by Sherri Hayes
There were a few groans that sounded from the crowd.
Stephan glanced down at me briefly, before readdressing the reporters. “We found out Saturday morning that Ian Pierce did not survive his injuries. I’ll be honest in saying I have mixed feelings about this, and so does Brianna. He did horrible things, and he deserved to be punished for them. Death almost seems too easy.”
A shout sounded from the back of the room. “What about what you did, Mr. Coleman?”
At first, I thought Stephan was going to ignore it, but he surprised me by answering the woman. “What about what I did? I saw a young woman who needed my help, and I acted on it.”
“But you admitted on the stand that she’s now your girlfriend.”
“Yes, she is.”
Stephan looked down at me, his eyes softening. I smiled up at him, trying to ignore the mass of people.
“Brianna? Did Mr. Coleman force you to be his girlfriend?”
I swallowed.
“You don’t have to answer them if you don’t want to.” He said this loud enough for the reporters to hear.
Even though he said I didn’t have to answer, I knew that I did. If I remained silent, then everyone would believe he had forced me, and that wouldn’t be good for him.
Taking a deep breath, I held Stephan’s hand in a death grip and faced the reporters. “No. He didn’t force me.”
More questions were shouted, including a few about our sexual relationship. I didn’t like those, and neither did Stephan. He held up his hand to silence the crowd. “Brianna and I will not be answering any specifics regarding our relationship other than to say that yes, we are in a relationship and that we’re happy. This has, however, been a very trying and difficult time for us emotionally with the trial and the media attention. Because of that, I will be taking a leave of absence from The Coleman Foundation. I need to focus on what’s most important in my life right now.”
He paused and took a long, lingering look over the crowd.
“Thank you all again for coming.”
Before they could get over the shock of his announcement, Stephan stepped away from the podium, pulling me with him. A man I didn’t know held the elevator door open for us, and we disappeared inside, leaving the reporters shouting questions behind us.
Epilogue
April 11th
Five years ago today, my life changed forever. It was the day I first saw the man I now call my husband.
So much changed for both of us that day. My life certainly changed, but so did his.
I wasn’t what he was expecting. I know that now. We’ve talked about it many times since he bought me five years ago. He thought he’d pay Ian, give me some money, maybe set me up in an apartment, and have me go on with my life. It didn’t quite work that way.
As it turned out, I’m glad it didn’t. The life I have now is much better than I could have ever hoped it would be. That doesn’t mean that we haven’t had our share of bumps in the road, though, because we have. A lot of them.
After Ian’s death, and Stephan’s press conference, he spent the next week transferring everything to the senior vice president of the foundation. Glenn, who I’ve gotten to know well over the last four years, is a very nice man, and he’s done a great job with The Coleman Foundation.
Stephan planned to step away for six months—a leave of absence—to let things die down and to give the two of us some time together. Six months turned into a year, and then two. Eventually Stephan decided it was best to make it official, and he stepped down as president of The Coleman Foundation. He was still on the board and took an active role in what was going on, but it was all behind the scenes. Glenn was now the face of the organization.
Another thing that changed was that Stephan and I no longer live in Minneapolis. Once Stephan realized that he would no longer be head of the foundation—that he didn’t need to stay in the city—we talked about it and decided it would be best to get away from the constant media scrutiny. Even with so much time passing, it wasn’t uncommon for him to get stopped in the streets and questioned. I didn’t feel comfortable going out without him, and he didn’t feel comfortable letting me. We wanted a life together, and we wanted it without having to worry about the press every time we stepped outside.
Last summer we officially moved out of the city. We now live about an hour outside of the Cities, less than twenty minutes from his aunt and uncle, in a house that sits along the Minnesota River. I can sit on our back porch and watch the water flow by, and I often do. Stephan also set up a cozy reading area for me upstairs that has a large picture window where I can look out and see the water when it’s too cold for me to go outside. It’s perfect, and I love it. I’ve spent many hours reading and writing in my journal there.
“Brianna?”
I looked up from my journal as Stephan peeked inside the library.
“Ah. There you are. Are you about ready to go?” He lowered his gaze and noticed the journal in my hands. His face softened, and he walked over to give me a kiss. “Finish writing, and then meet me downstairs. I’ll text my aunt and let her know we’ll be a little late.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He strolled back out of the room, and I returned to my writing.
I need to wrap this up. It’s Sunday, and Stephan and I are making our weekly trip to Diane and Richard’s house for dinner. I’m happy to say that Stephan and his uncle have repaired their relationship. Richard has gotten to know me more, and he’s seen us together enough to know that Stephan isn’t abusing me. Our relationship, the way it is, is what I want—what we both want. Stephan is my husband, but he is also my Dom. There is no separating the two, and I love him just the way he is.
Knowing I needed to hurry but feeling the need to finish, I pressed my lips together and continued.
Once we were settled in our new house, Stephan began encouraging me to start driving again. To get the feel of being behind the wheel of a car once more, he had me driving around an obstacle course he’d set up. We have ten acres surrounding our house, so there was plenty of room in case I messed up. It took over a month of practice before I felt comfortable driving on real roads.
Another thing that’s changed is that I am able to go into town by myself. Granted, Le Sueur isn’t anything like Minneapolis. It’s a small town, not a big city. At first, Stephan went with me, even after I was okay to drive. It wasn’t until spring that I ventured out on my own.
I also went back to school. There was a local community college that had a GED program I was able to enroll in over the winter. As of two weeks ago, I have my diploma. Or at least the closest thing I can get to it at this point. It’s a good feeling, and Stephan and I have been discussing me taking more courses at the college this fall.
We still have yet to play in the playroom he set up in the attic. I go up there sometimes and walk around, touch things. And we play in our bedroom, and in other parts of the house, but not there. Not yet. Last week, he had me write down a list of goals for the coming year, and one of those had been for us to play, at least once, in the playroom. He’d been surprised but happy, too, I think.
It’s hard to believe it’s been five years. Sometimes it feels like it was yesterday, and other times it’s such a distant memory that it feels as if decades have passed. I’m not frightened of my own shadow anymore. From time to time, a loud noise will still set me off if I’m not expecting it, but Stephan and my new therapist, Dr. Katlin, said that was to be expected. It would take time—a lot of time—but I’m doing it. I’m living my life, and I’m happy.
Closing my journal, I laid it down in my lap and took a minute to look outside at the river. There was a log wedged along the bank, barely hanging on, ready to be swept away by the tide. I was that log. Sometimes I still felt that way—that at any moment something or someone would come along, and I’d be swept away in the uncontrollable current.
There was one thing I had that the log didn’t, though. I had Stephan. And I had our friends. I wouldn�
��t get swept away. I wouldn’t get lost again in the world. They wouldn’t let me.
Smiling and wiping the tears from my cheeks, I stood and went to place my journal on Stephan’s desk for him to read later. A lot of things had changed, but one thing hadn’t—not since the day he’d walked into my life. Stephan was the most important thing in my world, and he always would be. That would never change.
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Also by Sherri Hayes
Hidden Threat
Cali Stanton has one goal in life, being a doctor. She does not intend to run the family business. But when her father gets injured and tells her that she’s the only one he trusts, Cali finds herself behind his desk at Stanton Enterprises.
Matthew Andersen and his brother Jason have spent the last two years managing security at Stanton Enterprises. But when someone threatens the company and its CEO, challenging Matthew’s abilities, what seems like an easy task, becomes a big problem.
Cali and Matthew must fight their growing attraction for each other to avoid a potentially damaging office romance. As the threats continue, they must work together to keep the company running and discover who is behind the threats.
But when things escalate to violence and Cali becomes the latest target, things get personal. Can Matthew find the Hidden Threat before it’s too late?
Download a sample of this book at The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
A Christmas Proposal (a Hidden Threat short story)
Matthew Andersen knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Cali Stanton. Since she came into his life just five months ago, his world had completely changed for the better. With everything in their lives finally coming together, he was determined to make their first Christmas a memorable one.
Download a sample of this book at The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
Slave (Finding Anna, Book 1)
Stephan has lived the lifestyle of a Dominant for five years. After several rebellious teenage years, it gave him the stability and control he had been seeking after his parent’s death.
As president of a not-for-profit foundation, he knows what his future holds and what he wants out of life. All that changes when a simple lunch with his college friend and Mentor, Daren, leads him to buying a slave.
Thrust into a situation he never thought he’d be in, Stephan can’t walk away. He is compelled to help this girl in the only way he knows how.
Brianna knows only one thing, she is a slave. She has nothing. She is nothing.
Can Stephan help Brianna realize that she is much more than just a Slave?
Download a sample of this book at The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
Need (Finding Anna, Book 2)
As Brianna comes to terms with the realization that she is no longer a slave, she must figure out what she wants for her life. Forgetting her past isn’t an option. It is an integral part of who she is now, and it will forever shape her view of life. The one thing she knows is that she cannot imagine her life without the man who saved her, but can she be what he needs?
Stephan never imagined falling in love with the woman he rescued, but the thought of her no longer being part of his life is physically painful. The scars from her past continue to haunt her, and he is helpless to stop them. All he can do is try to help her work through the traumas of her past. Can he be everything she needs and help her move on?
The two must figure out how to navigate not only their relationship with each other, but also the outside world. A friend from Brianna’s past shows up where she least expects them, and Uncle Richard continues to enforce his well-meaning agenda to get Brianna more traditional help. As forces, both friend and foe, threaten to tear them apart, Stephan and Brianna have to navigate the turbulent waters and find what they need in each other.
Download a sample of this book at The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
Truth (Finding Anna, Book 3)
For the last two months, Brianna has discovered something she never thought she would again. Hope. After the horror of being Ian’s slave for ten months, a fate she never imagined she’d escape, it feels as if she is living a dream. She has freedom she hadn’t expected to have again, and she wakes up every morning not fearing what the day will bring.
There is also Stephan. The man who saved her from the daily torture she had to endure at the hands of Ian and his friends. The same man who makes her heart race with just the thought of him. Life is good.
Outside forces are determined to conspire against them, however. When Brianna’s father shows up on her doorstep, it sends her world spiraling out of control. He brings with him new information about how Brianna ended up in Ian’s clutches, but will it make a difference? Will Stephan be able to find a way to make Ian pay for all he made Brianna suffer?
As Brianna and Stephan try to find out the truth, their relationship is tested. She is forced to face her past head on and deal with the ugly reality of what happened to her. Will Stephan’s love be enough to see her through her newest challenge, or will the fragile trust they’ve built come crumbling down around them as the truth makes itself known.
Download a sample of this book at The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
Behind Closed Doors (Daniels Brothers, Book 1)
Elizabeth Marshall spent the last nine years doing all the things she was supposed to do. She went to a good college. Married a man with a promising future. Elizabeth even had a nice house in a respectable part of town. There was even the promise of 2.4 kids in her future. From the outside everything looked picture perfect.
Then one night, the world she lived in came crashing down. Six months later with her husband dead and her friends gone, Elizabeth moves to the small town of Springfield, Ohio to start a new life where no one knows who she is or about her past.
Christopher Daniels enjoys the simplicity of his bachelor life. After his divorce three years ago, he swore off women. He has no desire to change that philosophy.
When Elizabeth Marshall moves into the apartment below his in the small Victorian house, she makes him reconsider the motto he’s lived by for the last three years: women are trouble. She is everything his ex-wife is not, and it doesn’t help that she is his fantasy come to life.
He is determined to resist her charms; however, when someone sends threatening messages to Elizabeth, he finds himself in the role of protector. Can he protect Elizabeth and still resist the pull she has on his body and his heart?
Download a sample of this book at The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
Red Zone (Daniels Brothers, Book 2)
After a case ended badly for Rebecca Carson, she’s losing her mind sitting around her apartment waiting on her superiors to allow her to return to work. Since she was a teenager, the only thing she’d ever wanted was to join the FBI. Now that dream was in danger.
Gage Daniels has made a pretty good life for himself. A nice house. A career he loves. As a professional football player, he’s used to getting almost everything he’d ever want with just the snap of his fingers. This includes women. A well-timed smile is usually all it takes to attract the opposite sex, especially in Nashville.
When a stalker threatens Gage, the team owner calls an old friend, Rebecca’s ex-partner Travis Hansen, to help protect his star quarterback and find the person responsible. Hansen offers Rebecca the job, and she jumps at the chance. It’s work, and it will get her out of her apartment. How bad can it be?
Posing as Gage’s girlfriend, however, isn’t as easy as it seems. The man is relentless. Rebecca must work to protect Gage while staving off his advances. She’s there to do a job, nothing more. The last thing she wants is to be another notch on a hotshot athlete’s belt.
As the stalker continues to up the ante, Rebecca finds it harder and harder to keep her distance from Nashville’s star quarterback. He isn’t what she expected in one of the city’s most notorious playboys. Now all she has to do is keep him safe
until they can find his stalker, and hope she doesn’t lose her heart in the process.
Download a sample of this book at The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
Coming Fall 2014
Crossing the Line (Daniels Brothers, Book 3)
About the Author
Sherri spent most of her childhood detesting English class. It was one of her least favorite subjects because she never seemed to fit into the standard mold. She wasn't good at spelling, or following grammar rules, and outlines made her head spin. For that reason, Sherri never imagined becoming an author.
At the age of thirty, all of that changed. After getting frustrated with the direction a television show was taking two of its characters, Sherri decided to try her hand at writing an alternate ending, and give the characters their happily ever after. By the time the story finished, it was one of the top ten read stories on the site, and her readers were encouraging her to write more.
Seven years later, Sherri is the author of seven full-length novels, and one short story. Writing has become a creative outlet for Sherri that allows her to explore a wide range of emotions, while having fun taking her characters through all the twists and turns she can create.