At first, I was inclined to do as he asked, but when I took in his appearance, I decided against it. “What the hell happened?” He sat there still in his clothes from the night before. The button down he was wearing was torn at the shoulder. Dirt smudged down the front, and what looked like blood was spattered all over him. His cheek was swollen, and he had a busted lip that had blood crusted on it where it had split. His jeans were dirty, and when I looked at his knuckles things started to click into place.
“It’s all my fault,” Angela cried as Wes shook his head.
“No it’s not,” he growled with such intensity I thought he might snap.
“Let me get you some ice,” she sniffed as she stood and began scurrying toward the kitchen.
“Dude. What the fuck did you do?” I hissed as I watched him flex his fingers. They were red, raw, swollen, and bloody.
“I explained to a certain someone that they needed to leave your sister alone,” Wes muttered before glancing up to see that Angela had reappeared with an ice pack.
“That doesn’t look like much talking took place,” Cole shook his head.
“He got the message, trust me,” Wes sighed as he placed the ice pack on his cheek.
Before I could respond, my phone rang. “Who the hell is calling you at nine in the morning?” Wes’s brow furrowed as I stared at the caller ID.
“The DA,” I looked at the phone and shrugged as I answered it. “Hello? No, I haven’t. OK. Yeah, I’ll turn it on right now,” I lifted the remote and clicked on the TV, flipping it to the local news station. My cell fell from hand crashing to the floor as I watched the headline run across the bottom of the screen. Local attorney, Richard Stathman found dead in Boston Harbor, authorities suspect foul play. My mouth dropped open as I turned to my best friend, “What the fuck did you do?”
The End
My Broken Angel (Broken #3)
Wes and Angela coming soon
Saving Us Playlist
Beating Heart- Ellie Goulding
Centuries- Fall Out Boy
Stronger- Kelly Clarkson
Standing In Front of You- Kelly Clarkson
What Now- Rihanna
Fading- Rihanna
Final Masquerade- Linkin Park
A Light That Never Comes- Linkin Park
Leave Our All The Rest- Linkin Park
Nobody’s Listening- Linkin Park
Pushing Me Away- Linkin Park
Lost in You- Three Days Grace
City of Angels- 30 Seconds to Mars
Closer to the Edge- 30 Seconds to Mars
What Makes You Beautiful- One Direction
Take Care- Drake/ Rihanna
Dare You to Love- Nikki Flores
Love- Jana Kramer
Ghost- Ella Henderson
Other Works by H. D’Agostino
The Witness Series
Being Nobody- book 1
Becoming Somebody- book 2
Promise Me Tomorrow- book 3 (coming soon)
The Broken Series
Irreparably Broken
Saving Us
My Broken Angel (coming summer 2015)
The Shattered Series
Destined
Shattered
Restored
Renewed
Fated (Cam and Avery coming late 2015)
The Second Chances Series
Unbreak Me- book 1
The Boy Next Door- book 2
The One That Got Away- book 3
Inside Out- A Second Chances Novella
Fallen From Grace- book 4
The Family Next Door- book 5
Standalones
Privileged
Acknowledgements
I’m always worried that I’m going to leave someone out one of these times so if I miss anyone, I’m truly sorry.
There are so many people to thank, and as I continue on in this journey of becoming a writer, the list keeps growing. I’ve met so many wonderful readers, authors, and bloggers over the course of the past year that I can’t even begin to name you all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Meeting you at signings and hearing from you on the various social media out there is just the boost my heart needs. I appreciate all of you, and I don’t have the words to truly express that.
Thank you Angie!!! You are the sister I never had, and thanks just doesn’t seem like enough. I can’t put into words what your friendship means to me, and I’m eternally grateful to the universe for bringing us together. I know I sound like a sap, but you truly are a lifesaver. Your words of encouragement, late night PMs, funny memes, and open ear to my complaining have helped and comforted me in a way that you will never know. They say that there are people out there that you just click with, and you’re that person for me. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.
A special thank you goes out to Twinsie Talk Book Reviews. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for setting up and coordinating a kick ass blog tour. I love you guys, and I love how much you love my books.
Thank you to all the bloggers who have supported me and pimped this book out. Posting teasers, joining blog tours, and spreading the word about Maddie and Cole. Sweet and Naughty Book Blog, M&D’s Have You Read Book Blog, Eye Candy Bookstore, Book Boyfriend Hangover, Author Groupies, United Indie Book Blog, and so many others just to name a few.
Thank you to MJ Fields for hooking me up with an awesome new cover designer. It looks amazing. Thank you for all your help in making several new connections in the book world. I can’t put into words how happy I am.
Thank you to Kelsey, you are an amazing photographer and thanks to you I now have a one of kind cover for this book.
Thank you Kari for doing an amazing job on this cover and all the swag that goes with it. You are awesome, and your speed and attention to detail is astounding.
Thank you Rebecca for your awesomeness and editing ninja skills. Yes, I think I made up a new word. I’m good at that, and you know it. LOL Your speed behind a computer amazes me, and I love reading your comments.
And finally…
Thank you to all the readers out there for loving my books and wanting to know more about Cole and Maddie. I hope their story lived up to all your wildest fantasies, and I can’t wait to share Wes’s story with you in My Broken Angel. There’s more to the best friend then a cocky attitude, and nice body. He’s a deep, sensitive soul, and Angela is just the person to show you that.
About the Author
H. D’Agostino currently resides in Syracuse, NY with her husband, two children, two dogs, and three cats. Originally from Harrisburg, NC, she attended UNC Charlotte and received a BA in Elementary Education with a concentration in Math. Heather loves hearing from her fans.
You may follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/H.DAgostino.Author
Or on her website H. D’Agostino- Books at http://hdagostinobooks.weebly.com
Or on Twitter at hdagostino001
Wanna be one of the first people to see weekly teasers, and help share the love of The Broken Series? Become a part of H. D’Agostino’s street team and join Heather’s Hotties on FB. https://www.facebook.com/groups/877863252256341/
Continue Reading for a Sneak Peek of Being Nobody- book 1 in The Witness Series
Prologue
Imagine living a life where you constantly pretended to be someone else…living a life that wasn’t your own. Could you do it? Could you keep yourself hidden from the rest of the world? Could you constantly learn to blend in to your surroundings? To never shine? To be on high alert, always wondering if each could be your last? Could you learn to survive, and not trust? What if that trust had been broken when you were just a child? Do you think you could bounce back from it? Embrace it? Ignore it?
My name is Mallory James; at least today it is. I’ve been Mallory for the last three months, but I don’t know if I’ll be her tomorrow. My name changes like the weather. I never know when I go to bed at night who I’ll be the next morning. I’ve learned over the years to expect it
, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like it.
It all started when I was seven. My dad, a normal everyday kinda guy, witnessed a horrific crime. He was shopping at our local grocery store when three masked men came in and robbed the place. During the robbery, one of the men happened to remove his mask. I think he knew he wasn’t planning to leave witnesses. He opened fire on the small group of customers in the store, killing each and every one with the exception of my dad. My father had happened to duck behind a cooler in the back, and the metal from it protected him.
When police arrived on the scene and found my father, they immediately placed him into protective custody. One of the masked men, the one who had exposed his face, had been caught a few blocks away and had been identified as part of a crime ring that had been alluding authorities for years. My father, a humble teacher, was now a witness that could help bring this group to its knees.
When he rushed through the door of our small apartment that night, my mother and I didn’t know what to think. Marshals, along with the local police, guarded our door, and lined the street with dark vans. My dad instructed us to each pack a bag. We were leaving, and we weren’t coming back.
I wasn’t sure at the time if I should be angry or scared. I’d never seen my dad like this. He seemed so calm on the outside, but now as an adult, I know he feared for our lives. After packing a small suitcase, my mom and I were rushed out to one of the vans and taken to a hotel. My father joined us later that night, and my life as I had known it changed forever.
“Samantha,” my dad sat down on the bed opposite me and placed his hands on my knees. I had been swinging them nervously as I glanced around at my surroundings. The guard in the hall had a gun, and so did the one on the balcony. They’d searched our room before we were allowed in, and now I was wondering what kinda trouble we were actually in.
“Daddy?” I looked up at him and blinked a few times. I could feel the tears gathering in the corners of my eyes, and didn’t want to let them fall. “Did we do something wrong?”
“No baby,” he sighed as he squeezed his eyes shut. “We’re going away for a while.”
“Why?” My lip trembled as I watched the man who’d been my hero for so long crumble before me.
“Something bad happened today, and we have to go away so we can be safe.” He glanced over at where my mother was pacing by one of the windows. “It’s so we can be safe,” he murmured in her direction. “We’ll come back…I promise,” he squeezed my knee before pushing himself to his feet. “I promise…”
“What about my family, our friends, Sam’s school?” My mother crossed her arms over her chest. “What are we going to tell people?”
“Nothing, Georgia, we’re going to tell them nothing,” my dad looked from me to my mom. “We can’t…”
“Wait! We can’t tell Grandma?” I began to panic and rushed over to where my mother was.
“No, sweetheart. We can’t tell anyone that we’re leaving. It’s to keep them safe. There are bad people out there, and they might hurt them to try to find us. We have to hide,” my dad squatted down in front of me and gripped my shoulders. “We get new names and everything,” he offered a pained smile as I let his words begin to sink in.
“New names? But I like Samantha, I don’t want a new name,” I scowled at him.
“You can be Samantha again someday, just not right now. Right now, we’re all going to be someone else.”
“Someone else…” I sighed as I thought back to that night. I had decided at the time that it wasn’t so bad changing my name. I could be whomever I wanted, but now, looking back…all I want is to be Samantha again.
After we’d spent the night in the hotel, the marshals moved us. We were driven to the airport the next morning and put on a plane. I checked in as Meredith Moore with my parents David and Sarah. We’d been given IDs that morning, and my dad quizzed me the entire ride on what my name was. He called out to me using both my new name and my old one. He wanted me to practice answering to Meredith and to ignore Samantha. It was hard, at first, but the more we practiced, the better I got.
I kept the name Meredith for eight months. I had it when I started school, and made it all the way to Spring Break before we had to leave. Anger didn’t even come close to how I felt. I was the lead in the school play. I’d made friends. I liked where we lived, but when I stepped off the school bus that afternoon and saw the dark sedan, I knew something was about to happen.
I pushed open our front door to find my mom sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. She glanced up at me, and I could tell she’d been crying. A lone suitcase sat by the door, and a man in a suit was coming down our stairs.
We left California that day, and I’ve never been back since. I don’t know what happened to blow our cover, but when we stepped off the plane in Ohio the next day, I had a new name and a new school to go along with it.
We didn’t stay in Ohio as long. Someone found out we were there, and we moved after only six weeks. Learning to live out of suitcase became normal, and not having friends or roots became normal, too. My name changed a total of sixteen times before I became Mallory. I’ve lived in twelve different states, and moved more that I can count.
My dad helped put away two of the three masked men from that fateful day, but one is still out there. Little do these men know that my dad can’t testify against them any longer. Why is this, you ask? Well, my dad died two years ago. He was coming home from work, and was complaining of chest pain. By the time we got him to the hospital, he was gone…heart attack. We’d spent all those years running from bullets and masked men, and a heart attack took him away. Mom thought that after that, we’d be free. We’d be able to go back. Be Georgia and Sam again, but no, we were still being hunted. We were still in danger, still needed to hide, still needed to be someone else…anyone else but the real us.
At twenty-six, I had hoped that I’d be happy, have a career, a husband, or at least a boyfriend. But how is that ever going to happen if I can’t be honest? How will I ever have a career if I can’t stay somewhere long enough to finish school? How will I ever be happy, if I can’t be me? Being no one sucks…I should know; I’ve had my entire life to perfect it.
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