled on the other side of the glass a mere inch away.
“The first time since her funeral.”
Knowing it was a really big step for me to drag my ass out to Fawkner Cemetery, she beamed, hooking her ankle around mine underneath the table. “I’m glad.”
All that time I’d spent fighting at The Underground I believed it was some kind of penance for not being able to save mum from my father. In reality, I’d just been punishing myself needlessly for something that had always been out of my control. I was just a kid, too young to understand even though society told me I was an adult.
After the night I told Sparks everything, the night of her assault, I’d gone over everything that led up to my mum’s murder, and it was all circumstance. No matter what changed, I still wouldn’t have been in time to save her. The outcome would still be the same. I had to come to terms with that, and saving Sparks had made me realize it. It was just really shitty it took that for it to sink through my thick skull.
At the end of it all, I couldn’t change the past or fix everything that was out of my control, but what I could do was make a better future. With Sparks by my side, we would be unstoppable.
“I miss her every day, but I know now that she wouldn’t have wanted me to keep blaming myself,” I said. “I did what I had to do in that moment.”
Sparks smiled, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. My words were like a full stop at the end of a sentence. That chapter of my life was over but not forgotten.
“So what now, Constable?” she asked, picking up a menu. “Dumplings or…dumplings?”
“I dunno,” I replied, suddenly thinking of our first date down by the Yarra River. “I might have to convince them to make us some baconaise.”
Sparks laughed and slapped me with the menu, her entire being just overwhelming the world until she was all I could see.
Fuck, I loved her.
My Sparks.
Turned out there was a light at the end of the tunnel after all.
Other Books in The Beat and The Pulse series…
**The series is complete!**
The Beat and The Pulse is a MMA Fighter romance series that’s full of grit, glory and love!
Follow the men and women of Beat and Pulse as they fight for love... in and out of the cage.
It’s time to fight for the broken hearted.
Beat #1
Pulse #2
Crash #3
Spike #4
Rebel #4.5
Steel #5
Flow #6
Surge #7
Quake #8
Rush #9
Strike #10
Ignite #11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AMITY CROSS is the author of wicked stories about rock stars looking for redemption, gritty romances featuring MMA fighters and dark tales of forbidden romance. She loves to write about alpha males and the strong women who challenge them to fall in love.
* * *
FIND OUT MORE:
www.amitycrosswrites.com
OTHER SERIES BY AMITY CROSS
**ALL SERIES ARE COMPLETE!**
* * *
Book One in ma
ny of these series are FREE or exclusive to certain retailers, so please click through to check!
ROCK STAR AFFLICTION follows the story of rock star Jake West and fiery 'wildcat' Blair Hayden. Come with them on a whirlwind European tour and find out if they fall in love or crash and burn.
Unexpected #1
Unexplainable #2
Unintended #3
Undeniable #4
Unbearable #5
Unstoppable #6
ROYAL BLOOD: Xavier 'X' Blood is a hitman for motorcycle club, Royal Blood. When he meets Mercy Reid, things begin to unravel in the worst way possible. Will Mercy's love be enough to save him?
Royal Blood #1
Bad Blood #2
Blood Rites #3
Devil’s Blood #4
Love Like Blood #5
Blood and Bone #6
ROCK STAR HEARTS follows the tumultuous romance of small town woman Juniper Rowe and bad boy rock star Sebastian Hale.
Will love conquer all? Or will the price of fame be too hot to handle?
Whole Lotta Love #1
Whole Lotta Lust #2
Whole Lotta Sin #3
Whole Lotta Heart #4
FORTITUDE MC is a fast paced MC romance that will have you on the edge of your seat.
It contains all the gritty love, action, thrills and hot sexy times you expect from an Amity Cross novel…and then some.
Ride Hard #1
Ride Long #2
Ride Forever #3
THE BEAT AND THE PULSE is an Australian MMA Fighter romance series that’s full of grit, glory and love!
Follow the men and women of Beat and Pulse as they fight for love... in and out of the cage.
It’s time to fight for the broken hearted.
Beat #1
Pulse #2
Crash #3
Spike #4
Rebel #4.5
Steel #5
Flow #6
Surge #7
Quake #8
Rush #9
Strike #10
Ignite #11
STAND ALONE ROMANCE: Quirky writer Lux doesn’t expect a comic convention to turn her life upside down. But that’s exactly what happens when she gets stuck in an elevator with the hottest ticket in town, actor Jude Atwood… A fun, steamy read!
L is for Luminous
THE DEVIL’S TATTOO ROCK STARS!
When Zoe Granger started playing guitar to get over her heartbreak, she never thought that her band would hit it big. Now she's on the road with indie legend Will Strickland—who can't keep his eyes off her. Can she trust a rock star with her heart?
The Devil’s Tattoo #1
The Fire Walker #2
THE THORNFIELD AFFAIR is a modern reimagining of Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre.
Orphaned as an infant, Jane Doe has nothing, but desires everything life has to offer.
When she’s offered work at Thornfield, a grand English manor turned hotel, she meets her match in the dark and brooding proprietor, Edward Rochester.
Euphoria #1
Paradox #2
Zenith #3