by Bry Ann
“Derek?”
I look over to see Iris smiling at me with imploring eyes.
“Yes, hun?”
“Ready to go?”
She smirks at me. We have a date on the pier tonight. I guess that’s what all the fish warnings were for.
I push myself to my feet and extend a hand to help her up. When we are out of the room, I turn and whisper in her ear,
“I’ll always be ready for you, Ms. Shelby.”
She leaps on her toes and kisses my forehead. “I love you, Derek Johnson.”
I’m more than happy to part with my memory-ridden middle name.
“I love you too, Iris Jane Shelby.”
Hand in hand, we walk to the one pier in a town of no more than 2,500 people: happy, peaceful and in love.
What more could I ask for?
Nix
One Year Later
I settle in on the couch next to my girlfriend. I’m not quite ready to propose yet, although she has every piece of me that matters. I think I’m scared to make it official. This past year, really the past five, have been nothing but trials and tribulations. We’re both just scared. We finally have peace and sometimes I think that is scarier than chaos. With peace comes comfort. With comfort comes a whole hell of a lot to lose.
I grab her tiny body and pull her into me. She snuggles into my side, letting her ever-present Kindle fall into her lap.
“Hey,” I whisper.
“Hey,” she responds timidly. Her big eyes sparkle with delight that I’m home. Finally. Covered in dirt and grime and who knows what else, but home. With her. She doesn’t ask where I’ve been, she just holds onto me. Lets me love her.
“What are you reading?”
“Oh my gosh! It’s this paranormal erotic romance! I’ve never read paranormal before. It’s actually pretty exciting. It takes everything up like a hundred notches. I’m sort of obsessed.” “Erotic, huh?”
“Shut up, Nix!” She swats at my chest to hide her reddening cheeks.
“What?” I laugh. “Like the female lead is getting demon dick?”
I cock an eyebrow.
“Does that get you all hot and bothered, babe?”
Sage leans over and grabs a pillow (author merch pillow, by the way, with some dude’s face on it) and throws it over her face.
“Go away, Nix!”
Laughing, I crawl over her reclined body and yank the pillow away from her face, sending it flying across the room. Her cheeks are red, but she’s laughing. A rare but glorious sound.
“Leave it, Nix,” she says between bouts of laughter. “I was talking about the genre, not demon-fucking.”
Oh my God. That has me doubled over laughing. Both of us get lost in the sound of each other’s laughter. When we finally are able to catch our breath, our eyes meet and we go silent. Sage slowly raises her hand and brushes my shaggy blond hair out of my face.
There’s a beat where we both know what’s coming before I kiss her. She makes soft sounds of pleasure against my lips. Sounds I’ve come to love. They are quiet and unsure, but they are what she’s willing to give and I’m grateful for it.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Sage breaks the kiss. I sigh and plant my forehead on hers.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, go get it. We’re in a weird time.”
Groaning, I glance at my cell phone.
“Sage, it’s Rose. I have to get it.”
Sage immediately scrambles out from underneath me and sits up.
“No, go talk to your sister. After all that went down, she needs you. Go be there for her.”
Sage knows all my true feelings on Rose, and supports me, but she encourages me to develop that relationship. She says we need each other. I may be struggling with the past, but right now, I have to shove it aside. After everything that went down, all the chaos I caused and damage I did this past year for the greater good, I have to be there for her.
“Rose, sis. How are you?” I ask gently.
“Nix, hey! Guess what?”
I bury my worry. She doesn’t sound upset. She sounds happy. “What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Yes! Derek’s getting married, to Iris, of course. Guess what else? Lacey’s here! Like here, at the wedding. It’s in Texas, Nix! Lacey got on a plane!”
Oh my God! This is a huge f-ing deal! Lacey has agoraphobia. People tiptoe around it. Say it’s not so bad. But she does. She’s scared to leave her house, rarely does. For her to get on a plane…
“Lacey’s in Texas?!”
Sage sits up straighter.
“Wh-what? Is Adam with her? Derek’s that FBI agent, right?”
“Yeah. Lacey and him are good friends.”
I snicker. “I was wondering why he was still alive.”
There’s a long silence on the other end of the line. “Yeah,” Rose say softly, “Lacey was really struggling. Adam was not about to make it worse by hurting her friend and going against the one big wish of the woman he kidnapped. No matter how much he clearly hates Derek’s guts. He loves Lacey more than he hates Derek, if that makes sense.”
“Wow, I can’t believe Lacey is there.”
“Yeah, but everyone here has been so great. Derek and his fiancé have been so helpful and accommodating to Lacey. Not only that, but Iris has a big family. They are all so country, but so freaking nice, Nix. All of her brothers have steered clear of Lacey so she’s not uncomfortable. She has one brother, Jay, who I think Lacey likes, so he’s been nice. Then there’s Iris’s parents, who are literal saints, even though her dad’s a little hard.” “That’s wonderful. You don’t know how happy that makes me. How’s everyone treating you? How are you, Rose?”
The woman could talk about everyone but herself for days. It’s how she landed herself in a treatment center a couple years back.
“Oh, everyone’s very nice to me, thanks. The wedding is beautiful. It’s adorable. Their wedding song is “Iris”. You know, by the Goo Goo Dolls. Get it? Her name is Iris. And Derek’s so happy! Iris and her best friend — who is so cool, you have no idea — have pretty much been screaming all day. Her whole family is all sentimental. Even the oldest brother, who is super intense…”
I know Kingston and Hunter Shelby. I’ve run across them before. Yes, Kingston is an extremely intense man. You don’t mess with him.
“Even he’s super touched. It’s in his eyes. He’s happy for her. My heart is melting.”
“This is torture,” I hear a male voice ring in the background.
“Shut up, Sven!” Rose hisses.
I chuckle. They literally have not changed.
“When can we go back to the hotel?”
The suggestive tone in his voice has me cringing.
“Sven! My brothers on the phone!” Rose screeches.
I hear Sven chuckling as his voice goes faint.
“I’m back. Sorry about him. He’s literally insane.”
“Glad to have him home, sis?” I ask softly.
“Yes,” she whispers, tone heavy with emotion. “Whatever you did, ‘cause I know it was you who got them free, thank you. Thank you so much.” I smile. “Any time.”
“How’s Sage?”
“She’s great.”
I take a deep breath.
“Wanna talk to her?”
I hear the shocked silence come from both of the women I love.
“You sure?” Sage whispers anxiously.
“I’d love to,” Rose croaks, overcome with emotion that I’m trusting her with this. I pull the phone aside.“Come here, babe. Wanna meet my sister?”
With shaking hands and watery eyes, Sage grabs the phone.
“Hi, Rose, my name is Sage,” she whispers into the speaker.
I watch Sage walk to the side and begin speaking to my tender-hearted, welcoming sister. I knew Sage would be okay with her. Rose has a way of inviting people in.
Sage laughs at something Rose says, and I just know Rose is laughing, too.
/> This is the beginning.
Sage smiles over at me. Some of the loneliness I’ve seen in her eyes for far too long fizzles out.
This is the beginning of the tale.
I choose to start it right now.
Our past is hell, a hell that I will have to one day share.
But this. This is my future.
Author Note:
This is a scene that takes place after Frances gets released from prison. It didn’t fit in the story, but I still wanted to share it. I mean, we have to know where Frances ran off to like a bat out of hell as soon as he got out of prison. ;)
Although Frances is by far my most morally bankrupt character, he still has a story to tell… and Marley, graveyard girl, is AMAZING! One of my favorite female characters. That said, this scene deserves to be told.
Frances
“I’m looking for Marley,” I tell the old-ass man sitting on the side of the road. I’ve seen Marley talking to him on occasion. This is ridiculous. I just got out of prison. I’m dirty. I’m pissed off. I’m horny. Yet I’m still out here looking for this dumb woman based on some dumbass deal I made with her. This is infuriating.
“Who?” He coughs.
“Mar... Just forget it, old fuck!”
I want to fucking quit, this is ridiculous, but for some reason, I’m not willing to. It’s this nagging feeling in my gut that tells me I need to know where she is. If I didn’t know myself better, I’d call it worry or guilt, but I know myself. It’s not.
I’m a psychopath.
It’s why I do what I do. Why I do the dirty work for the mafia. When a job needs to get done, when it’s bloody and violent, they call me. And this is why.
“Are you looking for Marley?”
I spin on my heel, wrinkled button up loosening with the motion.
“You know where the hell she is?” I try to bury my trigger-happy finger.
“Why should I tell you?” The young homeless kid crosses his scrawny arm over his chest.
Finally! I jerk my gun out of my pocket and point it between his eyes.
“Because I’ll shoot you if you don’t.”
The kid actually looks amused. To be fair, he’s not really a kid; he’s probably 19. He just looks so young because of his low weight.
He spreads his hands. “And miss out on all this living I’m doing?” He laughs humorlessly. “Nope, Marley’s needed around here. I’m not gonna point some psycho with a gun her way.”
Oh, Jesus Christ. “I’m Marley’s long lost brother. Please help me find her.”
I put on my best pleading voice. All these homeless folk have a weakness. Long lost family desperate to help them would be one. Especially these young kids.
“Really?” His eyes widen with hope. Sucker.
“Yes, please help me find her! Please, I’m desperate. I’ve been searching forever.”
The kid studies me for a long moment before glancing at the sun. “Hmm, at this time of day, she’s probably at one of the drugstores off Twelfth Street.”
Stealing, of course. Can’t let personal drama keep her down.
“Good.”
I tuck my gun in my pants. Without giving the kid a second glance, I spin on my heel and run down the street. I know exactly what store she’ll be at, too. I’m a quarter mile down the road when a rock-hard object slams into the back of my head, halting my steps. Pissed as hell, head throbbing, I grab my gun and spin on my heel, fully ready to shoot this fucker down. As soon as I’m around, finger on the trigger, I freeze. In front of me, arms fisted by her sides, legs braced and spread wide, is my tiny little rebel. My fierce expression morphs into one of amusement. Did she really just nail me on the back of the head with a rock? Really? Has she no fear?
“You’re out? ¿Detenido? ¿Estás jodidamente bromeando?” (Arrested? Are you fucking kidding me?)
She grabs another rock and chucks it my way. Luckily, I catch it this time, having a bit more of a heads up.
“Oh,” I tsk, walking over to her. “Bad idea, little rebel.”
As I start to approach her personal bubble, she scampers back like a wild cat caught in the crossfire of a bow. Her eyes narrow.
“Stay away!” She raises her fists, looking around for another weapon, which is interesting, since I know for a fact that she has a self-made knife type weapon on her person. Is she looking for something lighter? The thought makes me smirk. Aww, Miss Marley, the rebel herself, isn’t as hard as she likes to show everyone. Of course, I already knew that.I take a step forward. “Why should I do that?”
Her eyes flare. In the blink of an eye, a tiny stick is embedded in my arm. She holds it there with malice, dark eyes trained on me. The feel of her tiny body against me turns me on even as my arm throbs with pain.
“I warned you not to cross me,” she seethes. “We had a deal!”
“A deal that meant more to you than it did to me,” I bait her. Simply because her reaction and her raw power fascinate me. Her small body tenses, and her eyes develop a fire that would terrify even the largest of men. Her arm flies forward; in it is the knife rock I mentioned earlier.
It’s aiming for my face.
Classy.
I snatch her wrist and squeeze with incredible force. Most women— hell, most people — would be pulling back in pain. Not Marley. She’d rather die. She spits in my face and twists the stick in my arm. Damn, that hurts.
If this scenario doesn’t sum up our fucked up, whatever this is, I don’t know what does.
“I’m gonna let your wrist go, and you’re gonna pull the rock away.”
She smiles, but it’s dark and twisted.
“No. If you let go, I will stab you.”
I laugh. “You want me to break your hand?”
“I was gonna let you do whatever you wanted! We had a deal. You help me find who I’m looking for, I’ll let you fuck me, hurt me, whatever, but noooo. You had to go get arrested when I fucking needed your resources.”“My resources, huh?”
“You know as well as I do I’m not gonna find her on my own, Frances.”
“Look, jailbird,” I sneer, “I came straight to find you after getting out of jail because I know you fucking need me and we have a deal. I didn’t plan on getting arrested. One of our men was an undercover FBI agent.”
Marley’s eyes widen.
“Yeah, I know you met him. I sent him to tell you where I was. So quit acting like I fucking crossed you.”
Her face goes blank, but in time, she slowly removes the stick from my arm, making me hiss out in pain for a moment. That hurt like shit. Then, looking away, she lets the hand I’m currently nearly breaking go limp in mine. Very hesitant, since I know what a psycho she is, I let her wrist go. As soon as it’s free, she jumps back, still staring at the floor. I watch her frail body suck in all the air it can before she looks back up at me, eyes once again angry and dead. Behind all that crazy, though, is the fear and vulnerability I know is there because of this twisted situation. If the one missing weren’t so important, Marley would never ask for my help. Never ask for anybody’s help. As it is, she needs me.
“So, that’s done,” she says, eyes on fire, referring to our display of mild violence just moments ago. There’s still blood seeping down my shirt, and her hand’s still dangling loosely by her side, probably sprained or some shit.
“Do we still have a deal, Frances Capello?”
For more information on Nix, Frances, and other characters mentioned in Enzio’s book, see the author note!
I hope you guys liked Enzio’s book! My goals with this one were: one, write a lighter tale since Nix’s story is going to be so dark and intense (I’m pretty sure I’m going to need every trigger warning available for that one); two, for those that have read Roses & Thorns, give more insight into their world. What’s happening, those characters from the perspective of people on the other side of the law, and more into what’s going on with them. I hope I accomplished what I set out to do! :)
Also, you’ll n
otice in Enzio’s book we met a lot of new characters! There’s Kingston and his brothers, who I think are sooo freakin’ hot! Then there’s Collin and his crew. Marley. They all will be getting books in time! Whose book are you most looking forward to?
Next up, though, is Nix! Finally, right? For those that have been keeping up with this world, Nix’s story is a long time coming. I wanted to do his before this one, but you all needed to see what a badass Nix is first. How criminally capable he is. His story will be in two parts. I’ve had his plotline planned for a long time, I just didn’t know it was his. This is the book I’ve been wanting to write forever and realized it worked perfectly for Nix and Sage.
I keep saying this is Nix’s book, but really, it’s Sage’s. We meet Nix through Sage. Part one will be from Sage’s POV and take place before Roses & Thorns (if you’ve read that). Part two is from Nix’s POV and will take place after, and include the well-deserved justice for Aaron Marketta… if you don’t know him, you will! Pre-orders help a ton, so if you pre-order Sage’s story, send me a picture on Facebook and I will send you the first chapter of her book early!
Anyway, thank you guys so much. I really hope you liked it. Please let me know your favorite parts and what you thought! As a gift to you for supporting me, I give out free e-books to people who leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads for any of my books. If you do this, just message me the links and I will send you a free e-book of your choice~ <3
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xx- Bry <3