He will never forgive me. I need to see him one more time. I need to tell him the truth. He needs to understand what happened. I thought life would be different. I thought I had more time. If only I had more time.
My life can’t end like this.
I think I can hear Anna yelling and crying.
“Anna, this is all my fault. I got him upset. I told him the truth. I thought he would walk away, but he beat me,” I say, but I don’t know if she can hear me because her voice sounds so far away. “Please help me.”
I hear people speaking quickly. Anna’s talking to them. She needs to look at me. They’re taking me somewhere. I want to talk, but my lips won’t move. My baby! Oh, please tell me my baby is okay. I can see everything that’s going on, yet there is no pain. The angel is here, and she’s telling me everything will be okay.
She’s beautiful, with white porcelain skin, thick, black hair, and bright emerald eyes. She’s wearing a long, white gown. I’m mesmerized. She’s taken my pain.
“Please help me! I need to save my baby. I can’t feel my baby.” The angel doesn’t respond. I’m in an ambulance. I can hear sirens. I hope they have time to save me.
There’s silence and a man says, “She’s lost too much blood.”
The doors swing open, and the angel drifts away. I look and see him. He’s here. I must have died. He’s very upset.
“Why are you upset? It’s me,” I tell him. I don’t think he hears me. He’s holding his head as if it’ll fall apart. I want to reach out to him.
But everything goes black.
COMING UP NEXT
Twisted Love
BY RC STEPHENS
The love triangle continues….
(unedited)
Three months later
Here I am, a measly three months later pinned to a wall with cruel fluorescent green eyes beating back at me. My heart is throbbing in my chest, my head is airy and my breathing is labored. I should pass out and succumb to whatever brutal end this bastard has planned for me. But the fighter in me persists, maybe I persist for Dylan because deep down I know he needs me more than he needs his own breath and his life wouldn’t be the same without me.
How can I give up now? I won’t relent, but my mind is so muffled that clear thoughts have been drowned into darkness. Between this asshole pinning me to the cool cement wall, his hot breathe lingering close to my face and his lips spitting venom, I’m lost. He’s trained, I’ll give him that. His warning has turned my blood cold and I’m scared a bullet to the head is next. If I’m lucky he’ll walk away with only a verbal lashing. Sweat trickles slowly down my face. Think of a way Lex, there’s always a way out of a bad situation. Life has taught me the hard way.
Suddenly a cherry red Lamborghini makes a right turn skidding its tires and hitting the curb, coming to an abrupt stop. Cold air is sucked back into my lungs. My knight in shining armor has arrived.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my editor, Samantha Stroh Bailey from the bottom of my heart. Not only was she sincerely dedicated to the editing process of this book, but she was my teacher and friend as well. I brought her a story and she helped me make it into a book and for that I’m eternally grateful.
I would also like to thank my little sister Lorrie. Okay she isn’t little anymore but she will always be younger than me. She was my ‘go to’ person in my writing. She was always available providing me with critical feedback and helping me take my story to the next level. I thank-you for your dedication and interest in my stories.
I was also lucky to have a great group of ladies as my beta readers: Karmit Epstein, Liat Levi, Ronnie Rubin, Lynn, Lorrie and Kristine. I thank you for your critical thoughts, your praise and for loving my characters as much as I do.
Given the nature of the story I interviewed members of the Toronto Police. You know who you are and I thank-you for your interesting stories and invaluable insight.
To my mom, you are always there to support me and I thank you for always being there for me.
To my husband, Amir, thank-you for putting up with my endless hours on the laptop and chatting with me about my story and characters. You know me better than anyone else and there’s no one else that I would rather face life’s challenges with.
To my three kids, you are the brightness I wake up to in the morning, and my happiness that I close my eyes with at night. You make everything worthwhile. Thank-you for being patient with your mom spending so many hours on her laptop. The three of you are wiser beyond your years and I’m grateful for you every day.
To my readers, I hope you have connected with Lexi, Dylan and Luc as much as I have. As with all authors I’m sure, there are bits and pieces of me in all these characters and I hold them close to my heart and hope you will to.
Thank-you from the bottom of my heart
R.C. Stephens
I would love to hear from my readers. You can connect with me on my website: rcstephens.com
Facebook @ Irene Cohen (R.C Stephens)
Twitter: RC Stephens Author
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1508701.R_C_Stephens
About R.C Stephens
R.C. Stephens was born in Toronto, Canada. She graduated from York University with a Master’s Degree in Political Science.
Her debut Novel Bitter Sweet Love is book one of the Twisted Trilogy. Followed by Twisted Love and Sweet Love Forever.
R.C. is an avid reader, so when she isn’t cooking for her clan or on her laptop writing, she’s snuggled tight with her Kindle devouring any romance novel she can. Okay, with the exception of Thursday nights. She makes time for Scandal and Vampire Diaries. She’s a fan of drama and suspense but she’s also a sucker for a happy ending.
Her husband was her first teenage love. They live together with their three children in Toronto. Loving Canadian winters she could never think of living anywhere else.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Present
Chapter 1 - The Backroom
Chapter 2 - I’m Screwed
Chapter 3 - Life’s Not Peaches and Cream
Chapter 4 - Spontaneity
Chapter 5 - Grateful
Chapter 6 - Speechless
Chapter 7 - No Regrets
Chapter 8 - Exhale
Chapter 9 - Love
Chapter 10 - The Relationship
Chapter 11 - Birthday Bliss
Chapter 12 - Once a Runner Always a Runner
Chapter 13 - Realization
Chapter 14 - Losing Control
Chapter 15 - A New Knight in Shining Armor
Chapter 16 - Surrender
Chapter 17 - Things Go Smoothly and Love Rears Its Ugly Head
Chapter 18 - Mind Over Heart
Chapter 19 - Never Look Back
Chapter 20 - My Broken Heart
Chapter 21 - Want
Chapter 22 - I Never Get What I Want
Chapter 23 - Things Don’t Always Go as Planned
Chapter 24 - Forever Running from My Emotions
Chapter 25 - Silent Wishes
Chapter 26 - Goodbye for Now
Chapter 27 - The Man Who Holds My Heart in His Hands
Chapter 28 - The Unknown
Chapter 29 - Safe and Peaceful
Chapter 30 - Crash and Burn
Chapter 31 - Need
Chapter 32 - Where Did I Go Astray?
Chapter 33 - My Sensitive Spot
Chapter 34 - I Need to Make the Best of It
Chapter 35 - A Married Woman Now
Chapter 36 - How Did My Life Come to This?
Chapter 37 - The Thought Scares Me to Death
Chapter 38 - She’d Be the Mother of My Children
Chapter 39 - Dread Looming over Me
Chapter 40 - I Need To Do Something about It
Chapter 41 - Will My Life Ever Be Normal?
Chapter 42 - Who Else Has Been Hiding Things from Me?
Chapter 43 - And I Need to Move On
Chapter 44 - I Got to Do What I Got to Do
Chapter 45 - Bittersweet Love
Chapter 46 - The Angel
Excerpt: Twisted Love
Acknowledgements
About R.C Stephens
Bitter Sweet Love Page 30