She started to head downstairs, but heard a noise from the bedroom and curious, turned back that way to investigate. Entering the room, her jaw dropped. The entire room was filled with dozens of candles. Rose petals sprinkled across the floor and on the bed, ending in a circle that Ridge kneeled in the middle of, holding a box in front of him.
"What? What's going on?" she asked stupidly.
Ridge chuckled and waved her over to him. She moved to stand in front of him, and then looked down, speechless.
"Maisie. From the second I met you, I knew you were special. You tried to hit it from the world, but I could see your passionate nature, just dying to be set free. You have the kindest heart, you always think of others first, and put their needs above your own. You're a survivor, the bravest woman I know. And pretty damn sexy. I've waited my whole life to meet someone like you. So, Maisie Pierce, would you please do me this great honor of becoming my wife?"
Tears flowed freely down her cheeks at his words and she sank to her knees to be on his level. Searching his eyes, she saw only sincerity and love reflected back at her.
"You're sure about this? You want me? Even with my black cloud of bad luck hanging over our heads?"
He chuckled. "I want you and only you. Everyday, for the rest of our lives. Now, stop worrying and say yes!" He opened the ring box and she gasped. It was so gorgeous, and completely perfect for her.
There are moments in life when you know you're in the exact right time at the exact right place. Despite all the insecurities, feelings of shame and guilt, we still want to be loved and to give love to the people that matter most. The hardest thing to do is to trust someone with your heart. But when you do, when you truly let go of all the ways you feel vulnerable and truly let someone all the way in, that's when you reap the greatest rewards. So with the feeling of her mom's spirit surrounding her, Maisie leapt.
"Yes, Ridge. Yes, I'll marry you."
The End
Maisie gazed at herself in her long, flowing white dress in the mirror, excitement bubbling through her. Today was the day she'd finally marry the love of her life, Ridge. They'd only been engaged three short months, but neither of them wanted to wait to start their lives together. With the help of her sister and Greer, they were able to put together a wedding dreams were made of.
Blake and Greer stood behind her in their pale pink dresses, eyes brimming with tears. "You look so beautiful," Blake told her.
"Thank you, so do you guys. I can't wait to see how handsome Ridge looks in his tux."
"Well you've got five minutes until show time, so not long to wait," Greer reminded her. Squealing, she embraced them both.
"Thank you both for being here, for standing beside me today. If you'd told me a year ago, I'd be here, I never would have believed you," she admitted.
"You deserve this, Maisie. Mom would be so proud."
At the mention of their mother, she crossed to a small table in the Church's dressing room and opened a white styrofoam container. Inside, was a dozen homemade oatmeal raisin cookies; her mom's recipe.
"You finally made them," Blake said with a smile.
"I thought today was the perfect day to have them," she replied. They ate their cookie in silence, Maisie lost in memories of her mother and wishing with all her heart that she was there. But she promised herself no tears until the ceremony and she wasn't going to break that promise. Looking at Blake, she raised her fingerprint necklace to her lips and gave it a gentle kiss. "I love you, Mom," she whispered, smiling when Blake mimicked her actions. "So, let's go get me married, shall we?"
Looking at the two most important women in her life, her heart was so filled with love she thought it would burst. Today was the day all her dreams came true, today was the first day of the rest of her life and she couldn't wait to get started. Finally, she was worthy.
Across the Church in his own dressing room, Ridge faced Ramsey in the mirror. The two brothers exchanged a smile as they fastened their cufflinks and straightened their ties. In just a few minutes, Ridge would walk down the aisle and marry Maisie, the woman he loved.
"I got to hand it to you, brother, you really pulled it off big time. When you first suggested this case, I was skeptical but when this all pays off, we're gonna be set for life," Ramsey said, slapping him on the back.
"I know we will. And damn if we haven't earned it with all the shit we went through after Mom and Dad died," Ridge agreed.
"You finding out about her father's money was brilliant. Remind me to never doubt your hacking skills again," Ramsey joked. "Pity you fell for her though, gonna make it hard on you when we play out the rest of this con."
"Don't worry about that. I'll do what needs doing when the time comes. The main thing is our survival, and we won't bleed them dry, just enough to make sure we're comfortable and set up, remember?"
"Sure, brother. Whatever you want. But first, we need to get you married. So, how about it, you ready to walk down the aisle?"
"You're damn right I am. Making Maisie my wife is going to make me happy in so many ways. She really is a sweet soul and very easy to love."
"Well then, let's go get you your girl."
Jerzie, Charlee, Jessica – Our friendship spans years, and I wouldn't change one second of it for anything in the world. Thank you for always being by my side. I love you xo
Toni Thompson – I couldn’t ask for a better PA and friend. You’re always supporting me and making me laugh when I need it the most. You’re truly amazing, I wish nothing but good things for you, happiness is headed your way, girl! You deserve it.
River Savage, Gilly Jones, Alissa Evanson Smith – There are friends you see everyday, and then there are friends you talk to everyday. While we may not get to always see each other, you three are my heart. Thank you for your support, your friendship, and for being who are you. Bring on Vegas! xo
Lance Jones – You’ve become one of my bestest friends! I’m so lucky to be partners with you and can’t wait for all the exciting things we have planned for our businesses this year. Thank you for everything and all the support xoxo
Judi Perkins – You are amazing, lady. You kicked my butt when I needed it and wouldn't let me settle for anything less than perfection with Flatline's cover. Thank you for being the Mama Bear that you are. If you ever need a drive-by punching done, I'm your girl ;)
Sirens – This is my favorite place in the world. My safe place, my comfort zone. I love how each of us supports each other and that we have a place to escape and be ourselves and share our love of books. You’re my biggest cheerleaders and I couldn’t be more grateful for each and every one of you.
To My Family – I’m a lucky girl to have such an amazing family. You support me through all of this, through my goals and ambitions and offer me guidance when I need it to see the end result come to light. Thank you for all the love and encouragement through one of our toughest years. I love you all so much.
To The Book Community – I really hope you all embrace this book and the message I'm trying to convey. If you did pick up a copy of it, please know that I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without your support, none of us would be able to do what we love. And I truly love to write. Thank you for giving me that opportunity, you'll never know how much it means to me xo
Cassia Brightmore is a dark romance author. She loves writing dark stories with twisted characters that she hopes will thrill the reader as well as make them fall in love.
She loves hockey, video games and online shopping. If she's not writing or editing, you can usually find her doing one of these things. Writing is her passion and publishing her first book as an indie author is truly a dream come true.
Cassia lives in Ontario, Canada with her two furbabies; Molly and Harley.
Her titles include:
The Darkness Series
Book One: Malevolent
Book Two: Evanesce
Book Three: Denouement
Book Four: Repentance
The Trauma Se
ries
Book One: Lincoln Hospital
Book Two: Flatline
Standalone Titles:
Unworthy
To look for in 2017:
Resuscitation Book Three in the Trauma Series
New Dark Romance Standalone: Mercenary
New Dark Historical Romance: The Laird
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CIAN O’REILLY LET his hands tighten into fists in the blonde’s hair as he finished shooting his load down her slim throat. With one final grunt, he gave her head a light shove backwards before standing and tucking his cock back into his scrub pants, ignoring her shocked look of outrage.
“That’s it?” the nitwit nurse asked in confusion. “You’re not even going to return the favor?”
Cian raised a brow at her in mild amusement. “I have surgery,” he replied simply. The blonde, whatever-the-fuck her name was nurse gained her feet and fixed her eyes on him in a glare. He cut her off before she could waste either of their time with useless drivel.
“I find it hard to believe you aren’t aware of my reputation. This is how it works. You didn’t really think you’d be the one to get me to fuck you, did you?” Based on the pretty pout her lips that had been so expertly wrapped around his cock not five minutes earlier formed, he guessed that’s exactly what she’d been hoping for.
It never fucking failed with females. Always had some sort of hidden agenda. Wanting a chance to be the one to sink their claws into the legendary, world renowned, Dr. Cian O’Reilly. Fake smiles and overly sugar-sweet voices didn’t do it for him. And he sure as fuck wasn’t looking for a life sentence in the form of a relationship. He’d been down that road once before and all it’d left him with was misery. All he was looking for now was somewhere to relieve the pressure once in a while. Love was for pussies and if there was one thing Cian wasn’t; it was a pussy. Never again would he give an emotion that much power over him.
Swiping his pager off the nearby table and clipping it on his pants, he shot the nurse a grin that managed to be cold and yet full of charm at the same time.
“Thanks, sweetheart. I want to be paged if there’s any change with the patient in room 6B,” his tone left no room for argument and without another glance, he left the on-call room, not caring that he left the door swinging open behind him and anyone in the hallway was now privy to what they’d been up to. Let them gossip; the would anyway and it gave the little busy-body receptionists something to chatter about when they thought he couldn’t hear them.
His long legged stride ate up the tiled floor as he made his way to the OR, stopping by the attendings’ locker room to pick up his scrub cap. He had a routine pacemaker surgery scheduled in ten minutes on his sixty-eight-year-old patient. Normally, a competent resident could handle this type of case for him, but since Henry Smalls was a long time patient of his, he felt compelled to oversee this procedure himself. After all, he was the best. Henry touched something in him that was typically cold and closed off from any sort of empathy. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Henry lost his wife suddenly two years earlier. He’d brought her in for routine blood work in their lab and she’d ended up being admitted with a dangerously low hemoglobin. In the end, she’d turned septic and they’d been forced to sit by her side and watch her slowly pass away over the following few days.
Cian had been called in to consult during the full workup, but even he, with all his skills and expertise, was unable to do anything to help Mary. Watching a man’s heart break right before their eyes was gut-wrenching enough to affect even Cian. The utter torture of having to let go bit by bit, day by day, it was one of the most inhumane things he’d ever witnessed. During that time, he’d developed a fondness for Henry and would now not trust his medical care to anyone but himself. It was a luxury that he didn’t afford to many people. When his own estranged father had come to him begging for help with placement on the transplant list for a new liver, he’d had no problem turning his back on the low-life piece of scum that had killed his mother. He may not have forced the alcohol and pills down her throat, but he sure as fuck was the reason she’d been driven over the edge as far as Cian was concerned.
Stepping into the scrub room, Cian blew out a breath and pushed thoughts of his worthless father out of his mind. He had a patient on the table that actually meant more to him than just another case, and he’d be damned if he let his despicable father cloud his mind.
With his hands freshly scrubbed, he entered the OR and looked expectantly at the nurse for his gloves. He hated when it wasn’t his usual team in the OR, but with hospital cutbacks looming, things had been changing more than he liked. It was coming close to time for him to have another chat with the Chief of Surgery. When he was finally gloved, he approached the OR table and pulled his mask down under his chin, fixing a warm smile on his face.
“Henry. It’s good to see you, old friend.” Cian ignored the gray pallor of the older man’s complexion and the way his breathing was coming in shallow. The sooner they got the pacemaker in him, the better.
“What’s up, Doc?” Henry joked lamely, letting out a rough cough as he laughed. “I told you to get one of them young’uns to take care of my old ticker for me. You’ve got more important things to do than mess about with me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re a VIP around here, Henry.” The anesthesiologist, Dr. Reynolds, came around the other side of the table and started explaining the steps.
“I’ll put this mask on you and I want you to count backwards from ten when I tell you to, alright, Mr. Smalls? Do you think you can do that?”
“I’m old, not an imbecile,” Henry replied, giving him a weak glare. Cian chuckled and nodded at Reynolds, indicating they were ready to begin. Reynolds fitted the mask over Henry’s face and together they counted until he was sure he was out cold.
“Jenson,” Cian barked at Cameron Jenson, the intern hovering by his right elbow. The lanky boy’s body jerked once as he jumped at the sound of Cian’s voice.
“S—Sir,” he stuttered, almost cowering under the force of Cian’s direct stare. Dr. O’Reilly had the reputation of being brutal in his OR. If you screwed up even once, it could very well be career suicide and mean not seeing the inside of the OR for months. Just having the opportunity to be standing in the same room as him was an accomplishment as an intern, one Jenson knew he’d only earned as it was just a few days away from him writing his Residency exam. The new crop of interns would be descending on their hospital which made doctors like him seem like more of a better option for assistance on cases for the attendings’.
“You’ll be closing for me.” Cian gave the order simply and then nodded at the elderly scrub nurse indicating he was ready to start.
Cameron’s heart did three backflips before settling in his chest. Closing. He’d be closing on one of Dr. O’Reilly’s surgeries. Granted, it was only a simple pacemaker case, but no other intern in his class had been given the honor that he was aware of. Sweat formed on his brow as a tiny bit of panic set in. The overhead florescent lights burned down on him, making the room feel impossibly hot.
“Quit squirming, Jenson. It’s a few stitches—I’ll be the one doing the actual work, not you. If you can’t handle a few stitches on your own by now, you’re in the wrong damn profession.”
Thoroughly chastised, Cameron nodded once and took a breath to calm his nerves. Man up, you fucktard. If you screw this up, you’re finished.
The entire procedure took less than thirty minutes and Cian was pleased with the result. Stepping away from the table, he motioned for Jenson to take his place. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he was one of the few interns in his group that actually showed promise of becoming a halfway decent surgeon.
Walking towards the door, he started to remove his gloves. Maybe he’d even consider taking the
kid under his wing. It might be interesting to have a protégé. The sound of an alarm from one of the monitors had him spinning back. Henry was crashing.
“Fuck,” he swore as she snapped on another pair of gloves and raced back to the table. Jenson had already started compressions and went flying to the left when Cian gave him a hard shove.
“Get him bagged,” he ordered one of the other interns, Kemp or whatever the fuck his name was. He pumped Henry’s chest hard, glaring holes into his skull. “Don’t you fucking die on me, old man.”
Cameron shifted from foot to foot, unsure of what to do. He’d barely touched him when the alarm had suddenly started going off and he’d gone into arrest.
“Dr. O’Reilly, I swear, I barely touched him. I’d just started the sutures when he coded. It must have been a flaw with the pacemaker, I—” Jenson broke off when Cian seared him to the spot with a scathing glance. He didn’t say a word, just kept his dark eyes that had turned as black as night trained on him as he kept up the compressions.
A chill ran down Cameron’s spine. The sheer brutality of Cian’s movements was enough to have him scared shitless, but coupled with the severe look of contempt that was now trained on him, was downright terrifying.
“Out.” Cian’s voice was cold hard steel. He spoke no louder than a whisper but it still had the effect of a gunshot hitting Cameron’s body. He stumbled backwards, stepping on the foot of someone—he didn’t bother to look who—and clumsily made his way to the sliding glass doors. Once safely in the scrub room, he yanked his mask from his face and gasped for breath as though he’d just completed a marathon run. Watching the flurry of activity from the windows overlooking the scrub sink, he had a quick flare of hope when the monitor showed a spike of life, only to have it crushed when Henry flat-lined.
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