“And you’re mine.”
Luca’s in the kitchen cooking dinner, so I stroll into the home office where he occasionally works and walk over to the bookshelf. I pull one of Tyler’s old books from the shelf, one of the few I decided to keep and settle into the leather couch that sits in the corner of the room. I turn to the first page and a piece of paper falls out onto my lap. I’m assuming it’s a ticket stub for some kind of event he must have bet on but when I pick it up I realize it’s a folded piece of notebook paper. I open it up slowly and I gasp when I take in the familiar handwriting. It’s a letter addressed to me from Tyler. My hands tremble a little as I look it over. My eyes well up with tears when I notice that it was written just two days before our wedding, just days before his death.
Dear Everly,
If you ever find this letter I hope that it’s years after I’m gone. I hope that you’re in a time and place where whatever wounds I’ve left behind are healed. I’m scared babe, I have a real problem and I just don’t see a way out. I don’t know if I can fix what I screwed up and if that’s the case you need to know that I never intended to hurt you. I never thought I’d let things get this bad, this far, or get so caught up that I would lose sight of what was really important. I’ve done so many things, things that I never told you, things that I’m not proud of but you… You Everly are the only thing that’s right in all of the things I’ve done.
There are times when I can barely stand to look at you, to see the love and hope on your face because all I feel is guilt. Guilt that I’ve made you promises that I’m afraid I may not be able to keep, fear that I may not even make it to our own wedding. To think I might not see your face one day is the hardest thing to take. If the unthinkable happens, if I don’t make it out of this, I want you to go on. I want you to get married, have babies, and see the world. Don’t give up; don’t hold back because he honest to God truth is I never really deserved you anyway. I was like a thief in he night taking what I wanted even though I knew it shouldn’t have been mine. I don’t regret it though; I’d do it all over again for you. The only thing I would change about our life together is me and what my ambition did to us. I hope you never read this letter, I hope everything turns out alright and I can destroy it, that we get the life we always wanted, but if I don’t I want you to know that even if you can no longer hear my voice, I’ll be right beside you, and I’ll smile from wherever I am when you get the life I always wanted for you to have. I hope one day you can forgive me, I hope you know how much having you meant to me.
I love you,
Tyler
I’m hysterical now after reading it. I feel so sad for what he must have been going through, knowing that he was about to get married but worried that he might not even make it that far, and for once, since it all happened, I’m glad that we got to make it to the wedding. I’m glad that he got that one last happy moment. My heart aches for him, for all that he gave up and how terrifying those last few days must have been for him. I hiccup through a sob and then the letter is gone, pushed to the side and Luca is there, crouched down on the ground before me his hands cupping my face.
“Hey, what’s wrong? I was calling you for dinner and when you didn’t answer, I came in here and you were hysterical.”
“I found a letter,” I tell him, trying to steady my breathing, focusing on his beautiful eyes. I slowly start to calm down. “It’s from Tyler.”
“Oh baby,” he says, sympathizing with me. God I love this man, even now he never makes me feel bad about still caring about Tyler even though situations like this can’t be easy on him. “What did it say?”
I reach over disengaging myself from him, grab the letter off of the couch, and hand it to him. “You should read it.”
He sits down next to me on the couch, pulls me into his side and begins to read. I watch him as he reads, trying to decipher the emotions playing out on his face. When he’s done he just holds me tighter and sighs. “Wow.”
I say nothing, just nod, planting my head in his chest.
“I think he’s trying to tell you he’s happy for you babe, that he approves. He said it in the letter he’d be there when you got what you wanted and he was.”
I let out another soft sob. “He was—I felt like I needed just a small piece of him today. It was strange; I came in here and grabbed one of his books. He’s happy for us isn’t he?”
“Yeah,” he replies, his voice heavy with emotion. I sometimes forget now what Tyler meant to Luca, how much his friendship meant to him, that he suffered a loss as profound as mine. But in that loss, through the grief we felt, something stronger grew, something even more beautiful than what had once existed there, a union that was meant to be created even when there was doubt. I understand now that the story hadn’t been completely written, Tyler was a beautiful and tragic chapter in my book, but Luca…Luca was the Happily Ever After.
About the Author
Alice Tribue lives with her husband and daughter in New Jersey. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications and is currently working on her master’s degree. She spends most of her free time reading, writing, and when the weather permits sitting on the beach sipping a margarita.
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To my readers, thank you for your support, your enthusiasm and your excitement for my work. It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful you all are. You inspire me daily to follow this dream.
To the bloggers who for the past year and a half have helped me to get my name out there and my books seen. There’s no way I could have come this far without your help. THANK YOU!!!
To my beta readers, Stephanie Locke, Anji Albis, Kristy Garbutt, and Mindy Guerreiros. You make the writing process manageable for me with all of your honesty, comments and suggestions. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me make my books even better.
Stephanie Locke, I can’t believe we did it again! Thank you for a friendship that started over a shared love for books but goes way beyond that now. Even though you like to take credit for all the awesome reads I find and you finished UT late… I hope you know how much you mean to me, you are the most supportive person I know and you get me in a way that not many people do.
Whitney Williams, OMG what a roller coaster ride we’ve been on over the last year. I’m so glad to have you in my corner through the highs and the lows. Your advice is invaluable and your friendship means the world to me. It’s come to the point where I don’t know what I’d do without our daily conversations. You make me laugh like no other, frustrate me like no other but NO ONE appreciates my dark side quite like you do. You’re getting everything that I wanted for you from the first day I messaged you about Mid Life Love. I’m so proud of all your accomplishments and I’m glad I get to witness it. STAN forever!
Wendy Ferraro, my very first author friend… You are always there to lend an ear and a helping hand. Your friendship means the world to me and I always look forward to our fun times together!
Mary Wasowski, your positive energy, light, and laughter are infectious. Thank you for the chats and encouragement and congrats on all you’ve accomplished.
C.P. Smith, thanks for your help on this project and for helping me brainstorm when the writers block kicked in, you have no idea how much that helped me!
Tamisha Draper, Your help on this project has been a life saver. I can never thank you enough for all that you did to help me get this book out there. You literally took the reigns and ran with it. Thank you for your honesty and your amazing ideas.
Turn the page for a sneak peek of
Sins & Mistrust
By
Isabel Lucero
Excerpt from Sin
s & Mistrust by Isabel Lucero
Chapter One
Marc
“So, what are we getting into tonight?” I ask Nathalia.
Nathalia is a beautiful new client that got in touch with me a week ago to discuss hiring me regularly. She’s a busy woman who is in the process of becoming the Vice President of marketing for one of her father’s hotels. Apparently he has a franchise, and she’s been learning the ropes of running a hotel her whole life. With sitting in on board meetings, and doing what her father needs her to, she says she doesn’t have time to date.
“Promise you won’t run scared?” she says with a wicked smile as she looks at me over her shoulder.
“I don’t scare easily,” I reply with a grin.
“We’ll see,” she states.
She turns back around and fixes her hair while looking into a large mirror on her wall. Her shiny black hair falls to the middle of her back. Nathalia is wearing a very form-fitting, black dress that dips low enough in the front to showcase her perfect breasts without showing too much.
“I wonder,” she ponders, looking at me curiously.
“Are you going to fill me in on what you wonder about?” I ask with a smile.
She walks over to the couch and begins putting on her heels. My eyes move from her dainty feet, all the way up her tanned and toned legs until her dress keeps from seeing anything else.
“I hope to find out the answer myself tonight. I’ll let you know when you bring me home,” she finishes with a mischievous smile.
After she fastens the black strap around her ankle, she walks to me and slides her hand through the crook of my arm, and we leave the hotel room she’s staying in.
“So, is this home to you?” I ask.
“Yes. I could get my own place, but I spend so much time here, that I might as well live here. Papa can never say I’m late to work,” she says with a smile.
“Are you and your dad close?” I ask.
“Very. He hops around to some of the other hotels quite a bit, but I stay here. The only other one I frequent is the one in California.”
I nod and decide that’s enough personal questions for tonight. When we get to the lobby of the hotel, she waves to a man that’s standing behind a desk near the entrance.
“Ms. LaBelle,” the man greets with a smile.
“Hello, James,” she responds.
“Sir,” he adds, nodding to me.
“Good evening.”
We walk out and straight into the car that’s waiting for us. Nathalia requested that neither of us drive so that we both could enjoy our evening with drinks.
“So, Marc, tell me something about you. Like we’ve discussed, I plan on hiring you quite often, and I’m not naïve enough to think I’m your only client, but do you have a regular girlfriend?”
“No, no girlfriend,” I answer with a smile.
“Really? But you’re so handsome,” she says, putting her hand on my leg.
“Well, thank you. But no, there aren’t many people out there who are okay with what I do.”
“Ah, yes. I understand,” she says with a nod of her head. “But it is your life, no? You do what makes you happy. Does this job make you happy?”
I hesitate for just a second, but I guess I wasn’t quick enough for Nathalia.
“You are not happy,” she states without a hint of question.
“Sure I am. This job has made me happy for a long time.”
“But not any longer. It’s okay, I understand.”
I ponder how she thinks she understands, when I’m not even sure I do, but I leave it alone.
“So, do I get any clues about this mystery place you are taking me to?”
“What fun would that be?” she says with a soft laugh.
“Such a tease.”
“Mmm. Just you wait,” she replies with a wink.
When we arrive at this mystery club, the car drops us off directly in front of the building. As I step outside and hold out my hand for Nathalia, I take a moment to gaze around the area. It’s a fairly busy area with lots of foot traffic, but they don’t seem to be going to the club we’ve stopped in front of. Everybody is making their way down the street to the other clubs or restaurants.
As I inspect the place we’re soon going to be entering, I understand why nobody is interested. There’s no sign, nothing to let you know what it is or that it’s even open for business. It’s quite dull looking, actually.
“Is this the place?” I ask, pointing at the building.
She straightens out her dress after closing the door behind her and glances at the darkened club. “Yes, this is it,” she says with a laugh. “I promise there’s more to it than you think.”
Nathalia walks toward the building and I fall in step next to her. She raps on the door with three hard, quick knocks, and almost instantly it’s opened by a large man in a black shirt and black jeans. The scowl on his face quickly morphs into a look of recognition when he sees Nathalia.
She smiles at him and he nods his head in response before we walk in. The hall is fairly dark, and another large man stands in the way with a clipboard in his hands.
“Ms. LaBelle,” he says.
“Hello, Smith,” she chirps.
Smith eyes me speculatively momentarily.
“He’s fine,” Nathalia says and Smith moves to the side and allows us in.
“Secretive place,” I state.
She shrugs one shoulder in response as we walk down the narrow hall. Once we get to the end of the hall and step into the large room, I think my jaw drops slightly.
Nathalia turns to look at me with a sneaky smile on her face. “Scared yet?”
I take my time to absorb everything that’s going on in the room in front of us. Directly to my right, leaned up against the wall is a couple. While this is pretty normal, what’s not, is that the woman’s dress is pushed up around her waist and the man has his fingers in her pussy.
Moving my gaze to the left, I see a wall of mirrors, and what grabs my attention right away are the three people standing in front of them. Well, the man is standing behind a woman who has her hands resting on the mirror. She’s bent over, her dress pushed up as well, with the man fucking her from behind while she watches in the reflection. Another woman is leaned up against the mirror and has her hand down her pants as she watches.
Not everybody is half naked or having sex, but they definitely don’t seem surprised or bothered by the happenings around them.
Finally returning my gaze back to Nathalia, I smile and respond. “I’m an escort. I’ve done or seen these kinds of things plenty of times,” I say with a smirk.
She playfully rolls her eyes. “Oh, Mr. Experienced over here.”
“You have no idea,” I reply with a wink.
“Well, come on, Mr. Experience. Let’s get a drink.”
After we walk clear across the room, maneuvering through plenty of people who seem to be checking both of us out, we approach the bar and place our order.
“So, you come here pretty often, don’t you?” I ask.
“Not too often,” she answers as she reaches for her drink.
I place a twenty on the bar and grab my glass. “Do you always bring a date with you?”
She places the straw between her lips and peers up at me with large green eyes. “I’ve brought someone here once before. The other times I’ve been here, I’ve come alone.”
“Do you, uh, participate?”
Nathalia lets out a small laugh. “Participate? You mean, have sex out here for people to see? No, I haven’t done that. However, if you’re interested, there are more private areas,” she says mischievously.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I answer with a grin.
As we stand near the bar, talking and enjoying our drinks, I notice a man walk out and head over to the people who are having sex by the mirrors. He leans in and says something to the man, and soon after, the man straightens up and pulls his pants back up. He gets the women who are there
with him and starts walking towards the back of the room. The man who spoke to him pats him on the back and walks away.
“What’s that about?” I ask, noticing Nathalia was watching the same thing I was.
“Oh, he likes to keep the sex to the other rooms. While people always do the touchy, feely stuff, he doesn’t really like the all-out sex to be out in the open.”
“And who is he?” I ask as I watch the man in the black suit scope out the rest of the room.
“Oh. The owner. Lincoln Cash.”
I take a gulp of my drink and watch as his eyes fall on us. He does a double take and suddenly starts making his way towards the bar. I take a glance at Nathalia who is smiling in his direction.
“Thalia, how are you?” he asks in a deep, charming voice. His smile stretches across his face as he takes her in his arms.
I take another gulp.
“I’m great, Lincoln. How are you?”
“You know me,” he says with a smirk. “You look beautiful tonight.”
She throws him a radiant smile. “Thank you.”
He turns and looks me over before asking, “Who’s your friend?”
“This is Marc,” she answers, gesturing towards me with her palm up. “Marc, this is Lincoln.”
Lincoln extends his hand and I take it in my own. “Nice to meet you,” I say.
“Mm. Likewise,” he responds, and I’m not sure if he has a slight attitude or not.
We drop hands and I straighten up, finish my drink, and place it on the bar. There’s a bit of an awkward silence between us three, and I can’t help but wonder if they’ve had a relationship before.
“Well, I suppose I’ll leave you two alone. I hope you both enjoy your evening. Will you be staying a while?” he asks, paying more attention to Nathalia.
Unspeakable Truths Page 23