by Leigh Lennon
The Sweetest Package
A Jake Davis Novella - Part Two
Leigh Lennon
Contents
Advanced Reader Copy
About This Book
Prologue
1. Jake
2. Sasha
3. Jake
4. Sasha
5. Jake
6. Sasha
7. Jake
8. Sasha
9. Jake
10. Sasha
11. Jake
12. Sasha
13. Jake
14. Sasha
15. Jake
16. Sasha
17. Jake
18. Sasha
19. Jake
20. Jake
21. Sasha
22. Jake
23. Sasha
Epilogue
Bonus Epilogue
What I have learned
The Holiday Package
Unfiltered
Unfiltered Excerpt
Unacquainted
Unacquainted Excerpt
Unwanted
Unwanted Excerpt
The Last Breath
About the Author
Advanced Reader Copy
This is the advance reader copy version of The Sweetest Package. This version cannot be shared or duplicated without permission of the author.
This version is not the final copy of the The Sweetest Package; however, the content of this story will not change.
Dear Reader,
I’m humbled that you are taking time to read my book. It was a pleasure to write. If you are able to leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon after reading this book, I would be grateful. Amazon has been removing reviews if the reviewer states, “I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.” That one word seems to get the review removed. Thanks in advanced for reading my book.
~Leigh
The Sweetest Package
Copyright @2018 Leigh Lennon
No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author.
Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.
The E-book copy is licensed for your personal enjoyment and may not re-sold or given away.
This book is a work of fiction and is the product of the author’s imagination.
Editing by Amanda Hill at Mad as a Hatter Author Services
Proofreading services by Ink It Out Editing
Formatting by Ink It Out Editing
Cover design by Kasmit Covers
Alpha Reader: Emma Aldridge
Beta Readers: AnnMarie Barajas, Nancy George, Megan Harris, Megan Damrow, Jo-Anne Joseph and Melody Hillier
Created with Vellum
About This Book
Jake
Eight days was all we had.
It was supposed to be casual; just sex.
Hell, the best laid plans were blown to pieces
as I found myself watching my heart drive away.
Sure, I let her go, but I’ve not been the same since she’s been gone.
Sasha
How can my heart beat so differently for a man I knew only for eight days?
He let me go. Sure, I could have stuck around to fight for him.
I should have. Hell, I wanted to.
But then I understood what true love really meant and I had to choose.
Now I am back, immersed in his life.
Can he accept everything I’ve done in the name of love?
Dedication
To Ann Marie:
You’ve been my number one fan from the beginning and you are the reason Jake has been brought to life in these novellas. Thanks for always being an encouragement in my writing!
To Mom:
Who was the first person in life to introduce me to the
love of books at an early age! I miss you!
Prologue
As my Ginger drives away from my house and out of my life, she’s taking my heart with her. This ache’s so deep, it physically hurts, but I don’t have time for the luxury of letting the pain overtake me. No, as damaged as I am in this moment, and I fucking am, I have two more tasks left; equally daunting and equally painful.
Back in the house, I take my secure phone from its lock box along with my passport. Looking at the swarm of passports, I consider taking the emergency identity I created to escape the grips of Sylvie, but I opt just to be myself today. She has to know where I’ll end up eventually.
Armed with some cash, my work phone, personal cell and my normal passport, I hurry to my room and grab my suitcase, glad I don’t have to pack since I never did end up emptying my luggage. I don’t care if the CIA can trace me. I won’t have this motherfucker of a work phone much longer anyway.
Out in my car, I type in the code to connect to the one person I could kill with my bare hands right now. Reversing and holding the phone, I don’t fucking care if it’s illegal to talk and drive at the same time, not at this point. Turning left out of my neighborhood, I’m connected with her screechy voice, which makes me want to stick a needle through my eyes more with every syllable she utters.
“Jacob, you did the right thing.” These are her opening words, as if I fucking care what her opinion is on this matter. No, not one iota since her agenda has always been to fuck with my life.
I only have one reason for this phone call and then it’s over. “Sylvie, I fucking quit. You can try as you might, but you won’t win me back.” Silence for once with Sylvie. “I know where and how to hurt you but we don’t want it to come to that.” Not that this little secret is enough to dangle over her head to save my relationship with Sasha, no, Ginge is too valuable to Sylvie’s end game. “I swear Sylvie, we are done. Over.” Before I let her say a word, I have one last demand she’ll adhere to. “And Sylvie, you better stay the fuck away from my sister.”
Pulling over to the nearest gas station, I grab for a hammer I carry in my glove compartment. Tossing the phone on the ground, I grasp the hammer with one hand. Pausing for a brief second, I smash the last connection I have with Sylvie to smithereens. Tossing the remnants of that phone and the past ten years of my life, I say goodbye to my old existence, vowing to start a new one right now.
I can’t say he looks surprised that I’m standing motionless on his front porch. It’s funny, in the ten days I had been here, I’ve never once used this entrance. My expression is blank but his is certainly not. With a small smile covering the scruff that has sprung up since I left, he extends his hand for me to shake it. All I want to do is deck him, but I can’t, not until I hear him out.
“I had a feeling I would see you again,” he says, putting down his hand, as it’s apparent I won’t be shaking it, not yet. Stepping out of the way, he motions me in. “You better come on in. This may take a while, Jake,” he plainly states, knowing what I need.
I look over my right shoulder and see a fucking iguana. I had hoped the next time I was here it would be with Sasha by my side. This time I need only one room, instead of two like we had a few days ago. Shit, how my life has imploded in two days.
I have never been in the front part of his house before and it’s still adorned with Christmas decorations. Leading me to the back of the hous
e that looks out to the veranda and the pool I have fond memories of, I turn to him. “You wanted to tell me, didn’t you, Mack?”
Shoving his hands into the pockets of his faded blue jeans, he shrugs. “After the two of you got back from the Grand Caymans last week, when I met you down at the pool, I had it in my mind I would tell you. Then you told me you wanted more with her. I couldn’t take a chance telling you. If you were on the cusp of revealing your true feelings to her and what you wanted, it would ruin any future the two of you had.”
“So, you just let Sylvie manipulate you, with no regard for me?”
He looks away and I know I’ve hit a cord. “What does she have on you, Mack?” Looking away again, this is all I need to understand, she has used him. “What the fuck could be more important than using an innocent woman like Sasha against me, making me fall for her, just to do Sylvie’s bidding?” I’m now yelling and he still has not faced me. He avoids looking at me eye to eye, man to man.
Out of nowhere, the door opens and I hear the familiar voice of Mack’s better half, “Me, Jake. She has me, that’s what she’s using against Mack.” Turning, I see the long and lean figure of Mack’s wife, Anna, sobbing as she continues to explain. “I’m sorry, Jake. I had no idea until yesterday what was going on. Sylvie found me years ago when I was about to go down for some bad shit. That’s when Mack saved me. In return, he does her bidding, but not anymore. He’s done with Sylvie, we all are. I never wanted to enter Sylvie’s world. This time, she’ll let us go or I’ll rat her out. I saved something years ago, as an insurance policy against that bitch, and I know I’ll use it.”
Looking at Anna, I see a whole new side of this domesticated housewife. “What could you need to be saved from?” I ask, still looking at Anna, unaware from where this new cat-woman of a lady has emerged.
Mack finally begins to talk, “Ever heard of the hacker alias; Infirmary? The one that wreaked havoc so awful, a hospital couldn’t even save the intended victim from a cyber-attack?”
Shaking my head, I am fully aware of this and still to this day, the hacker is on the most wanted lists.
Mack turns to Anna and points, “Meet Infirmary.” My gaze locks on Anna as she nods, and my breath quickens thinking that this woman in front of me was responsible for the gridlock of traffic from Washington DC to New York ten years ago. Before I can ask anything, Mack continues, “You know how I told you just last week, the odds were stacked against us? Well, this is why.” He points to his bride. “She was a prisoner under my protection and as cliché as it sounds, we fell in love. To keep her out of harm's way, she started a new life with me, but only to do Sylvie’s bidding. And hell, that woman has it out for Sasha’s father.”
I know Sylvie and how she works and I’m not surprised by this revelation. “So you get the love of your life and in return, you do Sylvie’s dirty work.”
Shaking his head shamelessly, he sits down while Anna interprets we need something strong, very strong. He waits for her to join us with a bottle of scotch and three shot glasses. As she pours, Mack begins, “Jake, you have to know I didn’t want to do this. I had every intention of telling you. Sasha is all Sylvie can taste, getting to her dad and putting him away. But my lovely bride has found her Achilles’ heel and I’ll never again be her puppet.” He stops where she picks up.
Lifting up her glass, emptying the whole contents of the shot tumbler, Anna doesn’t miss a beat when she offers, “Jake, we can buy your freedom, too.” This is not the picture I’d conjured up of the meek and innocent Anna in the ten days I’d been immersed in their lives. I can only chuckle at this new image erasing the old one in my mind.
Shaking my head, I know I’ll have to do this on my own. I need to never owe anyone a favor again. “No, I got something on Sylvie, too. I’m done. I just wanted to hear it from you, first.”
The fucked-up part of this is that I completely understand. “She won’t let Sasha go,” I say. “I had to let her go.” Anna reached out to me, taking my hand; trying to offer some comfort in this messed up situation we’ve all found ourselves fumbling through. As they continue to tell me about their checkered past, I become envious knowing that a happy ending is not in the cards for me, not when it comes to Sasha.
Crashing in one of the guest rooms of the main house for the night, I don’t have the ability to face the memories the guest villas boast.
When I board the plane the next day, Anna is the one that drops me off at the airport. “Jake, if you love her, fight for her. I can find something to put Sylvie in her place. Sylvie won’t let her vendetta of bringing down Stravos go.” I shake my head but Anna hugs me anyway. “Don’t be a stranger.”
Boarding the small prop plane, I understand this trip with Anna and Mack is nothing compared to my next stop. After the connection in the Grand Caymans, I arrive directly in Miami, dreading this heart to heart with my sister and like her hair, she’ll be seeing red the second she finds out the truth.
Arriving at her unwelcoming apartment, since home has never felt the same since losing Mom, she’s all smiles while opening the door to my surprise visit. “Jake, I had no idea.” She steps out to grab me, taking me into a hug. Though she’s tiny, barely five feet, I wonder how I got all the height and she was given none.
“Hey, sis.” With my tone, she pales.
“I know your face, big brother. You have bad news, don’t you?”
“Everyone is fine, sis, but, I need to talk to you.” She lets me in and I know this news is going to break her. Since Mom and Dad died, she has trusted very few people, Sylvie being the first. I walk in, knowing I’ll be smashing my sister’s heart like I did with my phone just days ago. When I begin with the whole story, from the day of recruitment to my ten years in the agency, she sits quietly. However, in her face, I can read everything as clear as I could if she was speaking.
1
Jake
February 1st
Three years and one month later
Stepping out of the shower, I look at the time. It’s two pm and April is due over here in an hour. I’m not sure what to think about tonight. When I invited her, I figured it was time. We’ve dated for a month and she’s sexy as sin, but something seems off with her. Then again, it’s not her. I’m aware of the fact that for the past three years, there has been nothing wrong with the women I’ve dated. It has been me. No one compares to what I had been able to capture in less than ten days with my Ginger.
Dressing in a simple gray t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, I walk into the home office. Taking my secure phone I use for my new security firm I started when I left the CIA, I call my business partner who has become my best friend over the years.
“Hey, shithead,” he answers, knowing it’s me.
“Hey to you, too, douche bag,” I say and now that our terms of endearment are out of the way, I continue, “I need to talk to you about recruiting options. Our jobs are dragging ME all over the place, and after I told the government to fuck off, I was supposed to have a little more freedom.” I’m preaching to the choir because he knows I’m the one dragging my feet being that I’m picky as fuck with new hires.
“Jake, you know how I feel about the matter. I have a list of ten applicants. I can set something up for March, fly the applicants to where ever you want to meet and we will get some new people hired.”
Looking at the time, I need to hurry up in order to get dinner going before April arrives. Plus, it’s a Saturday night, date night for him and his beautiful bride. “Okay, I’ll give in. I’ll try to be a little more accommodating to the applicants you picked out. Anyway, you get going, have a good time tonight and tell that wife of yours hi for me, along with your devils.”
Before he can go, I hear him yell, “Anna, Jake says hello!” I wait for a second and hear her voice crooning, “Hello, Jake, have a good weekend.” Listening to the splashing and laughter, I can tell they are enjoying their pool like they should. With the frigid temperatures of Washington State this time of the year, it
makes me envious of their tropical paradise.
“Okay, bye, Mack! Talk to you in a couple days.” Hanging up the phone, I shake my head at the turn of events that have led me into business with Mack Sheridan. Taking fresh sausage and hamburger from the fridge, I start to sauté the meat, grabbing the fresh tomatoes I have blanched to get my sauce going. Deciding on fresh ravioli over dull pasta, I start the water, knowing it takes for fucking ever for my water to boil on my frustrating electric stove.
I’m not a big wine drinker, though I drink it on occasion. But I do keep wine in the house, especially since April loves it. While I’m picking out a red wine for tonight, my doorbell rings and I’m surprised April is early. She never is, it’s one thing I find so frustrating with her. But now, when I could use a couple more minutes to set the mood, she’s fucking early! Passing the dining room table, I leave the wine near the glasses and open the door for her. I’m fiddling with the corkscrew because whoever used it last left the fucking cork there, probably April or Hannah last time she visited.