Several years older, already a champion in renowned fighting competitions held for the fiercest men and women from every continent, Elijah had never been a child.
Hollow’s childhood was taken from him by the man his father trusted most, the man who was also Elijah’s father.
He doubted either of them remembered innocence.
What began as a hero complex steadily transformed into a deep love for the person who pulled Hollow back from the brink of destruction again and again.
“You have so much now, Elijah. Don’t worry about me.”
“You’re worth saving,” he said again. “If you can forgive her, if you can look beyond the past, you deserve to make her yours.”
“She doesn’t deserve such a fate, Elijah. She deserves so much more than I can ever give her.”
Elijah reached inside his jacket and removed a folded piece of paper, holding it out for him to take.
Hollow took it in confusion and unfolded it.
A memory was depicted in a detailed sketch and it made him gasp. In the bottom corner was a date and Brie’s signature with a little heart.
He would have been almost eighteen. The girl in the sketch with him was two years younger. It was before he left home the first time. Before drugs took him out of his own head and granted him false peace for a little while.
“Do you remember that moment in your life?” Elijah asked softly. “Brie draws what she sees. Based on the date, she would have been about fourteen. Based on the angle, she probably drew it from a second-floor window in her parents’ home. Do you remember, Hollow?”
Blinking back tears he didn’t recognize at first, he nodded. “I remember.” His voice was hoarse.
“She loved you before you left. She loved you when you returned. She loves you still.”
“No…”
“Don’t lie to me, Hollow. Not to me. There have never been lies between us.”
Meeting his gaze, he replied quietly, “There have been a few, Elijah. None that I can’t live with.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not. You can’t help who you love and you should never apologize for it. For a long time, I was angry. The way he was, the way you allowed it.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Brie made it better for both of you and I’m glad. I…resent him less.”
“He loves you.”
“He tolerates me. Some days, I tolerate him as well. As much as he knows, he still knows nothing.” Looking at the image in his hands, he smiled at how talented Brie was. “She captures emotion stunningly well.”
“Love is a magic that draws her.”
“I’m inoculated.” He tried to hand back the sketch but Elijah shook his head.
“Brie found it in her things and insisted I deliver it when I saw you.” Inclining his head, he added, “She wrote a note on the back. Said you’d understand.”
Turning the heavy paper over, he stared at the word hope written in charcoal.
Controlling his breathing, his heart, he murmured, “Why not give it to Isabella?”
Elijah’s smile was slow. “She assured me Izzy has plenty.”
“Why did you come, Elijah?”
“Because I love you, Hollow. Not the love you need but love nonetheless.”
The words filled him with joy and agony simultaneously.
Elijah leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Before Brie entered my life, I felt I’d reached an expiration date. Every day exactly like the one before it, stretching out endlessly, painfully, in front of me.”
“Elijah…”
“She changed everything because she loves me as the man I am. Not some perfect ideal. Every scar, every mistake, every moment that made me who I am…she loves me.”
He stood up and put his hand on Hollow’s head, stroking through his hair as he had when he was a boy who followed him around like a puppy.
“Stop rescuing everyone else for long enough to rescue yourself. Let her in, let her wrap her love around you, and drown in it.” He bent and pressed his lips to Hollow’s temple and added in a whisper, “Please, Hayden.”
Then he walked from the warehouse.
Hollow stared at the sketch for a long time.
Eventually, he shut down the lights, armed the building, and went to bed. The silence pounded in his mind.
Turning his head, he stared at the sketch he’d propped against the lamp on the bedside table.
After an hour, he couldn’t deny what he needed. He stroked himself, remembering the way Izzy used to feel in his arms.
The way she’d looked at him. The way she’d touched him. The way she’d loved him no matter what he said or did to her.
He came with a gasp, her name a groan, and stared at the ceiling for hours. There were no easy answers to the questions that raced around his mind.
He had no clue what to do with himself.
It was time to figure that out. He’d punished himself, and her, for more than two decades.
He wondered if love had an expiration date.
The Barter System Series
Read the entire series now!
The Barter System Prequels
The Barter System (Book One)
Hudson (Book Two)
Backstage (Book Three)
Liberation (Book Four)
Radiance (Book Five)
The Barter System Companion – Volume 1
The Barter System Companion – Volume 2
Author’s Note:
Before we head into “The Hollow Universe,” you should read “The Barter System” series. You don’t have to but since many of the characters in my anchor series will make an appearance, it’s a great idea. You have a lot of ground to cover so…start reading!
About Shayne McClendon
If you’re looking for stories that tug at your heart, make you laugh out loud, and sometimes make you cry so hard you need a giant box of tissues…look no further than books by Shayne McClendon.
She’s a prolific author (more than 8 million words and counting) known for dramatic, steamy, enthralling fiction that will grab you and not let go until the last page.
A nomad at heart, Shayne currently lives in America’s heartland with her dog, cats, and two grown children.
She listens to the voices in her head because their ideas are (almost) always awesome. Coffee consumption is too high, amount of sleep is too low, but the words always feel just right.
Be sure to like her Always the Good Girl Facebook page, or visit her at Always the Good Girl and join for your free story!
Shayne currently has more than two dozen books that range from heart-wrenchingly romantic to captivating non-stop heat. Explore them on the next page!
Also by Shayne McClendon
The Barter System Series
The Barter System
Hudson
Backstage
Liberation
Radiance
The Barter System Prequels
TBS Companion – Volume One
TBS Companion – Volume Two
The Great Outdoors Series
Sunny’s Heart
Permission to Come Aboard
Permission to Land
Special Delivery
Embrace the Wild
The Hollow Universe
Obsession
The Quiet Series
Quiet & Kilted
Crazy Quiet
Extra Quiet
Never Quiet
Manhattan Madame Series
At Last
Dramatic Romances
Completely Wrecked
The Hermit
Romantic Comedy
Always Delightful
Country Romances
Yes to Everything
Somebody
Gravity
Break Down Here
Scars
Short Story Anthologies
Quickies – Volume One
Quickies – Volume Two
Shayne McClendon – Amazon Au
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Special Acknowledgments
For my friend and longtime personal assistant, Jana who never lets me fall on my face.
For Rhonda and Sheryl who are changing the way my words are presented one book at a time. You’ve given me incredible peace of mind. Thank you.
Without the help of these women, I’d fail.
All the love in the world,
Shayne
Obsession: The Hollow Universe Page 27