by Blue Saffire
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Other books by Blue Saffire
Placed in Best Read Order
Also available….
Legally Bound
Legally Bound 2: Against the Law
Legally Bound 3: His Law
Perfect for Me
Hush 1: Family Secrets
Ballers: His Game
Brothers Black1: Wyatt the Heartbreaker
Legally Bound 4: Allegations of Love
Hush 2: Slow Burn
Legally Bound 5.0: Sam
Yours: Losing My Innocence 1
Yours 2: Experience Gained
Yours 3: Life Mastered
Ballers 2: His Final Play
Brothers Black 2: Noah The Beast
Legally Bound 5.3 & 5.4 Special Edition
Where the Piece Fall
Coming Soon…
Brothers Black 3 coming soon
Brothers Black 4
Hush 3
Other books from the Evei Lattimore Collection Books by Blue Saffire
Destiny 1: Life Decisions
Destiny 2: Decisions of the Next Generation
Destiny 3 coming soon
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Legally Bound 5.5
Legally Unbound
Blue Saffire
Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.
Bay Shore, New York
Copyright © 2017 by Blue Saffire.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Blue Saffire/Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.
PO BOX 5252
Bay Shore, NY11706
www.BlueSaffire.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
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Legally Bound 5.5: Legally Bound: Legally Unbound/ Blue Saffire. -- 1st ed.
The heart belongs, where the heart belongs. The path is not always straight and it may not be what others want, but the path is set before the journey.
―Blue Saffire
Preface
From Ashes
Sam
Can a man’s soul be rebuilt? Can a man find a soulmate that awakens his true self? Can time heal a wound that’s deep and hardened over, with more scars and pain than one can bear?
I don’t know about any other man, but I can tell you about me. I’ve been brought to my knees, twice. Once, by the devastation of my family. Then again, by something I never saw coming.
I wasn’t sure if I would make it at first. I was holding on by a thread. I couldn’t un-see what I saw, couldn’t relive that moment in real life to do it over, but I relived it in my head over and over.
It was enough to drive me to the edge of sanity and almost tip me over, but a gentle hand pulled me back with a firm grip. Those same gentle hands have been ready to hit hard and heavy for me. I never knew how much I needed that until she showed me.
Any man can find sex and a warm bed, but the love of a woman that loves every part of you. Even the parts she didn’t have a hand in creating, that’s a woman you cherish with your soul. It’s involuntary to do so.
You have no control over that type of love. You don’t tell it how to happen. You don’t get in its way and if you try, it burns you to the ground and melds you to your other half.
That’s when you rise from the ashes as one. They’ve come for us, but we were one and were ready. I’ll always protect her. I will never make the same mistake again, but she roars just as loud as I do. Knees tremble under the rumble of my heart’s thunder. Her voice quakes more than my heart.
My father once asked me if the woman in my life made my heart sing. His words were just that, “Does she make your heart sing?” I didn’t understand what that meant back then, but I knew the moment it happened exactly what he meant.
My losses have made me a different man. I see everything differently. People assume you mature with age, you don’t. It’s with experience. Experience has led me to the man I’ve become.
You can follow the path given or you can follow the path chosen. I’ve done a bit of both and I don’t hold grief over either. I was forged through the fire I walked through.
I became a true man the hard way, but I became a man. I don’t give two fucks about what anyone thinks about my decisions. I did what I needed to and I don’t regret any of it.
This is my story. I am Sam or should I say. Don LaSalle Locatelli at your service.
Chapter One
Who Dared
Misha
“I want to know truth,” I snarl at Shura, as I tug on the shirt he has brought me to hospital.
I was reluctant to leave the waiting room. We’ve not gotten news on LaSalle’s wife or Tasha yet. The only thing that caused me to step away was the look in Shura’s eyes when he came to give me news.
Shura has been my head of security for four years. He was with me in Ireland, when my family was harmed. I know he’s taking all of this as personally as I am.
Shura has been almost as loyal as my cousin Czar. I don’t trust a word anymore, unless it comes from one of the two. The look Shura gave me said he had a hell of a lot to say and I’m not going to like any of it.
Val saw the look as well and secured a private room for me to talk in with Shura, as I put on a shirt. She also took my nervous little Milanie with her. I will definitely have to address my daughter’s mental health at this point.
“Your father did not hire Russians for this. Everyone home is still shaking in their boots, after what you did to Pavel. Word has spread, no one would dare. This was Serbians. Your aunts are to pay them when your fiancée, girl from your past, and their sister are dead,” Shura replies as he holds my gaze.
I stop mid-buttoning of my shirt. I narrow my eyes, as something in his words catches my attention. It feels like doors in my brain are trying to open and shut, as I play Shura’s words in my head. I rewind my father’s final threat.
“I planned for this. If I die she dies. You are obsessed with those brown faced women. Especially, the original one. I know where she is, you kill me, she is next.”
It clicks i
nto place for me. I assumed my father meant brown faced women, as in black women. Yes, I know Keisha and Tasha could pass for twins, but I hadn’t thought about his words then. I was too angry.
“What are you not saying, Shura,” I growl.
“They are sisters. Czar doesn’t even know he has twin sisters. Or should I say had,” Shura stiffens in rage. He and Keisha had a bond. Shura treated her like his own daughter. “His oldest sister knows; she has been spending time with other sister.”
I stagger back into the conference table behind me. I grip the edges as his words settle in my brain. How could I not know this? I had my assistant dig up everyth…
Fuck! Keisha and her sister were adopted. I close my eyes, as my thoughts race in circles. How did my father know this? Where is this other sister? We had such a hard time tracking her down when I found out about her in the beginning of my relationship with Keisha.
I didn’t protect Keisha and I may have failed moj malen’kij kotenok. Maybe it is better this third sister stays hidden from me. I shake my head. No, that’s not right. Keisha would want me to protect her sister.
“Find this sister, Shura. Guard her with your life,” I hiss.
“Already looking,” Shura nods.
I start at the buttons on my shirt again. I flip through my thoughts, matching what I know with what has happened. Czar asked me to keep his sister safe.
My cousin has proven to be better man than I gave him credit for long ago. It enrages me that I have failed at this simple task. Czar has kept my business in America, afloat for the last four years, while still holding his position with LaSalle. Never once have I had to question him, since I let him back in my organization.
“The first attacks. Those were not Serbians, who were they,” I demand.
Shura frowns. “Not family problem. Pavel’s men just arrived yesterday. Miss. Gabriel has other enemies.”
“Who?”
“Mother of dead fiancé,” Shura grumbles. “She blames your little one for son’s death.”
“I thought that was covered up,” I say with knitted brows.
When I found out truth about Tasha, I dig for answers. I know her fiancé was found in his car. It was never linked to Tasha or my men that were returned to Russia in boxes.
“She’s mother, Misha. Mother’s know things. This woman lost her boy and your little one is living her life. She can be dangerous. It has taken her time to arrange money and connections. I will keep watch,” Shura says firmly.
“Send message,” I say through tight lips. “Tasha walks out of this hospital,” I pause and swallow hard at the possibility that this may not happen. “Anyone dare to touch a hair on her head, they lose their life, but not before I cut out hearts of their family in front of them, Da.”
“Da.” Shura says simply and turns to leave the room.
I turn and place my palms on the table top. I feel like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. I did not expect to come to America to this. I don’t think I can handle another loss right now.
I’m too old for this shit. I’m holding on by a thread. I am Misha on the outside, but I have become the beaten boy from my youth on inside once again.
I clench my hands into fists. I think of my little girl. She has been through enough. I think it’s time I take her home. I will have Czar text me with updates.
I need distance from this place. If this turns for the worse, I will break in front of these people. That will never happen. I cannot allow it.
It’s time I be a father. Milanie comes first this time. Moj malen’kij kotenok will survive for me. I have taught her to do so. She will never lose her life at hands of another. Not my little Kitten.
Chapter two
Shell Shocked
Sam
I’m numb. There’s nothing that can be said to fix this. Nothing that can put me back together. I run my hand over my wife’s dark hair as I ID her body and say goodbye.
I bend to place a kiss to her forehead. She’s already cold. My throat tightens. This is just unreal. I just made love to this woman this morning. Incredible soul steering love. It’s never been like that.
I’m having a hard time understanding how she didn’t see this coming. Phoebe Romaine made it seem as if Ellen was almost as gifted as she had been. Phoebe was something else.
I didn’t believe in all that gypsy talk before meeting Phoebe. However, one day in her presence made me a believer. If Ellen was half as talented as her grandmother, why didn’t she see this coming.
I choke on a sob that tries to rise. I’ve pulled myself together as best I can, but seeing Ellen lying here is too much. It makes this real. I take a step back, as if I can step out of the picture and repaint it. As if I can change the strokes and create a different outcome.
Only, there’s no distance that will change this. There’s nothing I can do to make this right. Today, I watched the mother of my children slaughtered in the street. I held her as the life drained from her body.
I’m still soiled in her blood. I turn and punch the nearest wall. The pain that radiates up my arm is nothing compared to the hurt in my heart.
Ellen told me how her cousin was upset about the money their grandmother left Ellen. She made it seem so casual. Ellen didn’t need that fucking money. If I’d known how angry her cousin truly was over this bullshit, I would have written her a fucking check myself. Or put a bullet in her skull sooner.
I feel my little brother place his hand on my shoulder and turn into the embrace he offers. If I don’t, I think I might hit the floor. When I look over his shoulder and watch the nurse pull the covers up over Ellen’s head, my knees do buckle for the second time, in less than an hour.
“We’re here,” Marcus says in my ear. “We’re all here for whatever you need. You won’t do this alone.”
But I am alone. No one around me will ever understand the feeling of being too late. Of knowing you were only seconds away from being able to save your wife. I watched my wife’s murder with my own two eyes.
I have no words for this. So, I say nothing back. I just wrap my arms around my little brother and hold on tight. My dad comes up behind me and places his hands on my shoulders and his forehead to back of my head.
“This too shall pass, Son. Whatever you feel in this moment. It will get worse before it gets better, but it will pass,” my dad breathes as he passes me some of his strength.
I nod my head, trying to understand his words. They rest just on the surface of my understanding. A chill runs through me, causing me to break the hold I have on my brother.
I turn to find a red eyed Czar, standing in the doorway, staring at Ellen’s lifeless frame, beneath the sheet. When his eyes turn to me, he looks lost. Little Tony and Ralphie were his guys. They were supposed to protect my family. Czar trusted them, so I trusted them.
I see the sorrow in Czar’s eyes. I don’t blame him. Not like he should blame me. I failed my wife and his sister. I’m the one to blame for this all. Czar’s next words cut through me like a knife.
“She’s out of surgery. They’re moving her to a private room,” he says softly then turns to leave.
I close my eyes and nod. So, I may have only failed one. It doesn’t feel any better. The vice grip around my heart doesn’t loosen. I may have kept one promise, but I still lost my wife.
All three of my children have lost their mother today. Sammy, I have no idea what this is going to do to him. It kills me that I don’t even know what Ellen has been learning to do for our son. I don’t know how to handle this.
I stagger from the room, feeling my life fall apart from the inside out. I’m imploding. I sway to the side, but someone catches me. I don’t know who, because I can’t see anything anymore.
They’re all just voices and blurred images now. My feet are moving, but I don’t know to where. I just need to get away from here.
~B~
Monique
Everything hurts. My shoulder, my leg, my head, make that everything, my b
ody hurts. My lids feel glued shut. Something isn’t right. I search my brain for answers, but it hurts to think. Each time I try to push, a stabbing pain is my answer.
After the second attempt, I just give up. I hear beeping around me and there are familiar scents in the room. The strong scent of cleanser and something a bit more welcoming.
Czar, my brother’s here. I can smell his cologne. I would know it anywhere. It always smells so good and has a calming effect on me. Knowing Czar is here relaxes me.
I stop fighting the darkness. Czar will always keep me safe. My big brother can handle the bad guys if they come…for now.
When I figure this out, I’ll be ready to handle my own. For now, I just want a little more rest. Yes, I need rest.
Something is very wrong, but Czar is here. I’m safe. Sleep Monique, rest. I give over to the darkness without further protest.
chapter three
Settling Smoke
Sam
Three days later…
I keep staring at the ring on her finger, wondering how the hell it got there. It’s mocking me. I’ve tried to remove it from her hand, but Sammy flips out every time.
I rub my eyes. I’ve been in this hospital room for three days. When Sammy woke from his nap the other day, he lost it. We never made it home. It wasn’t until my oldest daughter, Jessica, told me he was asking for Monique that I decided to turn around and bring him back.
Mo-mo. He screamed for Mo-mo until we arrived here. The moment his little eyes landed on her, he scrambled from my arms to get to her. We haven’t left since. My mother has the girls or at least that’s what Cam has told me.
It was when Sammy lifted Tasha’s arm, to crawl under it that I saw the ring. It was like a blaring alarm, calling for my attention. My heart ached to see it perched on her finger, looking like the perfect fit. None of the sag it had on Ellen’s finger.