The life I have now is more than I could have ever dreamed of.
As Charity kneels beside me and giggles delightedly with two puppies in her arms, peppering them with kisses, the engagement ring on her hand glimmers in the afternoon sun filtering through the window. It’s the very same one I bought her when we were pretending to be engaged. I told her that I threw the ring away with the clothes, but in truth, I kept it in my pocket all the while. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of such a thing that made her so happy.
I presented it to her right after she found out she was pregnant with our baby.
She’s just now starting to show, thankfully, and she looks more beautiful with each passing day. The bump in her belly can grow without any more worries, because as it turns out, Gabe did indeed have the other five-hundred thousand in cash at his hideout—one of the other things I beat the police to.
With a million dollars, safely in savings building interest —except for what I take out to take care of my mother’s treatment—there’s a bright and beautiful future ahead of all of us. With a body like mine and as much a love of bikes as I have, it will be easy to find work as a mechanic, but that safety net will never leave us in the meantime. I can work as much or as little as I like, and it only further pads the life we’re going to build together.
And on the subject of my mother’s treatment, I unexpectedly have Charity’s father to thank for the sudden turn for the better things have taken. Me proposing to Charity and demonstrating to them that I’m a good, reliable man was essential to getting on her parents’ good side. In turn, we set up my mother with the care of her oncologist father.
My mother’s cancer is in remission, and I’ve had no trouble getting her the treatment she needs. It’s never the end of the road with this kind of thing, but thanks to our intervention, my mother is going to be able to have the long, happy life she deserves.
“I...think we might have room for a puppy in our house, if you’re interested in selling any of them,” Charity’s mother speaks up with a reluctant smile, and I grin at her from across the room.
“I think that can be arranged,” I say. “Don’t want to feel empty nest symptom with one of the siblings out of the house now, do you?”
“It’ll be good for them,” her father agrees with a chuckle. But the way the two of them are looking at each other, I get the sense that they’d like something else to help bring them together, as well. Meanwhile, Charity beams at me, but she looks away the second I glance back at her, blushing.
“Okay, but just so you know,” Charity says, “if you do, you have to bring the puppy to our wedding. And Aubrey’s, because yes, you’re coming to that one too—it’s my last chance to be a maid of honor right before my wedding.”
Her father opens his mouth to protest, but her mother lays a hand on his knee and gives him a stern look. He smiles, rolls his eyes, and nods.
“I think we can arrange for all of them to be there,” my mother says, looking up from the feeding pups and smiling. “Maybe by then one of them will be big enough to be a little ring bearer.”
“Oh my gosh, please!” Charity gushes, looking at me with stars in her eyes.
“You’re looking at me as if I wouldn’t be as excited as you about that?” I chuckle, and I lean over to kiss Charity on the cheek.
This is our life now. This is the light that we’ve given birth to out of the blackest darkness.
And from here on out, that’s all it’s going to be.
Brighter and brighter every day.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed <3 I have plenty more bad boy romance for you, so make sure you check out my other books, and sign up for my newsletter to be notified when I have a new release on the way!
Next from Alexis Abbott
The thing about being a Hunter is it gives you patience.
When I lost her, I bided my time.
I can’t forget her supple body, bending to my will. I can’t forget the youthful squeals of pleasure as she panted out my name. I can’t forget how she made me feel like a hero instead of dangerous man.
My sweet, innocent Blossom.
Then she was taken from me.
Anger fueled me, and I became even more deadly.
Years have passed, and I’ve moved on with my work.
Keeping the world safer by killing those who seek to harm the innocent.
A vigilante.
But instead of finding her, she’s found me.
And with her comes a child with my blood pumping through her veins.
Just one more deadly game. Then she’ll be mine.
Then we’ll be a family.
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Teaser…
“Hunter?”
For a solid five seconds, I am frozen, staring through the barista with a blank expression on my face. It can’t be. Can it? I would know that voice anywhere, but it’s impossible. There’s just no way. Am I having some kind of hallucination? I’m not taking any meds, and last time I checked, I didn’t need any. It must be a coincidence. She’s been on my mind lately, so I shouldn’t be surprised that my mind is playing tricks on me, making me hear what I want to hear deep down.
But I can’t just ignore it. I know damn well I can’t. So finally, I tear my eyes away from the barista to glance over my shoulder, expecting to see a stranger getting the attention of some other customer named Hunter.
Instead, I see her.
“Blossom…?”
That moment feels like an eternity. Blossom, the girl from my past, the girl who got taken away from me when we needed each other most, stands right there behind me. It has been five years. Five long years since the two of us saw each other. I was twenty-three, she was just eighteen. If I’m really looking at her and not hallucinating or having some kind of out-of-body experience, then the years have been incredible to her. She looks more beautiful than ever. Her blue eyes, her full lips, her long hair, every part of her looks just like I remember, but every little change she’s made to herself over the years makes a hundred questions come to my head.
I’m stunned.
She breaks the spell between us by letting go of the child’s hand and stepping forward to wrap her arms around me.
Wait, child?
I was so caught up in Blossom that I barely noticed the little girl holding her hand. On reflex, my body meets Blossom’s hug in a tight one of my own, and we embrace right there in the coffee shop, feeling just like we did in the past. Over her shoulder, I see the child looking up at me with innocent curiosity. She doesn’t look much like Blossom, but she has some traces of her there. The girl’s hair is dark and curly, and her eyes are brown, but she has Blossom’s nose and mouth. They must be related somehow.
Behind her is another familiar face-- it’s Sage, Blossom’s little sister. She was just fourteen when I saw her last, and a person changes a lot in those years, but it couldn’t be anywhere else. She has the kind of face that doesn’t change that much over time. She’s looking at me with almost as much shock as I feel.
I’m so overwhelmed by the whole experience that I almost forget how much time is passing in our hug. We finally break apart, and I’m beyond happy to see a smile on Blossom’s shining, beautiful face. She opens her mouth to say something more, but she glances behind me.
“...sir?”
The barista is looking at me with an apologetic smile, but I smirk back at him and reach into my pocket. I take out a crisp $50 and lay it on the counter.
“Their orders are on me,” I say, nodding back to Blossom and the others. “The rest is for the tip jar.”
The barista’s face brightens, and I step aside to let Blossom and Sage put in their orders, but Sage steps forward to take the child’s hand, giving Blossom a knowing smile.
“Hey, I know what you usually get, I’ll take care of the orders,” she says. “Why don’t the two of you get us a table?”
“I-” Blossom starts to protest, but it doesn’t take h
er long to give in, blushing and grinning. “That sounds great, actually, thanks.” Turning to me, she raises her eyebrows and smiles, nodding to an empty table near a window. “Shall we?”
I can’t believe that I’m crossing a busy coffee shop with Blossom. This can’t be real. I start to wonder if this is all some afterlife experience, and that my last victim actually managed to kill me somehow. But when I sit down across from Blossom and look her in the eyes, seeing the sunlight outside crack through the rainy clouds just to cast some bright, natural light in those deep blue eyes...I know it’s real.
We just look at each other for a moment, smiles on both our faces, no words being spoken. She’s doing the same thing to me that I’m doing to her-- watching, taking in the way an old friend looks, letting all the feelings and questions bubble up to the fronts of our minds.
“I can’t believe-”
“Oh my god-”
We try to speak at the same time, stop, and we can’t help but laugh at ourselves. Just like that, it feels like we never left each other. Five long years threaten to melt away and take us back in time. And in the same moment, I realize that I haven’t actually had a good, honest laugh in a long time. Hell, I can’t remember the last time I’ve even smiled like this.
“You first,” I say at last, quick enough to avoid doing the same thing. Blossom tucks a lock of hair behind her ear as her pink blush settles down.
“Gosh, I...how long has it been, Hunter?”
“Five years,” I say, hardly able to believe it myself.
“God, you’re right,” she says, shaking her head slowly. “It’s...it’s just so good to see you again!”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I say honestly, “I thought I’d never see you again.” And I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I’ve even forgotten how good it feels to be able to say something so sincere to another human being. I’ve had to pile on lie after lie for so long to keep my head down and out of trouble with the law that being open with someone feels beyond refreshing.
But I can’t be open with her, I suddenly remember, and the glow of joy starts to fade just a bit. I’m still the same man I’ve created over the past five years. Obviously, I can’t let her know any of that. I have to keep myself a secret from her, just like everyone else. I truly didn’t think I’d ever see this girl again in my life, and I have been so convinced of that fact that I’ve never considered what I might do if I found myself in this very situation.
But she’s not a girl anymore, she’s a woman, just like I’m not a boy anymore, but a man.
We used to be lovers, but we didn’t break up. Her parents took her away from me-- far away. So far that I couldn’t find her. It was a dark time in my life, and I’ve always assumed it was a dark one in hers, too. The way she’s looking at me right now sure makes me think she never wanted to leave in the first place.
We obviously can’t just pick up where we left off...but I have a feeling both of us want to find out how close we can get to that. Just how measured of a chance can I take with her?
“Where do we even start?”
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Also by Alexis Abbott
Romantic Suspense:
Alexis Abbott’s Bound to the Bad Boy Series:
Book 1: Bound for Life
Book 2: Bound to the Mafia
Book 3: Bound in Love
Alexis Abbott’s Hitmen Series:
Owned by the Hitman
Sold to the Hitman
Saved by the Hitman
Captive of the Hitman
Stolen from the Hitman
Hostage of the Hitman
Taken by the Hitman
The Hitman’s Masquerade (Short Story)
Romantic Suspense Standalones:
Criminal
Ruthless
Innocence For Sale: Jane
Reclaiming His Girls
Sights on the SEAL
Rock Hard Bodyguard
Abducted
Vegas Boss
I Hired A Hitman
Killing For Her
The Assassin’s Heart
Hunter’s Baby
Sweetheart for the SEAL
Romance:
Falling for her Boss (Novella)
Most Wanted: Lilly (Novella)
Bound as the World Burns (SFF)
Erotic Thriller:
The Dangerous Men Series:
The Narrow Path
Strayed from the Path
Path to Ruin
About the Author
Alexis Abbott is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author who writes about bad boys protecting their girls! Pick up her books today if you can’t resist a bad boy who is a good man, and find yourself transported with super steamy sex, gritty suspense, and lots of romance.
She lives in beautiful St. John's, NL, Canada with her amazing husband.
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The Assassin’s Heart Page 17