Vandal
Page 24
I hated lying to him, and the acts I had to put on. All the feelings were real for me; I can’t deny any of that, as much as I struggled with it. I did hate him at times, and I was devastated that he would deceive me for so long. I wanted him to just tell the truth. Many times I tried to push him to do so. I was no better than him, though. We both set out to get to each other for our own twisted reasons, and somewhere in that tangled mess, we found love. We found ourselves in each other.
Why did I leave him when I did? To punish both of us. Especially myself, for being so weak. I fell in love with Vandal way too fast. I submitted to him way too willingly. I found happiness much too soon. I didn’t deserve to start over and have a new life when Nick’s was ripped away from him. Vandal was offering me everything I always dreamed of, a life that would make me really happy and let me be myself. A life that even Nick couldn’t have given me, and I beat myself up over it. How could I let the man that took him away, give me everything?
Our love will never be pretty. It will always be tarnished by the past and we will carry those scars forever. Those ghosts will always haunt us. We are both so damaged by our pasts, by ourselves, by each other.
They say a relationship cannot last if it was built on lies, but I refuse to believe that. We crumbled and came out stronger. We came out together.
And to me, at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
He is mine, and I am his.
I am his heart. He is my armor.
THE END
Sorta ;)
MEET STERLING
Sterling is the cat that inspired the kitty in the book. He resides at Blind Cat Rescue, and a portion of this book’s sales will be donated to his care.
If you would like to make your own donation, please visit Blind Cat Rescue:
www.blindcatrescue.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To everyone who has read my books, Thank You! You have helped my dreams come true!
Heartfelt thanks to Laramie Briscoe and Aimie Grey for being there for me every step of the way and having faith in me no matter what. I love you both!
Endless thanks to Caroline Richards for being my rock, keeping my head together, being the anal freak that she is to keep me on track, and for reminding me to sleep. I would be lost without you.
Andrea, I am so grateful for your friendship and our mutual love of furbabies! Thank you for all of your advice and input while beta reading and for supporting me!
Melony, thank you for reaching out to me to be a beta reader! Your input is invaluable and you kept me straight with the facts many times!
Sue B.! You are amazing! I appreciate your input immensely!
Jaimie, thank you for cleaning my messes and being awesome in every way possible.
Laurie Fisher, I just love you, girl! Thank you for all of your help! xo.
Thank you to Invicta’s Art & Photography for the beautiful photo of Ash that I stalked you for. I’ll be back!
Ash Armand, thank you for bringing Vandal to life visually for my cover. You are beautiful inside and out.
Thank you Mandy Hollis and Rainey Wilson for the gorgeous photos of my Tabitha.
Millions of hugs to Lauren McKellar who has taught me so much and really helped me tell this story tons better. I love you hard!
Thank you Max at Max Effect for making my pages so pretty!
Jane Mortensen!! Thank you for the awesome trailer! You rock!
Kari at Cover to Cover Designs – thank you for another gorgeous cover! You always capture my vision, it’s like we share a brain.
I am overwhelmed with the amount of support I have received by so many people, it would be impossible to thank them all individually, but please know that you are all wonderful and I appreciate you so much. Extra hugs and thank you to Mary Orr, Angel Dust, Debs Cameron, Ing at As the Pages Turn, Book Fancy, InkSlingers, and the gals at Bare Naked Words. Also, thank you to all the blogs and friends that helped promote this book!
Thank you to my mom in Heaven, who saved all my notebooks of scribbled writing that I started so many years ago and thought I threw away. Who knew my writing about hot rock stars over twenty years ago would be popular now?
And of course, thank you Eddie for all your patience while I wrote this. I love you always.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I have a passion for the bad boys; those covered in tattoos, sexy smirks, ripped jeans, fast cars, motorcycles, and of course, the sweet girls that try to tame them and win their hearts. My debut series, Ashes & Embers, follows the lives of rock band members as they find, and sometimes lose, the loves of their lives.
Born and raised a Jersey girl, I now reside in beautiful New Hampshire with my husband and our multitude of furry pets. I spend most of my time writing, reading, and vacuuming.
CONTACT CARIAN
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Email: carrie@cariancole.com
OTHER BOOKS BY CARIAN COLE:
Storm – Ashes & Embers Series Book 1
CONTENTS
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
SNEAK PEEK
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALSO BY CARIAN