“The fact that I had to find out from her makes it even worse.”
“Baby, I have no idea what you are talking about. Talk to me Sav.”
“I can’t handle this again Tate, I can’t.” She stepped towards me looking for comfort but then ripped herself away from me just as quickly as reality struck her.
“Can’t handle what?” I fumed.” What has she said to you? Blake, what the fuck is going on?”
“I tried to warn you Tate. I tried to stop this.” Blake shook his head. His eyes darted from mine and landed on Sav.
“Would you two just shut up?” Chelsea finally spoke. “Blake you wouldn’t have said a word. You know I would have spilt your secrets just as quickly as you come.”
“You need to shut the fuck up Chelsea. I don’t know what fucked up web of lies you are spinning but Sav will not believe you.”
“She already has Tate.”
Sav’s gasp ignited the air around me and the feeling of her moving away from me crushed what was left of my quickly shattering heart. My eyes followed Sav’s every movement. Like a Hollywood movie in slow motion I watched my nightmare unfolding in front of me. Sav moved quickly across the room, seeking comfort in Blake’s arms, his eyes hooded at me as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his body.
“Savannah, what the hell is going on? Speak to me,” I pleaded, storming across the room to stand in front of her. Her eyes drove into mine. They were empty pits of what only hours ago had been full of love. My soul felt depleted. I could already feel the wall building between us, a wall being built on the word of Chelsea. Sav’s face no longer showed any emotion to me, her eyes no longer showed the intensity of our relationship. The emptiness of her eyes was obliterating.
“I had to tell her, Tate. She is carrying your child, so she deserves to know that you are still fucking me. She told me you have been denying speaking with me but she knows everything now.” Chelsea’s smug face looked at me like she had just won the lottery. Ripping my gaze from Sav’s, I pierced into the eyes of Chelsea. This was a new fucking low. What could she have possibly said or done to make Sav react like this?
“What did you tell her, Chelsea? What possible lies have you spat? Sav, don’t believe her. Don’t believe anything she says.”
“She has a video, Tate. Videos don’t lie,” Sav whimpered, her face knotted with pain.
My legs tensed beneath me, my breath caught in my throat. “A video?” I questioned, collapsing onto the couch in the centre of the room. “Show me.” I glared at Chelsea. The look of evil on her face didn’t falter as she sat beside me and handed me her phone.
Breathing in deeply, I pressed play and my eyes focused on the screen. The video began and there I was, on full display. There was no denying that the person I was watching was me. I was on my back with Chelsea hovering over me. We were naked, sweaty and breathing heavily. Her head dipped as she took me with her mouth while my hand pulled on her hair. What the fuck was this? I slapped my palm on the screen, begging for the atrocity to end. My mind was completely and utterly blown. This couldn’t be happening. When had she filmed us having sex? That’s one thing I would never ever do. She had done this without me knowing. This wasn’t new footage—this wasn’t even New York. I threw the phone at Chelsea and rose to my feet and rushed towards Sav.
“Sav, that’s not new. Believe me, I would never do this to you.”
Sav’s eyes rose to mine, and for a moment, they flickered with a gleam of hope. “Tate, I don’t know what to believe,” she choked out.
“Believe me, Sav. Believe in us.”
Chelsea pushed her way between Sav and me and got in my face. “Well if it’s not new, Tate, how do I know that you went shopping with Tanzi and Jack the other day? How do I know that you only had a few hours a day to spend with me because Savannah was working? How do I know that you were pissed off about Sav having lunch with Blake?”
“You told her?” Sav gasped and stepped back even closer to Blake.
“Sav, no! I don’t know how she knows this. Sav, please believe me. She is fucked up. I would never ever do this to you. Why would I? Believe me. Trust me.”
The feeling that my world was crashing down around me consumed me and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. My heart was beating hard, trying to completely rip itself out of my chest and go to Savannah, to show her that it belonged to her, to show her that she owned it. I hadn’t done one of these accusations, but why would Sav believe me? What reason did she possibly have? She had evidence, she had a video, and she had the word of two people against mine but all I wanted was for her to believe in me.
“Tate, I don’t know what to believe. I think you should just leave. I just need to be on my own.”
And in a split second Savannah’s words destroyed me.
My mouth was as dry as the desert, my eyes scratchy and my words gone. There was nothing I could say or do. I could fight, I wanted to fight with every part of my being but what would it get me? My pleads would go unnoticed and my promises would be laughed upon.
My eyes flashed to Chelsea, a smirk covering her lips as she narrowed her eyes on me. What the hell was going on? I turned my attention to the retreating figure of Sav leaving the apartment with Blake. Savannah disappeared through the door without so much of a glance back at me. Blake suddenly stopped, and his shoulders slumped as he held open the door in contemplation. He spun around and looked at me with eyes that were swarming with what I could only describe as regret and remorse. Something shifted and moved between us in that split second. I was looking at him differently, I didn’t see him as a threat, all I wanted was for him to take Sav as far away from Chelsea as possible.
“I’m sorry…brother.”
“What?” I stuttered. Brother? Since when had he called me brother? “Just take her away Blake, don’t let Chelsea tell her anymore lies.”
“There are things I need to tell you before you find out from someone else.”
“What are you talking about Blake?” I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. “All I can think about right now is Savannah so I’m sorry but I can’t chat at the moment. Please just make sure she is ok.
The door of the hotel room slammed and I collapsed into a heap on the floor, absolutely shattered and not having a clue about what the fuck had actually happened. All I knew was that Sav didn’t want me here. My urge to fight was strong, and this was far from over. I would prove to her that this wasn’t real, that I would never do anything like that. She was my world, my absolute universe and I would never destroy that. I fought too hard to get her and I wasn’t going to let some screwed up chick from my past take her away from me. Anger roared through me, a determination that could only be matched by success ignited in me. If it was the last thing I did on this planet I would make sure Savannah knew that I was hers and hers only.
Pulling the complimentary notepad from the drawer, I scribbled down words I wished I could say to her but knew she wouldn’t listen to.
Savannah,
I don’t know what is happening.
Why would I ever choose to cheat on you when you are perfection to me? I swear to you I never did anything with Chelsea. The last time I touched her was the night you first arrived in Los Angeles. I saw you with Blake and for some reason it fucked with my head. I have wanted you in every sense of the word from that first night. I promise you that what you have seen is not new footage. I don’t know what she has done or how she has done this but it’s not current. Sav, my whole trip to New York has been about us. Please believe me. Please trust me. I know it doesn’t look good, and I know what you have seen, but whether it takes me a day, a week, a month, or a year, I will prove to you that we are meant to be together.
Forever yours,
Tate.
Placing the letter in an envelope and leaving it on the p
illow, I slumped on the bed, dropping my face to my hands and groaning loudly. Sav wanted me gone. I didn’t have a place in her heart at the moment, and I needed to grant her wish. I stumbled through the room packing up the few things that I had bought since I arrived. My eyes scanned the space around me, memories of the week that was flashed before me. We were meant to be moving in together, we were meant to be starting our life together and getting ready for our baby but now the unknown was lashing at me.
All I knew right at this second was that my heart, soul, and life was in New York but she didn’t want me anywhere around.
To the readers - You are not just readers to me, you are my support team, my cheerleaders and my motivators and I hope I continue to write the words you want to read. Thank you for allowing a girl from Australia to live out her dreams. Without you I would not be here sitting in my lounge room in complete shock that I have just finished my second book. THANK YOU!
To the bloggers who accepted me into their world without hesitation and who have become mates I cannot thank you enough. Thank you for sharing my work and characters to the world and giving me the pep talks that I need. I wouldn’t be where I am today without your support, kindness and encouragement and of course the endless chats we have on Facebook, kik and twitter. Words can’t express my gratitude to each and every one of you. You know who you are!
Caisey Quinn and Elizabeth Lee – what started as admiration of both of you as authors has led to never ending friendships. Thank you for allowing me to vent, bounce ideas, laugh, cry and swoon. Your friendship and support is unmeasurable by words.
Mickey Reed aka editor extraordinaire - Your friendship, encouragement and ability to take out my aussieisms made the whole process of transforming into an American guy so much easier. Thank you for everything! Your positivity is addictive! You are my editing guru and this is just the beginning.
Jodie, Lydia, Keeley and Leah – Your excitement and enthusiasm for my work has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. I crave our daily emails, messages and vox sessions and they never cease to make me smile. Your friendship means the world to me so thank you for everything, I will be forever grateful and will be forever in your debt.
To my beta’s – your continued support of Sav and Tate and increasingly obsessive love for Mr Davenport is out of this world (Andrea I’m looking at you). Your emails, tweets and Facebook messages with love, threats and what the hell Rachel makes my heart swell… I promise everything will be ok! Thank you for being team awesome, next stop Breathe Again.
Stephanie Higgins from Romance Addict Book Blog– thank you for the amazing cover of Breathless, for putting up with my indecisiveness and for organising my cover reveal and blog tour. We did it! We actually did it!!!
Emily Tippetts – thank you for prettying up my words and for holding my hand in the craziness of formatting and answering my silly questions. So happy to finally get to work with you, you rock!
To my lovely Bombshells… my girls, my support team, my prep buddies, my amazing street team. Thank you for being my go to girls, for sharing the love I have of these characters. Tate, Sav and co would not be who they are without you and I cannot wait to introduce new characters to our little family.
Last but not least my family; my amazing, supportive, crazy and unbelievably awesome family. You know me better than I know myself, you make me who I am today and without you I would not be standing here today. I love you with every inch that is me.
Rachel Brookes is from a coastal town on the east coast of Australia where beaches, kangaroos and surfers roam free. She writes stories with a pinch of craziness, a dash of drama, a cup of romance, a spoonful of sexiness and the main ingredient hot guys. Rachel sometimes forgets to eat, sometimes forgets to sleep and sometimes can’t remember the last time she cleaned her apartment but that’s because she is in a long term relationship with her laptop and they are constantly writing together. When she does step away from her laptop she can be found taking too many photos, making scrumptious cocktails, laughing at Adam Sandler movies and spending her time with her amazing family.
Come hang out with Rachel online:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorRachelBrookes
Twitter: @RachelBrookes_
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/rachelbrookes
Blog: www.rachelbrookes.blogspot.com.au/
Email: [email protected]
Copyright © 2013 Rachel BrookesAll rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to any person, living or dead is purely coincidental. Any actual places, products or events mentioned are used in a purely fictitious manner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various places/products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission and is by no way sponsored by the trademark owners.
Editor: Mickey ReedEBook and Paperback formatting: E.M. Tippetts Book Designs
Cover Design: Stephanie Higgins
Photo Editing: Cassandra Jane Art & Design
This is a New Adult Contemporary Romance novel recommended for readers over the age of 17 due to strong language and sexual themes.
This ebook was designed and formatted by
www.emtippettsbookdesigns.blogspot.com
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Table of Contents
Dedication
Other Titles from Rachel Brookes
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
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Copyright
About the Book Designer
Table of Contents
Breathless (The Breathe Series) Page 14