Collateral

by Callie Hart

  “So,” he says. His smile fades a little, replaced by…nerves? Is he nervous? “We can’t stay at The Regency Rooms forever. And I know how you feel about the warehouse. So…I thought…” He steps to the side, and I see it:

  My house.

  My beautiful house that I spent so long making my own. Except now it looks a little different. The window frames have all been repainted. I have a new front door that looks positively impregnable, and there are security lights every few feet, dark now but promising to light up the entire hillside as soon as the sun goes down.

  “What’s this?”

  “I figured…I figured you should move back up here. And…so should I.”

  I turn away from the house, fixing my gaze on Zeth. “You moved yourself into my house while I was gone?”

  “Don’t pretend like you’re not ecstatically happy about it, angry girl,” he says, pulling me to him. He buries his face into my neck and nips me with his teeth, and I can’t help but laugh.

  “Oh, I’m happy about it. All right, all right, I’m happy about it!” I can barely breathe with how tight he’s holding me. He quits biting me and leans up to brush the tip of his nose against my ear. “On a scale of one to ten, Sloane?”

  I close my eyes and let my body go limp against him. “Ten,” I tell him. “Definitely a ten.”

  Zeth doesn’t say anything, but his smile broadens. Then, for the first time, I see a little Lacey in him. They were always polar opposites, but in the space of a heartbeat—there one second, gone the next—I see the faintest flash of his sister in his smile. “I’m going to carry you inside now and I’m going to fuck you in our bed, Sloane. But first…”

  “First?” I feel like I’m on the verge of passing out.

  “First…I heard you say something once, Sloane. Something you didn’t mean for me to hear.”

  The world suddenly whips back into focus with the force of a snapped elastic band. Oh god. Why the hell is he bringing that up? My stomach feels like it’s about to fall through the floor. “Uhh, yeah. Well, that’s not impor—”

  “It is important. I need…I want you to say it again.” Heat blossoms in my cheeks, no doubt turning them bright crimson. I try to back away, but Zeth won’t let me. His hands tighten on my hips, and he brings his mouth down so it’s almost touching mine. “I want to hear you say it, Sloane. I want you to tell me.”

  Some people might say they hear nothing but the sound of their heartbeat hammering in their own ears at a moment like this, but not me. I hear so much more. I hear the promise in Zeth’s voice. I hear the skip in his heartbeat. I hear the stir of the mountain and the slow hum of the city in the distance—the place where Zeth and I met and our lives became forever entwined—while he waits for me to speak. And then I hear myself saying the words he wants to hear, and they sound perfect and so right.

  “I love you, Zeth. I love you.”

  He closes his eyes and nods, as though suddenly overcome with relief. When he opens his eyes again, staring straight into me, into my heart, into my soul, he says something I never thought he would. His words are so quiet, so softly imparted, as though they’re the darkest of secrets, that I can barely make them out.

  “And I love you, angry girl. I really do.”

  I don’t get a chance to react. Zeth Mayfair, the man I’ve been terrified of and lost without and a million different things in between…he does as he promised he would. He picks me up, and he carries me inside the house that will now be our home, and he fucks me until his name is echoing off our bedroom walls.

  So it’s over!

  Some of you might have a few questions, and I can pre-empt a couple of them for you right now. If, for some weird reason, your copy of Collateral has opened at this point, please go no further! There are spoilers ahead…

  Q. What happened with Julio and Rebel? This is the end of the series and we never got to read the outcome of those characters’ storylines.

  A. This is in actual fact the end of Zeth & Sloane’s story, but it’s not the official end of the series. Rebel falls under the Blood & Roses series banner, and will be out at the end of the year (2014).

  I couldn’t show you guys what happens when Michael goes off to help Rebel with his Julio problem, because that would ruin elements of the other book. But don’t worry! All will be explained soon.

  Q. Is this the last we will ever see of Zeth & Sloane?

  A. The characters which I’ve loved writing so desperately are not gone and lost forever. I feel that way when I finish a series—I feel like I’ve lost friends in the characters I can no longer read new adventures about. While that feels particularly awful and gut wrenching, in some ways I do hope this is how you feel about Zeth & Sloane, too, because that means I am doing my job properly.

  And no, this is not the last you will see of them. They will appear in other books I write in the future. I have already received a ton of emails from readers asking for a whole book for these guys next year, and depending on my workload, the timing and whether or not you as the reader want a catch-up story, I may just crumble and write another book.

  Q. Will any of the other characters besides Rebel be getting a storyline of their own?

  A. Yes. Michael will 100% be getting a story of his own next year. I’m so thrilled you guys have loved reading about him as much as I have enjoyed writing about him.

  There is also the potential for Cade to get his own story as well, though I will wait and see whether people are still interested in reading about his adventures when the time comes.

  Q. Why did you kill Lacey????

  I’m so sorry if I’ve caused any heartache over Lacey’s exit from the series, but it felt like the only honest thing I could do for her. The only kind thing. Lacey’s deeply rooted psychological problems weren’t something I felt comfortable sweeping under the rug. She was abused and she killed in self-defence, and it didn’t seem right to me to wave a magic wand and fix her in a later book.

  I know a lot of you wanted to read a story where Lacey and Michael, or even Lacey and Cade got together and had a happily ever after of their own, but that felt dishonest to me.

  This was the peace I could give to Lacey, and I don’t regret giving it to her.

  Q. Are you working on any other projects right now, besides Rebel?

  A. Yes, I am. If you’re wondering why there’s a bit of a gap between the release of Collateral and Rebel going live, it’s because I have a super top secret project I am working on for my agent. Hopefully I’ll be able to tell you more about this project in time, but please know I am working my booty off, and will have more deviant, sexy, broken men ready for your reading pleasure soon.

  Want to meet Callie and get your photo taken with Zeth?

  Callie Hart, along with Gypsy Brothers author Lili St Germain, cordially invites you to attend their first Leather & Lace Masquerade book signing in New York City on November 22 2014 at the Affinia Hotel Manhattan.

  For more information, visit this page!

  About The Author

  Callie Hart is a bagel eating, coffee drinking, romance addict. She can recite lines from the Notebook by heart. She lives on a ridiculously high floor in a way-too expensive building with her fiancé and their pet goldfish, Neptune. Collatera is the sixth instalment in her Blood and Roses series, and sees an end to Zeth & Sloane’s story. Rebel, a standalone, though heavily linked with the Blood & Roses series, will be coming out just before the new year,

  If you want to know the second one of Callie’s books goes live, all you need to do is sign up here.

  In the meantime, Callie wants to hear from you!

  To visit Callie’s website, click here

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  Tell Me Your Favorite Bits!

  Don’t forget! If you purchased Collateral and loved it, then
please do stop over to your online retailer of choice and let me know which were your favorite parts! Reading reviews is the highlight of any author’s day.

  I must ask, though…if you do review Collateral, please do your best to keep it spoiler free. It would really suck as a reader to come to the final instalment of a series, only to find out one of the main characters doesn’t make it before you reach that part in the book! ;)

  Some of you may have may have noticed I haven’t actually put acknowledgements in any of the instalments of this series yet, and the honest reason behind that is because I was a little daunted by the prospect.

  This series has been such an undertaking, and has involved so many wonderful people that I always panicked that I was going to forget to thank someone. That is still a real concern of mine, but I’ll hopefully fit everybody in, whether that’s by name or by tip of hat.

  Firstly, I have to thank my girls, Jessica Roscoe, CJ Duggan and Lilliana Anderson. Without these girls I would never have started this series. What started out as an experiment became a passion, and if they hadn’t pushed me, Zeth and Sloane would never have come into existence. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, ladies, for all the talking down from ledges, the encouragement, inspiration, love and support. No one has ever had a support network like you guys. I consider myself truly lucky to have met you all. I know we’ll be plotting and planning together for many years to come.

  Next, my personal assistants, Nessa Leret and Manda Lee. I don’t really know how I managed before I had you two helping me behind the scenes. I would never have been able to put these books out so quickly if it hadn’t have been for your efficiency and your stellar organizational skills. Thank you!

  Caisey Quinn, thank you for thinking it was crazy I didn’t have representation yet! I would never have pursued an agent if it weren’t for you, and now I can say I have one of the best in the business (thanks, too, to Amy Tannenbaum for actually signing me!)

  My Deviant Divas, you are literally the highlight of my day, every day. The first thing I do each morning is head over to my street team page and see what madness has been going on while I’ve been sleeping. You’ve helped me endlessly ever since Deviant came out, reading ARCs, providing feedback, occasionally beta reading, and mostly just providing me with moral support and endless pictures of Tom Hardy in various states of undress (you will never know how much that particular one has meant to me! hahaha!) I love you, Divas!

  Marion Archer, Sarah Benelli, Anita Saunders, Prema Editing, Fiona Wilson, to you ladies, I say a huge, massive, colossal thank you for editing, beta reading and proofing my work. Without you guys, my work would be full of typos and weird English-isms no American would ever understand. My sincerest thank you. You all help me put my best foot forward.

  To my kick-ass husband. There’s so much I owe to you, husband mine. You are the whole reason I get to write every morning. Without you, I’d be lost. Without you, I’d be working retail and daydreaming of a world in which I got to be a writer. Thank you for helping to make my dreams come true and supporting me every step of the way. I love you.

  Lastly, perhaps my biggest thank you goes to you, my reader. Without you, I’d be writing for a very small crowd of one. I really do have to pinch myself every time I realize there are people out there—actual, real life people!—who enjoy and look forward to my next book. That brings me such indescribable joy. You have put me in a position where I get to make up all of these crazy characters and stories for a living, and that is such a precious gift. I will always cherish that gift. I’ll keep writing in the hope that you’ll keep reading.

  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  All my love,

  Callie Hart