Beautifully Broken (The Broken Series Book 2)

by Ruff, K. S.

  beautifully broken

  by k.s. ruff

  book two in the broken series

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, locales, brands, media, businesses, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status of and trademark owners of various products referenced in this book of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication and use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by these trademark owners.

  In accordance with the US Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book, without the permission of the author and/or artist constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. The only exception is short excerpts or the cover image in book reviews. If you would like to use material from this book for any other purpose other than review purposes, prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the author at ksruff.com. Please respect the rights of the author and the artist to protect their work by purchasing only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted material.

  Copyright © 2013 by Ruff Publishing, LLC

  Cover design and photography by Kari Kunkel Anderson

  All rights reserved.

  eISBN: 978-0-578-13452-9

  Discover other titles by K.S. Ruff at ksruff.com

  Dedication

  To my mom, whose road has been far more broken than mine.

  Thank you for proving it doesn’t have to define who we are.

  Acknowledgements

  I am truly humbled by the people who have encouraged and supported me throughout the creation of this book series. First and foremost, I’d like to thank my husband, Tobin, for putting up with all the long hours, for being such a wonderful sounding board for the storyline, and for providing the inspiration for Kadyn’s character.

  I also want to thank my children for drawing me away from my work with their sweet notes, contagious laughs, and warm hugs. You always seemed to know when I needed it most! I’d also like to thank my parents for their love and support, for encouraging me to dream big, and for seeing me through all the challenges that life has thrown my way.

  I’m extremely grateful to Christine Bedard-Dannels for ensuring my French translations were correct for this book. I’ll add another note of thanks to my brother, David, for marrying such a sweet woman and for encouraging me throughout this project. You best get on that book of yours, little brother. You got some catching up to do!

  I also want to thank my friend, Kari Kunkel Anderson, for shooting my book covers. Girl, you’ve got some serious talent. I still can’t believe what you were able to accomplish in the middle of my garage!

  I’d like to extend a special thanks to my friend, TJ Crane, for his copyright and business advice. A huge thanks to Phil Hagen for helping me establish the necessary connections and for guiding me through the process of getting a small business and website up and running. I’d also like to thank Dave Burris for designing a website that literally took my breath away!

  I’d really like to thank those friends who formed the bones and the inspiration for so many of the characters in this book, those who are mentioned by name and those who preferred aliases. Everyone should be blessed with a circle of friends like you!

  I’d also like to thank my reviewers: Mary Barnes, Jenny Letowt, Autumn Leva, Cenia Miller, Kristen Miller, Channa Threat, Christine Bedard-Dannels, Valerie Norman-Dannels, Shira BenZion, and Lexie Hoines. Thank you for offering such wonderful advice and for your willingness to read such rough rough drafts. I’d also like to thank my book club ladies for their continued enthusiasm and support.

  Once again, I’d like to thank author John Locke for taking the time to write a book that would help aspiring authors. Your insight and advice were invaluable, and I really do love your sense of humor! Finally, I’d like to thank the folks at Amazon for creating a venue for self-publishing authors like me.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 - Foolish games

  Chapter 2 – Rolling in the deep

  Chapter 3 – Slow fade

  Chapter 4 - Gone, gone, gone

  Chapter 5 – This I promise you

  Chapter 6 – Come home

  Chapter 7 - All Cried Out

  Chapter 8 – Broken

  Chapter 9- Stay

  Chapter 10 - Without you

  Chapter 11 – Kiss me slowly

  Chapter 12 - When you’re gone

  Chapter 13 - Steal your heart

  Chapter 14 – Firework

  Chapter 15 – All that I am

  Chapter 16 – Chasing pavements

  Chapter 17 – I dare you to move

  Chapter 18 – Different worlds

  Chapter 19 – Let love in

  Chapter 20 – It will rain

  Chapter 21 – Forever and always

  Chapter 22 – I’ll be there for you

  Chapter 23 - Secrets

  Chapter 24 – Impossible

  Chapter 25 – Just give me a reason

  Chapter 26 - Somebody that I used to know

  Chapter 27 – I follow rivers

  Chapter 28 – Dreaming with a broken heart

  About the Author

  Additional books by K.S. Ruff

  Chapter 1 - Foolish games

  I froze at the sound of his voice.

  “Mon coeur,” he whispered silkily from behind me.

  I clutched my blouse to my chest and slowly turned around. “Michael?”

  Michael leaned against the doorway to my bedroom. He was wearing black slacks and a white dress shirt with brushed silver cuff links. The top two buttons of his shirt were open, and he was missing a tie. The guy looked like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel. Jet black hair fell over his face in perfect waves, accentuating blatantly lustful eyes. His skin was a beautiful caramel color, and even this early in the morning, he was hinting at a five o’clock shadow.

  Fear swept through me. “How did you get in here?”

  He shrugged nonchalantly. “Pas important.”

  “It’s not important?” I asked incredulously. I huffed out a breath, then narrowed my eyes. “What do you want?”

  “Seulement toi,” he responded with hooded eyes.

  I stilled as his eyes met mine. “In English, Michael. I know you can speak English.” I tugged the blouse over my head, suddenly aware that I was still only half dressed.

  “Only you.”

  My pulse ratcheted up a few notches. “You want… only me? Michael, we’ve been through this before. I don’t love you. I can’t love you. I’m in love with someone else. You need to move on… and you need to get out of my apartment, or I’m calling the police.”

  Michael scowled. “Non. What I besoin is standing right here in front of me.” He pushed off from the doorframe. “I am bored with these games you insist on playing.”

  I slipped a pair of black heels over my feet and grabbed my suit jacket. “I’m not playing games, Michael. You need to leave. I’m leaving. I’m going to be late for work.” I steeled myself as I tried pushing past him in the narrow doorway.

  Michael grabbed me. The smell of cedar, citrus, and cloves swirled around me as he yanked me against his chest. “You are not going to work, ma chérie. You are coming with me.”

  I shoved him in the chest. “I’m not g
oing anywhere with you, Michael. Let me go.”

  Michael tightened his hold on me as he began kissing my neck. “Oh, but you will,” he murmured. He nipped at my jaw before continuing. “You see, mon coeur, I have invested in a little insurance policy.”

  I wanted to feel repulsed by his kiss, but I couldn’t. Michael was impossible to love. He was dangerous, rude, manipulative, and entirely too consuming. Still, I found him difficult to resist. I wrenched my traitorous body away from Michael, then scowled irritably. “What do you mean you have an insurance policy?”

  Michael pulled a small black cell phone from his pocket. “Your lover is my insurance policy.”

  “My lover? You mean Kadyn?”

  “Oui. The soldier.”

  I paused, uncertain as to whether I wanted the answer to the next question. “How can Kadyn be your insurance policy?”

  Michael shrugged. “You love him, oui?”

  “Yes,” I agreed hesitantly.

  “Then you will want for him to live.”

  I felt my composure slip. I took a couple of deep breaths as I tried not to panic. “Michael, what are you talking about? Why wouldn’t he live?”

  “Only this.” Michael held the cell phone up for me to see. “It is amazing how few buttons you have to push.”

  Goose bumps crawled up my arms, then scattered down my spine. “Push? For what?”

  “To detonate a car.”

  My breath caught. “You put a bomb on Kadyn’s car?”

  Michael shook his head. “There are six cars with explosive devices parked at the Pentagon. It is very simple, really. If you care anything for your lover, you will come with me. If you wish to avoid thousands of deaths, you will come willingly. If not…” Michael’s voice trailed off. He didn’t need to explain any further.

  I fell against the wall as I fought back tears. The walls in my bedroom pressed in on me as I absorbed Michael’s words. I shook my head, completely unable to speak.

  Michael remained standing in the doorway. “Where is your passport, Kristine?” When I didn’t respond, he continued. “I know you have one. You used a passport to go to the Bahamas.”

  My breath caught. “How do you know I went to the Bahamas?”

  Michael’s eyes turned nearly black. “I was there.”

  I stared at him in shock. “You were in the Bahamas?”

  “I have been more places than you know,” Michael responded darkly. He waved his hand dismissively. “We can talk about this later. We are running out of time. Our flight leaves in two hours. I want your passport, now.”

  I studied Michael. I knew he was wanted in Portugal for some white collar crimes but blowing up cars? That was entirely different. Then I remembered what my friend Dan had told me… that Michael was suspected of having ties with some Eastern European terrorist group. He may not have built the bombs, but it was quite possible he knew people who could. There were plenty of news stories on CNN about terrorists using cell phones to detonate bombs in the Middle East, so I didn’t doubt that was possible. Of course, Michael could be lying in order to manipulate me, but there was no way I could take that chance. I couldn’t be responsible for all those people dying… for Kadyn dying.

  Michael started messing with the phone. He glanced at me as he began texting someone.

  I stared, horrified, at the phone. I stumbled toward my dresser, then knelt on the floor as I pulled my passport from a small box in the bottom drawer. I walked back over to Michael and handed him the passport.

  “C’est bien. You will play nice won’t you, ma chérie?” Michael shoved the phone in his pocket. He wrapped his hand around my upper arm as he pulled me from the bedroom.

  My heart was racing. I could try to run but at what cost? Would he kill all of those people?

  I froze as we turned the corner into the living room. Mickey, the lease officer for my apartment complex, was huddled on the floor. Her ankles and wrists were bound with duct tape. Another piece of duct tape covered her mouth. Mickey was shaking. Tears streamed down her face.

  I tried to break away from Michael, but he tightened his grip on my arm. “Mickey!” I cried, suddenly terrified.

  Michael pulled me toward the door. “Viens, mon amour. It is time to go.” He paused as he turned to face Mickey. “You remember the message?”

  Mickey nodded.

  I tore my eyes from Mickey and stared at Michael. He appeared totally unaffected by what he’d done. I dug my heels in as I tried to resist his pull. My eyes were frantic as I tried to find some way to break his grasp. “Shouldn’t I pack something? If we need my passport, then surely I need clothes?”

  Michael tightened his hold on my arm and forced me through the door. “Non. I have more than enough money to buy what you need.”

  A sleek black limousine was idling outside my apartment. The driver didn’t say a word as Michael forced me into the car. Forty minutes later we were at Dulles International Airport. A feeling of déjà vu washed over me as images from the night Justin abducted me battered my brain.

  I silently begged the TSA agents to intervene, to take Michael’s phone, to somehow pick up on the fact that something was wrong, but I couldn’t draw their attention. Michael kept a firm hold on me. All he had to do was slip his hand inside the pocket where the phone was stashed to keep me in check. Thirty minutes later we were seated on a private jet en route to Paris, France.

  Michael wrapped his arm around me when the flight leveled off. “You are not the only one who knows how to play games, mon amour. Non?”

  I removed his arm and turned away in disgust. I was livid with Michael for what he’d done to Mickey and for threatening Kadyn’s life. I fixed my gaze on the window. Thick white clouds surrounded us, but I didn’t see a single one. All I could see was Kadyn’s face… soft brown eyes… a gentle smile… strong jaw… all set on a canvas of beautiful brown skin.

  Fury faded into fear as my thoughts returned to Michael’s threat. What if there really were bombs at the Pentagon? Pain tore through my chest when I realized that Kadyn might already be dead. I fought back tears, determined not to give Michael the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

  Chapter 2 – Rolling in the deep

  Kadyn looked up from his report when an announcement sounded over the speaker system advising everyone that the building was on lockdown until further notice. Kadyn frowned. That could only mean one thing. There was some sort of security breach. He immediately reached for the phone.

  “Captain Hagan.”

  “Phil, it’s Kadyn.”

  “Never a dull moment around here, eh?”

  “Got a few minutes to talk… in person?” Kadyn asked.

  “Sure, buddy, come on down.”

  Kadyn shoved his cell phone in his pocket. He clipped his Blackberry to his belt, then grabbed his call list in case the building ended up being evacuated. It took him twenty minutes to walk to the basement corridor where the intelligence agency was housed.

  Phil’s deep blue eyes took Kadyn in when he entered his office. “What’s up?”

  Kadyn closed the door behind him. “Do you know what’s going on?”

  Phil nodded.

  Kadyn folded himself into the chair across from Phil’s desk. He looked at Phil expectantly.

  Phil leaned back in his chair. “The dog handlers hit on six cars out in the parking lot. They’re being quiet about who the cars belong to, and they’re still searching for more.”

  Kadyn’s eyes widened. “Explosive devices?”

  Phil nodded.

  “Have any threats been discovered by Intel?”

  Phil shook his head. “We haven’t had any threats against the Pentagon come over the wires. The media has already gotten a hold of this, and no one is claiming responsibility, yet. This thing doesn’t add up. Any of the major terrorist organizations would know those cars were parked too far away to impact this building. We’re either dealing with a much smaller network or something homegrown.”

  Kadyn nodded. “If this
has hit the news, then I should call Kri to let her know I’m okay. Do you mind if I use your office phone?”

  Phil slid the phone across the desk. “Not at all.”

  Kadyn dialed the number to Kri’s cell phone, then waited. “No answer,” he explained as he hung up and dialed a second number.

  “Senator Rockefeller’s Office, Patrick speaking.”

  “Patrick. This is Kadyn. Where’s Kri? Why are you answering her direct line?” Kadyn’s eyes locked on Phil’s. The memory of Kri’s abduction was still fresh for both of them. Phil played a pivotal role in finding her, and Kadyn would never forget it.

  Patrick’s voice rose by at least three octaves. “I’ve called your cell phone six times. Haven’t you received any of my messages?”

  Kadyn pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. There were no text messages, and no voice mail appeared pending. “Patrick, text messages are the only thing that will come through while I’m in the Pentagon. Your voice mail won’t come through until I leave the building. What’s going on? Where’s Kri? Why were you calling me?” Kadyn’s voice grew louder with each question.

  Patrick cleared his throat nervously. “Kri didn’t make it into work this morning. I tried calling her, but I didn’t get an answer on her cell or her house phone. You know that’s not like her. She calls in when she’s sick or going to be late.”

  Kadyn exploded out of the chair. “What the hell?”

  Phil’s eyes widened in shock. In all the years he’d known Kadyn, he had never seen him lose his temper.

  Kadyn began pacing across Phil’s office as far as the phone cord would allow. He narrowed his eyes at Phil. “Why don’t you have a wireless headset?”

  Phil shrugged and switched the phone to speaker, freeing Kadyn to pace across the entire eight foot office space.

  Kadyn handed Phil the phone and resumed pacing. “Patrick, I left Kri’s apartment at five o’clock this morning. She was awake when I left, and she was planning to go into work. Can you get over to her apartment?”